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The author discusses the lessons that multinational businesses can learn from the way automaker Volkswagen AG handled the global emissions scandal in terms of legal, management and public relations (PR) management, presenting the view of John Doherty of Penningtons Manches law firm on the issue.

The article reports the growth of crowd funding platforms, discussing institutional investors' equity model, and the need for effective regulation, investment confidence, principles of equity crowd funding and new approaches, new markets and new models.

The article discusses the change that has occurred in the oil market over the past decade as new sources of supply dilute the influence of established producers. Topics discussed include the role of U.S. shale oil which is being produced at an estimated of 4 million barrels per day satisfying around 90% of U.S.'s energy needs, the prevailing sense of negativity over oil prices and the effect of the price drop on the companies' ability to raise new operating capital.

The article discusses the need for the global oil and gas industry to establish safety standards and best practices governing exploration activities in the Arctic region as of February 2015. Also cited are the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the effects of fossil fuels on climate change, the Arctic littoral states like Russia, the U.S., and Canada, and the oil companies operating in the area including Cairn Energy, Statoil, and Gazprom.

The article assesses some issues that will influence the outcome of the crisis in Ukraine following Russia's annexation of Crimea. Topics discussed include the events that led to the ousting of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych, the collapse of the authoritarian regime in Ukraine and the appointment of interim President Olexander Turchynov and some reforms in the country including the legal institutions and framework.

The article discusses the adaptation of the legal systems of several countries to encourage and facilitate new investment. A key factor considered by many companies in establishing business in a country is access to arbitration. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2012 also joined the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), a commercial framework of several West and Central African countries.

The article discusses that the European and the U.S. companies are facing industrial and political concerns on expanding their business to emerging economies Africa, Asia and Latin America that offers oil and natural resources technologies. It mentions that the concerns are related to anti-corruption, transparency and risks involved in entering unfamiliar markets that require legal expertise guidance. It also suggests that top leaders at companies should themselves act as risk-managers.

The article focuses on the commercial and legal issues of operating in unfamiliar global markets for European construction groups. It discusses the concerns related to commercial risk such as contractual liabilities, deadline penalties and the reputational reverberations of nonperformance. It discusses the issue by the giving the example of 2012 London Olympic project. It mentions that the leading groups are changing their operational emphasis on high-profile projects.

The article reports on the role played by Africa as a market for multinationals wanting to capitalise on global demand for natural resources and cater to urbanising populations. Varying stages of economic and legal development present challenges to the continent of 54 states. The region's increased political stability, population growth, rising consumer demand and an expanding middle class are noted. The flow of technical and legal expertise in the region has become porous, says the article.

This article looks into the economic condition of Europe. The emergence of New Democracy single party in Greek general election is cited as a victory for Greece's conservatives, for the stability of the European Union (EU) and for business confidence across the eurozone. The government of Spain Prime Minister requested an EU bailout to stabilise the banking sector which is heavily exposed to the collapse of the real estate market. The national governments encourage new economic growth.

The article focuses on public protests across Europe against the proposed changes to national labor and employment laws. It informs that the changes were supported by business groups and lawyers, but the protests were not only about reducing workers' rights, they were aimed at increasing productivity. It informs that Europe's economic downturn was due to rising borrowing costs, falling investment and consumer demand.

The article focuses on the bailout of Portugal by the European Union (EU), European Community Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2011 and its impact on Spain's economy. The aim of a Memorandum of Understanding drafted by the EU, ECB and IMF and was agreed by major political parties in Portugal is discussed. Also mentioned are concerns over how Portugal's financial assistance package will affect Spanish investors and businesses that show interests in the country.

The article discusses issues and controversies on the move of several countries to make competing territorial claims to the polar regions for defense, environmental protection and mineral resources, including Russia, Canada, and Denmark, as a result of global warming and the retreat of ice sheets. There has been increased posturing by governments to demonstrate their rights to sovereignty over Arctic territories and ability to control navigation rights despite the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea stating that the Arctic belongs to nobody.

Reconstructions of the paleoenvironments of early hominids offer a framework for understanding hominid ecological and behavioral adaptations. Habitat reconstructions typically rely upon various biological or physical habitat indicators, and here we present reconstructions of the Plio-Pleistocene paleohabitats of Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge as based on fossil bovids (Artiodactyla: Bovidae). Bovids are the most common faunal element at most Neogene hominid and hominoid fossil localities and have been widely studied. This study addresses the funtional morphology of the bovid femur through discriminant function analysis and provides additional support for the observation that certain features of the femur demonstrate clear correlations with the amount of vegetative cover in different modern habitats. The reconstructions for both Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge suggest that the full range of environments inhabited by living bovids was present during the Plio-Pleistocene. Koobi Fora appears to have had a somewhat higher percentage of more closed habitats than the relatively more open habitats of Olduvai Gorge. These habitat reconstructions are in broad agreement with other reconstructions based on a purely taxonomic approach to the bovid remains. Grounding our reconstructions of paleoenvironments in studies of functional morphology can help to develop a richer idea of the habitats and resources available to early hominids.

The article focuses on the concept of crowdfunding which is an important mean to solve the Greek debt crisis by launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise the 1.6 billion required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It mentions that there is a strong demand among businesses for access to growth capital as companies are exploring new and flexible methods to raise finance. It mentions that Great Britain is leading in the market of crowdfunding in Europe.

The article discusses the breaches of international law behind the invasion of Russia in the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. The authors talk about the referendum held by the people of Crimea which have seen the local population vote to join Russia. They provide an overview about the history of Crimea as part of the Soviet Union. Also tackled is the move of Ukraine's parliament to pass a series of laws significantly curtailing civil liberties.

An excerpt from the article "EC Fines Banks Record Sums for Interest Rate Rigging" by Scott Appleton is presented.

The article discusses Spain's new asset management company, the Sociedad de Gestión de Activos Procedentes de la Reestructuración Bancaria (SAREB). Regarded as a bad bank to relieve its financial institutions of their toxic real estate assets, SAREB was created in December 2012 under the terms of the 100 billion euro financial injection into Spain's banks agreed by the European Union (EU) in July 2012. It cites other bad banks in the EU like Ireland's National Asset Management Agency.

The article reports on the bailout of Portugal by the European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2011 which, according to lawyers in Lisbon, Portugal, brings certainty to the finances of the nation.