Author: Steven Sahiounie

Gen. Mark Milley stepped down on Friday after a tumultuous term as the top US military officer that saw him face repeated crises abroad and on the home front, where he served through the chaotic final months of the Trump presidency.The Pentagon put on an elaborate farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, attended by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden.He was to be replaced as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Air Force General Charles “CQ” Brown — the second African American to hold the top military job.A barrel-chested army veteran of countless foreign deployments…

RIYADH: Against the backdrop of Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ economic diversification efforts, Islamic banks are poised to outperform their conventional counterparts in profit margins, as per a recent report by Moody’s Investors Service. Fueled by stable oil prices and steadfast economic agendas, increased business activities within Islamic financial institutions over the next 12 to 18 months are anticipated in the GCC region. In its latest report, the global credit rating agency forecast that the profitability margins of these Shariah-compliant banks will surpass those of traditional outfits in 2024, largely attributed to their inherent margin advantage. As the regional economy expands, the…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Thursday, losing 20.98 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 11,055.96. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.26 billion ($1.67 billion) as 98 of the listed stocks advanced, while 114 retreated. The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu rose 58.5 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 22,690.31. This jump came as 32 of the listed stocks advanced while 19 retreated. Similarly, the MSCI Tadawul Index dropped 4.85 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,415.67. The best-performing stock of the day was Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co. The company’s share price…

RIYADH: Financial trade between the UAE and Egypt is expected to surge after the monetary authorities of the two nations signed a currency swap agreement. The countries’ respective central banks formalized an arrangement between the UAE dirham and the Egyptian pound, according to a press statement. The deal, signed by Central Bank of the UAE Gov. Khaled Mohamed Balama and his Egyptian counterpart Gov. Hassan Abdullah, allows for the exchange of local currencies between the two institutions with a nominal size of up to 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion) and 42 billion Egyptian pounds. A currency swap agreement is a…

LONDON: Oil prices rose on Friday and were headed for a gain of about 3 percent for the week, driven by tight US supply and expectations of strong fuel demand in China during the Golden Week holiday, according to Reuters. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.31, or 1.43 percent, to $93.02 per barrel at 3:08 p.m. Saudi time. Front-month Brent November futures were up 88 cents, or 0.92 percent, at $96.26 per barrel ahead of the contract’s expiry later in the day. The more-liquid Brent December contract was up 97 cents, or 1.04 percent, at $94.07 per barrel. A…

LONDON: World shares nudged higher on Friday, while better-than-expected euro zone inflation data boosted government bonds, with both asset classes still set for their worst quarter in a year in response to central banks’ pledge to keep interest rates high, according to Reuters. MSCI’s broad index of global stocks gained 0.4 percent on Friday, while European and US government bonds rallied strongly to reflect markets resetting interest rate bets. In a surprise bout of good news for hawkish central banks, data showed headline inflation in the euro area rose 4.3 percent in September year-on-year, below economists’ forecasts for a 4.5…

RIYADH: Driven by the increased use of advanced technologies, most large companies in Saudi Arabia expect low levels of security threats in 2024, a threat assessment investigation has revealed. According to the World Security Report released by London-based global security firm G4S, the Kingdom is consolidating its position as one of the best countries in the region to do business, thanks to its widespread adoption of advanced technology. “The government’s measures to stamp down on cybercrime, along with its substantial investments in advanced technologies and digital upskilling in the context of Saudi Vision 2030, make the country an attractive hub for businesses,” said Mahmoud Mudhaffar, managing director of G4S in Saudi Arabia, in a statement. The study found that the Kingdom had the lowest intrusion and competitor sabotage rates at 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Last year, Saudi Arabia experienced lower levels of external threats related to vandalism, trespass and…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has started paying dividends, with the Kingdom’s overall unemployment rate declining to 4.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, a dip of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous three months, official data showed. The report released by the General Authority for Statistics revealed that the rate of joblessness among Saudi nationals reached 8.3 percent in the second quarter, dropping 0.2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of this year. The overall unemployment rate in the Kingdom decreased by 1.4 percentage points in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2022, the report…

Moscow and its trade partners should switch to transactions in national currencies, Andrey Kostin believes Russia should abandon the use of the Western-controlled global financial messaging system SWIFT, the head of Russia’s second-largest bank has argued. VTB CEO Andrey Kostin has been persistently calling for the increased use of domestic currencies by Russia and its trade partners, describing it as a sanctions-induced necessity. “We need to kill SWIFT in our transactions, the issue is quite simple, but it will require certain actions, including within individual countries,” Kostin stated on Friday at the International Banking Forum in Sochi. He noted that most…

New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley have seen train lines shut down and highways flooded after overnight deluge Sudden, heavy rain in the northeastern US has triggered flash flooding across large areas of New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley on Friday, leading Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams to declare emergencies. With up to five inches of rain reportedly hitting southern New York in the early hours of Friday morning, many city streets and over half of its subway system were rendered impassable by morning rush hour. The MetroNorth railroad…