The political standoff between the West and Russia has put many through difficult times. Russia is living through a severe crisis, exacerbated by EU sanctions – but that’s as business in Europe also is in trouble, as the loss of a major partner has dealt a blow to prosperity. Can the European Union afford the confrontation, given the state some of its economies are in, and the dissent that [...]

More than a dozen minor earthquakes have struck western Alabama's Greene County since November. The area is near the Black Warrior Basin, where thousands of hydraulic fracturing natural gas wells have been operating in recent years. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Greene County has had 14 notable yet inexplicable seismic events since November 20, starting with a magnitude 3.8 quake 10 [...]

Sberbank has issued its first yuan-denominated letters of credit that involve funding from the Export-Import Bank of China to Russia’s largest pharmaceutical company. Pharmasyntez, Russia’s leading drug manufacturer, appealed to Sberbank with a request for funding credit guarantees in Chinese national currency as part of contracts for the supply of imported pharmaceutical products worth ove [...]

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a speech to parliament on Friday that his country cannot accept the "unrealistic" proposals set by its lenders that did not include a promise of debt relief. Tsipras said that the only offer worth considering and which held the basis of a deal with creditors was the one made by Athens earlier in the week and that other proposals set by Greece’s lend [...]

The Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization is gaining more weight with a dozen new nations showing interest in cooperation, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with foreign ministers of the bloc. “Other countries would like to strengthen their contacts with our organization. [...]

A new Texas law signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott prohibits cities and towns from imposing local ordinances to prevent fracking and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas activities. In debating the law, Texas lawmakers emphasized the state’s successful development of oil and gas for more than 100 years. [...]

Serbia is interested in joining the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, as it wants to ensure energy security for its citizens and cut dependence on deliveries via Ukraine, said the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic. "At present, we can express our readiness for participation in this project because we need reliable gas supplies," Dacic said at a news conference in Belgrade after [...]

The US still supports the Kosovo project even though it has failed and brought great instability to the region making many Kosovan extremists join ISIS and come back now to destabilize nearby Macedonia, says International affairs commentator Marko Gasic. Anti-government protests are back on the streets of Macedonia’s capital, Skopje. [...]

The US is no stranger to fatal railway accidents: over the last decade, dozens of lives were lost, and hundreds of people injured in train wrecks. All this is due to lack of funding, infrastructure and development, critics say. The latest Amtrak train crash has left at least six people killed and dozens injured, with the cause of the crash remaining unknown. [...]

The city council of Berkeley, California, will vote on a cellphone 'right to know' law on Tuesday, which would require phone retailers to include a notice informing customers of the recommended distance a phone should be kept away from the body. The proposed language includes the following warning: "If you carry or use your phone in a pants or shirt pocket or tucked into a bra when the phone is [...]

The Turkish Stream pipeline will become operational in December 2016, said head of Gazprom Aleksey Miller. "An agreement [between Russia and Turkey] has been reached on operational commissioning and the start of gas deliveries via Turkish Stream in December 2016,” said Miller, according to a statement released by Gazprom. [...]

A new audit by the US Department of Defense has reportedly revealed that Pentagon employees have been using their government credit cards to gamble and pay for other adult activities, including escort services. The 'Government Travel Charge Transactions' audit, conducted by the Office of the Inspector General, found that civilian and military employees have been using their cards at casinos and [...]

More than 5 million hens will be euthanized at an Iowa egg-laying facility after the majority of them were found to be contaminated with a lethal strain of avian influenza, or bird flu. It is the worst outbreak yet to be recorded in the US. This is the second time a bird flu epidemic has been reported in Iowa, which provides almost 20 percent of all eggs that are consumed in the United States. [...]

European aviation consortium Airbus said it would file criminal charges over industrial espionage, following reports that US and German foreign intelligence spied on the industry giant. "We are aware that as a large company in the sector, we are a target and subject of espionage," the company said in a statement to AFP on Thursday. [...]

Electric car producer Tesla Motors has adapted battery technology for household and business applications. The wall-mounted batteries will make solar power more accessible and throttle grid consumption to diminish loads and bills. [...]

Russia is not considering completely lifting the food embargo on products from the West, says Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. "We do not consider lifting the embargo currently in the broadest sense of the word, there are some special orders about individual products or countries,” said Dvorkovich. “These issues are being considered, but no final position has been formed so far." [...]

China intends to ramp up trade with Russia to $100 billion in 2015, the Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui has said. The $4.7 billion increase from last year cements the countries commitment to boosting cooperation in finance and energy. "We intend to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion this year,” Hui said at a news conference in Moscow Wednesday, as quoted by TASS. [...]

Russia's upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, has ratified the plan to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China. The deliveries are slated to begin as early as 2018. The bill hashes through the detail of exactly how the nearly 4,000 kilometer long pipeline will be built and operated. [...]

A "game changer" protein that promotes the body's immunity to cancer has been discovered by scientists, offering fresh hope the often deadly disease will be conquered in years to come. Researchers at Imperial College London discovered a “completely unknown” molecule, proven to improve the body’s immune system to fight off chronic illnesses. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that a free trade zone with Russia is possible in the future, despite the current political tensions with the West. “In the long view it is possible to create a large free trade zone, including with Russia,” Merkel said at Friday’s economic forum in Stralsund. [...]

People across Europe have kicked off a day of action against an emerging free trade pact with the US. They fear it could see corporate interests undermine worker's rights and consumer protection. Crowds have gathered in London, Munich, Brussels and other major European cities to march against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and similar secretive international trade dea [...]

Some European central banks have reportedly called on Greek bank subsidiaries operating in their jurisdiction to cut their exposure to Greek assets to avoid fallout should the country go into default. The central banks of Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have demanded Greek banks’ subsidiaries minimize their exposure to Greek bon [...]