Africa

Authored by Whitney Webb via TheAntiMedia.org,

The annual Global Peace Index, recently released for June 2017, has found that while the world is more peaceful now than last year, violence has increased significantly overall in the past decade.

Although the situation has improved in many countries, the ten lowest-ranking nations – known as the world’s “least peaceful” countries – have shown little change in recent years.

You will find more statistics at Statista

The Trump administration has asked Beijing to impose what would be the first round of sanctions against nearly 10 Chinese companies and individuals that trade with North Korea, part of a strategy to starve, and ultimately shut down, Kim's nuclear program, the WSJ reports. 

Authored by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

Authored by James Durso via OilPrice.com,

It’s the 101st anniversary of the Sykes–Picot Agreement and, in light of the non-stop Syrian Civil War, it’s time to ask, “How’s that working out for you?”

Despite expectations (among 19 'economists') that growth would be up 1.0% in Q1, South African GDP tumbled 0.7% (the second drop in a row) pushing the nation back into recession after eight years.

The median of 19 economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey was for 1 percent expansion. There was only one forecast for a contraction. This was a four standard deviation miss...

Indicating contraction for the second quarter in a row - technically signaling a recession -  as all bar two industries shrank.