The group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the $100 bn BRICS Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 bn. Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions and the dollar. The new bank will provide money for infrastructure and development projects in BRICS countries, and unlike the IMF or World Bank, each nation has... 

As a never-ending stream of spy scandals put Washington-Berlin relations under unprecedented strain, Germans are increasingly asking themselves whether the country should be blindly following the US. A recent poll for Der Spiegel showed that up to 57 percent of Germans would like Berlin to conduct policies more independent from the US, and an Op-Ed article by the publication asked more bluntly: “Germany’s... 

New figures show that Australia’s unemployment rate relapsed to a decade-high of six percent in June. Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed a 0.1-percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate in June, matching the highest since July 2003. This is while economists had expected the jobless rate to stay at the revised rate of 5.9 percent in May, up from... 

Obama has become an expert in creating humanitarian disasters. He has already had this experience in Syria and Ukraine, and now it is time for the State of Texas. The U.S. president, bypassing the Congress, amnestied ten million illegal immigrants, which contributed to the uncontrolled growth of the flow of migrants and sharply aggravated the situation in southern states. For this act, Obama may face... 

A wooden house collapses due to strong winds caused by Typhoon Neoguri in Naha on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. A powerful typhoon has stuck Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu after battering the Okinawa island chain, where it left three people dead. Japan’s Meteorological Agency said typhoon Neoguri landed near Akune City, on the western coast of Kyushu Island at 7 a.m. local time... 

An artillery shell from Ukraine has hit a private house in the Rostov region of Russia, killing a citizen and leaving two more injured. The Russian Foreign Ministry promises heavy consequences. Reportedly up to six mortar shells exploded on Sunday in the small Russian town of Donetsk, which has the same name as the Ukrainian city and is situated right on the Ukrainian border. Ukraine’s charge d’affaires... 

Germany has claimed a fourth World Cup crown in a 1-0 win against Argentina after extra time in the final in Rio de Janeiro. Substitute Mario Goetze was the hero, as he scored the only goal with seven minutes to go. With that triumph Germany has become the first European nation to win the trophy outside of their home continent, which led to jubilant scenes both on the pitch and back home, with millions... 

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has called a location service offered by iPhone handsets, a threat to the country’s national security. The broadcaster attacked the device’s Frequent Locations function for allowing users to be tracked and information about them revealed. The critical broadcast featured an interview with Ma Ding, director of the Institute for Security of the Internet at People’s... 

Israeli ground troops have entered northern Gaza to take out a number of missile launch sites. After conducting countless sorties and bombing raids aimed at Hamas operatives in Gaza during the fifth day of Operation Protective Edge, but resulting in well over a hundred innocent civilian deaths in the past week, Israel, realizing it is not generating any brownie points with the international “humanitarian”... 

Canada’s unemployment rate has edged up to 7.1 percent as government data showed the economy unexpectedly shed thousands of jobs in June. Canada’s jobless rate increased to 7.1 percent from 7.0 percent in May, marking the highest record in six months, Statistics Canada reported on Friday. Economic growth also fell below expectations as the country shed some 9,400 jobs in June. The total number... 

Thousands have fled northern Gaza after Israel warned residents to leave the area to avoid airstrikes. At least 167 people, mostly civilians, have already died as a result of Operation Protective Edge, which entered its sixth day on Sunday. Israel dropped leaflets in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, located near the border with Israel, urging residents to leave the region by midday Sunday... 

Google Inc is working on a new tablet boasting the technology to capture 3D imagery, as the company leads its way through the devices market. The seven-inch slate is apparently a bigger version of a prototype smartphone made by the company’s Project Tango, which was released in February. It sports two cameras, infrared depth sensors, and highly customized software. The search engine is to begin... 

Prototypes of the US Navy’s much vaunted electromagnetic railguns were unveiled this week. The new technology, capable of firing projectiles at up to 5,600 miles per hour, is set to revolutionize naval warfare. The Navy demonstrated two working railgun prototypes aboard the USS Millinocket in San Diego, developed by the Office of Naval Research. The high-tech weapons function by using an electrical... 

British people are pessimistic about Prime Minister David Cameron’s ability to achieve reforms to the European Union that he promised earlier, a new poll shows. The newly-released results of a YouGov poll, conducted on June 26, showed that 42 percent of Britons do not believe the EU will be prepared to hand back any powers to member states, while another 29 percent think any concessions won... 

Temperature was 11.9F degrees lower than normal. Antarctica continues to defy the global warming script, with a report from Meteo France, that June this year was the coldest Antarctic June ever recorded, at the French Antarctic Dumont d’Urville Station. According to the press release, during June this year, the average temperature was -22.4c (-8.3F), 6.6c (11.9F) lower than normal. This is the coldest...