Slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi (R) and French President Nicolas Sarkozy A French investigative news website says that slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had contributed 50 million euros to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2007. In a report published on Monday, the Mediapart news website claimed that one of its journalists has seen documents confirming the contributions. According... 

Spanish workers hold an anti-austerity march in Madrid, March 23, 2012. Spanish workers in the industrial sector have staged a demonstration in Madrid to protest against the government’s tough austerity measures amid mounting fears of the country’s economic meltdown. The demonstrators staged a march in the capital on Friday to demand an end to the government’s cutbacks and labor reforms,... 

The Indian government has announced that it is working to continue crude oil purchase from Iran, resisting renewed pressure from the United States to halt buying Iranian oil. The announcement was made by Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna on Thursday in a written letter to the upper house of Indian parliament, Wall Street Journal reported. “The government is studying the impact... 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton The United States says it has exempted 11 nations including 10 European Union members and Japan from tough new sanctions on Iran as they have reduced oil purchase from Tehran. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Tuesday that the exemption covers financial institutions from 11 nations – Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France,... 

The Spanish government’s debt has hit a record high as Madrid struggles to cut expenses and escape the eurozone debt crisis. According to data published by Bank of Spain on Friday the country’s debt reached 734.96 billion Euros (USD 960 billion) at the end of 2010. This is equivalent to 68.5 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP), while three months earlier Spain’s public debt... 

The White House could impose sanctions on India if the country fails to meet the US demand to cut oil imports from Iran. As the US is trying to deprive Tehran of its leading source of revenue, India continues to resist US pressure. President Obama could be forced to bar access to the US banking system for any Indian bank processing oil payments through the Iranian Central Bank, anonymous US officials... 

SWIFT, the Brussels based transaction provider, announced it has been instructed to cut services to Iranian financial institutions that are subject to European sanctions, in order to comply with the EU Council directive. ­The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, is crucial to Iran’s oil and other trade. The EU Council decision prohibits companies such as SWIFT... 

US President Barack Obama Barack Obama once again signs a presidential order to extend for another year American sanctions, dating back to 1995, against Iran, as he considers the Iranian government a threat to US national security, foreign policy and economy. “Because the actions and policies of the government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security,... 

Recession continues in Europe and Japan. The USA remains in the state of political uncertainty on the threshold of presidential election. What about the Green Continent, Australia? Lost between two oceans, Australia was increasing its economic potential while the northern hemisphere was suffering from the consequences of economic and financial storms. Australia managed to double its GDP from 1998... 

China's Ambassador to the European Union Wu Hailong China’s ambassador to the European Union says any potential military confrontation with Iran over its nuclear energy program will be a “disaster” for the global economy. “I couldn’t think of any worse proposals to resolve the Iranian issue than resolving it by force,” Wu Hailong said in a Friday briefing with foreign... 

The US has proposed that Israel withhold from waging an assault on Iran till the next presidential term in America in exchange for most advanced weaponry, reports the Israeli Maariv newspaper. However,the White House denies the claim. The proposal was supposedly made during the visit of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, the newspaper says, citing unnamed diplomats and intelligence sources. It... 

Facing charges related to his alleged failure to safeguard Iceland’s economy during the 2008 financial crisis, former Prime Minister Geir Haarde firmly denied any wrongdoing as he became the first world leader to go on criminal trial for such charges. From the dock, Haarde emphatically rejected all accusations, asserting, “I reject all accusations, and believe there is no basis for them.”... 

The Chairman of the Thai-Iranian Business Council criticizes the US for leading a sanctions regime against Iran, saying it is harming ordinary financial enterprises in Thailand. Anirut Samutkochorn said not only would the Western sanctions against Tehran ultimately fail but they would also backfire, The Bangkok Post reported on Sunday. Anirut, who is involved in numerous businesses with Iran, demanded... 

China has made the first annual reduction in its holdings of US Treasury bonds in a decade. Experts are viewing the move as a sign that the country is accelerating the move away from dollar assets in search of more diversified investment channels. According to the latest monthly figures from the US Treasury Department, China’s holdings of US Treasury bonds dropped for a fifth consecutive month... 

Official figures by the Eurostat data agency show the eurozone unemployment rate has hit an all-time high of 10.7 percent in January 2012. According to the latest figures released on Thursday, more than 16.9 million men and women were unemployed in the euro area in January. The latest number of unemployed people in the eurozone in January increased by 1.4 million compared with the same month in 2011. Meanwhile,...