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How war & sanctions are reshaping how Russia governs its vast territory

Melbourne, Sep 16 (The Conversation) As the world’s largest country that spans eleven time zones and shares land borders with fourteen countries, Russia’s geography has always posed a difficult problem for government: how to maintain economic activity, infrastructure and basic services across an enormous territory with a highly uneven population. More than four and a half years of war against Ukraine, sanctions and disrupted international connections have made that challenge considerably harder. One place where the response to these mounting pressures is becoming visible is Russia’s national spatial policy. In my newly published research with Anton Gorodnichev, we compare Russia’s

Warsh likely to side with financial markets over Trump as Fed rate hike expected

WASHINGTON, September 16, 2026 (AP) — Barely four months into the job, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is stuck between two strong and opposing forces: Financial markets that anticipate the central bank will raise interest rates, and President Donald Trump, who wants the Fed to cut them or leave them unchanged. Economists expect that on Wednesday, Warsh and his fellow policymakers will side with the markets. Warsh, economists say, has largely boxed himself into a rate hike after delivering a high-profile speech last month warning that inflation remains too far above the Fed’s 2% target and might require higher borrowing

RBI likely intervenes to support rupee, traders say

MUMBAI, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) likely intervened ​in the foreign exchange ‌market on Wednesday, three traders told Reuters, as elevated oil ​prices and a ​looming rate hike by the ⁠U.S. Federal Reserve pressured ​the currency. The rupee was at ​95.8725 per dollar, up 0.1% on the day after hitting its ​weakest level in more ​than one month in the previous ‌session. State-run ⁠banks were spotted offering dollars, the traders said, most likely on behalf of ​the RBI. The ​RBI has been intervening in the FX ​market frequently to ​support ⁠the rupee, which has helped

Climate change is putting the squeeze on the world’s grapegrowers: new research

September 16, 2026 (Conversation) This year, the European summer has been sweltering. It is unprecedented in many ways, marked by extreme heat, drought and record-breaking fires. Across the continent, fires have consumed hundreds of homes and demanded the evacuation of thousands of people. Europe’s wine regions have been particularly hard hit, including around France’s Bordeaux region. Aside from the direct dangers of fires, exposure to smoke can give grapes a burnt or ashy flavour, and this smoke taint can discourage people from buying wine from fire-affected regions. However, it is not only European wineries that are battling increasingly fierce fires.

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