Share prices of Google parent company Alphabet have plunged after the tech giant reported slowing revenue growth, with brands pulling ads from YouTube amid concerns over the site’s ‘harmful content’. Google founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt had about $9 billion wiped from their collective net worths as the stock plunged in early trading on Tuesday. Alphabet shares... 

Over two million migrants have received anonymous debit cards at a cost of €1.55 billion, according to the Hungarian government. “Over two million migrants have received anonymous debit cards. The equivalent of 500 billion forints (1.55 bn euros) has been spent in this manner”, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister György Bakondi said on Hungarian M1 television. Mr. Bakondi said that... 

New data was gathered and released by both the Federal Statistical Office and the State Secretariat for Migration and shows that the 4,000 or so Somalis in Switzerland are by far the most prone to being on government benefits with 83.7 percent relying on state income, Breitbart reports. While Somalis are by far and wide the largest recipients of welfare, several other nationalities also have rates... 

New research from think tank Eunomix Business & Economics found that South Africa endured one of the worst declines over the past 12 years for a country not at war. The country’s performance on a range of social, economic, and governance measures deteriorated more than any other nation not involved in an international or civil conflict, it said. An index of security, governance, prosperity,... 

The authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia consider a possibility to abandon the US dollar as the main currency in payments for Saudi oil. Riyadh may make such a decision in the event the United States passes a new law to ban the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. High-ranking Saudi officials in charge of the energy sector have been discussing the prospect of waiving the US dollar... 

US President Donald Trump has vowed to impose import tariffs on $11 billion worth of goods from the European Union after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled EU subsidies to Airbus caused “adverse effects” to the US. Earlier this week, the US Trade Representative (USTR) said Washington was mulling tariffs on a wide range of European exports to the US, including large commercial aircraft and... 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has warned Turkey against buying Russian military equipment as it would undermine the NATO alliance. It would be “reckless” if Turkey used the Russian-made S-400 anti-missile system, he added during a Wednesday NATO event in Washington. “Turkey must choose,” said Pence. “Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history... 

When it introduced the SDR, the Fund hoped to make it “the principal reserve asset in the international monetary system.” This remains an unfulfilled ambition; indeed, the SDR is one of the most underused instruments of international cooperation. Nonetheless, better late than never: turning the SDR into a true global currency would yield several benefits for the world’s economy and monetary... 

The trend is accelerating, just as I predicted it would. Countries all over the globe are growing anxious, as the geopolitical atmosphere of the world continues to heat up, threatening to hit a boiling point. Central bankers and government officials who see the world through an unfiltered, non-rose-tinted lens are well aware of this, and are beginning to take the necessary actions required to protect... 

Venezuela is America’s current target for mass destabilization in the hope of installing a puppet government. America has for years been waging an economic war against Venezuela, including debilitating sanctions which have dramatically affected the state’s ability to purchase medicines, and even mundane replacement parts needed in buses, ambulances, etc. Alongside the economic war there... 

Prominent Italian and EU officials are sounding the alarm over Rome’s endorsement of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, saying Beijing could be seeking to expand its political influence in Europe rather than boost its trading relations with the EU. Kristian Rouz — The cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte endorses China’s Belt and Road investment and trade initiative,... 

The EU’s commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, said Wednesday that Google must pay 1.49 billion euros ($1.69 billion) for stifling competition in the online advertisement sector. In a statement Wednesday the European Commission said Google had placed exclusivity contracts on publishers, stopping them from including search results from Google’s rivals. It said these clauses were replaced... 

China has once again blocked a move to designate the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group behind the Kashmir bomb attack as a terrorist, sparking indignation and calls for a boycott on Indian social media. Masood Azhar, who founded JeM in 1999, is currently believed to be the coordinator of the February 14 suicide bomb attack in Kashmir in which 40 Indian troops were killed. A proposal was brought... 

US President Donald Trump has decided to ground all Boeing 737 Max airplanes, citing safety concerns after the fatal crash in Ethiopia. The US was among the last holdovers in grounding the controversial jet. This defective plane is now banned almost everywhere in the world. Good! “The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House,... 

China added to its official gold reserves for the third straight month in February as the country continues efforts to minimize its exposure to the US dollar. The People’s Bank of China added 10 tons of gold to its horde last month. It has accumulated an additional 32 tons of the yellow metal since the beginning of the year. According to the Financial Times, at this rate, China will surpass Russia...