Author: Steven Sahiounie

Some member states have boosted trade turnover by more than 200%, the news agency saysThree quarters of EU member states boosted their trade turnover with Russia in the first eight months of 2022, RIA Novosti has reported on Saturday, citing data collected from the bloc’s various national statistics departments.Russia’s trade with Bulgaria and Greece reportedly soared 240% and 230% respectively, while trade turnover with Slovenia doubled during  January-to-August this year.At the same time, Austria and the Czech Republic boosted their trade with Moscow by 80% and Russia’s trade turnover with both Hungary and Italy surged 70%. Belgium and Cyprus also registered increases, of…

Economists no longer expect an “impressive recovery” and blame high inflation for weak performanceFood prices in the Netherlands have jumped by 15.7% in November compared to last year, data shared on Thursday by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) shows.The consumer price index (CPI) was 9.9% up in November from the same month last year. Experts point out that bread, cereals, meat and dairy products in particular have contributed to the price increase.According to the European harmonized consumer price index (HICP), services and consumer goods in the country were 11.3% more expensive in November than in the same period in 2021.In its latest…

President Xi Jinping has reportedly said his country will work to pay for fuel in yuanBeijing will work to make energy purchases in yuan instead of the US dollar signalling another step towards shifting further away from the greenback, China’s President Xi Jinping has told Gulf Arab leaders as cited by Reuters.China’s leader highlighted the necessity of the move while speaking at a Chinese-Arab summit that was hosted by Saudi Arabia earlier this week.  Xi had held separate talks with the heads of the Persian Gulf states at the summit that reportedly  brought together 30 leaders from across the region.The world’s biggest…

Oman’s energy minister says the restrictions on Russia could spread globallyMajor oil producers are concerned about the price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations on Russian crude exports, Oman’s energy minister, Salim Al-Aufi, said in an interview with Bloomberg.The limit on Russian seaborne oil, set at $60 per barrel, was introduced by the EU, the G7 countries, and Australia on December 5. It bans Western companies from providing insurance and other services to vessels loaded with Russian oil, unless the cargo is bought at or below the price indicated.“I don’t think anyone likes it,” Al-Aufi said told the agency…

Crypto service providers will be forced to report transaction data to tax authoritiesThe European Commission (EC) is planning to combat tax fraud and evasion in the crypto sector by making all digital asset service providers report transactions involving customers residing in the EU.A mechanism to force companies outside of the bloc to disclose user holdings is currently being developed. According to the EC, tax authorities currently lack proper information about the gains of crypto holders, limiting the tax revenues derived from the sector.The proposed rules, known as the eighth Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC8) seek to target billions of euros…

A ‘less travel, better results’ strategy ignores the quest for low prices and cost saving “If we can save ten per cent on travel, we can take ten per cent more trips!”So said my client, a travel category leader, as she explained her motivation for managing down the cost of travel. This was in 1994. She understood procurement’s central goal, one that has been the basis for managing travel for the last three decades.Most of today’s managed travel principles exist because they serve this goal so well. We control the spend, prioritise savings, design policies and tools to shift volume…

1. Drop in COVID alertness could create deadly new variant, WHO says Lapses in strategies to tackle COVID-19 this year continue to create the perfect conditions for a deadly new variant to emerge, as parts of China witness a rise in infections, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The comments by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mark a change in tone just months after he said that the world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic. “Gaps in testing … and vaccination are continuing to create the perfect conditions for a new variant of…

Morocco wrote World Cup history on Saturday night as the first African and Arab country to reach the tournament’s semi-finals, continuing their surprise run in Qatar with a shock 1-0 victory over the highly fancied Portugal. Youssef En-Nesyri leapt high in the air to head home the game’s only goal just before half-time at the Al-Thumama Stadium to strike a significant blow against football’s established order and book a semi-final on Wednesday against either England or France, who meet later on Saturday. The result will be widely celebrated across Africa and the Arabic-speaking Middle East, desperate to see one of…

France have beaten England 2-1 in a fast-paced game to set up a semi-final World Cup clash with Morocco, who sensationally beat Portugal in the other World Cup quarter-final of the day. Aurelien Tchouameni put France ahead with a blistering long-range shot in the 17th minute at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday. England fans were left particularly aggrieved after calls for two suspected fouls against Bukayo Saka were dismissed in the seconds before the defending world champions opened the scoring. It was a largely equally matched first half, but England began the second with renewed vigour. Saka was again brought down shortly…

Wondering why some of your articles’ visibility seemed to suddenly dip this year? Could this be part of a larger trend? On August 25, 2022, Google started rolling out an update that could be quite interesting for news publishers and their visibility. On September 12, they rolled out yet another core update. These core updates were named “Helpful Content Update(s)”. Today, we’ll be showing you how news publishers around the world were impacted by them. What Is The Helpful Content Update? Google’s Helpful Content Update is an algorithm update that focuses on: Google frequently updates its algorithm in order to better match…