Giles Parkinson: As early as 2018, solar could be economically viable to power big cities. By 2040 over half of all electricity may be generated in the same place it's used. Centralised, coal-fired power is over. Last week, for the first time in memory, the wholesale price of electricity in Queensland fell into negative territory – in the middle of the day. [...]
A video filmed at Barcelona airport shows two planes almost crashing on the runway. An Airbus 340 is shown crossing the runway at El Prat Airport in Spain as a flight from Moscow is coming in to land. Seeing the Airbus in its path, the pilot of the Boeing 767 from Russia aborts the landing. The plane then lands safely on the runway shortly afterwards [...]
The euro crisis may have eased recently, but companies and countries in the common currency zone still aren't investing enough to fuel growth. The best solution, a Berlin economics institute argues, is to establish an EU-wide investment fund. Among economists, Marcel Fratzscher is considered to be particularly creative. [...]
Facebook's experiment on over half-a-million unsuspecting users has taken a new twist with the revelation that a researcher connected to a Department of Defense-funded program to use the military to quell civil unrest also participated in the study.
Social media sites exploded over the weekend after it was revealed that Facebook, no stranger to controversy of late, secretly manipulated posts be [...]
Russia will start settling more contracts in Asian currencies, especially the yuan, in order to lessen its dependence on the dollar market, and because of Western-led sanctions that could freeze funds at any moment. [...]
Citing concerns over the NSA's wiretapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top officials' phones, the German Interior Ministry announced Thursday that it will not renew its contract with Verizon to provide service for government ministries. As part of an effort to revamp its secure communications networks, the country will instead rely on Germany's Deutsche Telekom, Reuters reported. [...]
Russia and Austria have agreed on a joint company to construct the Austrian arm of the $45 billion South Stream gas pipeline project, which is expected to deliver 32 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to the country, bypassing Ukraine. [...]
An explosion has struck a pipeline in the central Ukrainian Poltava region. Witnesses say flames from the blast are up to 200 meter high. “The explosion occurred at about 14:45 local time in a field,” the local police press-service said in a statement. Due to the “flame and the high temperatures,” it was “impossible to get closer to the epicenter.” [...]
After failing to pay its gas bill, Ukraine now has to pay in advance for any natural gas from Russia, Gazprom said on Monday. Both companies have filed lawsuits against each other at the Stockholm Arbitration Court. “This decision was taken due to systematic failure of Naftogaz Ukraine to pay. [...]
Russia and Ukraine failed to resolve a gas pricing dispute during Sunday talks in Kiev. Gazprom says its demands have not changed and Kiev is expected to pay its debt of $1.95 billion by 06:00 GMT on Monday, otherwise the gas supply will be stopped. Gazprom’s position remained unchanged after EU-brokered negotiations finally ended around 2:30 a.m. Moscow time (10:30 p.m. GMT) on Monday [...]
Gazprom will not postpone Ukraineâs gas payment deadline set for Monday, CEO Aleksey Miller said. If Kiev fails to pay and therefore causes gas transit problems to Europe, Russia will pump more through the Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe pipelines. [...]
Testing of methane concentration in water of Parker County, Texas indicates a link between the dangerously high levels of natural gas in local water supply and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations in the gas-rich Barnett Shale, scientists say. [...]
The National Security Agency is collecting millions of images of people through its international surveillance network to be implemented in a number of other facial recognition programs, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden. [...]
The officially released agenda of the prestigious Bilderberg club meeting is not true, claims RT show host Daniel Estulin, a longtime watcher of the "secret world govt" group. He says he obtained the real agenda for this year's gathering in Copenhagen. [...]
The "Power of Siberia" is much more than a 30 year Sino-Russian gas/pipeline deal. Paying for the process accelerates the vogue to reduce dollar pricing. That, not the energy supply, will become the most acute threat to US economic hegemony. [...]
While this year's Int Economic Forum in St Petersburg saw fewer foreign guests due to sanctions tension, those who chose to leave politics aside told RT imposing economic restrictions on Moscow would mean "cutting the trees" they are "sitting on." [...]
China could replace Germany as Russia's biggest gas consumer, if Moscow and Beijing agree to add a route from Russia's Western Siberia to the one already agreed under a $400 billion contract, President Putin said at a meeting with media in St. Petersburg. [...]
Activists around the world will join the Gitmo Global Day of Action, demanding the prison be closed and an end to the indefinite detention of its inmates. They say President Obama hasn't fulfilled his promises as hunger strikes and force-feeding continue. [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Ukraine's military and security services are "dangerously interfering with press freedom" by detaining journalists working with Russian news agencies and denying others entry into the country. [...]
After 10 years of negotiations, Russia's Gazprom and China's CNPC have finally signed a historic gas deal which will provide the world's fastest growing economy with the natural gas it needs to keep pace for the next 30 years. The total value of the contract is $400 billion, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said. However, the price of gas stipulated in the document remains a "commercial secret." [...]
Economic interests, such as untapped shale gas resources, already sliced and diced by Western energy giants, are behind the Kiev government's "anti-terrorist" operation against the pro-federalist regions, foreign policy expert Nebojsa Malic tells RT. [...]
Hunter Biden, son of US VP Joe Biden, is joining the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine's largest private gas producer. The group has prospects in eastern Ukraine where civil war is threatened following the coup in Kiev. [...]