Building of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Moscow’s Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square. Moscow will take “appropriate measures” in response to possible new sanctions from the European Union, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said. “On many levels, the Russian leadership has made it clear that we’ll take adequate measures and our response will be absolutely comparable... 

US President Barack Obama has announced plans to ratchet up sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s “illegal actions in Ukraine”. Obama said in a statement on Thursday the United States and the European Union will slap tougher sanctions on “Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors”. He said the new sanctions are meant to further isolate the Kremlin. “These measures will increase... 

Argentina will receive the first tranche of yuan worth up to $1 billion in a massive currency swap with China before the end of this year. The deal will boost the troubled economy’s foreign reserves. It comes as part of a loan worth $11 billion signed in July by Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during his Latin America tour shortly before... 

A conference to discuss the status of poverty in the European Union has been held in the Belgian capital Brussels, Press TV reports. The conference gathered over 700 politicians, academics and rights campaigners to discuss the EU’s ongoing economic crisis focusing on unemployment and social exclusion. EU governments, institutions and structures were criticized during the conference over their failure... 

The European Union has formerly adopted a fresh package of sanctions against Russia despite Moscow’s retaliation warnings. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced the sanctions on Monday saying that their implementation will take place over the next few days. Referring to the ceasefire deal between pro-Russian activists and the Kiev government, he said that “This will leave time... 

One of the world’s legendary investors is upping his bet on Argentina’s shale oil and gas industry in a show of confidence for shale production in South America’s largest unconventional prize and a big boost for both supermajors and smaller players making big waves in the heart of new discovery areas. George Soros has doubled his stake in YPF SA, the state-owned oil company in Argentina, which... 

Russian consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has suspended all confectionery imports from Ukraine after discovering two Ukrainian companies broke consumer protection laws. “In order to ensure the rights of consumers, starting September 5 Rospotrebnadzor is suspending the import of confectionery goods produced in Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the watchdog said in a statement on Friday. The... 

United States President Barack Obama said Friday that the US and European Union are still prepared to impose sanctions against Russia if the crisis in Ukraine continues to escalate following the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Speaking in Newport, Wales at the close of a major NATO alliance summit, Pres. Obama expressed skepticism over a pact signed only hours earlier in Minsk during a meeting of... 

The Australian government on Monday unveiled further sanctions against Russian oil and gas, financial and defense sectors, bringing Canberra in line with the European Union. Under the new sanctions there will be no new arms exports and no new exports for the oil and gas industry, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the Australian parliament. In addition, Russian state-run banks are not allowed new access... 

Australia’s national carrier Qantas has posted an annual net loss of 2.6 billion dollars last year. The airliner on Thursday posted the full-year net loss of 2.64 billion US dollars in 2013-2014 in its worst performance. The figure is much worse than expectations as analysts initially predicted the company to report an underlying pre-tax loss of about 700 million dollars. Qantas’s international... 

Having closed several McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow, Russia’s Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) launched unscheduled inspections of the restaurants of the chain in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. According to representative of the agency, their actions are connected to complaints from local residents about the quality of products sold and insanitary conditions. On... 

A political analyst says the tightening of sanctions by the United States and the European Union (EU) against Russia is “counterproductive,” Press TV reports. In an interview with Press TV, Jan Oberg said the US-EU move to impose sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian tension is “self-defeating” as it harms the economy of the West as well. “I think it is utterly counter-productive and... 

Hundreds of Australian students and union members have held nationwide protests against the government’s proposed plans to cut higher education budget. Student protesters descended on the streets of Sydney’s city center on Wednesday, setting fire to an effigy of Australian Education Minister Christopher Pyne as a sign of protest against the government’s proposed changes to higher education. “We... 

A nationalist party MP is suggesting the Russian government introduce more restrictions on food imports, covering nations that have an association agreement with the EU, including Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Roman Khudyakov of the Liberal Democratic Party caucus of the State Duma has said that, since the association agreement with the European Union prepares the conditions for a free trade zone... 

Ecuador doesn’t need anybody’s permission to export agricultural products to Russia, which now has a big gap that needs to be filled after it banned supplies from a number of western countries, said President Rafael Correa. “I want to immediately say that we don’t need to get anybody’s permission to sell products to friendly countries: as far as we know Latin America isn’t a part of the...