The looming known unknowns are plentiful.

At present, the US accounts for half of all global military expenditures, but cuts are due.

But those who warn that huge economic problems lie ahead for aging rich countries are focused on the wrong issue.

We look forward to highlighting more perspectives from Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits in the days and weeks to come.

Global leaders whether policymakers or intellectuals bear a responsibility to prepare their societies for impending global shifts.

Unfortunately, most people have an instinctive propensity to look away from approaching problems until they are very close.

This would be in line with the priorities set when the financial perspective was last revised.

Markets seem to be driven by stories, as I emphasize in my book Irrational Exuberance. There are stories of great new eras and of looming depressions.

First, will the looming military strikes by the US and its allies against Syria be limited in scope and time, or will they trigger a wider military confrontation?

VITALONE, President in Office of the Council. (IT) Mr President, the Council is aware of the fact that the current economic situation of the European Community and, for that matter, of other parts of the world is very greatly influenced by the conflict that is taking place in the Gulf region, and the consequent oil price increases.

With so much of the monetary divergence now discounted, perhaps we should focus more attention on the other factors that could influence currency movements in the months ahead.

Paddy Ashdown claims that we are living in a moment in history where power is changing in ways it never has before. In a spellbinding talk at TEDxBrussels he outlines the three major global shifts that he sees coming.

Considering all of the challenges and opportunities that the divided peninsula faces and will continue to confront in the coming years unification remains an important goal that we must continue to pursue.

Given the challenges that lie ahead , banks should take appropriate measures to strengthen further their capital bases and , where necessary , take full advantage of government measures to support the financial sector , particularly as regards recapitalisation .

But, of course, as those are resource earners in what could be difficult times ahead, we should like to see compensation on the other side whether it be a reduction in prices or setaside programmes so that the abolition would then be evenly balanced in the budget.

In a separate article the Financial Times records the view of the CBI that tough times are now ahead for British manufacturing and in yet another article the same newspaper reports continuing evidence of a decline in the volume of British manufacturing exports.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta turned up the heat on Congress Monday, warning that looming automatic budget cuts would undermine national security and set off a financial chain reaction from the hallways of the Pentagon, to the battlefields of Afghanistan, to civilian assembly lines.