Author: Steven Sahiounie

The price of cocoa beans surged to an all-time high on Tuesday, amid supply constraints in West Africa, which produces about 70% of the crop globally.

Attacks on companies that do business in Russia continue despite Kiev shutting down its list of ‘international war sponsors’

The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has cut off ocean routes to the city’s major port, is expected to cause severe disruptions to local transport and logistics, producing ripple effects on global supply chains.

Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, has warned that demographics will inevitably strain pension systems and that longer lives are projected to force workers to retire later.

A group of leading German economic institutes have slashed growth forecasts for the EU’s top economy in 2024 to 0.1% from an earlier projection of 1.3%.

The Palestinian presidency welcomed the successive US statements calling for an end to the Israeli aggression and cautioning Israel against attacking the city of Rafah given the possibility of unprecedented civilian casualties. The presidency emphasized the importance of these US statements, especially what was said by the US Vice President that all options are on the table, as well as what the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said today that protecting Palestinian civilians from harm is a moral and strategic necessity, describing the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian catastrophe. The presidency also stressed the importance of what the…

Two Palestinians were Wednesday dawn killed, and seven others were injured, following an Israeli drone bombing of group of youths in the Jenin camp, sources said. The Ministry of Health said that Hamza Arrawi, 27, from Al-Ain camp in Nablus, and Mohammad Nasser Al-Sabti, 19, from Jenin camp, were killed after an Israeli drone bombed a group of young men in front of a house in Al-Damj neighborhood. With the killing of Ararawi and Al-Sabti, the death toll in Jenin rises to three, after the killing of the 19-year-old Ayman Youssef Hassan Azouqa by occupation forces’ bullets in Jenin. Source: WAFA

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday received a phone call from his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, the Kingdom’s ministry announced.During the call, they discussed regional and international development, most notably developments in the Gaza Strip and the efforts made in this regard. Source: Arab News

Ambassador Dr. Saud Al-Sati, the Saudi deputy minister for political affairs, received the Iranian Ambassador to the Kingdom Alireza Enayati in Riyadh on Tuesday. The parties reviewed Saudi-Iranian relations and prominent topics of common interest, the ministry reported on X. Meanwhile, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi met the Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chen Weiqing at the end of the latter’s term of office. Their meeting focused on ways of enhancing cooperation and relations between the GCC and China in various fields, the council reported. Source: Arab News

Former US President Donald Trump has warned that Israel is “losing a lot of support” and must “finish up” its war in Gaza before its reputation declines any further. The comments represented a rare moment of criticism of the Jewish state by Trump. In an interview with Israel Hayom partially published on Monday, Trump said that he would have acted “very much the same way as you did” if the US was attacked like Israel was by Hamas in October. “Only a fool would not do that,” Trump added. However, Trump called Israel’s wholesale destruction of civilian homes in Gaza “a very big mistake.” “It’s a very bad picture…