Delegates at a plenary meeting held as part of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). After leaving the Parliamentary Assembly, which Russian officials believe has lost its credibility as a platform for mature and equal dialogue, Moscow will focus on other global forums and may even reconsider its membership to the Council of Europe. “It is impossible for... 

The death of Argentina’s Federal Prosecutor Alberto Nisman who had accused the country’s President Cristina Kirchner of attempting to cover-up the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center back in 1994, stirred up a new dispute with the United States after Buenos Aires decided to carry out an independent investigation into the death and rejected the US Republicans’ demands to sever diplomatic... 

The dollar shows a steady growth with regard to other until recently stable world currencies. But is the dollar that strong? After all, the U.S. has a state debt of 18 trillion dollars and can declare a technical default at any moment. Recent rise of the Swiss franc showed that the dollar is far from being a safe haven for investors. Global capital flows are extremely unstable It is important to understand... 

S&P on Monday downgraded Russia’s credit grade to junk status. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Russia’s credit rating to the speculative BB+ grade from BBB-. Analysts say that the decision of the rating agency was politically motivated. The speculative level means that securities that a BB+ state issues can only be good for short-term transactions to earn on their... 

The middle class has shrunk consistently over the past half-century. The middle class has shrunk consistently over the past half-century. Until 2000, the reason was primarily because more Americans moved up the income ladder. But since then, the reason has shifted: There is a greater share of households on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. – From yesterday’s New York Times article: Middle... 

Scheme would allow government to confiscate money at will. Bill Gates is now promoting “digital currency” in third-world countries, which will make the poor even more dependent on central banks while also turning them into guinea pigs for the development of a “cashless society” in the U.S. and Europe. Gates outlined his plan for a cashless society in a letter published Thursday in which he... 

Almost 1.4 million Irish residents, or 30 percent of Ireland’s population, were forced to endure “enforced deprivation” throughout 2013, the state’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) says. New figures, published on Wednesday, offer a sobering insight into the socioeconomic impacts of Austerity Ireland. The CSO’s research analyzed Irish citizens’ income and living conditions throughout... 

Oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent since June last year. Oil prices have slumped even further to reach six-year lows, amid oversupplies by certain countries and a sluggish global economy. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery saw an 18-cent drop on Tuesday, selling at USD 45.89 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the WTI’s lowest close since... 

Hundreds of homeless people in New Delhi have died due to a extreme cold snap. Hundreds of people have died in a major cold snap that has struck the Indian capital, New Delhi, as thousands of homeless people struggle to overcome the extreme cold without adequate shelter, Press TV reports. The development came as northern India has been facing one of its coldest winters in decades, which has claimed... 

A US Air Force C-5B heavy lift cargo aircraft is seen at RAF Mildenhall base northeast of London, home to tanker, reconnaissance and special operations aircraft. The Pentagon has announced a plan to close down 15 military bases in Europe due to shrinking budgets. The Pentagon said on Thursday it was ending operations at an air base in Britain along with 14 other sites in Europe and handing them back... 

A submarine of the Chinese navy’s North Sea Fleet prepares to dive into the sea. A Chinese submarine has conducted its first deep dive in the Indian Ocean in search of various kinds of metals, including gold, in a four-month-long mission. The submersible vessel called Jiaolong carried out its first dive on Friday to collect samples of hydrothermal fluid and sulfide, a kind of seabed deposit containing... 

The picture shows Opel’s production plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany. A new poll shows German firms doing business in Russia are suffering from the Western sanctions against Moscow, with hundreds of the companies suspending or cancelling projects. The survey published on Friday by the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce showed 58 percent of the German firms polled said they had been affected by... 

Who is to blame for the staggering collapse of the price of oil? Is it the Saudis? Is it the United States? Are Saudi Arabia and the U.S. government working together to hurt Russia? And if this oil war continues, how far will the price of oil end up falling in 2015? As you will see below, some analysts believe that it could ultimately go below 20 dollars a barrel. If we see anything even close to... 

Thousands of recently highly paid workers have been laid off after the oil price plummeted 50 percent in 2014. At least four American oil-producing states are already facing budget problems due to decreasing oil revenues. The price plunge has affected petroleum production in all oil-extracting countries, including the US. Currently cheap fuel is still believed to be providing an overall boost to the... 

China and Russia have effectively switched to domestic currencies in trading using financial tools as swaps and forwards, as they seek to reduce the influence of the US dollar and foreign exchange risks. The agreement signed in the end of October comes into force Monday, December 29, and provides a currency swap of CNY150 billion (up to US$25 billion). The country’s Foreign Exchange Trade System...