Author: Steven Sahiounie

SAO PAULO: Lithium mining has become a central element in several countries’ strategy to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s digital economy contributed 14 percent to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product, according to a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the General Authority for Statistics. 

American officials have reportedly visited Türkiye to persuade banks and companies to cut ties with the sanctioned country

The group will account for 36.6% of the world’s GDP in PPP terms by 2028, according to the Russian president

Consumers in Germany are having to pay significantly higher for heating and electricity in 2024 than before the energy crisis, the Berliner Morgenpost has reported, citing the latest study by the portal Verivox. 

Already the largest in Europe, the country is now looking to pass Japan, according to the president Russia is already the biggest economy in Europe in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, and could join the top four globally, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. PPP compares economic productivity and standards of living between countries by adjusting for the differences in the cost of goods and services. While delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly, in Moscow, the president noted that in 2023 the Russian economy outpaced the G7 states in terms of growth. “The pace and quality of…

France and Germany have warned that outright confiscation would reflect badly on the West’s financial system

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that his country is ready to again host Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations Head of the Russian delegation of peace talks with Ukraine said on Thursday that they will go to Türkiye for negotiations with Kyiv should they receive a corresponding instruction to do so. “If they give an order, we will go,” Vladimir Medinsky, who is also an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a video commentary to the Telegram channel Shot in response to a question on the matter. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video…

New Zealand is imposing travel bans on “a number” of Israeli settlers “known to have committed violent acts,” according to a statement from Prime Minster Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters. “New Zealand is seriously concerned by the significant increase in extremist violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinian populations in recent months,” said Luxon. Peters described Israeli ministers’ “plans for further settlement construction” as a “serious concern”. New Zealand’s announcement comes after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans for 3,300 new Israeli settlement homes to be built in the occupied West Bank. The New Zealand statement did not specify which…

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he met with Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations’ senior coordinator for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza. Netanyahu and Kaag “discussed some of the current challenges in the region and possible policies to confront them”, the prime minister’s office said, as the death toll in Gaza nears 30,000 and as aid agencies warn of the “slow motion” mass killing of children due to food shortages and disease in the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu’s office did not provide further details. UN officials and nongovernmental organisations have strongly criticised Israeli authorities for severely restricting…