Country Financial News

Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests

Presidential debates are mostly about style, not substance; the intended audience isn’t economists, but wavering voters. Last week’s debate was a case in point: President Biden’s disastrous performance led to calls for him to drop out of the race, recasting the election campaign. But substance still matters, and the debate left wavering voters without a clear case for either party on the economy.

The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil on Thursday for alleged air quality violations at the company’s oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota

Following news about the results early this morning (5 July), Starmer is set to become the UK's next prime minister, the first Labour country leader since Gordon Brown was defeated in the 2010 UK general elections by David Cameron's Conservative party. «We did it,» Starmer stated in his victory speech at London's Tate Modern at 5am. «Four and a half years of work changing the party, this is what it is for – a changed Labour party, ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.» Pound to tumble initially before longer term 'sterling revival' foll...

visa rules allowing expatriates working in domestic sectors to transfer their visas to the private sector. This change, announced by the Office of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Interior Sheikh Fahad Al Yousuf Al Sabah, aims to streamline labor mobility while adhering to the nation's legal framework. Starting July 14, domestic workers can transfer their visas under specific conditions, as reported by Gulf News. These conditions include obtaining approval from their current employer, having a minimum residency period of one year with the current employer, and paying a transfer fee of 50 dinars (approximately Dh600). Additionally, there is a charge of 10 dinars for each year of service with the current employer. The announcement follows a three-month amnesty period, which ended in June, that allowed expatriates residing unlawfully in Kuwait to regularize their status. Options included paying penalties, obtaining new residency, or leaving the country without fines.

The German government has announced an agreement on its budget for 2025 and a stimulus package for Europe’s largest economy, easing a monthslong squabble that threatened to upend Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition

Arbitration has been struggling to take off in India since the first Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This is worrisome. From PM to vice-president, many have argued for a sound institutional arbitration process. Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal recently even wondered why India can't become the hub for arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region. As efforts are made to ensure its take- off, a recent finance ministry notification has the potential to nix the Act. It prohibits automatic arbitration clauses in any procurement and requires that even if one is incorporated, it be for less than ₹10 cr. The primary reason behind this is GoI's unsatisfactory experience in arbitration. The alternative prescribed is mediation or the courts, whose track record in timely disposal is poor. Most contracts come with an arbitration clause because it is quick, and the awards are final. It is the choice for businesses not only in India but all over the world.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that 60 percent of Hamas fighters had been «eliminated or wounded» in the Gaza war since the militant group's October 7 attacks. Gallant reaffirmed in a statement to parliament on the first nine months of the conflict that Israel was «determined» to meet its war goals of eradicating Hamas and bringing all hostages back from Gaza. The minister praised Israeli soldiers for «performing their work with dedication, sacrifice and success» and said «the achievements are many».

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon and planting the American flag there. They say the photos and videos of moon landing were all staged like a film production. The conspiracy theory has thrived on the internet, refusing to die despite persistent debunking by scientists and media. Finally, a statement from a scientist from Russia, a rival space power and now an inimical force, can put this conspiracy theory to rest since the conspiracy theorists won't be able to find Russia's interest in confirming the truth of the moon landing. The US is the only country so far to land humans on the moon. Luna 25, Russia's first lunar mission, failed in 2023 when it aimed a soft landing on the Moon's South Pole but crashed on the Moon and was lost. Both India and China have successfully landed craft on the moon.

India on Thursday made a big push to connect South Asia with SE Asia through The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar hosting his counterparts from the group's member states, including Myanmar, and exploring possibility of expanding the group to include three SE Asian states that have Bay of Bengal linkages. In his opening remarks at the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat Jaishankar called upon the BIMSTEC countries to come up with own solutions which becomes even more imperative given the current global and regional scenario. «The BIMSTEC Charter, for a start, has come into effect from May 20 this year. The global and regional developments also make it imperative that we find more solutions amongst ourselves.»

Eli Lilly has yet to get the nod from India's drug regulator for selling its blockbuster drug Tirzepatide in the country for weight loss, said the American pharmaceutical firm. «The apex drug regulator's subject expert committee (SEC) has so far given a go-ahead for its import and marketing for diabetes and not for weight loss,» Elli Lilly told ET, adding that the «obesity» indication is undergoing review by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). The drug is marketed under the brand name Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes treatment and as Zepbound for weight loss, in the US. Mounjaro has been available in the US since 2022 while Zepbound was approved by the US FDA in November 2023. The company said it has yet to firm up the schedule for launching the drug in India.

