Author: Steven Sahiounie

Another presidential decree cancels a ban on flights of Russian airlines to Georgia and on selling tours to the country which had been in effect since 2019 Beginning on May 15, Georgian citizens will be able to visit Russia for up to 90 days without a visa, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “[I hereby] decree that from May 15, 2023, Georgian citizens will be able to enter and exit the Russian Federation without obtaining visas based on current identifying documents <…>, with the exception of citizens entering Russia in order to work or…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reveals a Russian presentation within the framework of the quadrilateral format of Russia-Iran-Turkey-Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, on Wednesday, Moscow has presented a road map within the framework of the quadrilateral format of Russia-Iran-Turkey-Syria to lay out the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara for the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers, which will then be presented to the presidents. During a meeting with the foreign ministers of Iran, Syria, and Turkey in Moscow, Lavrov said, “The optimal result of our meeting today could be an agreement to instruct experts to prepare a draft roadmap for Syrian-Turkish…

Navigational data also say air traffic was disrupted at Ben Gurion Airport in “Tel Aviv” as a result of the rocket fire from Gaza. Sources in the Palestinian Resistance confirmed to Al Mayadeen on Wednesday that “the response to the Israeli aggression has just begun,” affirming that this is just the beginning. Al Mayadeen correspondent in occupied Palestine reported that rocket salvoes were fired from the Gaza Strip. This was followed by sirens sounding in a number of illegal Israeli settlements in the Gaza envelope settlements and the occupied city of Askalan, as Israeli occupation warplanes launched new airstrikes that targeted agricultural lands…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Western media have described Sunday’s presidential election in Turkey and the most important vote in the world in 2023. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was first elected Prime Minister in May 2003, and since then he has also been elected President. The election on May 14 is between the incumbent Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who promises to improve Turkey’s relationship with the US. Elections are most often won on domestic issues, and Turkey is in an economic crisis, with hyper-inflation and a devalued currency, making the cost of living higher than voters can recall.…

The volume of trade between China and Russia has continued to grow, with both exports and imports surging at double-digit pace since the beginning of 2023, the General Administration of China Customs reports. According to its report released on Tuesday, bilateral trade soared more than 43% in January-April compared with a year ago, to $73 billion. During that period, Chinese exports to Russia jumped 67.2% in annual terms to $33.6 billion, while imports from the country rose almost 25% to $39.4 billion. China’s trade with Russia hit a record high in 2022, growing by nearly a third amid Western sanctions…

The European Commission has published its first international tender for the collective purchase of liquified natural gas (LNG) through a new EU mechanism, its vice-president for interinstitutional relations, Marosh Shefchovich, said on Wednesday. According to the official, the first tendering round is open until May 15, and covers gas deliveries from June 2023 until May 2024 with 77 companies from across the EU having submitted requests for a total volume of around 11.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. He added that demand for the super-chilled fuel was hovering around 2.8 bcm, while nearly 9.6 bcm has been requested for…

Moscow has pledged to reduce output by 500,000 barrels per day in response to Western sanctions The average four-week seaborne shipments of Russian crude in the period to May 5 jumped by 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.63 million bpd, the highest leap since the start of 2022, when Bloomberg began tracking the flows in detail. According to the outlet’s report on Tuesday, shipments continued to rise despite Western sanctions and Moscow’s output cut. Data has shown that four-week average shipments to Russia’s Asian customers, including those on vessels showing no final destination, rose to a new high of…

Paris will boost state’s tax take with more anti-fraud operations and tighter controls on corporate majors and multinationals The French government is planning to increase enforcement of taxation controls and to toughen penalties for tax evasion, with a fresh focus on combating major fraud, according to the Minister of Public Action and Accounts Gabriel Attal. The minister noted that the number of inspections of the country’s biggest businesses would be increased by 25% by the end of the second presidential term of Emmanuel Macron in 2027. According to Attal, the efforts would be focused on the “high end of the spectrum,…

The Russian Central Bank stated that the country’s international reserves increased by 0.32% by May 1 compared to their level last April, amounting to $595.787 billion. The Bank of Russia (the Russian regulator) indicated that reserves rose by $1.908 billion, or 0.32%. For comparison, last year’s reserves were on May 1 at $593.052 billion. Russia’s international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets that include foreign exchange, gold and special drawing rights. This article was originally published by RT.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose to $28,153 on Wednesday, May 10, after the latest consumer price index (CPI) report showed that US inflation fell more than expected in April. The world’s biggest crypto coin jumped more than 1.5% from $27,690 and added over $10 billion to its market worth in just a few minutes as crypto investors welcomed the fact that inflationary pressures continued to ease last month, driving expectations of the Federal Reserve’s pause in its policy tightening campaign. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), annual inflation fell to 4.9% in April, compared to economists’ expectations of 5%. Month-on-month,…