The outgoing year has been extremely difficult for Venezuela, where inflation continues to break records, and the confrontation between the branches of government has reached its climax. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro, although controlled by the Parliament, have not been able to carry their point and organize a referendum on resignation of Head of state. As a result, they hardened their...

US Customs Service is now requesting from foreigners arriving in the country information on their activities in social networks. In particular, the authorities are interested in their accounts in social networks and their usernames. So far, consent to answer these questions is voluntary, and refusal isn’t supposed to affect decision on admission. US authorities began testing a new way to detect...

German magazine Spiegel, citing data from the federal government, reported that in 2016 the German authorities received three times more applications for refugee status from Turkish citizens than in 2015. Given that 80% of requests have come from ethnic Kurds, this phenomenon could probably be explained by mass arrests that took place in Turkey after the military coup on July 15. "Ankara is in an...

The National Audit Office of China held inspections in the public sector, and punished more than 3 thousand officials for financial irregularities. As a result, $ 23 billion have been returned to the budget in total. At the same time, the government is planning to commence checking military spending since new rules for audit of military expenditures come into force in 2017. As China's National...

Summer Olympics in Tokyo, to be held in 2020, will cost the country $ 15 billion to $ 16.8 billion, said organizers of the Olympics. The initial expected cost was approximately $ 2.4 billion in the past year, then the amount rose to $ 15 billion. Not so long ago, experts expressed concern that the expenses might exceed 3 trillion yen ($ 25.5 billion). Tokyo’s authorities promised to cut costs and...

Still acting US President Barack Obama is going to block rights to offshore drilling in the largest part of the Arctic and the Atlantic. This step may limit oil production on the shelf for a long time, reports Bloomberg. Obama is going to rely on provisions of a law adopted 1953. It empowers President with a right to exclude areas in coastal waters from oil and gas production. The decision has...

Elections and referendums in developed democracies are now not a routine process, but rather a destructive factor. Experts point out that those who are now called "nationalists" and "populists" may lead the key Eurozone countries to collapse of the euro zone or even to a new global recession. Overthrow of governments in the Arab world has been called Arab Spring. However, very few people in the...

Decision of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban a significant portion of cash in the country (so-called demonetization) hit the Indian economy hard. Here’s, for example, Foxconn. The manufacturer decided to lay off 25% of the total labor force since the company's sales fell by 50% after demonetization. This, in turn, forced the company to halve production. Social unrest and loss of...

The European Union and Cuba signed an agreement on political dialogue and cooperation with aim to normalize relations between the West and the island state, reports AFP. Ceremony of the agreement signing took place in Brussels. The document was signed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. The...