War Financial News

US welcomes any nation that is willing to try to help end the conflict in Ukraine, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby has said. His remarks came after he was asked at a press conference on Wednesday about President Joe Biden's call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter's trip to Ukraine that was preceded by his visit to Moscow, and if he thought India could play a role in ending the war. Kirby said, «Any nation that is willing to try to help end this war and do so in keeping with President Zelenskyy's prerogatives, the Ukrainian people's prerogatives, his plan for a just peace, we would certainly welcome a role like that.» On whether he thought India could play a role in bringing peace, the White House official said, «Well, we certainly hope so.»

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has directed District Collectors to accelerate the recovery efforts in areas affected by heavy rains and expedite the distribution of cash assistance and household aid to needy families. Responding to the Chief Minister's directions, district administrations are processing payments of cash assistance and household support to affected families in both rural and urban areas. This is being done through comprehensive surveys of the impacted regions. The State Government is helping people and families whose livelihoods have been disrupted and whose household goods have been damaged or destroyed due to the heavy rains. Addressing the press at the State Emergency Operation Center, Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey stated that survey operations have been undertaken by a total of 1,120 teams across the districts of Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Anand, Kutch, Kheda, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Narmada, Navsari, Porbandar, Morbi, and Valsad.

Serbia's deputy prime minister has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and vowed that his country will remain an ally of Moscow despite its proclaimed bid to join the European Union

Three judicial officials have told the Associated Press that Lebanon has charged its embattled former central bank governor with the embezzlement of $42 million

NDRF and Army, officials said on Wednesday. A deep depression triggered heavy to very heavy rainfall in several areas of Gujarat between August 25 to 30. The depression, formed over the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, gradually moved into the Arabian Sea (which later turned into cyclonic storm Asna), said State Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey. During this period, 49 persons died in rain-related incidents, such as lightning strikes, wall collapse, and drowning in flood waters, he told reporters at Gandhinagar-based State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC). «Among the 49 deaths, the kin of 22 have already been paid Rs 4 lakh each as compensation as per norms. A sum of Rs 1.78 crore has been disbursed to the owners of 2,618 livestock that perished,» Pandey said, adding that Gujarat so far received 108 per cent of its average annual rainfall.

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged political leaders in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, to guard against religious extremism, which he said distorted people's religious beliefs through «deception and violence». In his first speech during an ambitious 12-day journey across Southeast Asia, where Christians are a small minority of the regional population, the pontiff said the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping tamp down extremism. «In this way, prejudices can be eliminated, and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow,» the 87-year-old pope said in an address to some 300 politicians and religious leaders at Jakarta's Merdeka Presidential Palace.

Ajay Bagga, Market Expert, says the rural economy coming back is the bigger story. For banks, the issue is twofold. One is there is going to be a NIM compression given that there is a deposit war out there and that sustainable funding is still being sought. A big chunk of the financial savings are going into the markets through various instruments like mutual funds, insurance, provident funds, NPS, or direct investments. Bank deposits are hurting. They have to increase rates and that is causing a NIM compression. Long-term, banks will do well as they are the suppliers to a growing economy. But in the next six months, one can find much better returns in power financiers or insurance or mutual fund companies. How are you looking at the entire IT space, given that we have seen an outperformance continuing into this month? What do you expect the remainder of the year is likely to bring for the IT space? Ajay Bagga: IT is looking good. There is continued buying in IT and we expect better results coming in. The AI part, was the cause for worry and we had seen the employee headcount going down as well. Now we are seeing several end uses of AI coming in. The semiconductor companies, as the suppliers of the AI chain, were doing very well and the end user companies were looking at end-use cases, and in the centre were our IT companies.

raising fresh capital. In the first eight months of 2024, 55 companies raised ₹58,400 crore through QIPs, the second-highest ever after ₹80,800 crore in 2020. With several companies announcing plans to raise funds, QIPs are on track to break records in 2024. The corporate sector is taking advantage of the vibrant equity markets to strengthen balance sheets and raise the required resources to fund expansion plans, said market participants.

