French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ship. France has transferred to Russia all the technology it asked for under a $1.7-billion deal for two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, a Russian arms exporter said on Monday. Under the deal signed on Friday, the first warship will be delivered in 2014 and the second in 2015. “The French side has transferred... 

A view of Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor. Head of Israel’s Nuclear Energy Commission Shaul Horev says Tel Aviv has returned nuclear waste from its Sorek nuclear reactor to the United States. Horev, who spoke at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ministerial conference on nuclear safety in Vienna on Monday, did not specify the exact amount of waste, Israeli daily Ha’aretz... 

Trojan horse: IMF has warned the Greek crisis could spark a new financial panic. Europe’s political elite is ‘playing with fire’ through its failure to tackle the economic crisis engulfing Greece, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The Washington-based watchdog predicted that a fresh round of turmoil would spread through financial markets unless European leaders shore up the stricken... 

Hong Kong, China In 2011, China is to build 200 skyscrapers. The homeland of high-rise buildings – the United States of America – has 200 skyscrapers today. For the time being, the quantity of such buildings in China and in the States is identical. However, during the upcoming three years, China will take advantage of its overseas competitor. A new skyscraper will be appearing in China... 

About 100 men in their 20s and 30s, filled a conference room at a Dublin hotel last week to hear a migration agent describe the personal fortunes waiting to be made a world away in the booming mining towns of the Australian outback. With unemployment running at close to 15 percent in Ireland, and local wages a fraction of those now on offer in Australia, it appeared to be an easy sell. “I want... 

In America’s Financial Apocalypse, I discussed numerous flaws in the calculation of poverty levels within the U.S. This discussion was one of several that pointed to the vulnerable state of the U.S., which I predicted would sink into a deep depression triggered by the real estate bubble. Only after the commencement of America’s Second Great Depression have the economists and analysts begun to... 

Finance minister urges MPs to support deal and pledges that investors will share burden. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told his country’s Parliament on Friday that MPs had a duty to approve a new aid package for Greece and that private creditors must carry some of the burden. Agence France-Presse reported that in an impassioned speech to deputies who later approved a non-binding motion... 

Thanks to the trillions of dollars that the Chinese have made flooding our shores with cheap products, China is now in a position of tremendous economic power. So what is China going to do with all of that money? One thing that they have decided to do is to buy up pieces of the United States and set up “special economic zones” inside our country from which they can continue to extend... 

Activists in Minsk protest against rise of fuel prices. As Minsk struggles to deal with the ongoing economic turmoil, rapid inflation is brewing unrest. The government had to lower fuel prices two days after a sharp increase, due to mass protests. ­On Thursday, Belarusian gas prices have dropped by almost a quarter, after President Lukashenko’s ordered the government to lower the cost. The prices... 

Thats right. The Fed owns NO gold. Zero, zip, ziltch. For those of you who did not watch yesterday’s monetary policy hearing in the house of representatives, you most likely missed this bombshell exchange between Federal Reserve lawyer Scott Alvarez and committee chairman Dr. Ron Paul. My jaw literally dropped when I heard the Fed’s general counsel declare that the Federal Reserve owns no gold.... 

Dust-bowl refugees walk towards Los Angeles during the Great Depression. House prices have now fallen further than in the 1930s. The economic powerhouse of the 20th century emerged stronger from the Depression. But faced with cultural decay, structural weaknesses and reliance on finance, can the US do it again? America clocked up a record last week. The latest drop in house prices meant that the cost... 

Iranian nuclear experts at the research centre of the uranium conversion plant in the Isfahan. The country is only a matter of months from creating a nuclear weapon. Iran is only a matter of months from being able to create a nuclear weapon, according to experts. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 54, has long been pushing his country’s nuclear capabilities, and at the current rate of uranium enrichment... 

China has dropped 97 percent of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bills, decreasing its ownership of the short-term U.S. government securities from a peak of $210.4 billion in May 2009 to $5.69 billion in March 2011, the most recent month reported by the U.S. Treasury. Treasury bills are securities that mature in one year or less that are sold by the U.S. Treasury Department to fund the nation’s debt. Mainland... 

St Moritz: Preparing to host Bilderberg. As the Bilderberg conference heads towards Switzerland there’s still time to book your seat on a minibus to St Moritz. As Europe groans, and austerity bites, as defaulting looms, and once proud nations fall to their knees in debt, there’s only one annual conference of bankers and industrialists that can step in and save us all… Bilderberg! Next... 

Obama said he and Sarkozy agreed that the NATO bombing must continue. The G8 summit in France has concluded with nations pledging billions in economic aid to the pioneers of the Arab Spring. But this is more than just an act of generosity. Leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations concluded their two-day summit in Deauville, France on Friday, pledging $40 billion to support democratic...