Author: Steven Sahiounie

“Everyone knows this. For what purpose public, boisterous statements are made on one issue or another: that we will be a mediator, that we will give some long-range missiles to be fired on Russian territory – it is very difficult for me to see anything rational in these statements,” the top Russian diplomat said France is offering its services to mediate the Ukrainian crisis is mere grandstanding amid the difficulties Europe is experiencing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters. “Knowing what is going on in Europe now, it (the desire to mediate – TASS) is probably a desire to…

In their final communiqué issued on Thursday, the leaders of the BRICS expressed concern about the use of unilateral measures that negatively affect developing countries. BRICS leaders supported reforms at the United Nations, including the Security Council, in order to make the organization more democratic and effective. The final communiqué following the summit currently being held in Johannesburg, South Africa, read: “We express our concern at the use of unilateral coercive measures, which are inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and lead to negative consequences, particularly in developing countries.” “We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening…

 Fadel al-Buainain, a member of the Saudi Shura Council, said that increasing the number of BRICS members, including Saudi Arabia, achieves more economic strength for the group.The member of the Shura Council and the Saudi economic adviser, in a statement to” Sputnik”The important step of joining the new countries will benefit the group and the new members, especially in light of estimates that the BRICS is expected to control 44 percent of the global economy by 2040.” Source: Sputnik

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Hamid, Undersecretary of the Economic Affairs Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives, said that Egypt’s official accession to the BRICS is a great and important step, and reflects the great efforts of the political leadership. Abdel Hamid added in exclusive statements to “Sputnik” that this accession constitutes a very important economic relief for Egypt, as it will become one of the economic powers in the organization, which includes 5 important major countries in the world, stressing that Egypt also represents an added value to BRICS. With regard to the economic repercussions of Egypt’s accession to the…

Hailing Iran’s membership in the BRICS group of emerging economies, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said it can pave the way for the pursuit of objectives and development of macro strategies of the government. In a Thursday post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Amirabdollahian wrote, “Along with President Raisi, I traveled to South Africa to participate in the meeting of leaders of BRICS+ Summit.” In addition to strengthening multilateralism, the great success of accepting Iran’s membership in BRICS can provide the basis for the pursuit of goals and the development of other macro strategies of the government in the implementation of…

The head of the Center for Estrostrategic Studies and Research, Abbas Mezher, stated that the use and exploration of gas is not enough to carry out an economic renaissance in Lebanon. In an interview with Sputnik, Mezher pointed to a number of conditions related to governance that must be met at the level of political and economic practice and reforms, which would ensure the proper investment of oil and gas. And about what it will offer Gas discovery “Lebanon is witnessing today the start of gas and oil exploration operations in Block 9, and although the determination of the existence of great…

The devastating inferno caused up to $6 billion in losses, according to Moody’s RMS Damage from the deadliest wildfire in modern US history, which killed over 100 people and destroyed countless homes and businesses in Hawaii, could range from $4 billion to $6 billion, according to estimates by Moody’s RMS. The global catastrophe risk modeling and solutions company said on Tuesday the estimate reflects direct and indirect losses from damage to physical assets. It does not take into account the blaze’s effect on Hawaii’s gross domestic product, government spending on the response to the catastrophe, or the social cost of…

The number of insolvencies in Poland is rising, according to statistics cited by news outlet Rzeczpospolita The number of bankruptcy declarations in Poland is growing at a record pace as the threat of recession hits the country’s businesses, the Rzeczpospolita news outlet reported on Monday, citing data from business intelligence agency Dun and Bradstreet. In total, 110,500 companies suspended operations in the first half of the year, the outlet said. The number of businesses due to declare insolvency is expected to exceed 220,000 by December, which would represent a 30% increase on 2022. Construction is the worst-affected industry, with…

The 7.5 percentage point increase comes as Ankara returns to more “rational” economic policies, economists say   The Turkish central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 7.5 percentage points on Thursday to 25%, in a bid to curb spiraling inflation. The hike was significantly higher than the increase to 20% that many economists had expected. The regulator opted for a major increase in a sign of a turn to more “rational” economic policies after years of rate-cutting, which has been blamed for fueling inflation and the cost-of-living crisis in Türkiye. Thursday’s hike is further evidence that policymakers…

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Cabinet’s weekly meeting Wednesday, Javad Owji said the oil production volume will rise to 3.4m bpd by the end of summer. On Monday, he said Iran’s oil production had not exceeded 2 million bpd before the current administration took office, adding the country’s current crude oil production capacity stands at 3.8 million bpd. Owji also said the Oil Ministry and the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade are jointly following a plan to reduce air pollution. Production of electric vehicles (EVs) for public transportation fleet is among the other projects the two ministries are seriously…