Author: Steven Sahiounie

Duracell had earlier announced plans to end business operations in the sanctioned country US alkaline battery manufacturer Duracell will return to Russia under a new brand name at the end of September, news outlet Mash reported on Wednesday on Telegram, citing sources. According to the report, the products will be sold under the Opticell brand, with a red bear to be featured as the trademark instead of the Duracell Bunny. The price of batteries will reportedly double, from 50 to 100 rubles ($0.5 to $1) apiece. The company’s Russia office explained the price hike by parallel imports and other factors,…

Nine Palestinian detainees remain on an open-ended hunger strike today in protest of their unfair administrative detention under Israel’s so-called administrative detention policy, said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS). PPS said detainees Kayed al-Fasfous and Sultan Khlouf have been on hunger strike for 16 days. Another detainee, Osama Darkouk, has been on hunger strike for 12 days. Meantime, six other detainees have been on hunger strike for nine days. The six detainees are: Hadi Nazzal, Mohammad Taysir Zakarneh, Anas Kmail, Abdelrahman Baraka, Mohammad Basem Ikhmis, and Zuhdi Abdo. Last week, the PLO Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs called on…

JMC and Avtotor have agreed to phase in full-cycle production at the assembly line in Kaliningrad  The Avtotor plant in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad has begun manufacturing Chinese commercial JMC vehicles, the company announced on Wednesday. Three models of the Chinese brand have entered production at the plant, which previously assembled German BMW and South Korean Hyundai and Kia cars. “The Kaliningrad automaker Avtotor is cooperating with the Chinese company JMC in the production of high-tech commercial vehicles. The production of three models of the brand – the compact urban commercial vehicle Carrying, the universal commercial vehicle Conquer,…

“We always stand for peace, equality and a dialog among peoples,” the Belarusian president stated Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the time has come when it is necessary to present a common front against the warmongers. “The time has come when all people of good will need to unite and to present a common front against the warmongers of another world war, who have once again raised the banners of fascism and Nazism,” Lukashenko said in his greeting to the participants in the 2nd International Anti-Fascist Congress, the presidential press service said. He recalled that the US and its…

The documents will be signed following the leaders’ meeting during the upcoming ‘Belt and Road’ forum Moscow and Beijing are preparing a set of joint documents that are expected to be signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to China in October, Deputy Director-General of the Department of the European and Central Asian Region of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Cheng Yikun said. “We already work with our Russian colleagues if we are speaking about the final documents, which will be signed following the meeting between our leaders during the upcoming ‘Belt and Road’ forum,” he told journalists. “We will…

Exporters have reportedly agreed to boost sales of their foreign currency revenues The Russian authorities will refrain from introducing stricter capital controls to stem the depreciation of the ruble in exchange for concessions from exporters, the news outlet Vedomosti reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the discussions. According to the report, President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of stricter rules on sales of foreign-currency proceeds at a meeting with Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and other senior officials. During the discussion, it was announced that the Russian Cabinet of Ministers had struck an informal…

“I expect that we will face many challenges, because the situation in Ukraine is such that it has become clear that you cannot easily defeat Russia on the battlefield,” the Serbian leader said Serbia expects to face stronger-than-ever-before pressure to do an about-face and join the West in imposing sanctions on Moscow as the world begins to realize that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said. “I expect enormous pressure on the issue of imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation from next week; it will probably be the strongest pressure ever,” Vucic told the RTS TV channel.…

The EU’s biggest economy endured a recession last winter and is still struggling to buoy sluggish growth The deficit of qualified workers in Germany is getting worse, according to the latest Business Survey conducted by the Munich-based Ifo Institute among nearly 9,000 German corporations. The results of the poll, released on Wednesday, show that over 43% of respondents reported a deficit of skilled employees in July, up from just over 42% recorded in April. An all-time high of nearly 50% was reached in July 2022. “Despite a sluggish economy, many companies are still desperately searching for suitable employees,” says Ifo expert…

Domestic dealership Avtodom will start assembly with new partners in 2024, Denis Manturov has revealed     Russian auto dealer Avtodom could launch production at a former Mercedes-Benz plant in Moscow Region with new partners next year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who serves as trade and industry minister, announced this week. The minister specified that the factory would assemble light vehicles as the production line was designed specifically for this category. “I hope that my colleagues will finalize their agreements with the selected industrial partners and start production next year,” Manturov said on the sidelines of the Army-2023 forum. …

The drop marks the largest plunge for the cryptocurrency so far this summer The price of Bitcoin saw a significant fall on Thursday, briefly dipping below $26,000 in an 8% single-day decrease. Similar losses were also recorded for other digital currencies, including Ether, reportedly leading to the liquidation of $1 billion in crypto. After taking a 2% drop the day prior, Bitcoin tumbled to $25,409 at its lowest point on Thursday, reaching a two-month low before slightly recovering, CoinMarketCap reported. Ether and BinanceCoin also slid by several points, dropping by 6.5% and 6.4% respectively. The fall for Bitcoin brought the…