Venezuela

It is sad to see the deterioration of Turkey?s investment environment. I hear more and more that in order to do business in Turkey, you need to hire fewer lawyers and talk to more politicians. ?It?s all about finding the right connections,? they say. 

Venezuela and Russia have agreed to invest more than USD 14 B in the oil and gas industry of the South American country, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said.

Venezuela is apparently on the road to transitioning from … socialist economic disaster into a caricature of a country, as the country’s tropical overlords have declared war on an … app and Google!

Greece’s far-left energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis on Wednesday praised the … Bolivarian Republic (socialist Venezuela) as an “example for smaller countries”!

Bulgarian customs officers have seized 2.7 kg of cocaine at Sofia International Airport being smuggled by a female citizen of Venezuela, the National Customs Agency (NCA) announced on Thursday.

The drug was discovered in the luggage of the traveller who had arrived on a flight from Brazil via Doha, Qatar.

Net profit more than doubled at Spanish lender BBVA in the first quarter from a year ago, as its Turkish arm, Garanti Bankasi also increases profits. 

Like Spanish peer Santander, BBVA makes more than 80 percent of its profit overseas, a model that helped it to counter a double-dip recession at home in recent years.

Chinese soldiers arrive in Moscow ahead of May 9

BEIJING -- Members of the Chinese army's guards of honor have arrived in Moscow, according to the Chinese embassy in Russia, Xinhua is reporting.

They will for the first time take part in the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, scheduled for May 9.

Montenegro intends one day to set up joint diplomatic representatives offices with a number of countries, including Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania, a Montenegrin diplomat in Kosovo has said.

The Montenegrin Charge d'Affaires in Kosovo, Radovan Miljanic, said the time was not far off when Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia would have a number of joint embassies and consulates.

A deal with Euro zone creditors is still pending and Washington seethed over the possibility that a convicted terrorist may skip his jail cell, yet in another corner of Athenian officialdom on Monday a top minister was receiving ? Hugo Chavez's daughter!

Barack Obama and Raul Castro held the first face-to-face talks between US and Cuban leaders since 1956 in Panama on April 11, vowing to pursue their historic effort to bury Cold War-era enmity.