Author: Steven Sahiounie

Investors are nervously awaiting the outcome of Turkey’s presidential race in a runoff vote on May 28. They sent stocks tumbling Monday and pushed the value of its currency down to a new record low against the US dollar. Turkey’s benchmark BIST-100 index sank as much as 6.4% in pre-market trade after Sunday’s election in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan performed better than polls suggested, tallying about 49.5% of the vote to the opposition’s 44.9%. “An opposition victory looks to have become less likely and this will disappoint investors hoping for a return to orthodox economic policymaking and a more credible commitment to tackling Turkey’s inflation problem,”…

Americans’ debt levels continue to climb to new heights at a time when economic conditions are becoming increasingly less stable. Household debt balances set a fresh record high of $17.05 trillion during the first quarter, growing $148 billion or 0.9% from the fourth quarter of last year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday. That debt load has spiked by $2.9 trillion since the end of 2019. During the first quarter, the increases in debt were seen across practically all categories, with larger (and new record) balances for mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, student loans,…

By: Ahmed Abdu-Almalik Al-ansi | Yemeni journalist and translator. Yemeni People are always in Solidarity with Palestinian’s Righteous Revenge. On Sunday, 14 May, Yemeni people came out in mass rallies which are entitled as “Righteous Revenge of Free Folks” in the capital Sana ‘a and other governorates, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. ” Yemeni people always stand beside Palestinians, so we are with them from head to foot, and their righteous revenge is also our revenge. Today’s Mass rallies of Yemeni People in Sana’a and other governorates express our solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The rally participants condemned the…

President Mahmoud Abbas today urged the colonial states to redress the historical injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people. Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN Headquarters in New York in high-level meeting dedicated for the first time in UN history to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, President Abbas held colonial powers, particularly the US and Britian, directly responsible politically and morally for the Nakba and stressed that they have a historical responsibility to bring the historical suffering inflicted on Palestinians to an end. The Nakba (Arabic for the “catastrophe”) refers to the 1948 displacement and dispossession…

China and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ( DPRK) welcomed Arab League decision to resume Syria participation in its meetings, saying this step would help boost stability and development in the region. “Syria’s participation in the meetings of Arab League council would help boost its unity and accelerate development, enhance peace and stability in the region,” Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said at a press conference. Meanwhile, DPRK Foreign Ministry affirmed that the return of Syria membership to the Arab League is a great victory to Syria, as people and government. “The Syrian people’s struggle to keep…

A Syrian official delegation arrived Monday in King AbdulAziz International Airport to take part in the preparatory meetings ahead of the Arab Summit, expected to be held on May 19th. The Syrian delegation comprises Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Fayssal Mikdad and Information Minister Butrus Halaq. “The title of this summit is the joint Arab action and we are looking forward to the future,” Mikdad said in a press statement at the airport, adding “we are happy to be in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and we hope the summit would be successful.” Mikdad said this is a new opportunity to tell…

A previously anticipated platinum shortage will be worse than expected this year thanks to increased demand, particularly from the industrial sector, according to the World Platinum Investment Council. Global demand for platinum will see a 28% uptick this year compared to 2022, while supply will decrease 1% year-on-year, the organization said Monday. The platinum deficit for 2023 will be around 983,000 ounces (983 koz), the WPIC report said, which is a 77% upward revision compared to its last forecast in March.  Industrial demand, particularly in chemical and glass production in China, is looking to be the strongest on record, the report…

Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones believes the Federal Reserve has finished raising interest rates in its fight against inflation, and the stock market could grind higher this year. “I definitely think they are done,” Jones said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” of the Fed’s rate-hiking campaign. “They could probably declare victory now because if you look at CPI, it’s been declining 12 straight months. … That’s never happened before in history.” The central bank has raised interest rates 10 times since March 2022, taking the fed funds rate to a target range of 5%-5.25%, the highest since August 2007. The consumer…

The Turkish lira sank close to another record low as Turkey’s presidential election heads towards an unprecedented runoff, with one analyst forecasting further weakness for the currency over the short term. “Unfortunately it looks like [what] up to 49% of Turks have voted for is an economic crisis … The next two weeks, we could see the currency collapse,” Mike Harris, a founder of the advisory firm Cribstone Strategic Macro told CNBC, referring to the reported vote count for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With more than 99% of the votes counted, Erdogan was ahead with 49.46% of the vote while the main…

The incumbent president Erdogan scored 49.51% while Kilicdaroglu received 44.88% after Sunday’s tense elections. After no candidate won over 50% of the votes in the Turkish elections, the head of the nation’s election authority announced on Monday that a runoff will take place on May 28. Although neither opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu nor Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received above the 50% threshold, the President took the lead, according to poll statistics and head of the Supreme Election Council, Ahmet Yener, citing unofficial results. According to Yener, voter turnout in Sunday’s elections was 88.92%, and that of Turkish citizens abroad was 52.69%, while…