Author: Steven Sahiounie

Germany does not plan to buy Russian oil in 2023, the press service of the country’s Economy Ministry told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. The statement refutes an earlier announcement from Transneft, a Russian state-owned pipeline transport company and the operator of Russia’s section of the Druzhba pipeline. On Monday, Transneft head Nikolai Tokarev said his company had received requests to pump oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Poland and Germany in 2023, despite earlier assurances form both countries that they would not place new orders.The German ministry stated that starting in January the Schwedt refinery had booked capacity in the pipeline system…

A US House committee voted to publish six years of the former president’s financial data The Democrat-led US House Ways and Means Committee voted on Tuesday to make a redacted version of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns available to the public. Documents covering six years of his financial affairs will be released within days.The committee also published a report detailing its investigation of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Mandatory Audit program and its enforcement under the Trump administration. Democratic chairman Richard Neal described it as “dormant” at the time.“We anticipated the IRS would expand the mandatory audit program to account for…

More than 4.5 million workers voluntarily walked away in November, leaving employers scrambling to fill empty slots amid a starved labor market Americans are quitting their jobs at the fastest pace ever, exacerbating staffing shortages for restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that were already struggling to fill empty slots amid fierce competition for workers. About 4.53 million workers voluntarily left their jobs in November, exceeding the previous record of 4.36 million that was set in September, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday. The quit level amounted to 3% of the entire US work force and jumped 37% from…

Yuan squeezing out dollar on Moscow ExchangeDecember 21, 2022Turnover in the greenback has been cut in half as the currencies of ‘friendly’ countries gain prominenceTrading in the currencies of so-called ‘friendly’ nations, or those that did not impose sanctions on Russia, has surged on the Moscow Exchange this year, pushing out the US dollar, the head of the bourse, Yury Denisov, said on Tuesday.   The Belarusian ruble and Chinese yuan have seen volumes grow the most, by 110 and 41 times, respectively, while turnover in the Turkish lira is up some 17-fold and in the Kazakh tenge by 13-fold. The…

Supplies are being delivered through alternate routes, the company saysRussian gas deliveries to the EU remain unchanged despite an explosion at a pipeline in central Russia, the local unit of state energy provider Gazprom said in a statement late Tuesday.According to the company, the flows have been redirected to alternate routes.“The damaged section of the gas pipeline was promptly localized. Gas transportation to consumers is provided in full through parallel gas pipelines.”The blast occurred at a section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline in the Chuvash Republic several hundred kilometers east of Moscow on Tuesday, causing a major fire. The blaze has…

December 21, 2022The country has overtaken Saudi Arabia, which saw its Asian exports decline in NovemberRussia boosted oil deliveries to China by 17% in November from one year earlier, overtaking Saudi Arabia to become the country’s top supplier, Chinese customs announced on Tuesday.This comes as Chinese refiners have been rushing to stock up on oil ahead of the EU price cap, which took effect on December 5.Deliveries of Russian crude, including oil pumped through the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports, amounted to 7.81 million tons last month. This is…

Ali Z:The rise of adventure travel: How millennials are reinventing solo travelHow to make travel buddies: Group trips give you a ‘ready-made’ crewThere’s a meme going around which says that Jesus’s real miracle was to have 12 close friends in his 30s. It’s a joke that makes millennials equally chuckle and sigh, as most feel that their circle of friends gets smaller by the year.Millennials’ tend to feel their loneliness most keenly when it comes to planning travel. Doing any solo activities is still viewed with a certain scorn, or even pity, making it hard to go on the road…

—US airlines have issued travel waivers ahead of what’s forecast to be a brutal “bomb cyclone” of wintry weather in the Midwest and other regions later this week.The important aviation hub of Chicago is forecast to be one of the cities hit the hardest, with the National Weather Service warning of the potential for a blizzard.Many airlines are allowing limited, no-charge itinerary changes related to the expected storms.”One of the things you can do as a traveler is make that switch as soon as possible,” said Scott Keyes, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights. Keyes noted that flights are more…

What’s Your Biggest Travel Nightmare?Emotions of fear and anxiety on the Holiday travel is here, bringing travel nightmares. Delays, cancellations, sleeping in airports instead of with loved ones or nursing a margarita at sunset—all awful to contemplate. And I sincerely hope a true travel nightmare like this never happens again.But many people have different fears, reveals a new survey of 1000 Americans by Passport Photo Online, a technology startup developing AI tools for taking biometric photos. The study asked respondents if they’ve ever encountered a travel nightmare, what it was like, and whether they have any tips on how to…

Bitcoin Mining Company Core Scientific Succumbs to Crypto Winter, Files for BankruptcyBitcoin mining company Core Scientific has reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas.Core’s market capitalization at the time of writing is close to $73.6 million.The development comes on the back of a prolonged crypto winter, intensified by the FTX bankruptcy.Core Scientific, a prominent publicly traded crypto mining company in the United States, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas.The development comes on the back of a prolonged crypto winter and weak Bitcoin price action, intensified by the FTX bankruptcy.Core Scientific Had Exposure to CelsiusCore Scientific had a market capitalization…