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By Camille LAFFONT Agence France-Presse BILMA, Niger, June 9, 2023 (AFP) — At the edge of an oasis almost engulfed by the dunes, where the rare caravan still passes, is a desert landscape punctured by holes. The salt pans of Kalala, near Bilma in northeastern Niger, were once an essential stop for traders with their swaying lines of camels. Salt digging, carried on from generation to generation, was a thriving business, involving a commodity so […]
DHAKA, June 5, 2023 (AFP) – Cash-strapped Bangladesh shut its biggest power plant Monday because it was unable to afford the coal to fuel it, as a sweltering heatwave creates surging electricity demand. The 1,320-megawatt government-run Payra Power Plant in southern Bangladesh had already slashed production last month due to fuel shortages, but it was forced to go a step further on Monday, manager Shah Abdul Mawla told AFP. “Due to the coal shortage, the […]
ISLAMABAD, June 1, 2023 (AFP) – Pakistan’s year-on-year inflation hit a record 37.97 percent in May, official data revealed Thursday, with the nation on the brink of economic collapse and crucial bailout talks stalled. Non-perishable foods and transport costs climbed more than 50 percent over May 2022, while average inflation for the past 12 months was 29.16 percent, the latest Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showed. “This level of inflation badly affects poor and middle-class […]
HONG KONG, June 1, 2023 (AFP) – Hong Kong rolled out new rules on Thursday allowing licensed cryptocurrency exchanges to service retail customers, bucking the global trend of tightening rules after last year’s market crash. The Chinese finance hub is racing regulators around the world to lay down ground rules for crypto after high-profile failures like trading platform FTX, which led the United States to crack down on a sector worth more than $1 trillion. […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent for the three months through April, an eight-year low for the period, officials said Wednesday, welcome news for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s bid to jump-start the economy. The rate was down from 8.8 percent for the period from January to March, and the lowest for February-April since 2015, when it was 8.1 percent, according to national statistics institute […]
OTTAWA, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – Canada’s economy grew by a higher-than-expected 3.1 percent in the first quarter after remaining flat in the final stretch of last year, according to official data released Wednesday. The rise was fueled by strong trade figures, mainly exports, and an increase in household spending, Statistics Canada said. Some analysts had predicted a drop in GDP in the first quarter, or only a slight rise. Exports of goods and services […]
MUMBAI, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – India’s GDP grew by 7.2 percent in the year to March, official figures showed Wednesday, boosted by services and consumption, putting it among the world’s fastest-expanding major economies. The South Asian nation is the world’s fifth-largest economy, and recently surpassed China to become the most populous country. Its growth has rebounded since the pandemic — the economy rocketed 9.1 percent in the 2021-22 financial year. But like other countries, […]
BANGUI, Central African Republic, May 30, 2023 (AFP) – The Central African Republic (CAR) has passed a law that allows foreign investment in cryptocurrencies, after last year adopting Bitcoin and its own digital currency, the Sango as legal tender. A bill was passed by acclamation, National Assembly president Simplice Mathieu Sarandji announced late Monday. The law comes after the CAR — one of the poorest countries in the world — suddenly announced in April 2022 […]
WASHINGTON, May 30, 2023 (AFP) — The bill hammered out by US leaders to prevent the country from a catastrophic default on its debts will face one final and potentially perilous hurdle this week: Passing a divided Congress. Lawmakers return Tuesday from a holiday weekend with precious few days to review, debate and ultimately greenlight a measure intended to extend US borrowing authority in exchange for White House policy concessions, notably caps on federal spending. […]
WASHINGTON, May 28, 2023 (AFP) – Top Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden announced a deal Saturday to raise the debt ceiling, dragging the United States from the precipice of default with only a few days left to go. Congress will vote on the deal to extend the government borrowing authority Wednesday, just shy of the June 5 “X-date” when the Treasury estimates the government will no longer be able to pay its […]
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2023 (AFP) – The US inflation measure most closely watched by the Federal Reserve accelerated in April, official figures showed Friday, reversing a recent slowdown and raising the chance of another interest rate hike in June. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the US central bank is taking a “data-dependent approach” to its next decision, where it will mull if another rate hike is needed to bring inflation back down to its […]
By Rigoberto DIAZ Agence France-Presse HAVANA, Cuba, May 26, 2023 (AFP) — For the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia is taking an intense interest in Cuba as Moscow has become increasingly isolated over its invasion of Ukraine. Top Russian officials have flocked to the island nation this year, starting in March with Nikolai Patrushev, Moscow’s secretary of the Security Council, alongside the executive director of state oil company Rosneft, Igor […]
