Business

More than 6.6 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, setting a grim record for the second straight week. The latest claims brought the two-week total to nearly 10 million. The speed and scale of the job losses is without precedent. Until …

The Group of 20 major economies said on Tuesday that they would present a coronavirus action plan in two weeks to address the debt vulnerabilities of the poorest countries and deliver financial aid to emerging economies. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed in a videoconference how the International …

Trade ministers from the Group of 20 major economies on Monday agreed to step up cooperation and coordination to ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies and equipment and other essentials in the face of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. In a joint statement, the ministers said they would take …

The Heritage Foundation sees the US as the winner in the current situation in Syria, with conflict between Turkey, Russia and Syria.  They conclude, “That leaves the U.S. sitting in not-the-worst position of all the players. We still have some small teams in Syria conducting anti-ISIS operations, but no one …

The heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on Friday underscored the need to provide debt relief to poorer countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and said official bilateral creditors would have to play a major role. The IMF and the World Bank have both launched emergency programs …

By Damir Nazarov   Ibragimov, Sc.D., Director of the “Research Information Centre”, a non-governmental and non-profit organization The construction of a railway through Kyrgyzstan has been considered for a long time – more than two decades. During this time, the PRC railway ministries have repeatedly stated about their great interest …

By Damir Nazarov   U.Ibragimov, Director of the “Research Information Centre”, a non­governmental and non-profit organization On December 19-20, 2019, Tashkent held the first meeting of members of Working Group on Formation of a Multimodal Transport Corridor for “Asian- Pacific Region – China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – …

A dozen countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have asked the International Monetary Fund for financial support in dealing with the coronavirus, and the Kyrgyz Republic is likely to receive the first emergency disbursement, the fund said. Governments should spare no expense to help their health systems and …

The United States on Wednesday identified seven companies that it has blacklisted for trade in Iranian petrochemicals – three based in mainland China, three in Hong Kong and one in South Africa – the State Department said in a statement. Separately, the department also named five Iranian nuclear scientists who …

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI ordered the creation of a 10 billion dirham ($1 billion) fund to upgrade health infrastructure and help vulnerable economic sectors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the royal cabinet said on Sunday. The fund will help acquire the necessary health equipment and assist sectors such …

Hezbollah does not oppose foreign aid to Lebanon, even from the International Monetary Fund, as long as the help does not impose conditions that harm the national interest, its leader said on Friday. In a televised speech, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his Shi’ite movement, which backs the government, refused conditions …

Israel’s NSO Group is asking a California judge to sanction Facebook Inc for allegedly failing to abide by international law with regards to its lawsuit against the spyware maker. Facebook’s WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding evidence that the hacking firm had abused a flaw in the popular chat …

Lebanon is waiting for bondholders to decide whether they will cooperate in a debt restructuring or take the country to court after its move to suspend a $1.2 billion bond repayment due on Monday, the economy minister told Reuters. With Lebanon facing its first ever sovereign default, its dollar bonds …

It’s no secret that tax law in the United States is extremely confusing. Even the length of the official tax code is subject to wild speculation; people estimate it to be somewhere between 2,500 pages and four times the length of the complete written works of Shakespeare. As a result …

Lebanon announced it cannot meet its debt payments and halted a March 9 bond payment of $1.2 billion on Saturday, setting the heavily indebted state on course for a sovereign default as it grapples with a major financial crisis. In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Hassan Diab …

A set of Lebanon’s bond holders are to step up efforts to form a creditor group in the coming days after the country’s presidency signaled on Saturday it would default, one of the members of the group said. The move from Lebanon will come just two days before a $1.2 …

Lebanon’s top leadership opposes repaying the country’s sovereign debt, the presidency said on Saturday, indicating the the heavily indebted state is heading towards a default as it grapples with a major financial crisis. A default on Lebanon’s foreign currency debt will mark a new phase in the crisis that has …

Unfortunately in the last few hours we have seen the situation in Italy worsen as regards the Coronavirus epidemic. The latest press conference of the Head of Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli at 18 pm on March 5 reports that we have: 3.858 people who contracted the virus, currently positive 3296, …

Lebanon’s state prosecutor suspended an order on Thursday to freeze the assets of 20 local banks, warning it would plunge the country and its financial sector into chaos, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters. Local lenders are at the heart of a financial crisis crippling Lebanon …

WhatsApp has taken a step toward wining its widely publicized lawsuit against the NSO Group after the Israeli spyware merchant failed to show up in court, according to a notice of default entered Monday in California. WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding evidence that the hacking firm had abused …

Hezbollah believes that terms required by any IMF bailout package for Lebanon would spark “a popular revolution”, a senior official said on Tuesday, rejecting such a step and calling instead for a “national solution” to a deep economic crisis. Lebanon is in the throes of an unprecedented economic crisis, the …

OPEC ministers are beginning to arrive to Vienna on Tuesday as the group debates whether to further reduce oil production to tackle deteriorating demand from the global spread of the new coronavirus. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia agreed in December a collective cut …

