The U.S. is growing concerned about Turkey’s growing military presence in northern Syria, “raising alarm that Ankara is preparing for a large-scale incursion into territory held by American-backed Syrian Kurds,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Author: admin
GAZA DEATH TOLL
Israeli forces continue to kill starving Palestinians as Washington insists it is working on a new ceasefire deal.
IMF’S INTERNAL INSPECTOR CALLS OUT AGENCY FOR INCONSISTENCIES
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) internal Independent Evaluation Office has criticized the international funding agency over some of its biggest rescue plans of the past two decades.
EXXON BOOSTS CAPITAL SPENDING IN THE FACE OF GLOBAL OIL GLUT
ExxonMobil, the world’s second-richest oil company behind Aramco, will spend at least $27 billion and as much as $29 billion on capital projects in 2025, the company said in an 11 December statement.
ENERGY AGENCIES ADJUST THEIR 2025 OIL FORECASTS
The International Energy Agency has increased its oil outlook for 2025, forecasting a growth in demand of 1.1 million barrels a day, up from 990,000 it projected in the fall.
EMERGING NATIONS’ CURRENCY VALUES CRASH AGAINST STRONG DOLLAR
A surge in the U.S. dollar and a “confluence of bad news” has sunk the currencies of emerging nations to their lowest values since the U.S. Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in March 2022.
BIDEN HITS CHINA’S CLEAN TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS WITH NEW TARIFFS
The Biden administration has doubled to 50 percent the U.S. tariffs on imported Chinese silicon wafers and polysilicon, both essential in making solar energy panels.
GERMAN ECONOMY WILL BARELY RECOVER IN 2025, CENTRAL BANK SAYS
Germany’s crippled industrial economy is leading the country’s GDP to a 0.2-percent contraction this year, the Bundesbank says, and a recovery will not begin until after the first quarter of 2025.
ECB CUTS RATE, WARNS OF WEAK GROWTH AHEAD
On 12 December, the European Central Bank (ECB) shaved a quarter point from its key deposit interest rate, bringing it to 3 percent, and said the Eurozone’s economy will expand by 1.1 percent in 2025. In September, the bank had forecast a 1.3-percent expansion.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that have profoundly affected the business community this year.