Officials say Lebanon’s controversial former central bank governor has been detained after being questioned in several corruption cases

Salvagers have abandoned an effort to tow away a burning oil tanker in the Red Sea targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels

The Israeli military says it has killed a Hamas militant who appeared in a widely viewed video from Oct. 7, where he was seen drinking from a bottle of cola in front of two children wounded in a grenade attack that had just killed their father

Nouriel Roubini, Professor Emeritus of Economics and International Business, Stern School of Business, New York University, says there is an element of frothiness in US stock markets. Part of it is driven by the optimism about artificial intelligence (AI) radically changing industry, economies, and the world. Some correction might occur, but it is unlikely to be massive, especially if the economy keeps on growing and the Fed starts cutting rates. Roubini says in case of a Trump win, if he has a radical economic policy, there could be higher inflation, lower economic growth, and a significant correction with higher bond yields and lower stock prices. If he wisely chooses economic advisors who are more mainstream, and if he realises that the debt of the US is unsustainable and he has to do fiscal retrenchment, maybe those economic advisors can suggest a more moderate course of action.

IIT Bombay has completed final placements with an average annual package of Rs 23.5 lakh, a 7.8% jump from last year’s average of Rs 21.8 lakh but fewer students compared to last year have landed jobs during the process, a report released by the institute has revealed. In one of the most challenging years for placements to date, about 74.5% of the 1979 students who actively participated in the campus drive have got jobs, with 1475 job offers accepted. This is compared to about 82% last year when 1845 students actively participated and 1516 job offers were accepted. This is despite 364 companies making offers, compared to 324 last year. Seventy-eight international offers were accepted in both Phases of the IIT Bombay placements 2023 — 24, while 22 offers of above Rs 1 crore per year were accepted during this drive, according to data from the institute. Around 206 students received salaries of less than Rs 10 lakh.

Kim Jong Un supervised a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets, state media said Monday, as the U.S. and South Korea engage in joint military drills. North Korean test photos showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings supposedly crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea's main K-2 battle tank. Most combat drones stand off from targets and fire missiles. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday's test involved various types of drones built to fly different ranges to attack enemy targets on land and sea and flew along various routes before accurately hitting test targets. After the test, Kim pledged to spur the development of drones that explode on impact, conduct reconnaissance or attack targets underwater to boost his country's war readiness, saying the North's military should be equipped with advanced drones «as early as possible,» KCNA said.

The U.K. government says it's suspending exports of some weapons to Israel because they could be used to break international law

Spencers, Princess Diana's biological family, have been actively involved in efforts to heal the division between Prince William and Prince Harry. According to family friends, Prince William's choice to go to Robert Fellowes' burial even though he knew Prince Harry would also be there has given the brothers' protracted and agonizing argument a tiny but significant glimmer of optimism. One of the oldest aristocratic families in Britain, the Spencers, are making a concerted effort to reunite the brothers, as per the reports of Yahoo entertainment.

A rare call for a general strike in Israel to protest the failure to return hostages held in Gaza led to closures and other disruptions around the country, including at its main international airport

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in an interview with Taiwanese media. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's government rejects those claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. Speaking in an interview with a Taiwanese television station broadcast late on Sunday, Lai, who China calls a «separatist», brought up the 1858 Treaty of Aigun in which China signed over a vast tract of land in what is now Russia's far east to the Russian empire, forming much of the present day border along the Amur River.

without deep recessions. The Federal Reserve will probably soon join central banks in Europe in cutting interest rates, bond yields have fallen sharply since the summer and stockmarkets have shrugged off a growth scare that struck at the beginning of August. America’s economy was in fact bigger in the second quarter of 2024 than had been forecast before the covid-19 pandemic struck.

India will be one of the «great global superpowers» in the next few decades but it must stay the course on structural reforms to raise its economic growth rate to 8% from 6-7% now, said Nouriel Roubini, professor emeritus at Stern School of Business, New York University. In a conversation with Kotak AMC MD Nilesh Shah, Roubini shrugged off concerns about coalition politics derailing the country's reforms momentum. «I think there is some cohesive view that certain types of reforms have to be done, regardless of who is in power,» he said. China is slowing and external headwinds are gathering force, so India needs to get the reforms direction right and keep going even if the momentum may at times falter, he said. «Whether it's land reform or labour market reform or bankruptcy reform or more financial inclusion, more investment in skills and human capital, more reform of the bureaucracy and provision of public services-the list is very long,» said Roubini, making a strong case for building on the reforms already undertaken.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, and demanded — chanting “Now! Now!” — that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.