The skirmishes have stirred concern about the stability of a late 2020 Moscow-negotiated armistice.

The Belarusian tech industry employs some 70,000 people in the nation of 9.5 million, but this tiny proportion substantially bolsters Belarusian GDP.

Skirmishes continued around the still undefined border, now more than eight months after Azerbaijan reversed three decades of humiliation by retaking long-occupied areas.

Germany and the United States, during Merkel’s final visit as Chancellor to Washington, concentrated their efforts not on whether the pipeline should be completed but rather on how Ukraine might be compensated if it loses its status as a transit country for Russian gas.

Kazakhstan’s focus on improving investor dispute resolution and prevention mechanisms has been an essential element of this success. A great deal has been done in recent years. Many countries around the world, especially those that have passed through similar transitions from other non-capitalist economic systems in their recent history, can draw useful lessons from Kazakhstan’s experience.

Recent street violence has dealt another blow to its image. Longtime allies in the EU are dismayed and the USA is considering sanctions against those promoting violence against perceived foes

The 57-year-old former banker was arrested in June 2020, as was his 31-year-old son who was rounded up on tax evasion charges.

Baku said Shusha, Azerbaijan's "cultural capital" and a historic mountainside city known for producing writers and scholars, and the crown jewel recovered by Azerbaijan after the years of Armenian occupation, came under attack.

President Sandu says her resounding victory in the parliamentary vote means an end to the "rule of bandits"

Though an armistice is largely holding, border disputes remain common, and a final peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia is elusive.