Author: Steven Sahiounie

Beijing’s intention to sell its crude oil was unveiled earlier in September by the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, but without providing any details on the time or the amount of barrels to be sold.China will be auctioning some 7.38 million barrels of oil from its national reserve, with the bidding slated for 24 September, according to the recent statement by the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.Beijing will be offering many sorts of oil, including batches of Qatar Marine crude, Oman crude, Murban and Upper Zakum. The administration noted that bidders will have to comply with the national…

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – International payment gateway PayPal announced on Friday that its UK clients can now purchase, hold and sell cryptocurrencies. “We are delighted to share that all eligible customers in the UK can now buy, hold and sell #Cryptocurrencies #Bitcoin, #Ethereum, #BitcoinCash & #Litecoin from their PayPal account. Look out for it in the PayPal app,” the company tweeted.In late August, the payment processor unveiled its plans to expand its cryptocurrency services outside the United States, where it has been available since last October.PayPal is the world’s largest debit e-payment system and the pioneer of the digital payment revolution. The PayPal…

Without immediate action to combat climate change, rising sea levels, water scarcity and declining crop productivity could force 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050, the World Bank said in a new report on Monday. The report, Groundswell 2.0, modeled the impacts of climate change on six regions, concluding that climate migration “hotspots” will emerge as soon as 2030 and intensify by 2050, hitting the poorest parts of the world hardest. Sub-Saharan Africa alone would account for 86 million of the internal migrants, with 19 million more in North Africa, the report showed, while 40 million…

China’s factory and retail sectors faltered in August with output and sales growth hitting one-year lows as fresh coronavirus outbreaks and supply disruptions threatened the country’s impressive economic recovery. Industrial production rose 5.3% in August from a year earlier, narrowing from an increase of 6.4% in July and marking the weakest pace since July 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. Output growth missed the 5.8% increase tipped by analysts. Consumer spending also took a big hit from rising local COVID-19 cases and floods with sales rising only 2.5% in August from a year ago, much…

On Saturday, the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources in Syria announced the return of gas to the Arab gas pipeline after it was repaired. The Ministry had announced the commencement of repair operations on Saturday morning after a terrorist attack targeted in the Harran al-Awamid region, which led to the cessation of gas supply to the southern region and the suspension of several power plants in the region.  A week ago, the Syrian Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Bassam Tohme, announced that the Arab gas pipeline is ready to transport Egyptian gas to Lebanon.  It is worth noting that the agreement…

The Independent High Electoral Commission clarified that the voting of the security forces, prison inmates, and the displaced, which will take place on the eighth of next month, will be via the biometric card exclusively. Commission Spokeswoman Joumana al-Ghalay said that “each voting station includes a directory of candidates for special voting,” stressing that any error in the information in the voter’s paper will hinder its receipt in the voting machine. She added that “those who have recently joined the security services should visit the nearest electoral registration center to update their information and receive the biometric voting card.” In…

The Iranian Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, said Iran will not show leniency with any hostile movement at its borders, and that Iraq and the Kurdistan Province should not allow US’ and “Israel’s” “mercenaries” to establish training camps at Iran’s borders. He added that Iran’s forces, under the command of the IRGC, will destroy the bases of terrorist groups at the borders. On a related note, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Ali Shamkhani had said during his meeting with Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi last Sunday that “terrorist activity in Kurdistan is worrisome,” adding that such…

The New York Times revealed on Saturday that Israeli agents wanted to take out Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh for years, adding that the latter was assassinated by a killer robot machine gun. The machine in question was kitted out with artificial intelligence and multiple cameras and capable of firing 600 bullets a minute. The new details were a result of interviews with American, Israeli, and Iranian officials. The report unmasked that Fakhrizadeh has been assassinated by a bullet fired from a machine gun via satellite: The Mossad sniper who pulled the trigger was thousands of miles away. Israeli-US Preparations “Israel’s”…

ISIS claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack on the power plant in Deir Ali, south of the Syrian capital of Damascus. The terrorist group announced through Telegram its responsibility for the attack that led to widespread power outages in several Syrian provinces. The group’s statement said that its militants were able to lace the gas pipeline that links the Tishreen thermal plant to the Deir Ali power plant with explosives and blow it up. Syrian Electricity Minister Ghassan al-Zamil announced on Friday that one of the Deir Ali power plant’s gas pipelines was attacked, taking it out of service and causing a blackout. Syria’s SANA news…

On Sunday, the Israeli occupation court in the city of al-Nasira will hold a session to extend the detention period of the 4 prisoners who were re-arrested, after they broke out of Gilboa Prison, which is considered one of the most fortified prisons in occupied Palestine. The lawyer of one of the detainees said that the lawyers of the Palestinian Detainees’ Affairs Commission made a request to the court for the prisoners to attend the court session, but the occupation is using the Coronavirus pandemic as a pretense to hold it online instead. The lawyer added that the Shabak is…