Author: Finance for Sight

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump resumed his attempts Monday to blame Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump – who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelensky six weeks ago – said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. The Republican told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin number one, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was…

BEIRUT/AMMAN: Saudi Arabia plans to pay off Syria’s debts to the World Bank, three people familiar with the matter said, paving the way for the approval of millions of dollars in grants for reconstruction and to support the country’s paralysed public sector. The plans, which have not been previously reported, would be the first known instance of Saudi Arabia providing financing for Syria since rebels toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad last year. It may also be a sign that crucial Gulf Arab support for Syria is beginning to materialize after previous plans, including an initiative by Doha to fund salaries,…

CAIRO: A senior Hamas official said on Monday that the Hamas is prepared to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza. Hamas left Cairo on Monday after negotiations with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory. “We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,”…

GANAPAVARAM: Turbulence unleashed by President Donald Trump’s tariffs could rock global shipments of shrimp to the United States, with exporters in biggest supplier India saying they endanger 2,000 containers packed with the frozen delicacy. But Ecuador, thousands of kilometres nearer to the United States faces a lower tariff rate and stands to benefit, the exporters say, as shrimp is its most important export after oil. India’s shrimp industry is staring at a tariff of 26% under Trump’s July plan, which threatens a thriving $7-billion seafood export market heavily reliant on US supermarket chains such as Walmart and Kroger as buyers…

WASHINGTON/WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump on Sunday bore down on his administration’s latest message that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs on China will be short-lived, pledging a national security trade investigation into the semiconductor sector. Those electronics “are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,’” Trump said in a social media post. “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.” The White House had announced the exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs on Friday. Tariff war could cut US-China goods trade by…

RIYADH: The United States and Saudi Arabia will sign a preliminary agreement to cooperate over the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday. Wright, who had met with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier on Sunday, said Riyadh and Washington were on a “a pathway” to reaching an agreement to work together to develop a Saudi civil nuclear programme. Wright, on his first visit to the kingdom as secretary as part of tour of energy-producing Gulf states, said further details over a memorandum…

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron was “gravely mistaken” in advocating for a Palestinian state. “President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land – a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement. He was addressing Macron’s remarks earlier this week in which he said that France could recognise a Palestinian state within months. France could recognise Palestinian state ‘in June’: Macron “To this day, not a single figure in Hamas or the Palestinian…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration granted exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs to smartphones, computers and some other electronics imported largely from China, providing a big break to tech companies like Apple that rely on imported products. In a notice to shippers, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes excluded from the import taxes. The exclusions are retroactive to 12:01 a.m EDT (0401 GMT) on April 5. The U.S. CBP listed 20 product categories, including the broad 8471 code for all computers, laptops, disc drives, and automatic data processing. It also included semiconductor devices, equipment,…

SUMY: A Russian strike on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 31 people including two children and wounded dozens on Sunday, Kyiv said, in the deadliest attack in months of Moscow’s dragging invasion. Ukraine said Russia launched ballistic missiles on Sumy’s city centre on Palm Sunday. The attack came two days after US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet its leader Vladimir Putin and despite US President Donald Trump urging Moscow to end the war. Sumy lies close to the Russian border and has come under increasing attack for weeks. “As of 13:40 (1040GMT), 31 people…

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region and one over the region of Belgorod, its defence ministry said on Sunday on social media. Russia launches scores of drones on Ukraine, four people injured, Kyiv says