Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (L) speaks during a press conference alongside the Cypriot Foreign Affairs Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoulis (C) at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, July 24, 2012. The European Union has flatly rejected an Israeli call to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist group, saying there is no such agreement among the bloc’s member states. “There is no consensus... 

Wealthy tax evaders, aided by private banks have exploited loopholes in tax legislation and stashed over $21 tn in offshore funds, says a report. The capital drained from some developing countries since 1970 would be enough to pay off national debts. ­The findings show the gap between the haves and the have-nots is much larger than previously thought. The document, entitled The Price of Offshore... 

Here’s another news brief from the backlog that accumulated while I was in Brussels. It’s from our Swedish correspondent PMP, and concerns a recent decision by the Swedish government to extend “free” healthcare to all illegal immigrants. As with similar decisions by the American government concerning “undocumented” migrants from Latin America, the ruling renders the distinction between... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial status bill that brands externally-funded NGOs as “foreign agents”. The document is to come into force in 120 days following its publication. ­The bill, previously approved by both chambers of the Russian parliament, will now force non-profit organizations receiving funding from abroad and engaging in political activity to register... 

Much has been said about the advantages of immigration and not much said about the disadvantges of it. At this particular time, Britain and Europe are, and have been, experiencing a surge of immigration that is unparalleled in their respective histories. Never in history have such a diverse and sometimes alien cultures migrated into other civilizations in such a way and this without the consent or... 

Protesters march during a demonstration against government austerity measures, in central Valencia Spanish police have clashed with protesters marching against the latest batch of austerity measures. Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities. ­Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight after dozens of protesters reached... 

The Russian Orthodox Church have involved themselves in the case of helping two British women who lost their jobs for wearing religious symbols at work to the European Court of Human Rights. British Airways check-in clerk Naida Eweida and Nurse Shirley Chaplin were both sacked after wearing a crucifix to work.The airline told Eweida that the symbol infringed its uniform code. In 2007, British Airways... 

One of the biggest high street banks, London based HSBC, have been caught up in funding terrorism and money laundering for the Mexican drug cartels. HSBC’s activities in Saudi Arabia were brought into question in a report, which specifically refers to banking with Al Rajhi Bank. The investigation claims the Saudi bank has links to financing terrorism, based on evidence gathered after the September... 

Smoke rises from Burgas International Airport in Bulgaria after a bus carrying Israeli tourists exploded at the airport on July 18, 2012. At least seven people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in an explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the eastern Bulgarian city of Burgas. According to this RT report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Tehran for the bombing... 

Hundreds of thousands of believers are flocking to Bugarach, France to be saved from Doomsday on December 21, 2012. An Alien Spaceship will rescue all who are near the sacred Pic De Bugarach Mountain before the apocalypse hits, the mass media reported. Are you prepared for the end of the world on December 21, 2012? If not, then you might want to join the hundreds of thousands (projected to possibly... 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the West has been trying to blackmail Moscow into accepting a military intervention in Syria. On Monday, Lavrov said the Western threats to discontinue the UN unarmed observer mission to Syria if Russia does not agree to allow the West to use force in the country amounts to blackmail. “We will not be able... 

People protest against the Spanish government’s austerity measures in Malaga on July 13, 2012. A Spanish trade union leader has warned that unions were considering a general strike against the government’s new austerity measures. Secretary General of Comisiones Obreras trade union (CCOO) Ignacio Fernandez Toxo said on Monday that the strike was “unavoidable” if the government... 

UK scientists have received a US$10 million grant for research into GM crops in one of the biggest investments in the field. The British public remains skeptical of GM foods, a recent report suggesting they pose both environmental and health threats. The multi-million investment from UK-based charity the Gates Foundation will be used to cultivate GM modified corn, wheat and rice. Scientists from the... 

Almost 1,000 innocent people have been wrongly spied on by the police, security services and town halls because of errors in “snooping” requests. Two people were even arrested and wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit because officials wrote down incorrect details, a surveillance watchdog revealed. And a local council wrongly used snooping powers designed to combat crime to spy on a family... 

The International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics (MITPAN) department of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) is reporting to President Putin today that our world faces the “imminent threat” of a “major” to “catastrophic” earthquake to occur within the fortnight due to an “extreme” solar storm that has begun hitting Earth’s atmosphere. According...