The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an international organization within the United Nations system, just approved a large Fukushima discharge into the Pacific Ocean. The pending discharge, which includes over 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of “treated” radioactive water, will be released from the infamous Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Chinese customs and food safety regulators... 

Despite the introduction of ten different sanctions packages aimed at pressuring Russia to end the war in Ukraine, the value of imports from Russia to EU countries has only decreased by five percent over the past year, the Europaportal reports. Instead of reducing their imports, twelve EU countries have actually increased them. The EU is now preparing an eleventh package of sanctions against Russia... 

Over the weekend, Poland and Hungary banned imports of Ukrainian grain and other food products after cheap goods flooded their markets. The move was a result of Ukrainian grain being stuck in the country due to blocked ports for many months prior to the UN-brokered grain export deal. While much of it flowed into neighboring Poland, the majority tended to remain stuck in the country, which severely... 

Ukraine’s parliament voted to ban certain Russian books and music in attempts to rid the nation of Russian culture and influence. In a vote which passed Sunday, the sale and production of certain books are now severely limited. Post-1991 Russian citizens are not allowed to print books in Ukraine unless they give up their Russian passports and become Ukrainian citizens. The ban is targeted at authors... 

EU ambassadors have so far failed to reach an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia, as Hungary continues to oppose a ban on Russian oil imports, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the talks. The EU has already come up with five rounds of sanctions, which are being imposed in response to Moscow’s ongoing military offensive in Ukraine. Earlier this week the... 

French presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, in an interview on Tuesday, raised her voice against imposing sanctions on Russia’s energy exports since, she believes, the French will have to pay dearly for those restrictions. Le Pen noted that she is not against anti-Russian sanctions in other sectors of the economy. “I stand against sanctions concerning energy because I do not want the French... 

Argentina became the first of the continent’s three top economies to sign up for the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Buenos Aires and Beijing have signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s multibillion-dollar global infrastructure development project. The document was part of a package of cooperation agreements signed on Sunday in Beijing during a visit... 

Donald Trump might not care about America or Americans or any of that other stuff, but you know what he has the strength to defend? Google can always count on Donald Trump. Why should they ever have to pay taxes to anyone ever, after all? In 2020, I won’t be voting for building a wall, ending wars, dealing with the opioid crisis, or any of those other things I thought I was voting for last time. Oh... 

The White House has announced a 25-percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods in what it calls a clampdown on unfair trade practices by Beijing. The US trade representative’s office said it issued a revised China tariff list covering 1,102 separate product categories. The first package of revised tariffs will apply to $34 billion of Chinese imports, on 818 product lines, and will enter... 

Ruling coalition lawmakers stand to approve the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal in the lower house of the parliament in Tokyo on November 10, 2016. Japan’s Lower House of parliament has passed the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, despite the fact the deal is likely doomed after Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory. Even... 

When the global economy is doing well, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes up, and when the global economy is in recession, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes down. It is just basic economics. Governments around the world have become very adept at manipulating other measures of economic activity such as GDP, but the trade numbers... 

The Kremlin says it will tighten an existing ban on the import of fruits and vegetables from Europe through Bulgaria over concerns that Sofia may be attempting to send European products into Russia using false documents. On Monday, the deputy head of Russia’s agricultural regulator, Yulia Shvabauskene, said Moscow had stopped re-exports, or the export of goods which have been imported, through Bulgaria. Shvabauskene... 

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... 

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... 

Russia will reportedly consider tightening tit-for-tat sanctions against the Western states if the United States and the European Union (EU) impose more bans on Moscow. On Monday, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that Moscow may “fully or partly” ban car imports should Washington and its EU allies adopt fresh sanctions against the country over its alleged role in...