Sept. 30 – China and Russia announced that they would continue their opposition against including civil aviation into the European Union’s (EU’s) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which demands global airlines buy carbon emission permits, according to a joint statement made by China’s Civil Aviation Administration and Russia’s Transport Ministry on Tuesday.
“We oppose any unilateral and coercive decisions that were made without any agreements among the countries concerned… Including international aviation in the EU’s ETS violates the principles of the Chicago Convention and trespasses the sovereignty of other states. And it may bring about extremely negative consequences for the international aviation industry,” read the statement. Continue reading
Sept. 30 – The Chinese government has withdrawn support for the Confucius Peace Prize, which was scheduled to announce its second annual winner next week. Beijing announced yesterday that the group overseeing the award had been disbanded.
Sept. 26 – As the United States continues its preparations to exit Afghanistan, comments made by ex-U.S. forces suggest that an alternative power may have to step into their shoes. Stating recent attacks made by the mafia-styled Haqqani family, Marc Sageman, an ex-CIA officer who served in Pakistan has been quoted in the press as saying “Whoever is in power in Afghanistan will have to make a deal with the Haqqani’s. It won’t be us, we’re leaving and they know it.” 
Sept. 23 – Russian Prime Minister 