Author: Steven Sahiounie

The restrictions target exports of advanced technologies and imports of high-revenue goods The European Commission (EC) has estimated the cost of penalties imposed on Russia as part of its tenth sanctions package at a total of €12.7 billion ($13.4 billion), according to a press release published on Saturday. The EU rolled out its latest raft of sanctions a day after the one-year anniversary of the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. The new bans cover EU exports worth €11.4 billion ($12 billion), they come on top of the €32.5 billion ($34.3 billion) worth of goods already sanctioned in the…

A new report by WPI Strategy, ‘False Economy: How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s life sciences growth engine’ argues that unless the UK takes action to reduce the rebate rates levied on branded medicines sales, the UK stands to lose £1.9bn investment in UK research and development spending (R&D) in 2028, with a cumulative £5.7bn of R&D investment lost between 2024-28. The UK spends considerably less per person on medicines than other comparable countries, using a number of mechanisms to negotiate and control pricing. However, since the pandemic, two of the key medicine price control measures used by the UK have…

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will use World Bank data to warn that, without a change in leadership, Britain’s economy will be overtaken by its eastern European rivals over the coming few decades. Britain’s economy could fall behind that of Poland by the end of the decade, the Labour Party will say today. The party’s leader Sir Keir Starmer will use the forecast – which is based on World Bank data – to appeal for voter support in the next general election. Labour’s calculations are based on the assumption that the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita continues to…

The Optus and Medibank incidents have exposed “gaps” in Australia’s existing incident response functions, according to a discussion paper released this afternoon. The discussion paper calls for regulatory changes – including potentially a new Cyber Security Act. Most controversially, the paper suggests that the government’s power to step in to assist organisations or companies respond to cyber attacks could be expanded to a wider range of circumstances. But it is worth pointing out that this is not government policy as yet. The discussion paper was released shortly after Anthony Albanese addressed the cybersecurity roundtable in Sydney. It was drafted by an expert advisory board…

The US economy has started 2023 from a stronger position that many of us had expected and when looking at the Fed’s new preferred inflation reading that tries to exclude much of the noise in the data, the story doesn’t change. Overview: US inflation rebound. What now? Events Round-Up JN: CPI (y/y%), Jan: 4.3 vs. 4.3 exp.JN: CPI x fr. food, energy (y/y%), Jan: 3.2 vs. 3.3 exp.US: Personal income, Jan: 0.6 vs. 1.0 exp.US: Real personal spending, Jan: 1.1 vs. 1.1 exp.US: PCE core deflator (m/m%), Jan: 0.6 vs. 0.4 exp.US: PCE core deflator (y/y%), Jan: 4.7 vs. 4.3…

The EU’s openness toward crypto is a striking turnaround. Crypto lobbyists have a new cudgel in their intensifying battle with U.S. regulators: Europe wants their business. Industry leaders are increasingly making the trans-Atlantic juxtaposition to argue for clearer regulations as U.S. agencies begin to enforce decades-old rules for trading and banking in the crypto world. Congress is nowhere near the point where it might craft a federal standard for digital currency, so regulators appointed by President Joe Biden are filling the void. That’s in contrast with the European Union, which is preparing to activate new laws tailor-made for digital asset…

Bitcoin (BTC), the oldest and most valued crypto in the world, failed to rise above the $24,000 mark over the weekend. Ethereum (ETH), on the other hand, managed to remain stable within the $1,600 range. Other popular altcoins — including the likes of Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC) — saw a mix of reds and greens across the board. The NEO token emerged to be the biggest gainer of the lot, with a 24-hour jump of over 11 percent. The global crypto market cap stood at $1.08 trillion at the time of writing, registering a 24-hour…

Crypto lawyers weighed in on Gary Gensler’s crypto regulation claims saying the SEC has no legal standing to police the space. Cryptocurrency lawyers have rebuffed comments made by the head of the United States securities regulator, claiming in a recent interview that every cryptocurrency except Bitcoin BTC $23,399 is a security that falls under its jurisdiction. In a wide-ranging Feb. 23 New York Magazine interview discussing crypto, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, claimed “everything other than Bitcoin” falls under the agency’s remit. He added other crypto projects “are securities because there’s a group in the middle and…

Crypto News: Goerli testnet is a cross-client network that uses proof-of-authority and is frequently used to run simulations prior to their mainnet launch. It’s separate from the core Ethereum ledger and therefore, traders can transmit tokens from other chains to Goerli thanks to its cross-chain functionality. However, the testnet ether on Goerli has experienced a great deal of price volatility recently, despite the fact that it has zero commercial utility in the real world. The Rise Of Goerli ETH The trade was first conceptualized by LayerZero, a cross-chain platform — by making it possible for the Ethereum mainnet and the Goerli testnet to trade and exchange the ether. The…

Bitcoin has been experiencing a volatile period, with the cryptocurrency dropping by nearly 4% over the past week. As of the time of writing, BTC is approaching a key support level, with analysts closely monitoring the market to determine where the next target for the digital asset will be. In this context, it is essential to explore the factors that could impact the price of BTC in the short and long term. How Rising Interest Rates Affect Bitcoin And Other Digital Assets In January, inflation rose 5.4% compared to the previous year, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report released…