Author: Steven Sahiounie

The US Army is currently planning to recruit approximately 64,000 soldiers, including those on active duty, National Guard, and reserve personnel this year and another 65,515 in 2024 next year.  During a congressional hearing on Wednesday, US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned that the army is currently facing recruiting troubles and won’t be meeting its goal this year if the situation does change, further cautioning that structure cuts may be possible.  “I’m suggesting that the kinds of structure we need for the army of 2030 are different than what we needed in the last 20 years, and if we don’t…

‘Israel’ is pushing for a ceasefire between the warring parties in Sudan after the fight put a normalization deal between Sudan and the occupation at risk. “Israel” has been in contact with generals of both the Sudanese Army Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) urging them to stop their fighting, according to a report by Axios. The Israeli occupation fears that the ongoing clashes will hinder the formation of a prospect of an Israeli-allied civilian government, which would jeopardize the normalization agreement between Sudan and the Israeli occupation. The entity has also built strong relationships with both warring generals, Abdel Fattah…

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, faced a temporary dip on Tuesday as its value dropped slightly from $30,500 to $29,300. However, this decline was short-lived, and Bitcoin quickly rebounded, surging back up to the $30,000 mark and recovering from its previous losses. This is due to the fact that investors are once again feeling optimistic about assets that retain their value, even as concerns about the banking sector have eased somewhat. Despite the recent ups and downs, Bitcoin remains a popular choice among investors who are looking for a secure and reliable way to invest their money. Ethereum, another…

The XRP price has fallen by 5% in the past 24 hours, with its dip to $0.491066 coming as a correction hits the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Its current price means it has fallen by 5% in a week but is still up by 26% in the last 30 days, with the token also having risen by 44% since the beginning of the year. Despite today’s fall, XRP is primed to witness further gains in the not-too-distant future, with its chart forming a classic pennant, which can signal an incoming breakout. And with Ripple also awaiting the conclusion to…

U.K. inflation unexpectedly remained in double-digits in March as households continued to grapple with soaring food and energy bills. The consumer price index rose by an annual 10.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics, above a consensus projection of 9.8% in a Reuters poll of economists. This is a slight dip from the unexpected jump to 10.4% of February, which broke three consecutive months of declines since October’s 41-year high of 11.1%. On a monthly basis, CPI inflation was 0.8%, above a Reuters consensus of 0.5% and down from the 1.1% of February. The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing…

Goldman Sachs changed its expectations for European Central Bank policy, arguing that recent data, comments from board members, and fewer concerns over the banking sector has allowed for further hawkish action. The investment bank had lowered its expectations for the ECB’s terminal policy rate to 3.5% in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year. The event sparked concerns that central banks were moving at too fast a pace and needed to take a break from increasing rates. However, “banking tensions have receded in recent weeks as the risk of an outright U.S. banking crisis has declined sharply and European…

In Pakistan’s capital, people are lining up in the hundreds for a single bag of free flour at a government distribution center during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends this week. Amid record inflation and soaring poverty, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced a relief package in early March offering a bag of free flour to “to the poorest of the poor.” Standing in line under the hot spring sun, 20-year-old Waqas Chaudhry, who works in the tech sector, has never had to ask for charity before in his life. “Everything has become so expensive,” he told CNN. “It has…

HSBC’s biggest shareholder has called on the bank to create a separately listed Asian business headquartered in Hong Kong to fix what it sees as a lack of competitiveness. In a strongly worded statement Tuesday, the CEO of Ping An (PIAIF) Asset Management said that despite improvements, the insurer remained “deeply concerned” about HSBC’s financial performance relative to rivals. “It is necessary for HSBC to push for structural reform to fundamentally address HSBC’s underlying market competitiveness issues, improve performance, enhance value and accelerate growth opportunities in Asia,” Michael Huang wrote. “The HK-listed business would be able to focus on investing resources in Asia and being more attuned to local Asia market…

Nearly a third of Canada’s federal workers walked off the job Wednesday morning in one of the largest strikes in the country’s history. The union representing more than 155,000 government employees says it called the nationwide strike to demand higher pay and clarity on work from home provisions, among other issues. Canadians can expect disruptions on a variety of services, including passport applications and tax returns. Essential services will remain in place. Union and government negotiators are still at the bargaining table. But in a statement released late Tuesday, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing government…

President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammad bin Salman, in the city of Jeddah. The President briefed the Saudi Crown Prince on the latest political developments of the Palestinian cause and the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. President Abbas praised the great achievements and the comprehensive renaissance achieved by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in various fields in light of its Vision 2030, and work to strengthen the Kingdom’s presence and raise its leading position at the regional and international levels, appreciating its active and important role in supporting the nation’s causes, at the…