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UK property bubble may jeopardize Britain’s economic recovery
Soaring house prices and persistently high levels of household debt could drive Britain's economy back into recession, the Bank of England's governor has warned. Challenged by Treasury select committee MPs on the subject of Britain’s financial stability, Mark Carney admitted the threat of a UK property bubble posed the most substantial risk to the state’s economic recovery. [...]
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US Federal Debt to reach 106% of GDP by 2039
America’s public debt will rise to 106 percent of GDP in the next 25 years, a level seen just once in US history - just after World War II, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned. US debt has skyrocketed to over $17 trillion, and is now about 74 percent of total gross domestic product, the CBO said on Tuesday. [...]
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Air travel prices in US to climb as TSA fees increase
Air travel in the US is set to become more expensive beginning next week - but airline profits and jet fuel costs aren't to blame this time. Instead, the price hike will come as a result of a TSA fee increase. The Transportation Security Administration’s fee – known as the ‘Civil Aviation Security’ or the ‘9/11 Security’ fee – helps fund the agency. [...]
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“No to TAFTA” France celebs campaign against EU-US trade deal, sign petition
One hundred French celebrities have launched a campaign against the upcoming TAFTA deal between the US and Europe. The protesters say the new treaty will lower economic standards and bring a large influx of GMO products from the US. The petition dubbed: “Everyone against TAFTA” started on June 10 and has gathered over 5,500 signatures so far. [...]
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Junk food gets encoded in DNA of future children, scientists discover
The next time you wolf down that Big Mac with large fries consider you may be affecting more than your own waistline. Scientists now say an unhealthy diet can be encoded into DNA, which is passed down to future generations. By now, most people have heard various negative things about a Western diet: it is too fatty, too salty and too sugary. [...]
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Ukraine gas debt exceeds $5bn, no June payments made – Gazprom
Ukraine's gas bill has risen another $838 million, after Kiev failed to make a payment for 1.7 billion cubic meters of Russian gas supplied in the first half of June. “The deadline for paying June bills expired yesterday; we again didn’t receive the money from Naftogaz Ukraine. As a result Ukraine’s debt to Gazprom for the 1.7 billion cubic meters supplied from June 1 through June 16 rose to [...]
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Germany’s failed attempts to get its gold back from the US ‘opens question of its sovereignty’
There is neither real criticism from German politicians, nor any visible efforts to return German gold held in the US, so it seems that US controls Germany, economic analyst Michael Mross told RT. In one of its recent reports Bloomberg claimed that Germany decided not to repatriate its gold reserves from the US, instead the Bundesbank issued an official statement that underscores it’s "trust" in [...]
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Solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations couldn’t compete
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. [...]
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Airbus 340 and Boeing 767 nearly collide at Barcelona airport – video
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 [...]
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More Money Please: A New Plan to Boost Europe’s Straggling Investments
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. [...]
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Facebook mind control experiments linked to DoD research on civil unrest
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 [...]
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Russian companies “de-dollarize” and switch to yuan, other Asian currencies
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. [...]
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Germany gives Verizon the boot over NSA spying scandal
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. [...]
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Austria and Russia sign South Stream gas pipeline treaty
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. [...]
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Gas transit pipeline explodes in E. 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.” [...]
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Gazprom puts Ukraine on gas prepayment plan after “€˜chronic”€™ failure to pay debt
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. [...]
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Russia and Ukraine fail to reach gas deal ahead of cut-off deadline
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 [...]
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€˜”No more delays”€™: Gazprom CEO sets hard deadline for Ukraine gas payment
Gazprom will not postpone Ukraine’s 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. [...]
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€‹Flaming water wells? High methane levels in Texas water linked to fracking
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. [...]
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