Author: Steven Sahiounie

TOKYO: The Bank of Japan ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy on Tuesday, making a historic shift away from a focus of reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus, according to Reuters.

RIYADH: Annual inflation in Dubai experienced a modest decrease in February, marking a deceleration to 3.36 percent from January’s rate of 3.6 percent, according to official data.

RIYADH: Egypt’s economy witnessed an uptick in ratings as S&P Global upgraded its outlook for the country to positive from stable.

Iran on March 18 began to take the presidency of the 2024 session of the Conference on Disarmament for four weeks. Iran’s ambassador to the UN offices in Geneva said the country’s presidency of the annual Conference on Disarmament has started on March 18. Ali Bahraini said he has taken the helm at the meeting and begun bilateral negotiations with the purpose of reaching a consensual agenda. Iran presides over the 2024 CD session in Geneva from March 18 to 29 and again from May 13 to 24. The Conference on Disarmament (CD), was recognized by the Tenth Special Session on…

China today said the struggling Al-Shifa Hospital “is an epitome of the ongoing humanitarian crisis” in the Gaza Strip. “China calls for an immediate cease-fire and ramping up humanitarian aid to ease the situation on the ground,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry. At least 11,180 Palestinians have been killed, including over 7,700 children and women, in Israel’s air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since last month, and more than 28,200 others have been injured, according to the latest figures by Palestinian authorities. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, have also been destroyed or damaged in Israel’s…

The Iranian UN envoy hit back at the US, the UK and France for leveling “baseless allegations” against Iran regarding the situation in the Red Sea and Yemen, denouncing them as a pretext for justifying the unlawful military aggression against the Arab country. In a letter to President of the UN Security Council Yamazaki Kazuyuki on Monday, Saeed Iravani criticized the representatives of the US and the UK for abusing the Security Council platform to level “unfounded allegations” against Iran regarding the situation in the Red Sea and Yemen. Dismissing the American and British comments against Iran made at an…

Twenty Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Tuesday in Israeli air strikes on Rafah and central parts of the Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials said.In the southern Gaza city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, where over 1 million Palestinians have sought shelter, 14 people were killed and dozens others wounded in strikes that hit several houses and apartments, Gaza medical officials said.Six more people died in another air strike on a house in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, they added.In Deir Al-Balah, a town in central Gaza about 14 km (8.6 miles) south of Gaza…

RIYADH: Foreign investors can now officially be classified as Saudis under the Nitaqat Saudization program following the approval of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to discuss post-war plans “ensuring Hamas can no longer govern” Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to make his sixth Middle East trip since last October coming from the Philipines, to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt and discuss several key issues, primarily the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, increasing aid entry to the besieged Strip, and ceasefire efforts. Blinken will also discuss “a political path” for the Palestinian people with “security assurances with Israel, and an architecture for lasting peace and security in the region,” a State Department spokesperson…

RIYADH: Telecommunication companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council region are redefining themselves as technology firms to diversify their revenue streams, S&P Global said.