Step-by-step Russia, China and other emerging economies are taking measures to reduce their dependence on the US dollar, F. William Engdahl notes, referring to Russia's crude oil benchmark initiative; the move could deal a dramatic blow to the "petrodollar's" dominance. [...]

Abby Martin Breaks the Set on the NYPD's iPhone Campaign, Resisting the War Tax, Injustice for Torture Victims, and a Former Marine's Views on Empire. On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin remarks on the NYPD's recent efforts in promoting the Apple iPhone's new security features, even though phone hackers can easily override the phones new fingerprint scanner. Abby then talks to Ed H [...]

Campbell Soup's announcement that it will become the first U.S. company to begin labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its products garnered accolades on Friday from food and safety groups, who heralded the development as a "significant win" for transparency. "The decision by Campbell’s sends a clear message to Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association which have spent hu [...]

US stocks tumbled after China's stock market crashed seven percent overnight on Thursday and crude fell to the lowest level in more than 12 years. In the recent four days, the Dow Jones index has plummeted 911 points, or more than five percent so far in 2016, making it the worst four-day percentage loss to start a year on record since 1897. [...]

A few months ago, entrepreneur Charles Devenish contacted me to tell me about his plans to develop various mining enterprises across India. He spoke about the massive amounts of untapped mineral resources lying beneath India that is just lying there and has been for a long time. [...]

The National Assembly of Venezuela, in its final session before a neoliberal dominated opposition takes the helm of legislative power on January 5, passed one of the most progressive seed laws in the world on December 23, 2015; it was promptly signed into law by President Nicolas Maduro. [...]

Corporate media failed to cover the dangers of business-friendly trade deals in 2015, despite growing grassroots opposition to such pacts—and increasing public awareness about their contents. Will 2016 be the year looming toxic trade policies catapult into the mainstream? Sierra Club trade representative Ilana Solomon hopes so. [...]

Germany’s Initiative Group wants to provide up to ‎€2 billion to finance the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway, according to the Vice President of Russian Railways (RZD) Aleksandr Misharin. "We have a proposal from our German colleagues on signing a similar [Russia-China – Ed.] memorandum on cooperation, where they make commitments on financing of up to €2 billion in the project on vari [...]

Martin Shkreli ‒ the pharmaceutical CEO infamous for jacking up drug prices 5,500 percent ‒ has been charged with securities fraud. The arrest is unrelated to his raising the price of life-saving pills exponentially, but to his time at a hedge fund. [...]

Greece has signed its first major privatization deal granting control of over a dozen regional airports to a German company. The agreement is part of international creditors’ demands to privatize state assets to secure €86 billion in bailout funds for Athens. The €1.23 billion contract gives a 40-year lease to the Frankfurt airport operator Fraport. [...]

The charade of the 21st United Nations climate summit will end, as past climate summits have ended, with lofty rhetoric and ineffectual cosmetic reforms. Since the first summit more than 20 years ago, carbon dioxide emissions have soared. Placing faith in our political and economic elites, who have mastered the arts of duplicity and propaganda on behalf of corporate power, is the triumph of h [...]

Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm after two of the oldest and largest corporations in the United States—DuPont and Dow Chemical—announced Friday plans to merge into a $130 billion giant, thereby establishing the world's biggest seed and pesticide conglomerate. The new behemoth, named DowDuPont, would then be split into "three independent, publicly traded companies through tax-free spin [...]

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is taking a bold step against biotech giant Monsanto and genetically modified seeds at large. In a new address to the Russian Parliament Thursday, Putin proudly outlined his plan to make Russia the world’s ‘leading exporter’ of non-GMO foods that are based on ‘ecologically clean’ production. [...]

Calling on the Scottish government to reject the undemocratic TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), 21 grassroots organizations on Tuesday joined tens of thousands of petitioners in demanding the Scottish National Party (SNP) take a tougher stand against the controversial trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. [...]

Major defense contractors Raytheon, Oshkosh, and Lockheed Martin assured investors at a Credit Suisse conference in West Palm Beach this week that they stand to gain from the escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner told the conference his company will see “indirect benefits” from the war in Syria, citing the Turkish military’s rece [...]

A global group of professionals, scientists and environmentalists – the Monsanto Tribunal – are preparing a trial for the GMO seed giant in The Hague. They say the crowdfunded action, determined to charge Monsanto with “ecocide,” is more than a symbolic move. The Monsanto Tribunal’s goal is to research and evaluate all of the allegations made against Monsanto in connection to all the [...]

Under the radar of corporate media and general public, a "dangerous proposal" is bubbling up in state legislatures throughout the country—one that could trigger "political chaos that would make past upheavals like the Watergate scandal and the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton seem tame by comparison." "We're sounding an alarm. This is a national train wreck that must be stopped."—Mi [...]

A group of Eastern European countries has sent a letter to the European Commission calling to block the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany bypassing Ukraine. They say it goes against the EU’s energy diversification and security policies. The countries against Gazprom’s deal with Berlin are headed by Slovakia and Poland who are believed to have initiated the campaign. They are [...]

12-year old Victoria Grant explains why her homeland, Canada, and most of the world, is in debt. April 27, 2012 at the Public Banking in America Conference, Philadelphia, PA. Support a public bank for YOUR state. Donate and make it happen! Every single charity in the world has got it wrong. They’re focusing on the wrong problem and therefore can’t see the right solution. That solution, whic [...]

Amid warnings that the proposed TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could undermine global attempts to rein in runaway climate change, new documents reveal that EU trade officials gave U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil access to confidential negotiating strategies considered too sensitive to be released to the European public. [...]

Aeroflot subsidiary Pobeda will start flying to Vienna and Bratislava from December 19. Tickets are on sale from Thursday with prices starting from 999 rubles ($15) including taxes and fees. The $15 promotional tickets will be offered to loyal customers, with one or two tickets available per flight, Russian business media RBK reported last week. [...]

Microsoft is building two new data centers to hold the data of its German and EU customers, the company has announced. EU courts recently ruled a previous data-transfer treaty with the US invalid, following the Snowden revelations of NSA data collection. Starting in late 2016, Microsoft’s cloud offerings will be hosted from the new data centers in Magdeburg and Frankfurt, CEO Satya Nadella an [...]