The US Senate has threatened Ukraine with sanctions for what it calls the use of force by Kiev against anti-government protesters. US senators approved a resolution on Tuesday that specifies stronger measures against Ukraine, including visa bans and asset freezes against individuals responsible for ordering or carrying out the violence against the protesters. The US Senate also urged leaders in the... 

Bulgaria has been accused of hypocrisy and double standards after Sofia banned foreigners from buying land, while its citizens have the right to work anywhere in the EU. The Southeastern European country has reinforced a ban stopping non-Bulgarian nationals from purchasing agricultural plots, inciting a volley of criticism from lawmakers including Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and Britain’s... 

Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party (BNP) Leader of the UK’s far-right political party, the British National Party (BNP), has been declared bankrupt. Appearing at Welshpool County Court in Wales on Thursday, Nick Griffin was declared insolvent. This came after Griffin was found to have been left with debts following a dispute with Gilbert Davies & Partners legal firm that represented... 

Latvia has celebrated the New Year by joining the eurozone, becoming the 18th member of the Europe-wide currency bloc. However, recent opinion polls show that a majority of Latvians oppose the move, with just one-fifth strongly in favor. The euro switchover ceremony took place Jan. 1 at the HQ of the state-owned Citatele Bank – the lender reconstituted from the collapsed Parex Bank, where Latvia’s... 

An Italian man reads job offers outside a recruitment agency in the city of Milan. Southern Italy has lost 600,000 jobs over the past six years and the area has lost some 43.7 billion euros of its gross domestic product (GDP) during the economic crisis, a report shows. The data was released on Friday by the country’s industrial employers’ association Confindustria. The association also said that... 

While US lawmakers spar over extending unemployment benefits, out-of-work Americans could wake up on December 28 to find themselves unable to afford life’s basic necessities. Barring last-minute action by Congress, the long-term unemployment insurance program will expire on Saturday, leaving 1.3 million Americans to fend for themselves as they continue to look for jobs in an economy that’s still... 

Russia has filed its first complaint before the World Trade Organization (WTO), accusing the European Union of violating global free trade measures, an official statement reads. The procedure has been sent to the EU representative at the WTO on Monday, the economy ministry said on Tuesday, marking its first complaint since Russia joined the global trade body in August 2012. The complaint has to do... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (R) and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev walk before a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 24, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the new post-Soviet alliance with Belarus and Kazakhstan is set to launch in 2015, with hopes that Ukraine will join the union. The... 

In 1994, Cuba established the dual monetary system following the fall of the Soviet Union, which financially supported Cuba for decades. Cuba’s top economic official says the government will eliminate a currency pegged to the US dollar, in a move to end its dual-currency system and address problems of economic inequality. Vice-President Marino Murillo told parliament on Friday that the convertible... 

US investor Warren Buffett tops the list of the biggest 2013 public earners (not counting Rothschild, Rockefeller, Soros or other mega banksters who earn billions a day), having added $12.7 billion to his wealth, according to a report by the international analyst Wealth-X. The 83-year-old head of the Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle earned $12.7 billion in the year. In January the wealth of the... 

Greek farmers have taken to the streets of Athens to protest a controversial property tax demanded by the country’s international creditors, Press TV reports. Several hundred farmers marched through the capital on Friday towards the parliament building in Syntagma Square, carrying banners reading “Not one euro for the fields.” The demonstrators threw oranges at riot police who hindered them... 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says President Barack Obama’s plans for the US nuclear weapons complex will cost the country about $355 billion over the next decade. In a report on Friday, the CBO said the plans included the modernization of nuclear weapons, their delivery systems, and nuclear weapons production laboratories. According to the report, the cost is nearly $150 billion more than... 

Russia is going to write off 90 percent of Cuba’s $32 billion Soviet-era debt as part of a deal to end a 20-year dispute, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed to write off the island’s debt during a visit to Havana in February 2013, stressing details would be finalized by the end of the year. In October, the two sides announced a refinancing... 

US President Barack Obama speaks with military personnel while viewing an Iron Dome missile battery on March 20 at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The US Congress has authorized $284 million to fund Israel’s missile systems program, triple the amount the Obama administration had requested. The bill, introduced jointly by the House of Representatives and Senate budget committees,... 

Spaniards wait in line at a government employment office in the Madrid suburb of Santa Eugenia. Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) says the country’s population is shrinking at an accelerating pace amid soaring unemployment. The INE said on Tuesday that nearly 260,000 people moved from the crisis-hit country in the first half of 2013, while only 134,312 migrated to the country. This left...