Author: Steven Sahiounie

The presidential and parliamentary elections will determine the country’s course for the next five years The polls have opened in Türkiye for key presidential and parliamentary elections, that will decide whether incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will retain power, after a hotly contested race. Polling stations opened at 8am local time in 81 provinces, with almost 200,000 ballot boxes installed across the country. Around 60 million people are eligible to vote, while 1.8 million people abroad have already cast their ballots. Both the president and members of the parliament are elected for five-year terms. News, forecasts, and commentary on the elections…

This comes ahead of an anticipated ceremony to award the Ukrainian president in Aachen with the Charlemagne Prize for ‘European unity’. Germany was labeled a “true friend and reliable ally” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, after Germany sent a massive military package for Ukraine during Zelensky’s visit to Berlin. His trip followed his meetings in Rome with Italian leaders and the pope, while Ukraine prepares for a counteroffensive. However, when Pope Francis offered to help Zelensky negotiate with Russia to achieve a sustainable peace plan, the Ukrainian President rejected it. “With all due respect to His Holiness,” Zelensky told Italian talk show host Bruno…

Turkey’s President wishes for a “good future for our country and Turkish democracy” as he casts his own vote with results for the pivotal elections due to be released tonight. On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the polling station in Uskudar, Istanbul, to cast his own vote as polls are open from 8 am to 5 pm local time with the kickoff of the presidential and legislative elections in the country. “The voting process continues across the country without any problems. Our citizens in the earthquake region are also voting with great enthusiasm. We did not encounter any problems in…

Solid performance comes as cooling global demand is expected to weigh on export-oriented Southeast Asian economy. Malaysia’s economy picked up in the first quarter buoyed by firm domestic demand, central bank and government data showed on Friday. Gross domestic product rose 5.6 percent, according to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Statistics Department, faster than the 4.8 percent annual expansion forecast by analysts in a Reuters news agency poll. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the economy had grown 7.1 percent, revised up from a previously announced 7.0 percent. Growth hit a 22-year high of 8.7 percent last year as…

Despite the looming debt ceiling crisis that has taken center stage in Washington in recent weeks, lawmakers haven’t forgotten about the other financial crisis this year: the March bank failures that set off turmoil in the regional banking sector. The US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs is holding three hearings this coming week centered around the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March. The three hearings will take place from Tuesday through Thursday. Federal regulators were first called to answer questions about the bank collapses from the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee in…

The White House and Republicans in Congress are locked in a dispute on a deal that would avert an unprecedented national default as early as June. US President Joe Biden remained unclear about his talks with Republicans on raising the debt ceiling, telling his press pool on Saturday they were “moving along” but are “not there yet.” “They are moving along,” Biden told the White House press pool, adding that there was “real discussion” but that negotiators were “not there yet.” “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” the US President said. He did not answer the question about the…

The Resolution Foundation, a UK-based think tank, says 1.6 million British households will face increases in mortgage payments. Around 1.6 million British households will face a £2,300 increase in mortgage payments after interest rates surged amid a current housing crisis in the UK, according to a report by Resolution Foundation. The UK-based think tank that examined living standards in the country said that around half of the 7.5 million households have seen changes in their mortgage payments so far, which is the direct result of the Bank of England (BoE) announced increases in December 2021 that mainly affected smaller borrowers and young…

The German sector, which in 2021 proved to comprise 17% of Germany’s GDP, is set to contract as more than 9,000 businesses are expected to shut down with Berlin facing a more difficult situation. Handlesverband Deutschland, the national retail association of Germany, announced that Germany’s retail sector will contract as approximately 9,000 shops and small businesses are expected to shut down throughout 2023. It is worth noting that figures from 2021 underscore that Germany’s retail sector accounts for 17% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In a statement, the head of Handlesverband Deutschland, Alexander von Preen, said “In view of the figures…

The US dollar currently losing its reputation as the safest and most convenient currency in the world, warns Professor James Brander from the University of British Columbia. A Canadian academic affirms that the US dollar’s dominance over the world market is waning, pointing to a rising trend among international trading partners to use local currencies rather than the dollar.  James Brander, Professor at the University of British Columbia, said on Thursday that “the US dollar is the major reserve currency. Well, over half of all international currency reserves in the world are US dollar reserves. But the role of the US dollar…

Major US corn buyer China has been reducing imports from the country due to weak demand and cheaper supplies from Brazil, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Chinese buyers have reportedly canceled 832,000 tons of US corn orders in the past three weeks, while ramping up purchases from fellow BRICS member Brazil, which is projected to pass the US as the top exporter this year. According to the report, citing traders, US corn is now less competitive, with supplies from Brazil around $30 a ton cheaper for delivery in the third quarter. Weak domestic demand for corn as animal feed was also…