World & Politics
Greece and the Eurogroup: Yet another stalemate - 02/13/2017
Discord between the IMF, the Greek government and other European institutions, politicians and civil servants broke just before a meeting of finance ministers of the EU countries on Feb. 20. Last week, price of Greek bonds fell sharply, yield of two-year securities rose to 10%. These levels have not been seen since last June. The Eurogroup wants to the crisis to be finished before February ends...
US Appeals Court upholds suspension of Trump's immigration ban - 02/10/2017
US federal appeals court ruled that Donald Trump’s executive order "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" will not be renewed. The US president, in turn, has already promised to appeal the decision, and to seek to ban Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, Libyan, Somalian, Sudanese and Yemenite nationals entering the country. The federal appeals court of the US refused to...
Sweden to say "no" to a cashless society, in the end. - 02/09/2017
After what slowly became a real build-up to the decision, Sweden is opting for a last-minute turn-around. Cash-killing supporters around the world are much disappointed with the change of heart, as Sweden was expected to be the champion and testing ground for the socio-economic experiment.
The eurozone economic growth may get ahead of the US in 2017-2018 - 02/09/2017
Despite the "Trump’s bullish effect" and traditional preconception that the Eurozone is fighting with endless stagnation, the Old World is outriding the New. Last year, the euro area’s growth rate was higher than in the United States, and the trend may continue for another two years. However, problem countries like Greece and Italy can trip beginning of the rally up. Despite fears of Italian...
China introduces biometrics for border control security - 02/09/2017
Chinese Ministry of Public Security said today that every foreign national between the ages of 14 to 70 years, entering the country will be fingerprinted. The new rule comes in force tomorrow, and will not concern diplomatic staff. The measure, which is introduced in order to strengthen security of China, will be introduced at the airport in Shenzhen at first, and then will be extended to all...
Catalonia Ex-Prime Minister Artur Mas comes up to trial, crowds protest - 02/07/2017
A landmark case with former Head of the Catalonian Government of Artur Mas and his two associates began in Barcelona yesterday. The defendants are accused of abuse of authority and disobedience to law enforcement authorities during organization of a referendum on the Spanish region’s independence on November 9, 2014. Mister Mas is supported not only by about 40 thousand Catalans, who gathered...
US revises policy toward Iran - 02/03/2017
The US administration of President Donald Trump started to re-build relationship with Iran, one of the main geopolitical rival of Washington. Mr. Trump yesterday criticized Tehran for test firing with medium-range missiles. Besides, he made it clear that he is extremely unhappy with terms of the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015, which previous President Barack Obama considered one of the major...
British Parliament launches the Brexit process - 02/02/2017
Yesterday, British MPs finished two-day debate on a bill, which opens a way for negotiations between London and Brussels on Brexit conditions. The majority voted in favor of a "civilized divorce", which can officially start on March 9th. British Prime Minister Theresa May is charged with a difficult task to defend the government’s positions on two fronts. Not only has she to persuade European...
India is dissatisfied with leading rating agencies - 02/01/2017
India questioned methodology used by international rating agencies. The country expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that ratings of the third largest Asian economy have not increased despite acceleration in the economic growth and improvement of main indicators, Bloomberg reported. "The rating agencies have conflicting standards", - said Chief Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance...
Saudi Arabia says farewell to tax-free life - 01/31/2017
Tax-free life may soon become history for people of Saudi Arabia, as the country's government approved introduction of value added tax, proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reports The Guardian. The 5% tax will be applied to certain products in accordance with agreement on cooperation of the six Gulf countries, which was reached in June 2016. Residents of the region have long...
