Author: Steven Sahiounie

The ban can be circumvented, spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia will bypass EU restrictions on the export of the country’s diamonds, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday. Responding to questions related to the latest package of the bloc’s sanctions against Moscow, Peskov insisted that the ban will not work. “It [the diamond ban] was predictable, we were preparing for it,” the official stated. “There are ways to circumvent these sanctions, and they will be realized.” On Monday, the European Council (EC) announced that the bloc had finally approved a ban on the direct or indirect import, purchase, or transfer of…

Moscow and Beijing have switched to settlements in national currencies, according to the Russian PM Western currencies have almost been completely phased out in Russia-China trade, as nearly all payments between the countries are now carried out in rubles and yuan, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The statement was made during a meeting on Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang. The Russian PM is on a two-day visit to Beijing for a scheduled meeting of Russian and Chinese heads of government. “We continue to increase the share of national currencies in mutual settlements. If in 2020 this figure…

The US continued to be the largest source country for remittances while the GCC countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia India stays top as the largest recipient of global remittances, with a 12.3 per cent surge in inward flow to $125 billion in 2023, underscoring the crucial role played by the Indian diaspora in supporting families and contributing to the country’s economic resilience. The US continued to be the largest source country for remittances while the GCC countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where millions of migrant workers live, remained top sources of remittances in 2023. The World…

As a part of its new strategy, the kingdom is looking to draw more investments into the sector Saudi Arabia has unveiled a new strategy for its media sector with plans to raise its GDP contribution to 47 billion riyals ($13 billion) by 2030. The kingdom’s General Authority of Media Regulation, chaired by the Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari, plans to expand the sector’s position regionally and internationally, and draw in more investments as a part of its Vision 2030 plans. According to a 2022 report by management consulting firm Kearney, the size of the Saudi Arabia media…

Whatever choices China makes, it will have to account for an ageing and shrinking population, and a difficult geopolitical environment as the West grows wary of doing business with the world’s No.2 economy HONG KONG – China’s disappointing post-COVID recovery has raised significant doubts about the foundations of its decades of stunning growth and presented Beijing with a tough choice for 2024 and beyond: take on more debt or grow less. The expectations were that once China ditched its draconian COVID rules, consumers would burst back into malls, foreign investment would resume, factories would rev up and land auctions and…

Inflation, driven by food prices, would stand on average at 6.1% this year, down from 6.6% last year Morocco’s central bank said it left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3% on Tuesday to keep prices stable. Inflation, driven by food prices, would stand on average at 6.1% this year, down from 6.6% last year, the bank said in a statement following its quarterly board meeting. In 2024, inflation would further drop to 2.4%, on the back of an expected fall in prices of imported goods and stability of food prices. Assuming an average cereals harvest, growth would improve to…

EU chief Josep Borrell admitted in a statement that Europe is falling out with the rest of the world as a consequence of its stance on the war in Gaza. On Monday, at a conference in Aosta organized by Le Grand Continent, Borrel said the EU has been extremely divided over Gaza, as certain countries feel personal guilt for Israelis because of the Holocaust during the Second World War, completely sidelining the atrocities “Israel” is committing in Gaza, which many likened to a holocaust. He revealed that “relations with the global south had not been very good before 7 October, now…

Yoav Gallant was visiting troops in southern Israel close to Gaza. He said the southern city of Khan Younis has “become the new capital of terror” and Israel will not stop until it targeted all senior Hamas officials. “The ground operation will expand to additional areas,” he said. Israeli forces initially told civilians to flee from northern Gaza to “safe zones” in the south, before telling them to flee further south from Khan Younis and bombing there. Hundreds of thousands of displaced are currently gathered in Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost city. Source: AlJazeera

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today welcomed the announcement by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna that her country decided to take measures against some extremist Israeli colonists and that she expressed France’s rejection of the acts of violence they are committing because they undermine the possibilities of reaching a political solution. The Ministry considered, in a statement, that this decision is a step in the right direction towards applying international law and relevant United Nations resolutions to the entire colonial settlement regime, which undermines the opportunity to implement the two-state solution. It called on all countries to place…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday implied that the bloodshed in Gaza would end solely on the condition that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be removed from office. “Those who do not listen to us or do not believe us when we say that Netanyahu will be out will see his exit. But his leaving office will not save him. We will persecute him legally … I hope that Israel’s cabinet reshuffle will put an end to this bloodshed,” Erdogan told reporters. He also pledged to hold accountable all those responsible for the killing of civilians in Gaza. According to…