Globe Trot: On the brink of war in Ukraine

UKRAINE:Technically a ceasefire has been in effect in eastern Ukraine since September, but war is looming, as NATO continues to report increased Russian troop and heavy artillery movement. Andrew Kramer’s reporting for The New York Times (and NPR) is worth following.

CHINA: After U.S. President Barack Obama inked the first-ever climate pact with China, reactions are predictable. Supporters say it’s the best we can get for an impending disaster, while detractors say they will fight the U.S. emission reductions Obama promised in the deal. Lost in the discussion: The leader of the free world went to China to fix the climate but said nothing in support of democracy activists in Hong Kong.

BURMA: President Obama met in Burma (also known as Myanmar) with opposition leader and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, all but endorsing the fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate for Burma’s next president. (Burma’s constitution bars her running.) The president also pressed her to address the abuse of minority Rohingya Muslims, something Suu Kyi has been reluctant to do. That’s a divisive issue, as most residents fear the influence of the Muslim enclave—that historically hails from Bangladesh—as the Muslims have multiple wives and a birth rate that outstrips the majority.

COMET 67/P: The European Space Agency’s Philae lander began drilling for planned experiments—after becoming the first spacecraft to successfully land on a comet on Wednesday. But the craft faces severe restrictions after bouncing into an area where it cannot receive direct sunlight. As the lander’s battery runs down, it needs seven hours of sunlight to fuel solar panels and is receiving only 90 minutes.

LIBERIA: The Ebola-struck nation is stiffing its contact tracers, workers hired to locate and isolate anyone who may have had contact with an Ebola victim. Tracers say they have not been paid since starting in September for labor that includes forging rivers, hiking through mud, and enduring attacks from villagers.

IRAQ: ISIS is the richest terror group in the world, with a net worth rated at $2 billion. Its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is plainly not dead from a U.S. airstrike as many hoped, and in a speech yesterday he urged his disciples to “erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere.” That same day, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, looking to a Congress now more on his side, laid out a scenario for U.S. troops needed to fight the Islamic State. U.S. forces remain under no-combat restrictions in Iraq, something Republicans insist has to be lifted before they authorize further deployments. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates seconds that motion: “It’s hard for me to see how they retake ground from ISIS—for example, to retake the city of Mosul—without some pretty close-in, Western, including American, assistance, advice, and training,” Gates told Marketplace last week.

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