Author: Steven Sahiounie

The sub-index for mining and quarrying activity, which accounts for 61.4% of the index weight, rose to 98.2 points from 98 points in December last year

Moody’s Ratings (Moody’s) has on Saturday changed the outlook on the Government of Tunisia to stable from negative and affirmed the Caa2 long-term foreign-currency and local-currency issuer ratings.

The narrowing was due to a jump in oil revenues (+15% m/m to KD16.4 billion YTD) and higher non-oil revenues (+24% m/m to KD1.45 billion)

The World Bank Group had mobilized $41 billion of private capital for emerging markets and raised another $42 billion from the private sector for bond issuance last year

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai was lit up in Russian flag colors as a tribute to victims of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall, TASS reports. The inscription of “the United Arab Emirates supports Russia” in Arabic and English appeared on the facade of the world’s tallest building. The action organized by Dubai authorities and the development company Emaar lasted for several minutes. Buildings of the Khalifa University, the oil company ADNOC, the exhibition company ADNEC, and certain other ones were also lit up in colors of the Russian flag, the WAM news agency said. “This initiative…

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is visiting the Middle East because not enough help is getting into Gaza, according to her statement. “Airdrops or sea bridges are not a sustainable solution,” Baerbock said, adding that military action has its limits in international humanitarian law. She also said “Hamas must lay down its arms and never again bring the terror of October 7 to the people of Israel. But this goal cannot be achieved purely militarily.” Baerbock added that only an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities, would end the suffering on all sides. She also…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Cairo. In the meeting, Sisi praised Guterres’s keenness to adhere to the principles of international and humanitarian law in cairo He also stressed the necessity for the UN Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities and emphasised the danger of some countries having cut funding to the UNRWA, calling it “collective punishment”, spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said on Facebook. The UN chief emphasised Egypt’s efforts to push towards a ceasefire in Gaza, to keep Rafah crossing open over the past months, and to lead the process of delivering aid to…

The death toll from the terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall music venue has climbed to 137, the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee told TASS. “The identification of those dead continues. As of now, as many as 137 bodies have been found. Three of them are children. The survey of the site continues. By now, sixty-two bodies have been identified,” it said. It also said that in the course of the crime site survey, no minded bodies or other traces of mining have been found. Apart from that, according to the press service, “four combat gear sets,…

A British-funded field hospital in Gaza has been established and will soon open to provide much-needed healthcare services to the enclave’s population, it was reported on Saturday. The tented hospital, set up by British non-governmental organization UK-Med, left Manchester and arrived in the Palestinian territory earlier this week. It has a capacity for 250 patients a day, a report in The Telegraph said. It will replace a temporary medical facility previously set up by UK-Med, which could handle 100 patients, as well as its mobile health clinics set up on sites north of Rafah, where half of Gaza’s population has…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Türkiye is aware of those supporting Israel and will not yield to the lobbies backing Tel Aviv. “We’re aware of who supports Israel and the lobbies behind them. We haven’t yield to these lobbies until now, and we won’t in the future,” said Erdogan during an iftar program in Istanbul. “Except for Türkiye and a few other countries, there is hardly any actor raising voice against Israel and its Western supporters,” he stressed. Alongside the Palestinian people, all the innocent people around the world have been witness to Türkiye’s efforts, he…