Thailand’s military has declared martial law after six months of protests and the removal of the Prime Minister on corruption charges. The Thai military has often intervened in domestic politics, but this move came as a complete surprise. The army insists that the invocation of martial law was not a prelude to a coup d’etat, but the way forward is unclear. It was provoked by the refusal of the caretaker government in Thailand to step down in the face of widespread protests.
The Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, has pleaded guilty to helping US citizens evade taxes by facilitating disguising money in offshore accounts. The bank destroyed documents in order to hide the identity of the tax evaders, and many are certain that the practice is widespread. Legal action has long been overdue on this matter–the amount of money hidden from the Internal Revenue Service is likely in the tens of trillions of dollars. The action will likely send shivers through the international banking community.
Russia is close to signing a 10-year, $400 billion deal with China for natural gas. The move is in response to the likelihood that Europe, Russia’s current gas trade partner, will try to find alternative sources of energy because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. There are many obstacles to implementing the deal, but both Russia and China have strong national interests to make it work. It will be interesting to see how closely the two sides will be able to cooperate.
World Politics News 
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