Author: Steven Sahiounie

Wages continue to fall behind soaring inflation, the UK national statistics service has said UK household incomes are facing the fastest decline in over a decade as wages lag behind spiraling inflation and families struggle to pay their bills, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Tuesday. Labor market data showed total income growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation, dropped by 3% between December 2022 and February 2023, while regular pay fell by 2.3% over the same period. The figures represent the steepest decline in regular pay since 2009, when average weekly wages slumped 4.5%, the ONS said.…

The billionaire’s warning comes as the White House and Republicans in Congress are at an impasse over raising the debt ceiling Tesla and Twitter chief executive Elon Musk, who has been calling for US government spending reductions, said on Wednesday that a debt default was just a question of time. “Given Federal expenditures, it is a matter of when, not if, we default,” Musk wrote responding to a Twitter post by the White House that the Republican plan may be to default on US debt. Earlier this week, US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned in a speech at the…

The cost of essentials in France and Spain keeps rising, according to the Bloomberg food index Food prices in France and Spain are continuing their relentless rise, as the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation rages across the EU, according to data published by Bloomberg on Monday. The cost of the main groceries needed to cook the French dish coq-au-vin soared 15.4% in March to more than €19 ($21) compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from the national statistics office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Nutrition. France is the top consumer of poultry in…

Real estate experts expect a further decline in new residential construction in Germany as building permits for dwellings slumped 20.6% year-on-year in February, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Tuesday. According to the latest numbers, a total of 22,300 building permits for dwellings were issued in February, representing a decrease of 5,800 permits compared to the same period last year. The number of construction permits has been steadily declining since last May and has fallen by 10% each month from October 2022, Destatis said. In its spring report, the German Property Federation (ZIA) said that housing shortages are likely…

Imports of Russian goods to Brazil surged by nearly 120% in March compared to the same month two years ago, according to official figures released by Brazil’s Economy Ministry. The country imported just over $746 million worth of goods from Russia last month, compared to $343 million in March 2021, the statistics show, with fertilizers being the main product imported. Brazil also started to buy diesel fuel from Russia, with imports expected to soar. According to a recent report by Reuters, Russia’s share of Brazil’s diesel fuel imports will reach 53% in April, compared to just 0.2% a year ago.…

The comments by Turkey’s Interior Minister follow increasing anti-US sentiments across Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s criticism of US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake, noting that a diplomat such as him “should know his place.” Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, a known critic of the US who has previously accused it of orchestrating the 2016 military coup attempt, claimed that the “whole world hates America”. Soylu added that confidence in the US is waning as a result of its uncontrollable foreign policy. On a related note, he called Europe an American pawn in Africa, which hates nations that abuse it. Soylu…

The president emphasized that he understood all of Sweden’s “messages,” from sanctions against Russia to how Belgrade should behave toward Pristina Serbia seeks to remain militarily neutral despite Sweden’s demand that it slap sanctions on Russia and align the country’s foreign policy with Europe’s, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday at a joint press conference with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom. “Mr. Billstrom insisted that Serbia impose sanctions against Russia and repeated this several times, demanding that our foreign policy be aligned with that of the countries which are either EU members or on the path to becoming members,”…

The Public Service Alliance of Canada announces that public workers will go on strike as of Wednesday after fruitless negotiations with the federal government, in hopes of fair wage adjustments for over 150,000 workers. 155,000 federal public workers in Canada will go on strike as of Wednesday due to the failure to reach a final pay agreement with the Federal government. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) union set Tuesday at 9 PM Eastern Time a final deadline for the negotiations that have been ongoing since 2021 on Tuesday at 9 PM Eastern Time. The Union has kept its…

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…