Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

Israeli settlers this evening attacked with stones Palestinian homes in the village of Asira al-Qibliya, to the south of Nablus, north of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Hafez Saleh, head of Asira al-Qibliya village council, told WAFA that settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar stoned houses near the village, causing damages to two. He added that Israeli forces, who provided settlers with protection, fired live bullets and toxic and tear gas bombs toward residents’ homes before proceeding to detain a Palestinian youth. Source: Wafa

Emergency services were called to a Nashville, Tennessee area elementary school on Monday morning following reports of an “active aggressor” on the premises of the private Christian educational institution. Three children and three adults were killed in a school shooting at Covenant School in Nashville on Monday, police have indicated. The attacker, a female suspect in her teens wielding assault rifles and a pistol, was shot and killed by law enforcement, bringing the total fatality count to seven. The city’s fire department also indicated that there were “multiple” injuries. “We are responding to an active aggressor at 33 Burton Hills…

Israeli Occupation Forces Chief Herzi Halevi says protests are for the public sphere and active and reserved IOF servicemen. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) chief, Herzi Halevi, claimed in an open letter addressed to active and reserve members of the IOF, claiming that “Israel has never known such days of external threats combined with an internal storm.” Halevi urged that “this is a time for responsibility,” at a time when violent protests have become widespread and at a time when Security Minister Yoav Gallant was fired due to his opposition to the judicial reforms for reasons of alleged “national security”. Halevi…

The situation on the Ukrainian front lines remains dire. While Kiev is busy collecting NATO weapons ad transferring them to the front lines, the Russian military does not stop pushing through Ukrainian defenses on the battlefields and has to solve problems of logistical supplies in the area of military operations. The problem of providing some Russian units with the necessary amount of artillery remains. In particular, Russian units in Avdeevka and the Wagner fighters claim that their existing supplies are still insufficient to support intensive offensive operations. However, after the recent public scandal between the head of the Wagner PMC…

Amid the ongoing huge Israeli protests, which are being widely described as the country’s largest in history, embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to imminently announce he’s suspending his coalition’s judicial overhaul legislation. He also for the first time warned the country against falling into violence. Upon his signaling that he will now back down from the controversial overhaul (at least temporarily) – seen as a sweeping power grab – and after banks and shops closed in a nationwide strike, the shekel appreciated against the dollar and Israeli shares immediately rose. The shekel in early morning trading rose more than 1% to 3.55 against the…