By Salman Rafi Sheikh, Asia Sentinel The acknowledgement by Xu Shanda, a retired Chinese deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation, last week regarding potential losses of Silk Road projects has drawn widespread attention as it challenges the prevailing myth of an indomitable and inevitable system in which ultimately all roads will lead to Beijing. The … Continue reading
By Brandon Smith It’s been about 15 years now since passenger airliners struck the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, and we are still suffering the consequences of that day, though perhaps not in the ways many Americans might believe. The 9/11 attacks were billed by the Bush Administration as a “wake-up call” for the U.S., … Continue reading
By Peter Koenig On 19 April 2016, China was rolling out its new gold-backed yuan. Russia’s ruble has been fully supported by gold for the last couple of years. Nobody in the western media talks about it. Why would they? – A western reader may start wondering why he is constantly stressed by a US … Continue reading
By David Haggith, The Great Recession Blog As predicted relentlessly here, the scuttled meeting in Doha to limit oil production broke up with no agreement at all. The meeting foundered like a tanker snagged in the dessert sands because of the singular obvious factor that should have sunken all hope weeks ago but did not: Saudi Arabia said, “No deal without Iran.” Doha Disaster Predictable … Continue reading
Rising oil prices ahead of the production freeze talks in Doha added $3.7 billion to the value of Russian output, according to Bloomberg based on data from the International Energy Agency. Saudi Arabia got a $3.3 billion boost. Even the countries not involved in the talks have benefited from the freeze fuss. The US got … Continue reading
U.S. President’s low-key arrival and meeting with King Salman underscores tension that has deepened over US policy towards Iran and the war in Syria . Barack Obama arrived to a noticeably low-key reception in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday against a background of mutual irritation in a relationship tested by a turbulent Middle East, plummeting oil … Continue reading
By Ante Batovic The recent Doha meeting of major oil producers failed to agree oil output freeze deal and confirmed the existence of deep disagreements within Opec. The oil prices agony continues as major oil producers failed to reach an agreement on production freeze at the long-expected meeting in Doha on April 17. The expectations … Continue reading
The failure of the world’s leading oil producers to reach an agreement on capping production has been aggravated by the threat of more sparring between Saudi Arabia and Iran over market share. The talks failed after Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said they wouldn’t agree to a deal unless Iran joined in. … Continue reading
By Pepe Escobar The Panama Papers psyops revealed that – ailing – King Salman of Saudi Arabia is among a roast of notorious offshore profiteers “in relation” to “associates”. The House of Saud used British Virgin Islands shell companies to take out at least $34 million in mortgages for lavish houses in London and “a luxury yacht the size … Continue reading
The world’s major oil producing nations failed to strike an agreement on Sunday night to freeze production, saying they needed more time to agree a deal to try to buoy the price of oil. What producers had hoped would be the first deal in 15 years ran into difficulty after Saudi Arabia – the largest … Continue reading