Zerodha chief executive officer Nithin Kamath has sought tax exemptions for startup investments, which he believes will eventually help address the unemployment issue plaguing the country. Taking to microblogging site 'X' (formerlyTwitter) days before the presentation of the Union Budget for FY25, he said that encouraging entrepreneurship is one of the ways to tackle unemployment.

Rent inflation remains a pressure point for small businesses

Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its judgement on a PIL of an NGO which alleged a rise in child marriages in the country and non-implementation of the relevant statute in «letter and spirit». A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard submissions from the counsel of the petitioner, 'Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action', and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, before reserving the verdict.

A lot of politicians have promised change to voters in Hartlepool, a wind-whipped port town in northeast England

AstraZeneca India Private Limited (AZIPL), the global capability centre (GCC) of British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, announced an investment of Rs 250 crore ($30 million) to expand its Global Innovation and Technology Centre (GITC) in Chennai. The expansion includes adding close to 1,300 job roles focused on driving innovation, enhancing efficiency, and streamlining operations across the company globally. The facility currently occupies 334,000 square feet of office space at Ramanujan IT City, with plans to add approximately 180,000 square feet over the next six months to accommodate this expansion, creating AstraZeneca’s biggest global capability centre.

Opposition staged a walkout in Rajya Sabha, the leader of Opposition in the upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said that they walked out from the House because Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking some 'wrong things' during the reply to the motion of thanks. «It's his habit to lie, mislead people and say things beyond truth. I have just asked him that, when he was speaking about the Constitution, you didn't make the Constitution, you people were against it,» Kharge alleged. He further said, «I just wanted to clarify who was for Constitution and who was against it. RSS wrote in their editorial in 1950 that the bad thing about the Constitution is that there is nothing about India's history. They opposed the Constitution. They are against it since the beginning and they say that they are for it. Effigies of Ambedkar, Nehru were burnt. Now they are saying that we are against it.»

NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretaries and the police chief of all the states and union territories over reports that women are allegedly being forced into sex trade by anti-social elements on the pretext of providing them with lucrative job opportunities. In a statement on Friday, the National Human Rights Commission observed the content of a news report quoting statements by women arrested during a raid, if true, raises a serious concern relating to the life, liberty, equality and dignity of women, irrespective of caste, religion and geographical boundaries. «The media report, carried on July 1, indicates that most of the arrested women during a raid at a hotel in Ranchi, Jharkhand, got into sex trade out of compulsion and helplessness. Many of them were pushed into this web by their relatives and some of them were forced to enter into this ugly business to fulfil the needs of their families and could not come out of the vicious network of anti-social elements once got into their grip,» it said. The news report indicates that the victim women are natives of different places, «trapped in the name of a job» and their handlers are reportedly operating from distant locations. This indicates the «depth of the crime syndicate» across the country, which requires a pan-India action against such criminal elements, the statement said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the two leaders agreed to work towards an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK free trade agreement, a statement said. Modi congratulated him on assuming charge and a remarkable victory of his Labour Party in the election. The statement said both the leaders recalled the historic relations between the India and the UK and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the countries. Appreciating the positive contributions of the Indian community in the social, economic and political development of the UK, they agreed to continue to promote the close people-to-people ties.

PALPITE: The wings of the world's tiniest birds are a near-invisible blur as they whizz around tourists visiting a private Cuban garden that has become a haven for the declining species. The bee hummingbird, which measures just five to six centimeters (two inches) long, is only found in Cuba. Its losses have been huge, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) saying it has disappeared from many areas due to deforestation. But in Palpite, in the southwest of the country, Bernabe Hernandez, 75, has turned his garden into a paradise for the bitty bird.

Zhejiang province on China’s eastern coast, two mounds of discarded cotton clothing and bed linens, loosely separated into dark and light colours, pile up on a workroom floor. Jacket sleeves, collars and brand labels protrude from the stacks as workers feed the garments into shredding machines. It’s the first stage of a new life for the textiles, part of a recycling effort at the Wenzhou Tiancheng Textile Company, one of the largest cotton recycling plants in China. Textile waste is an urgent global problem, with only 12% recycled worldwide, according to fashion sustainability nonprofit Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Even less — only 1% — are castoff clothes recycled into new garments; the majority is used for low-value items like insulation or mattress stuffing.