Bitcoin is an indiscriminate and pure technology, with which you can be anywhere and be anybody and still be able to spend - that'€™s why it'€™s very popular in the developing world, economist Jeffrey Tucker told RT. "Bitcoiniacs" has set up the first ever bitcoin ATM. Is this pushing legal boundaries? How will the authorities view this? [...]

When Edward Snowden met journalists in his cramped room in Hong Kong's Mira hotel in June, his mission was ambitious. He wanted to start a debate about mass surveillance.He succeeded beyond anything the journalists or Snowden himself ever imagined. His disclosures about the NSA resonated with Americans from day one. But they also exploded round the world. [...]

It seems that President Obama is very much aware of the effects of his drone campaign, as he reportedly told aides he'€™s "€œreally good at killing people."€ The quote comes from a new book called “Double Down,” by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, which chronicles the inside story of the 2012 election. [...]

An anti-nuclear lawmaker broke a taboo, drawing heavy criticism in Japan, by handing the Emperor a letter of concern over the issue of the growing Fukushima radiation and the impact on children’s health. [...]

Supporters of the Taliban and al- Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing “due process rights” as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending. [...]

Chinese Politburo member Yu Zhengsheng said reforms to be discussed at a Communist Party meeting next month will be unprecedented, adding to signs that leaders are resolved to spur far-reaching policy changes. [...]

A new study has found that levels of air pollution downwind of the largest tar sands, oil and gas producing region in Canada rival levels found in the world’s most polluted cities. And that pollution isn’t just dirtying the air — it also could be tied increased [...]

Debates about mass surveillance and calls for "€œreforms to politics, supervision and laws"€ mean leaks about US secret service were justified, a former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden wrote in his "€œManifesto for the Truth." In his opinion piece, published in German Der Spiegel news magazine on Sunday, Snowden writes that his revelations have in fact been useful and society will benefit fr [...]

This past Monday the government-controlled Chinese media aired a detailed nuclear attack plan on major U.S. cities and military bases.  Outlets on which it appeared included China Central TV, the Peoples Daily, the Global Times, the PLA Daily, the China Youth Daily and the Guangmin Daily. [...]

Check out Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick with Abby Martin. Being a patriot is a lot more than agreeing with the government, it means making a country better than it was even if the truth is unpleasant. For far too long people chose not to recognize the truth about foreign policy even when it was staring them in the face. Oliver Stone is a patriot. JFK and the Untold History of Oliver Stone T [...]

Federal whistleblowers have alerted the White House to what they say is a “gross waste of government funds” by Department of Homeland Security agents, the likes of which has cost the United States approximately $8.7 million a year. The US Office of Special Counsel sent a report to President Barack Obama on Thursday, [...]

We are facing a unique crisis as our renewed vigor for attaining enlightenment clashes with our materialist based economy and fear-based politics. Is there a way we can reconcile our current systems with the new spiritual paradigms? If not, how can we reform them? Daniel Pinchbeck explores the cultural benefits of enlightenment [...]

With the US global surveillance program under scrutiny, what are the possible diplomatic and economic repercussions? Is France and Germany’s anger justified or is it being blown out of proportion? Why would the US spy on its allies? And is the US Department of Defense lying about economic espionage? [...]

This week saw the most extraordinary scene materialize in Washington DC. Nine-year-old Nabeela ur Rehman, from North Waziristan in the remote tribal region of Pakistan, arrived to a media blitz. She came to tell her own personal story to the nation, in front of the US Congress and national media, of drone horrors and the savagery of America’s secret assassinations overseas. [...]

President Barack Obamas approval rating has declined to an all-time low as public frustration with Washington and pessimism about the nations direction continue to grow, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Just 42 percent approve of the president’s job performance, which is down five points from earlier this month. By comparison, 51 percent disapprove of his job in office -- [...]

US President Barack Obama has called on the National Security Agency to halt spying on the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in conjunction with a review of surveillance activities, Reuters reported. A US official told the news agency that President Obama curbed the spying within the last few weeks. [...]

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has met with a German MP in Moscow. He passed a letter addressed to the German government and federal public prosecutor where he allegedly said he is ready to testify over Washington's probable wiretapping of Merkel'€™s phone. During the meeting, Snowden made it “clear that he knows a lot,” Greens lawmaker Hans-Christian Stroebele told ARD channel. [...]

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere says Europe cannot return to normal business with the US following revelations that Washington spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We can't simply return to business as usual,” de Maiziere said in a Thursday interview in response to a question about possible effects of the act of espionage [...]

Despite having front-door access to communications transmitted across the biggest Internet companies on Earth, the National Security Agency has been secretly tapping into the two largest online entities in the world, new leaked documents reveal. Those documents, supplied by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that the US intelligence agency and its Bri [...]

China'€™s leadership will soon usher in bold reforms to support a domestic consumption-driven economic model, and globalizing the renminbi as an alternative store of wealth to the US dollar is at the center of the strategy. The scathing commentary published by China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency calling for a "de-Americanized world" was undoubtedly music to the ears of many in the developin [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been ranked the most powerful person in the world by Forbes. He topped the list of the 72 world figures that "€œmatter the most,"€ while US President Barack Obama was rated second. Putin’s Syria “chess match” that prevented the US strike, and his having the last word in the diplomatic row over the fugitive NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, didn’t [...]

Ecuador's president, one of the most vocal critics of Washington'€™s spying methods, has met for talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. His visit follows new NSA revelations which have brought US surveillance and Edward Snowden into the spotlight yet again. [...]