Author: Steven Sahiounie

Banks borrowed a record $165 billion from the Fed after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank US banks took out a combined $164.8 billion in loans from two Federal Reserve facilities over the past two weeks, Fed statistics released on Thursday showed. This came as lenders rushed to backstop liquidity in the event of bank runs in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. According to the data, US lenders borrowed $152.85 billion from the discount window in the week ending March 15, up from $4.58 billion in the previous week. The figure, which marks an all-time high, topped…

Eurozone’s largest economy won’t escape recession this year, researcher Ifo warns Germany is facing a winter recession as the economy has continued to shrink amid the deepening cost-of-living crisis, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research reported on Wednesday. In the first quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 0.2%, the report suggests. The economy contracted by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the previous three months. A recession is defined as two successive quarters of contraction. The Ifo forecasts economic output in 2023 to remain at roughly the same level as the year before, contracting by…

Earlier on Friday, it became known that the International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and considers its decisions null and void, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, commenting on the body’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We consider the very formulation of the issue outrageous and unacceptable. Russia, as well as several other states, do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null…

The statement said they could be responsible “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation” The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, the court said in a statement on Friday. The statement said they could be responsible “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” ICC arrest warrants are…

Moscow says the planes Poland and Slovakia are sending will be destroyed Plans by Poland and Slovakia to send Soviet-era warplanes to Ukraine look like attempts to dispose of antiquated equipment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his Friday press briefing. “This is another example of how a number of NATO member states, including Poland, are raising their direct involvement in the conflict,” he announced, reacting to the recent announcements that Warsaw and Bratislava would send Soviet-designed MiG-29 warplanes to Kiev. Peskov added that it would not affect the outcome of Russia’s military operation but instead “may lead to additional suffering for…

“The answer of the Danish charge d’affaires and the Danish side in general was unclear,” Yury Ushakov noted The investigation of Nord Stream pipeline explosions will be biased without Russian participation, aide to the Russian President Yury Ushakov told reporters. “An absolutely uncooperative position, an uncooperative approach. Certainly, we do not know what investigation Denmark will carry on its own but it will clearly not have enough objectivity,” Ushakov said, commenting on the Denmark’s decision to prevent Russia from the investigation. —0—vnk “I will probably disclose a point in our diplomatic efforts. I personally called twice the charge d’affaires of…

Minister of Industry Ziyad Sabbagh discussed with the Chargé d’Affaires of the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Damascus, Counselor Abdul Hakim Ibrahim al-Nuaimi, ways to develop economic and industrial relations between the two brotherly countries. Sabbagh expressed appreciation for the humanitarian support provided by the government and people of the UAE, and its standing by Syria in the face of the repercussions of the devastating earthquake that struck a number of Syrian governorates on February 6. Sabbagh noted the depth relations between the two brotherly countries, which are constantly developing. In turn, al-Nuaimi affirmed the UAE’s keenness to strengthen the…

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry says Scholz’s statements are a repetition of the German authorities’ constant move to join voices with “Israel”. The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, responded to the anti-Iran statements made by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his meeting with the Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his meeting with the occupation PM, Scholz claimed that Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons, stressing that Tehran should not be allowed to have nukes. The German Chancellor also said Germany gives priority to diplomacy for resolving the nuclear file, claiming at the…

A delegation of the Palestinian movement Hamas meets with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, met with a delegation of the Palestinian movement Hamas, headed by a member of the Hamas Political Bureau and head of Hamas International Relations Office Moussa Abu Marzouk in Moscow on Thursday. The meeting, which was held at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s guesthouse in Moscow, addressed the developments of the situation in the Middle East region and the international arena as a whole, with an emphasis on the Palestinian issue, in light of the Israeli far-right government, a Palestinian…

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General’s announcement on March 14 about the loss in Libya of 2.5 tons of uranium ore concentrate from a site where it was stored under the agreement between the agency and former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi brought Libya back to news headlines. The 2.5 tons of uranium which went missing could not be made into a nuclear weapon in its current state, but could be used as the raw material for a nuclear weapons programme or even to make a dirty bomb. The IAEA, which is responsible for the safe disposal of the…