G7 finance officials will on Tuesday discuss ways to bolster their economies against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak, but are not expected to specifically call for new spending or coordinated interest rate cuts, a G7 official said. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the group will hold …

British foreign minister Dominic Raab will on Monday begin his first official visit to the Gulf for talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Oman, expected to cover trade, human rights issues and climate change. Raab, appointed foreign minister in July last year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will also …

Shares of Saudi Aramco 2222.SE hit 32.50 riyals ($8.66) in intraday trade on Sunday, the lowest since it began trading in December following a record initial public offering, as oil prices plunged amid worries about the global spread of the coronavirus. Aramco shares broke past their previous low of 32.60 …

Crowdfunding venture investing platform OurCrowd, one of Israel’s largest investors, said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s former special envoy for the Middle East Jason Greenblatt has joined the company as a partner. Greenblatt, who resigned in September, is an architect of Trump’s “deal of the century” plan that seeks …

Today, Mike Bezos is the father of the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos. But in 1962, Mike Bezos came to America from Cuba wearing a jacket his mother had hand-stitched from cleaning rags. He was a teenager traveling by himself and he spoke almost no English. “When he …

The fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak will likely lower China’s economic growth this year to 5.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from its January outlook, and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth, the IMF said on Saturday. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva presented the outlook to central bankers and finance …

Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have reached an agreement to end a five-month long trade dispute, officials said on Thursday. The dispute, which opened a new front in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, began in September when the PA announced a boycott of Israel calves. The Authority exercises limited self-rule in …

Foreign companies, enterprises above the designated size and export companies have resumed work one after another in the nation, as it fights against the novel coronavirus pneumonia. With sound protective measures, employees of United Initiators, a Germany-headquartered company, have started work at a circular economic demonstration park in Feidong county, …

Lebanon will invite eight firms to bid to be its financial adviser as it studies all options on its sovereign debt, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, as the heavily indebted state battles a financial crisis. The invitation for bids does not mean the country has decided …

Dubai is to take full control of port operator DP World (DPW.DI) in a deal with a $13.9 billion valuation that will help the company at the center of the emirate’s 2009 debt crisis to repay some of its borrowings. DP World, which operates ports around the world from Hong …

Strains between Turkey and Russia over the escalating Syrian offensive in Idlib appear not to have shaken Turkish plans to deploy Russian missile defense systems, a senior U.S. official said on Friday, despite a threat of U.S sanctions. The fighting in the northwestern Syrian province has led to testy exchanges …

Senior Communist Party official warns of the dangers to the country’s economy and the risks to ‘social stability’ By Gordon Watts special to The Levant Millions of small businesses in China could be destroyed by the coronavirus outbreak, which has swept across the country, threatening “social stability.” Painting a picture …

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company, escalating the U.S. battle with the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker. In the indictment, which supersedes one unsealed last year in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, …

The United Nations’ human rights office on Wednesday named 112 companies it said have business ties to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, angering Israel and prompting a Palestinian threat of legal action against the firms. A long-delayed report issued in Geneva said 94 of the companies were domiciled in …

The coronavirus crisis, which has already battered oil prices, threatens to further undercut Gulf economies battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from a decades-old energy addiction. The six Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — count China as their main trading …

Algeria’s public debt rose to 45% of gross domestic product at the end of last year from a level of 26% in 2017, and the country’s economic situation is “delicate”, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad said on Tuesday. Addressing lawmakers, Djerad blamed mismanagement and corruption during the past years for worsening …

Israel has escalated a trade war with the Palestinians by stopping their agricultural exports through Jordan, Palestinian Agriculture Minister Riyal al-Attari said on Saturday. Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) opened a new front in their decades-long conflict with a trade dispute that began in October and has escalated over …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday Gulf Arab states — some of the world’s richest countries — could see their financial wealth depleted in the next 15 years amid lower hydrocarbon revenues if they don’t step up fiscal reforms. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – whose net …

Saudi Aramco has seen an increase in attempted cyber attacks since the final quarter of 2019, which the company has so far successfully countered, the state oil giant’s chief information security officer told Reuters on Thursday. “Overall there is definitely an increase in the attempts of (cyber) attacks, and we …

Rarely has such an integral part of multinational industry and trade faced such an abrupt and open-ended freeze out   By James T. Areddy SHANGHAI—China’s isolation amid the coronavirus outbreak, a rare freeze out for such a vital economic center, is rippling across the world. Uncertainty over the virus—which has …

By Arthur Blok   Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a new kind of money: skeptical about traditional financial institutions and instead of a central bank using a complicated programming technology. Since that moment numerous cryptocurrencies were introduced. Are cryptocurrencies a useful tool to become more sustainable? Years later the …

Jordan has signed a new $1.3 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the state news agency Petra said on Thursday. Petra said it was a four-year programme, but it gave no further details. In December, the country’s finance minister said a new IMF deal would secure lower servicing …