economic

Gazprom supplies gas for Europe through Ukraine in the volume of 42 mln cubic meters (mcm) per day via the Sudzha gas pumping station in Russia’s Kursk Region, a Gazprom representative told reporters, adding that the request for pumping through Sokhranovka had been rejected by the Ukrainian side.

“I’m a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it’s not even 10pm and it’s a Tuesday night?…Let the hacking begin.” So typed a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, liveblogging from his Harvard dormitory as he began work on a website called Facemash. The site displayed randomly selected pairs of students’ mugshots, harvested from the university’s intranet, and allowed users to vote on who was hotter. It caused a stir and was promptly shut down. But before long, a successor was in the making. On February 4th 2004 Mr Zuckerberg launched a new site: TheFacebook.com.

Robert Rubin famously launched a “strong dollar policy” for the US in the 1990s, helping to establish a narrative of American economic strength for the latter half of that decade. Chinese President Xi Jinping is now taking a page out of the former Treasury secretary’s playbook.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji has traveled to Venezuela for talks on the promotion of cooperation with the Latin American nation in the energy industry.

French farming unions are taking aim at the European Union’s free-trade agreements, which they say open the door to unfair competition from products arriving from overseas. At a time when the EU is urging farmers to adopt more sustainable – and sometimes more costly – agricultural practices, unions say these trade deals are making it hard for them to stay solvent.

Universal Orlando Resort has pulled back the curtain on its upcoming expansion—and the battle for tourists in central Florida is likely to become a lot more fierce in the coming years.

The exchange rate of gold, U.S. dollar, and other foreign currencies in the Iranian free market has experienced a significant and hourly increase. At the time of this report, the exchange rate for one US dollar had reached “55,700 tomans.”

Chinese retail investors who loaded up on derivatives that rely on calm market conditions have been hit with heavy losses, further undermining confidence in the country’s sputtering equity market.

With an IMF delegation in Cairo this week to discuss Egypt’s loan programme, moves are underway to find a solution to the country’s hard-currency problem.

China’s central bank is ramping up its gold reserves. In fact, it’s spearheading the “record levels of central bank purchases” of gold worldwide. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) purchased a total of 225 tons of the precious metal in 2023, lifting its gold reserves to 2,235 tons, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council (WGC).