China's Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd on Wednesday said four investors have agreed to contribute 24 billion yuan ($3.87 billion) over the coming two years as the first tranche of funding to build around 20 shopping malls.

• January 14, 2015

NATO's top military commander, General Philip Breedlove, said on Tuesday the defense alliance was looking at beefing up its exercises in the Baltic Sea region in response to a surge in Russian military maneuvers there late last year.

• January 13, 2015

Shelling hit a passenger bus in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, and fighting intensified around the international airport in the city of Donetsk as separatists tried to oust government forces.

• January 13, 2015

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Dr Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas and Lecturer in Energy Politics at the European University of St Petersburg

• European Commission extends deadline for final decision on OPAL pipeline to the end of January 2015
• Gazprom and BASF abandon asset-swap agreement
• Gazprom resumes gas supplies to Ukraine, the first since June 2014
  - Background of the dispute
  - The importance of gas storage reserves in Ukraine
• Gazprom signs new gas supply and transit contracts with Belarus to cover 2015-17
• Russia and China sign framework agreement on second pipeline, via the ‘western route’
  - Background of the ‘eastern route’
  - Comparing the two projects
• Estonia imports first gas via Lithuania, a symbolic first step away from Russia

• January 13, 2015

The European Union will consider lifting sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis only if there is "real progress" in implementing a four-month-old ceasefire deal, Latvia's foreign minister said on Monday.

• January 12, 2015

A diplomatic push by Venezuela and Iran for an OPEC oil output cut has failed to soften the refusal of the group's Gulf members to do so for now, delegates said on Monday.

• January 12, 2015

China on Monday hit back at the Philippines for criticizing Beijing's ongoing reclamation project in the disputed South China Sea, saying that its actions were within the scope of Chinese sovereignty.

• January 12, 2015

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics
16 November – 31 December 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the annulment of the South Stream project, proposing instead a new pipeline to run from Russia to Turkey.
• President Putin and Turkish counterpart Tayyip Recep Erdogan meet and discuss converging views on economic and energy issues, but note their stark differences on the Syrian Civil War.
• The two countries’ partnership in economic and energy sectors has yet to thaw their strategic divergence in regional affairs, especially in light of Russia’s disputed annexation of Crimea and the different approaches to the conflict in Syria.
• Gulen Movement adherents, including the chief editor of the country’s largest daily newspaper, are arrested on allegations of their part in a coup conspiracy.
• Both the Trans-Adriatic and Trans-Anatolian pipeline projects might be boosted by South Stream’s demise, as the two projects lead the way in the burgeoning Southern Gas Corridor.
• Turkey will stick to its deficit cutting plans despite low energy import prices, though unemployment continues to rise while the lira loses value to the American dollar.

• January 12, 2015