DAMASCUS, Syria (AA) – Syria devalued its national currency on Monday, the second time in less than four months. In a statement, the Central Bank said it had lowered the official exchange rate to 4,522 lira against the US dollar. Previously, the official rate had been set at 3,015 lira. The dollar is traded on […]
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal with Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in Brazil on Sunday. “We discussed our humanitarian aid and the Istanbul Grain Agreement,” Cavusoglu said on Twitter. The Turkish foreign minister was in Brazil to atte...
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – One-third of the Arab population lives below the poverty line, a UN body said on Saturday. A report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said that poverty has increased in the Arab countries and is now affecting 130 million people. Unemployment in the Arab region […]
DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) – Four illegal Chinese gold miners exploiting the natural resources of the country have been arrested in southern Mali, an official claimed. The men were arrested by forest officials of the Environment Ministry on the night of December 21-22 in a forest in Kekoro. Ministry spokesman Diakaridia Yossi said that the op...
Tunis, Tunisia (AFP): Tunisia’s finance minister has unveiled a budget aiming to use new tax revenues to draw the deficit back to nearly five percent of the GDP, as the country awaits an international bailout. The 2023 budget comes as the North African country grapples with massive public debt, shortages of goods from sugar to […]
Kabul, Afghanistan (AFP): Three foreign aid groups have announced that they are suspending their operations in Afghanistan after the country’s Taliban rulers ordered all NGOs to stop female staff from working. Their announcement prompted warnings from a top UN official in Afghanistan and from NGOs that humanitarian aid would be hard hit....
Baghdad, Iraq (AFP): Iraq’s prime minister has appealed to visiting Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni for closer economic ties with his oil-rich and war-ravaged country. Meloni, who leads the eurozone’s third-largest economy, was on a visit to Italian troops posted in Iraq in support of a mission to counter militant groups in the ...
LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) – Shell Petroleum has agreed to pay €15 million ($15.9 million) as settlement to Nigeria over oil pipeline leaks in the country’s Niger Delta in the 2000s. In a statement on Friday, Shell said it had negotiated the settlement for the benefit of the Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo communities in […]
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – The number of children facing dire drought conditions across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has more than doubled in five months, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In a statement, UNICEF said that around 20.2 million children are now under threat of severe hunger, thirst and disease compared to 10 milli...
MOSCOW (AA) – Moscow will prohibit oil supplies to countries that will join the price cap on Russian oil, a government official has said. “This decree (on retaliatory measures announced by President Vladimir Putin) implies a ban on the supply of oil and oil products to those countries and those legal entities that will require […]...
