Author: Steven Sahiounie

Talks reportedly touched on the ‘Oracle of Omaha’s’ possible investment in the banking sector Senior US officials have been in talks with billionaire investor Warren Buffet, discussing the unfolding banking crisis and possible ways out of it, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing sources within President Joe Biden’s administration. Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett is one of the globe’s most successful investors with a fortune worth roughly $101.6 billion and is head of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, which owns dozens of successful companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. According to the report, there have been…

Households will get poorer and pay more tax over the coming years, a think tank projects Real wages in the UK will not return to their 2008 level until 2026 despite an easing of inflation, the Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank, reported this week in its analysis of the new budget. According to the report, the country is on track for a “disastrous decade” of stagnant incomes and high taxes, with cuts to public services. The publication highlighted that real wages fell at an annual rate of 3.9% in January, noting that the bigger picture for wages is “one of long-term pay stagnation.” The…

Skoda is now in the final stages of talks over an asset sale, the company’s CEO says Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, a unit of Germany’s Volkswagen, is closing in on a deal to sell its assets and exit Russia, the company’s CEO Klaus Zellmer announced this week. Skoda has taken a hit of almost €700 million ($742 million) from exiting its second largest market due to disruptions in logistics chains caused by Western sanctions. Exports of cars and spare parts to Russia have also been stopped. “The Volkswagen Group has analyzed various scenarios for the future of our business options…

The former British PM has defended his decision to invade as he was trying to “introduce democracy” Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has claimed that the US-led invasion of Iraq was more justified than Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine, despite all of his pre-war justifications since being proven false. Speaking to Germany’s DPA and two other European news agencies, Blair stated that the invasion – in which 46,000 British troops took part – was justified by Saddam Hussein’s domestic repressions and regional conflicts, and his use of chemical weapons against the Kurds. “At least you could say we…

The mission stressed that “any rumors about 120 days spread by the Ukrainian side are either incompetence or deliberate disinformation” The Russian side has agreed to extend the agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine via the Black Sea for only 60 days, not 120. Any rumors about 120 days being spread by Kiev are either a manifestation of incompetence or a deliberate falsehood, Russia’s permanent mission in Geneva said on Saturday. “The Russian side agreed to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative by just 60 days (instead of 120), until May 18, 2023, for the sake of progress…

During the meeting of the “Committee of Six on Palestine”, held yesterday in Nouakchott, Mauritania, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hissein Brahim Taha, highlighted the need for Member States to present written and oral statements and provide financial contributions in order to support the rights of the Palestinian people and end the Israeli colonial occupation, being illegal and illegitimate under international law and United Nations resolutions. He stressed the OIC’s unwavering position with regard to the cause of Palestine and the holy city of Jerusalem, calling for joining efforts and building on the positions of countries…

A Turkish military withdrawal from Syria is out of the question and there is little chance the presidents of the two countries will meet in the near future, Orhan Miroğlu, a senior official of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said in an interview with Sputnik that was published on March 18. Miroğlu told the Russian news agency that the current conditions set by Damascus are not suitable to arrange a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, adding that such a meeting may be possible after the upcoming general elections in Turkey in May.…

The country is set to avoid a recession but Britons face the highest taxes since WWII, an official report shows Britons are facing the biggest decline in living standards since records began in the 1950s, and the highest taxes since World War II, as the economy grinds to a halt this year, the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) reported on Wednesday. According to the report, real household disposable income, a measure of real living standards, will drop by 5.7% over the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. “While this is 1.4 percentage points less than forecast in November, it would still…

Maria Zakharova noted that Moscow had given its consent for such a period Russia agreed to extend the grain deal for only sixty days, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Saturday. “We repeat once again. Russia agreed to extend the deal for sixty days,” she stressed. Source: Tass

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani is going to visit Iraq following high-level talks in Abu Dhabi and a week after the conclusion of a Chinese-mediated agreement between Tehran and Riyadh on mending ties and reopening the embassies. The top Iranian security official will reportedly travel to Iraq in order to “settle the security challenges and implement the economic deals” with the Arab country. Iraq is now Iran’s second biggest trade partner. According to Nour News, maintaining and increasing the annual trade exchanges with Iraq, whose value is estimated at $10 billion, requires plans to remove a…