Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia sends sovereign debt payments to the NSD using the ruble-transaction mechanism. Russia’s Finance Ministry announced on Friday that it has settled two issues related to dollar-denominated Eurobonds by sending 17 billion rubles ($221.1 million) in coupon payments to the National Settlement Depository (NSD). The payments were on Eurobonds maturing in 2030, according to the ministry. “Thus, obligations on servicing the state securities of the Russian Federation were fulfilled by the Finance Ministry in full,” the statement said. The payments were made through the ruble-transaction mechanism, which was implemented last June in reaction to Western sanctions and US efforts to prevent…

Pakistan’s government continues to struggle as it hopes to fulfill requirements and meet conditions for an alleged IMF bailout. As the government in Islamabad struggled to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions to unlock an alleged bailout, the year-on-year inflation in Pakistan hit 35.37% in March. With month-on-month inflation at 3.72%, according to government data released Saturday, the average inflation rate for 2022 was 27.26%. The Pakistani economy has been exacerbated by political instability, the global energy crisis, earthquakes, and the devastating floods that submerged large portions of the country in 2022. As a result, the country requires billions of dollars of financing to…

According to French media, gas stations in France continue to witness fuel shortages with 30% of stations in the Ile-de-France region, commonly known as the Paris Region, having at least one type of fuel unavailable. The BFMTV broadcaster reported fuel shortages in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region and in the country’s east, adding that 30% of filling stations in Paris and the Paris Region are either completely out of fuel or lack one or more types of it. In particular, over 40% of pumps in the Val-de-Marne department of Ile-de-France (Paris Region) suffered fuel supply shortages. Just last week, French sources reported that…

Alibaba announced plans to split its business into six separate units on Tuesday, a move that promises to radically reshape the sprawling Chinese e-commerce firm founded by Jack Ma nearly 25 years ago. The company revealed that each new business unit will be led by its own CEO and board of directors. According to a company statement issued on Tuesday, five of the new business groups “will also have the flexibility to raise outside capital and potentially seek its own IPO.” One day after Ma made a rare public appearance in China, one of the country’s most recognizable companies underwent…

Swiss news agency SonntagsZeitung weekly reported on Sunday that the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse could result in layoffs of up to 30 percent of the total workforce across the world, amounting to approximately 36,000 positions. This comes after UBS announced the rushed acquisition of Credit Suisse, which was arranged under the auspices of Swiss authorities on March 19. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, collapsed in March 2023 following years of facilitating tax evasion for America’s wealthiest. It was also caught in a bribery scandal and a money laundering case linked to a Bulgarian cocaine network. Credit Suisse has paid over $11…

The Finnish Prime Minister continues to hold a strong fight, while 64% say she is “fair” or “good.” Finland’s election is on a knife edge, and polls indicate that the three major parties are running neck and neck. Prime Minister Sanna Marin may have a tough fight on her hands to hold onto her position. With a margin of error of two percentage points, a final poll for public broadcaster Yle gave the conservative National Coalition party (NCP) a 19.8% vote, the far-right nationalist Finns party a 19.5% vote, and Marin’s Social Democrats (SDP) an 18.7% vote. When Marin, 37, took over the…

Palestine Action activists give Israeli arms factory UAV Tactical Systems a notice for closure. Protests calling for the closure of Israeli arms factories have been held by British pro-Palestinian activists across the UK. A 30-day eviction notice was issued by protesters opposing “Israel’s” heinous crimes against the oppressed Palestinian people outside an Israeli arms factory in Leicester. Israeli arms company UAV Tactical Systems, which is a subsidiary of the occupation’s largest arms company Elbit Systems, and is located in Leicester, received a notice on Saturday from Palestine Action activists acting on behalf of The Court (of Public Opinion). The group…

The WSJ rejected all accusations against its reporter and demanded his immediate release The Wall Street Journal once again called for release of its reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia over espionage charges. “The Wall Street Journal demands the immediate release of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, a distinguished journalist who was arrested while reporting in Russia,” the WSJ said in its statement on Twitter. The statement characterizes Gershkovich’s detention as a “vicious affront” to the freedom of press, which “should spur outrage in all free people and governments throughout the world.” Earlier, the WSJ rejected all accusations against its reporter and demanded…

The Axios notes that the ex-President “frequently chats by phone with supporters such as House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan and GOP Conference chair Elise Stefanik,” whom it calls “key players in Trump’s orbit” US ex-President Donald Trump has already security endorsement of at least 37 Republican House lawmakers, which may aid him in his presidential campaign and the potential court proceeding, Axios reported Saturday. According to Axios, “Trump has been endorsed by 37 House Republicans,” including more than a third of Republican members on Judiciary and Oversight committees. The report notes that, facing criminal charges in New York, Trump calls for lawmakers…

Joe Biden, the oldest person to be inaugurated as President of the US, will not attend the King’s Coronation on May 6 because he is too old. Biden is set to announce his intentions to run for a second term in office. A second face-off between Biden and Trump would consist of the two oldest inaugurated presidents in US history. As pointed out by The Telegram’s sources, Trump also had to be selective with the events he chose to attend, “They did that too with Trump, and he was younger. When Biden does something like the State of the Union, we didn’t see much from him…