French bank Credit Agricole was accused by Washington of dealing with countries under US embargo and processing financial transactions for Sudan, Cuba and Iran through the United States. Several bank employees responsible for the transactions have already been fired, media reported. The bank agreed to pay $800 million in fines for the illegal financial transactions carried out in the period from 2003... 

Russia has no intention of canceling its embargo on food products from countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich says. “We are not planning to cancel the food embargo so far,” said Dvorkovich at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Saturday. The deputy premier added that Russian authorities are instead discussing the reduction of... 

A handout picture released by Costa Rica’s presidency shows Cuban President Raul Castro delivering a speech during the inauguration of the III CELAC Summit 2015, 20 km northwest of San Jose, on January 28, 2015. Cuban President Raul Castro has said that US interference in his country’s internal affairs would render rapprochement between the two countries “meaningless.” Castro’s... 

“I don’t trust the policy of the United States… but this does not mean I reject a pacific solution to the conflicts,” iconic former Cuban leader Fidel Castro commented on the push for a restoration of Cuban-American ties. This is the first time the ex-revolutionary president has spoken publicly since the December 17 US push for a historic reconciliation between the two nations. The... 

The powerful regional organisations created in Latin America, an important legacy of the late Hugo Chavez, have forced cracks in Washington’s 50-year economic blockade of Cuba. Senior US regime figures have called on President Barack Obama to loosen the blockade. Obama loosened a few of the additional measures imposed by Bush the Second (lifting some severe restrictions on family member visits)... 

Buzz Feed reported today that Obama secretly signed a long awaited executive order on Cyber Security, then issued an embargo to all news organisations NOT to cover the developments. The report states: Shortly before 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, the White House emailed reporters that President Obama had signed a highly anticipated Executive Order aimed at protecting cyber security. The order — setting up new... 

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr Australia has expanded the economic sanctions against Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program. In a statement on Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said that the new sanctions target Iran’s financial, trade, energy and transport sectors, the Associated Press reported. Carr claimed that the sanctions aim to mount pressure on Iran over its nuclear... 

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro has told leaders and diplomats gathered in New York for a UN session that the US trade embargo on Cuba violates international law. Almagro made the remarks on Saturday in an address during the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. “Our country rejects any coercive unilateral or extra-territorial measure... 

Switzerland will continue to purchase Iranian oil in defiance of the European Union sanctions on the Islamic Republic that came into effect on July 1. The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs stated that Switzerland will not join the oil embargo against Iran, despite pressure from the United States and the EU, IRNA reported on Friday. Switzerland says that any decision on the import, sale,... 

An Iranian oil tanker The South Korean Economy Ministry says Seoul and Tokyo have asked the European Union to extend insurance contracts on tankers carrying Iranian crude after the bloc’s oil embargo comes into effect on July 1. “To the EU members, we explained the problems that could be caused to non-EU members by the EU insurance embargo,” the ministry said in a Monday statement. “In close... 

A rare earth mine in China, which this week announced that it would cut its annual export quota for rare earths in 2011. China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted some shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said this week. The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are...