Author: Steven Sahiounie

The nation’s top bank regulators faced tough questions from Congress for the first time Tuesday about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight earlier this month. The regulators defended decisions they made both before and after the collapse of SVB, particularly their unanimous vote to invoke the systemic risk exception to the FDIC’s deposit limit. Bank stocks turned negative following the hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, potentially spooked by the three top regulators each saying they favored more stringent rules for banks with more than $100 billion in assets. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF fell 1% in afternoon trading. At times,…

Expansion on the global LNG market is a key goal after a drop in gas pipeline supplies to Europe, the deputy prime minister has said Russia intends to boost production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and increase its export share to offset a decline in pipeline gas supplies to Western Europe, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said on Tuesday. He argued that expansion of the global LNG market share should become a priority for Russia’s energy policy, and urged production of the fuel to be ramped up. “I believe that this is a key task in the current conditions, when…

The Paris offices of five major banks were searched on Tuesday amid a probe into suspected money laundering and tax evasion related to dividend payments, several media outlets reported on Tuesday. The raids in question took place at the offices of Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Exane and Natixis, as well as those of British banking giant HSBC, according to Le Monde, which was the first to break the news. Societe Generale confirmed the searches to Reuters, but abstained from further comments. The other four banks did not comment on the reports. France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) later confirmed reports…

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reacted to the severe political crisis that has engulfed the Israeli regime, saying the house of the war-mongering occupiers is on fire. “The house of the war-mongering occupiers is on fire,” Kanaani said in a post on his Twitter account on Monday after tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets across the occupied territories for the third consecutive day this week in protest at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms. “The efforts of the criminal prime minister of the Israeli regime to increase his power and survive has triggered the most…

In February, Aleksandar Vucic opined that the conflict in Ukraine would only worsen over the next five to six months, eventually spiraling out of control Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday that he was ‘very afraid’ about what is going on in the world. “I am not much of an optimist, I am a small leader of a small country. There are many leaders from big countries in Europe who know better about everything,” Vucic said at a joint news conference with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. “I fear that the consequences of this will be far worse than what…

The Senate is expected to vote on an amendment this week introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would appoint a special inspector general to oversee the over $113 billion that has been authorized to spend on the war in Ukraine. Hawley said the ideal candidate for the position would be John Sopko, who has served as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction since 2012 and has issued scathing reports on US policy and waste in Afghanistan. “He’s done a terrific job – maybe he’d like to do this job. I mean, he already knows how to do it. And that’s…

It is reported that some French businesses have left Russia French authorities are going after any businessmen who even theoretically do not comply with anti-Russian sanctions, Ambassador in Paris Aleksey Meshkov said on the air with the Rossiya-24 TV Channel. “Indeed the hunt is on for anyone who might even theoretically not be complying with anti-Russian sanctions,” the Ambassador said, answering a question about whether French entrepreneurs are ready to sever ties with Russian businessmen, as the French authorities are working on measures to crack down on the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions.. Some French businesses have left Russia, Meshkov noted.…

The former US president has again argued that he could end the conflict in 24 hours Donald Trump has once again claimed that he would need just 24 hours to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News, the former US president warned of a possible nuclear escalation and urged the hostilities to be ceased immediately. “The key to that is that war has to stop now, because Ukraine is being obliterated,” Trump told host Sean Hannity in an interview on Monday. Trump compared footage from the conflict to “hundreds of these demolition sites” that he used to see as part of his…

Annual inflation in UK shops surged to its highest in at least 18 years in March, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). According to the report, overall shop price inflation jumped to 8.9% from 8.4% in February, which was the largest increase since the BRC started tracking the indicator in 2005. The rise was largely driven by food prices, which soared 15% from a year ago. The figure correlates with official data released last week, which showed that food and non-alcoholic drinks inflation rose to 18%, the highest since 1977. According to BRC CEO…

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian unveiled plans to issue an invitation to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to visit Tehran. In an interview with Al Jazeera news network on Monday, Amirabdollahian said Iran has responded to an invitation by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh and will offer to reciprocally host the king. In a post on his Twitter account on March 19, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, announced that the Saudi king has invited the Iranian president to visit the kingdom,…