Author: Steven Sahiounie

According to the Russian foreign minister, Vladimir Zelensky stated simultaneously with Burns that he would never sit down at the negotiating table with Putin, that Ukraine would have its victory no matter what Russia currently sees no opportunity to engage with Ukraine because of Kiev’s position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. “We have been saying that we are not dodging negotiations not because we have been imploring them to negotiate. At the moment, we see no chance for holding talks, but we have simply been underscoring this amid a non-stop wave of statements to the effect of…

High prices are behind increased shoplifting in grocery stores, the Polish paper Rzeczpospolita reports The number of shoplifting crimes in Poland increased by almost a third in 2022, newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on Thursday, citing police data. Statistics showed that the number of thefts increased by as much as 31.1% on an annual basis, to over 32,000 cases. Out of 16 Polish regions, only Lublin reportedly did not record an increase in such crimes. The rise in theft is “a clear signal of trouble on the market,” the president of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organization Renata Juszkiewicz was quoted as saying. Soaring…

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is considered the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis US tech and start-up focused Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was shut down by regulators on Friday after depositors rushed to withdraw their money amid worries over the bank’s financial health. According to an announcement from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), California regulators have taken control of the lender’s deposits and transferred the assets to a newly created entity, the Deposit Insurance Bank of Santa Clara. SVB, a major bank for venture-backed firms, ranked as the 16th biggest US lender at the end…

Washington and New Delhi will sign a memorandum of understanding on the production of semiconductor chips, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has revealed. Raimondo, who is on a four-day trip to India, told reporters on Thursday the sides will map the semiconductor supply chain together and identify opportunities for joint ventures and technology partnerships. The commerce secretary was scheduled to meet India’s trade minister on Friday. “We would like to see India achieve its aspirations to play a larger role [in the electronics supply chain],” Raimondo told journalists ahead of the meeting. Last month, Raimondo told CNBC the US was considering…

Apple and its manufacturing supplier Foxconn have been involved in lobbying for a landmark liberalization of labor laws in India, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources. According to the report, the legislation authorized the introduction of 12-hour shifts in the southern state of Karnataka, as well as night-time work for women. Foxconn reportedly stated that the legal change is crucial to building efficient manufacturing at scale, and that the possibility of running production around the clock using two 12-hour shifts will be a big step forward for the company. The Taiwanese tech giant has been shifting production away…

Emergency services have revealed intruders hijacked TV and radio stations to transmit the false alarm  Hackers broke into the servers of radio stations and TV channels and dispatched a false air raid alarm in Moscow, Russian emergency services announced on Thursday. The incident happened following a string of similar events in other parts of the country. According to media reports, the usual TV programming was interrupted by a warning that urged people to “immediately seek shelter.” A similar message was broadcast in Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals, local officials said. Last month, a false warning about the “threat of a missile strike” was aired…

The inaugural presidential ceremony was held in the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle Petr Pavel took office as Czech president on Thursday. The inaugural presidential ceremony was held in the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle. The swearing-in ceremony started at 2:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. Moscow time) and was broadcast live by Czech Television. Retired Army General Pavel secured 58.32% of the vote in the Czech presidential election that ended on Saturday, beating out his challenger Andrej Babis who garnered 41.67% of the vote. Source: Tass

A hard night! – Zelensky said commenting on another massive strike by Russian forces on military and energy facilities throughout Ukraine, which took place at night on March 9. According to the Ukrainian President, targets in Kiev, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia regions were hit. According to him, both critical infrastructure facilities and residential buildings were damaged, and there were victims. However, no evidences and more exact information were provided. In various regions throughout the country, the communication, as well as energy and water supply were interrupted. Train traffic was also delayed. The Ukrainian energy company…

On March 9, three fighters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were shot dead by undercover Israeli police officers during a raid in the northern West Bank village of Jaba’. A spokesman for the Israel Border Police said that the officers entered Jaba’ to arrest two Palestinian men wanted for a series of shooting attacks against Israeli forces in the area and the nearby Israeli outpost of Homesh. During the raid, the two wanted men and another gunman opened fire from their vehicle at the officers, who returned fire, killing them. The police named Ahmed Fashafsha, 22, and Sufyan Fakhoury,…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the importance of preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “We affirm the necessity of preserving Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, and supporting efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in it”, Lavrov said at a press conference with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, in Moscow on Thursday. Lavrov noted that the talks dealt with the humanitarian needs resulting from the earthquake that hit Syria. The Minister pointed out that Russia will continue to support the Syrian people, stressing the need to lift the Western coercive measures imposed on Syria in light…