Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Israeli occupation forces today detained at least 13 Palestinians in raids at homes and at checkpoints in the occupied territories, according to various sources. In the town of al-Yamoun in the north of the West Bank, soldiers detained four Palestinians. Four others were detained in the Bethlehem district in the south of the West Bank and three in the Hebron district. In occupied East Jerusalem, forces detained a Palestinian while present at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and another Palestinian was detained at a checkpoint at the entrance to Jericho city, in the east of the West Bank. Source: Wafa

The State of Palestine has warned against what it described as “the unaccountable fascism, unrestrained power, and unabated criminality” of Israel’s officials, which, according to a statement today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, are “sustained by an undemocratic and social system of Jewish supremacy, oppression, racism, and apartheid.” The Foreign Ministry said fascism in Israel “is enabled by militias ties to power and threatens regional and international peace and security.” It said fascist Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir’s reported agreed militias of “racial terror will only serve to target, kill, and torture the undefended…

Ethereum (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, continues to undergo a supply reduction as the latest Shanghai upgrade progresses. Notably, the digital asset’s total supply had dropped by over 66,000 ETH since the start of 2023, making it deflationary. Currently, there is just 10.31% of existing ETH on exchanges, which is the lowest level since July 2015, as per the latest data from on-chain analytics provider Santiment shared on March 28. Almost 90% of Ethereum is now off exchanges as regulators continue to struggle to classify ETH as a security or commodity. Indeed, Ethereum’s percentage of supply has now hit its lowest level since its genesis, with the amount of…

The head of ANZ bank has said it is too early to forecast an end to the financial turmoil The threats facing some banks in the US and Europe have the “potential” to trigger a global financial crisis, the CEO of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Shayne Elliott, warned on Monday. Governments around the world are highly concerned about the fallout, which has already shaken investor confidence in certain segments of the banking industry. Elliott said it was premature to assume the current situation could result in “another GFC [global financial crisis]” like the one that sent the world economy…

PIJ official Khader Adnan sends a message from prison saying that his health condition is constantly deteriorating and that his hunger strike entered a critical stage yesterday. Palestinian Islamic Jihad official and prisoner Khadr Adnan is still on hunger strike for 51 days to protest his arbitrary detention despite the continuous deterioration of his health condition and the Israeli occupation’s refusal to comply with the prisoner’s legitimate demands to have his arbitrary detention lifted, the Muhjat Al-Quds prisoners’ affairs association said on Monday. The prisoner sent out a letter from prison, detailing his health condition and addressing the valiant people…

China’s economy will grow this year, exceeding Beijing’s official projections and supporting wider Asia-Pacific expansion, S&P Global Ratings said in its outlook, which was issued on Sunday. The agency forecasts a “largely organic recovery” in the world’s second-largest economy in 2023, led by consumption and services. “Our growth forecast of 5.5% exceeds the country’s modest target of ‘around 5%.’ In our view, Beijing set that target at a relatively unambitious level to provide room for policy to respond to inflation or financial risks, if needed,” S&P stated. The report indicated that after the sudden removal of Covid-19 restrictions, China quickly moved on from the…

State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson denies US involvement in Israeli protests after earlier US media reports about the US government funding these protests. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel denied allegations accusing the United States of being implicated in instigating the protests in “Israel”. “The department supports a wide range of programming by civil society actors around the world on strengthening awareness for human rights and democratic values, but any notion that we are propping up or supporting these protests, or the initiators of them, is completely and demonstrably false,” Patel said during a press briefing. Earlier this month,…

A recent survey shows that over half of German companies are having trouble finding skilled workers Germany is set to introduce a new nationality law that is aimed at helping the country deal with a shortage of skilled workers, CNBC reported on Monday, citing a draft regulation. According to the report, the new law would cut the time foreigners need to apply for German citizenship from the current eight years to five, or even three in cases in which applicants have made extra effort to integrate, for instance, by becoming proficient in German. The draft law would also lift the…

Operations at Gonfreville have been disrupted by protests over pension reforms, according to Reuters French energy giant Total has halted production at one of the country’s largest refineries as protests continue against the government’s plan to raise the retirement age, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a company spokesperson. The reported shutdown at Gonfreville comes after staff were requisitioned at the site last week to avoid fuel and supply shortages, including at airports in Paris. The requisitions at the 240,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery have been met with protests by unions. Gonfreville supplies the whole Ile-de-France region and provides fuel to the…

Türkiye, Morocco, Brazil and even top oil exporter Saudi Arabia have boosted imports of the fuel, according to the outlet Shipments of Russian diesel are set to reach their highest monthly export rate since 2016, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The increase comes despite Western sanctions and efforts to cut Russia off from the EU market, which was previously its largest buyer of diesel. Thus far there has been no sign of Russia slashing exports or experiencing a shortage of customers, even though the EU imposed an embargo in February on seaborne imports of Russian oil and petroleum products such as…