US court authorized the Federal Tax Service to request data on Bitcoin transactions and accounts, if they are related to US citizens. In particular, the authorities refer to Bitcoin wallets in Coinbase service. Watchdogs suspect that some people could use the service to dodge taxes. On Wednesday, the Federal Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the US Internal Revenue Service...

Brussels named countries – violators of EU fiscal discipline. The worst performance is observed in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia. Finland, Cyprus, Lithuania and Belgium also have problems. If the budget plan for 2017 is approved with violations, the disturbers may fall under sanctions. The European Commission has issued a warning to eight countries that do not comply with budgetary...

Experts in artificial intelligence are fleeing from American universities to technology companies. Google, Microsoft, Facebook are enticing scientists by offering them better conditions for funding and research. According to experts, this trend can lead to depletion of research base of universities, and problems with training of new specialists. Leading technology companies, including Google,...

Possible tax cuts and increased spending of the new US administration of President Donald Trump will have a global effect, says Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In its updated macroeconomic forecast, analysts expect an increase in global GDP thanks to US fiscal policy easing to 0.1% in 2017 and 0.3% in 2018. OECD has introduced an updated macroeconomic forecast with...

So far, Saudi Arabia has been getting through the drop in oil prices. The country’s national currency, riyal, is quite stable against the dollar, while currencies of many oil exporting countries have experienced extensive devaluation in 2014-2016. Riyal - dollar exchange rate was fixed at SAR 3,75/$ 1 in 1986, and has remained unchanged since then. The rate is backed by the central bank’s...

The Iranian leadership has confirmed their willingness not to violate nuclear deal with six international mediators, and fulfill requirements of the IAEA to get rid of surplus of heavy water. Removal of "a certain amount of heavy water" water in Oman was a response to criticism from the agency. Recall that the latter has accused Tehran of exceeding limits on heavy water. The IAEA’s warning came...

Several state institutions and corporate offices of Lotte Group and SK Group were searched in South Korea within investigation of cases of corruption in the country’s higher echelons. Investigators believe the companies transferred large sums to two non-profit foundations, controlled by a close friend President of South Korea, Choi Soon-sil. She, in turn, influenced decisions of the government...

According to a public opinion poll conducted by Gallup, the presidential elections increased proportion of Americans, who believe their country is divided, to a record extent of 77%. Gallup experts noted that a higher rate was observed only in 2012, when 69% of respondents said that the United States could be considered divided. "A record 77% of Americans believe that the nation is divided on...

Yesterday in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has officially announced her readiness to join new election campaign and run for the post of Prime Minister once again. In early December, her candidature should be approved by members of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), yet there’s no doubt that they will support their leader. In case of a new victory, Merkel may go down in history not...