Author: Steven Sahiounie

Britain’s real wages, which factor in inflation, are expected fall back almost to a two-decade lowThe average pay of a British employee next year will drop to a level last seen in 2006, according to the latest report on the UK economy by multinational consultancy PwC, released earlier this week.The professional services network has projected that real wages, which factor in inflation, will plunge by as much as 3% in 2022 and by another 2% during the upcoming year.“2022 has obviously been a highly challenging year for the UK economy, and it is not surprising that these chilly headwinds will…

December 25, 2022Consumer prices have risen due to soaring energy costs, official data showsJapan’s core consumer inflation benchmark hit a fresh four-decade high last month as companies continued to pass on rising costs to households, government data showed on Friday.The nationwide consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes energy costs, jumped 3.7% in November from a year ago, in line with market forecasts and up from a 3.6% gain in the previous month. It was the biggest rise since December 1981.The data showed that, aside from utility bills, prices rose for a wide range of goods…

Production of natural gas sees biggest one-day drop in more than a decadeThe devastating winter storm that has battered most of the US over the past two days has sent the country’s natural-gas production plummeting by nearly 10%. This marks the largest one-day drop in more than ten years, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.In terms of volume, the plunge amounted to 2.8 million cubic meters compared to the previous day as temperatures across key producing areas dropped below freezing, according to BloombergNEF data.At the same time, domestic demand reportedly soared to its highest daily level since early 2019.On Saturday, Duke Energy,…

Soaring energy costs are pushing government debt higher, according to official dataThe British government borrowed a record £22 billion ($27 billion) in November, the highest monthly figure since records started in 1993, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.According to its report on Wednesday, the figure is £13.9 billion more than the same month in 2021, as the country has been hit by soaring natural gas prices that have forced the government to subsidize heating and electricity costs for millions of households and businesses.The ONS data showed that public sector net borrowing (excluding banks bailed out during the financial…

Holdings grew by more than $5 billion in a single week, according to the Central BankRussia’s foreign currency reserves have surpassed $580 billion, the Bank of Russia announced on Thursday.According to the regulator, holdings rose by $5.2 billion or 0.9% in the week to December 16, to reach $581.7 billion. The increase was attributed to a positive market revaluation.Roughly half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves were frozen by Western central banks in early March as part of sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. The remaining holdings consist of gold and foreign currency held within the country, as well as Chinese yuan…

Here is how you can travel in style for your next vacationIf one is not well-prepared to travel, one may encounter difficulties for a variety of reasons. Let’s look at some brands and services that can ensure you have a trouble-free vacation experience.December 25, 2022 by FE TravelIndians can now travel for both business and pleasure in all parts of the nation with ease. The tenacious Indian spirit is on full display as the mobility industry reports that the holiday season is seeing a considerable increase in travel, particularly within India. Travel during the holiday season is nothing new for…

The massive, deadly winter storm bringing whiteout blizzards, stinging winds and frigid temps well below average to much of the U.S. continues to cause Christmas weekend travel havoc, power outages to hundreds of thousands and warnings from officials about potentially life-threatening conditions.The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center said weekend “temperatures will be 25 to 35 degrees below average from east of the Rockies to the Appalachians.” Two-thirds of the eastern portion of the country is expected to experience sub-freezing low temperatures on Saturday evening, while parts of the region will be dealing with anywhere from 5 to 28 inches…

The US is rapidly ramping up efforts to try to hobble China’s progress in the semiconductor industry – vital for everything from smartphones to weapons of war.In October, Washington announced some of the broadest export controls yet – requiring licences for companies exporting chips to China using US tools or software, no matter where they’re made in the world.Washington’s measures also prevent US citizens and green card holders from working for certain Chinese chip companies. Green card holders are US permanent residents who have the right to work in the country.It is cutting off a key pipeline of American talent…

December 23, 2022 by Melissa HeikkiläIn 2022, AI got creative. AI models can now produce remarkably convincing pieces of text, pictures, and even videos, with just a little prompting.It’s only been nine months since OpenAI set off the generative AI explosion with the launch of DALL-E 2, a deep-learning model that can produce images from text instructions. That was followed by a breakthrough from Google and Meta: AIs that can produce videos from text. And it’s only been a few weeks since OpenAI released ChatGPT, the latest large language model to set the internet ablaze with its surprising eloquence and…

There’s not enough fresh water to go around on planet Earth, and it’s a problem that’s expected to only worsen in the coming years.To meet growing demand, recycling and restricting our water will only get us so far. Scientists will need to find new sources of this life-sustaining liquid to meet our needs.One currently untapped source is the water vapor above the oceans, which is almost limitless as far as supplies go. A new study outlines how harvesting structures could be used to convert this vapor into drinkable water.”Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh…