Author: Steven Sahiounie

Detaching bilateral trade from Western currencies could strengthen intra-member cooperation, according to Redge Nkosi Establishing a BRICS common currency is an ambitious long-term task, although a joint payment system for intra-member trade could easily be launched in the near term, according to Redge Nkosi, executive director and head of research at South African company Firstsource Money. Speaking to RT on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa, he pointed out that Russia has already developed its own payment system, China and India are doing the same, and that there’s also a payment system in Latin America. “We’ve got…

The New Development Bank wants a more multipolar international financial system, the head of the institution says The New Development Bank is currently considering applications for membership from nearly 15 countries, head of the multinational lender Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday in an interview with the Financial Times. Rousseff, a former Brazilian president who currently heads the Shanghai-based lender, said it’s likely to accept and approve the admission of four or five new members, but declined to identify the countries. According to the official, the BRICS bank currently sees diversification of its geographic representation as one of its top priorities. …

The EU’s economic engine will continue to stall despite declining inflation, the German central bank warns German economic output stagnated in the second quarter of 2023 after contracting in the two previous quarters, and growth is expected to remain muted in the near term, the Bundesbank reported on Monday. “Economic output is likely to more or less stagnate again in the third quarter of 2023,” the central bank wrote in a monthly report. According to the forecast, industrial output is set to remain weak, as foreign demand has been on a downward trend lately. “High financing costs will probably continue to…

The Russian leader stressed that it was the wish of a number of Western countries to preserve their hegemony in the world that “has led to the grave crisis in Ukraine” Russia’s special military operation pursues the goal of ending the war in Ukraine unleashed by a number of Western countries and their satellites, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of BRICS leaders. “Russia has decided to support the people who are fighting for their culture, for their traditions, for their language and for their future. Our actions in Ukraine have only one reason – to put an…

The Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia expresses hope that the new relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia “will be based on common interests and mutual respect.” The Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia, headed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, expressed on Tuesday its aspiration to open a new phase of relations with Iran. King Salman presided over the session of the Council of Ministers at the Peace Palace in Jeddah. During the session, the Council “reviewed the measures taken toward implementing the agreement to resume diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, including having ambassadors from both countries…

A citizen was injured in a terrorist attack with shells on agricultural lands in Lattakia countryside. A source at Lattakia Police Command told SANA reporter that five shells were fired by the terrorist groups deployed in the northern countryside at agricultural lands fell in al-Qardaha area, wounding a citizen. Source: SANA

Dozens of fanatic Israeli settlers Wednesday morning broke into the compounds of al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy protection from the Israeli police. The extremist settlers, divded into groups, raided the holy Islamic Mosque from al-Maghariba gate and took provocative tours in its compounds. It added that the settlers performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern part of the Mosque. This comes at a time as Israeli forces intensify measures against Palestinians coming from Jerusalem to enter the Mosque, inspecting their IDs and briefly detaining them. Source: WAFA

According to Gregory Clark, given “a strong secretariat,” BRICS “could easily replace the Group of Seven and Group of 20” Russia, being one of the founding countries of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is acting as a unifying force in the organization and its role will be strengthened in the future, Australian expert on international affairs Gregory Clark told a TASS correspondent. According to Clark, BRICS countries have certain differences of opinion but strong ties with Russia unite them. “Countries focus on what unites them rather than what divides them, in the case of China and India,…

Israeli forces detained Wednesday 21 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, including three former prisoners. In Tulkarem, Israeli forces detained three Palestinians, one of whom was injured with a life bullet during confrontations that broke out near the city. In Jenin, the forces detained six Palestinians, while in Nablus, the soldiers detained four Palestinians including two former prisoners. Additionally, in Ramallah, the soldiers detained a 65-year-old Palestinian. In Hebron, Israeli forces detained five Palestinians and in Jerusalem the forces detained two. Source: WAFA

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier that air defenses had downed three unmanned aerial vehicles The downed drone damaged the glazing of the Neva Tower in the Moscow City district on three floors, emergency services told TASS. “The glazing of the Neva Tower in the Moscow City district was damaged on the 11th, 12th and 13th floors on an area of about 100 square meters after the crash of the downed drone,” the source said. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier that air defenses had downed three unmanned aerial vehicles. The first one fell over the Mozhaysky District of the…