Author: Steven Sahiounie

According to the document, federal budget revenues are projected at $393.8 bln in 2024 MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on Russia’s federal budget for 2024 and the planning period 2025-2026. The document was posted on the official web portal of legal information. According to the document, federal budget revenues are projected at 35.065 trillion rubles ($393.8 bln) in 2024, 33.552 trillion rubles ($376.8 bln) in 2025 and 34.051 trillion rubles ($382.4 bln) in 2026. Expenses are expected to be 36.66 trillion rubles ($411.7 bln), 34.382 trillion rubles ($386.1 bln) and 35.587 trillion rubles ($399.6…

The financial sector has withstood “lawless” Western restrictions, Andrey Kostin has told President Putin Russian banks have withstood unprecedented Western sanctions and have had a “highly successful” 2023, the head of the country’s second-largest lender has said. VTB CEO Andrey Kostin met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, where they discussed the state of the country’s banking sector. Kostin described the sanctions imposed on Russia since last year by the EU and the US as “absolute lawlessness,” admitting that VTB had suffered “serious losses” when its overseas branches and subsidiaries “were taken away” and “liquidated.” However, the bank has since recovered and the current year has…

Akiva Eldar tells Al Jazeera that the lack of information about Israel’s released captives may be due in part to a desire by authorities to deny Hamas any positive press. “We are seeing a media campaign, a public campaign. The Israeli authorities are doing their best not to show any compassion to the Palestinians,” the Haaretz contributor said. Speaking about 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, released by Hamas prior to the start of the truce, he said, “the hospital that treated one of the first hostages … was criticised for offering access to the media. “Some even criticised [Lifshitz] for offering positive public…

The third group of wounded Palestinian children and cancer patients arrived in the UAE on Monday, in implementation of the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to provide medical treatment for 1,000 injured children, and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip, in the UAE’s hospitals. Departing from Al-Arish International Airport in Egypt, the plane landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport, carrying 93 children who are in the most urgent need of medical assistance, including those suffering from severe injuries and burns, as well as cancer patients who need extensive treatment, accompanied by 80 of their families. Maha…

In a phone call with Pedro Sanchez, Recep Tayyip Erdogan praises Spanish government’s stance against Israel’s attacks on Palestinian as ‘valuable’ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday discussed Israel’s over 40 days of attacks on Palestine and the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. In a phone call, Erdogan and Sanchez also exchanged views on steps to help ensure uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza, and efforts for a permanent cease-fire, according to Türkiye’s Communications Directorate. Erdogan praised as “valuable” the Spanish government’s stance against Israel’s “illegitimate attacks” on Palestinians and its statements in favor…

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, says the humanitarian aid allowed into the Strip so far has been limited. But he said the announcement that the truce would be extended has been welcomed by Palestinians in the enclave. “This means that there will be an additional two days cleared of relentless Israeli attacks,” Abu Azzoum said. Source: AlJazeera

Majed Al-Ansari confirms in a statement that “an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip”. Source: AlJazeera

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian civilian airports pose threat to peace and security in the region and the world, calling on the UN bodies to assume their responsibilities in condemning and stopping these attacks and ensuring that they are not repeated. “At about 16:50 on Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces launched an air attack with missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting Damascus International Airport and some areas in Damascus countryside, putting the airport out of service once again, only hours after it was rerun, as well as…

The US, notorious for sponsoring, aiding and abetting the Zionist regime in the vicious crimes against Palestinians, is seeking to politically achieve what it has failed to fulfill in Gaza via the war, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said. In comments at a presser on Monday, Kanaani said there is evidence that the Zionist regime is after adventurism after launching its deadly onslaught against Gaza. Based on what Iran has monitored in cooperation with other parties, the US intends to use political means to fulfill the objectives it has failed to achieve in Gaza amid the brutal Israeli war, he warned. The…

Germany says it supports the extension of the truce, adding it should be used as “a bridge to a political process” for a lasting solution. Deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer told reporters that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed to attendees at the meeting for foreign ministers in Spain that the truce must last “as long as possible” so that captives can be released and humanitarian aid can be sent to Gaza. “The central thing we are currently struggling to do is see each other’s suffering. Because only if the suffering of others can be healed will your own suffering…