Author: Steven Sahiounie

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on Thursday the enactment of a law that eliminates taxes on innovative technologies, such as software creation, coding, and artificial intelligence (AI), among others. Bukele is eager to turn his country into Latin America’s tech leader. The law signed by the Salvadoran president will exempt technology companies from all taxes for at least 15 years, according to Binance. “I’ve just signed into law, the INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING INCENTIVES ACT, that eliminates all taxes (income, property, capital gains and import tariffs) on technology innovations, software and app programming, AI, computer and communications hardware manufacturing,” Bukele…

More regional lenders have seen their shares plummet, prompting regulators to intervene Two more US regional banks saw their shares suspended on Thursday, amid the worst crisis to hit the country’s financial sector since 2008. Regulators temporarily suspended trading in shares of Los Angeles-based PacWest and Arizona’s Western Alliance after their prices fell dramatically. PacWest Bancorp said late Wednesday it was in talks with potential partners and investors about strategic options after its shares dropped by as much as 60%. “Recently, the company has been approached by several potential partners and investors – discussions are ongoing,” the bank announced. But investors were not…

Consumers are buying more domestic and Chinese brands amid the exodus of Western and Japanese automakers, statistics show Sales of new passenger cars in Russia jumped 2.7 times in April compared to the same period in 2022, data from analytical agency Avtostat showed on Thursday. According to the report, more than 75,000 new vehicles were sold last month in total, which is 8% more than in March. Avtostat said that 44% of the cars sold were Chinese brands, while another 35% were Russian made. The combined share of South Korean, Japanese, European, and American automobiles fell to just over 20%.…

Almost half of the 4,800 banks in the US are nearly insolvent, as they have burned through their capital buffers, The Telegraph reported earlier this week, citing a group of banking experts. According to Professor Amit Seru, a banking expert at Stanford University, around half of US lenders are underwater. “Let’s not pretend that this is just about Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic,” he said. “A lot of the US banking system is potentially insolvent.” Last week, First Republic was seized by US financial regulators and acquired by JPMorgan, the country’s biggest bank. The San Francisco-based lender had previously received a…

As part of his two-day visit, the Iranian President meets with a delegation of Palestinian Resistance factions. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday met in Damascus with a delegation of Palestinian Resistance leaders at the presidential palace in Syria, in the presence of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. During his speech at the shrine of Sayyida Zainab, Raisi pointed out that “Palestine was steadfast in its resistance against the Zionist regime completely changing the situation,” stressing that “the reigns today are in the hands of the mujahideen who aspire to liberate Al-Quds.” On Wednesday, the Iranian President arrived in Damascus on Wednesday…

The Armenian PM made the statement in a speech at the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday said in televised remarks that he plans to travel to Moscow next week. He made the statement in a speech at the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations, which was broadcast by Armenian news websites. “The situation [in Ukraine] is completely unpredictable. There’s no analytical or political studies organization that can predict what will happen a month from now. I can firmly tell you just one thing: I’m heading to Moscow next week,” he said, when asked about…

Roughly 200,000 Syrians were nationalized in Turkey, according to AKP MP Hamdi Chamli. In an exclusive interview with Al-Mayadeen, Ahmed Hamdi Chamli an MP of the Turkish Justice and Development Party described the anticipated elections as the most important in the history of the republic: noting that the outcome will be fateful for Turkey. Chamli also accused the incumbent US president, Joe Biden of providing support for Erdogan’s opponents. Furthermore, based on his fieldwork, Chamli claimed that votes in favor of the AKP party have been assessed to be increasing despite smear campaigns leveled against them by the Republican People’s Party: saying…

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin draws parallels between Meloni and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen. France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, on Thursday, that Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “is incapable of resolving the migration problems” faced by her country, risking a new debacle between Paris and Rome. During a radio interview in Paris, Gerald Darmanin said Italy faced a “very serious migration crisis,” and he drew parallels between Meloni and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen. “Madame Meloni, a far-right government chosen by friends of Mme Marine Le Pen, is incapable of resolving the migration problems on the back of which she…

John Kirby said that Washington was still assessing the situation The US has nothing to do with the recent drone attack on the Kremlin, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on MSNBC television on Thursday. “We still don’t really know what happened,” he said, adding that Washington is still assessing the situation. Kirby said he had seen comments by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday, which stated Washington was involved in the incident. “I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this. Whatever it was did not involve us,” he said.…

The Russian side has previously repeatedly pointed out that the the Kiev regime would soon face a tribunal and its methods would be recognized in the future as extremist and terrorist Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has urged to create an international tribunal against Russia. “The aggressor must feel the full power of justice. This is our historical responsibility. <…> Only one institution is capable of responding to the original crime, the crime of aggression: a tribunal,” Zelensky told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday during his visit to The Hague. The Russian side has previously repeatedly pointed out that…