Author: ALJAZEERA

The group said it would call for analysis on international supply chain resilience.Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven (G7) democracies have pledged to address “excessive imbalances” in the global economy and said they could increase sanctions on Russia. The G7 announced the plan on Thursday as the officials, who met in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, said there was a need for a common understanding of how “non-market policies and practices” undermine international economic security. The document did not name China, but references by the United States and other G7 economies to non-market policies and practices…

Disruption from the ‘highly sophisticated and targeted cyber attack’, first reported around Easter weekend, continues.British retailer Marks & Spencer estimates that a cyberattack that stopped it from processing online orders and left store shelves empty will cost it about 300 million pounds ($403m). The company said in a business update (PDF) on Wednesday that disruption from the “highly sophisticated and targeted cyber attack,” which was first reported around the Easter weekend, is expected to continue until July. Online sales of food, home and beauty products have been “heavily impacted” because the company, popularly known as M&S, had to pause online shopping. The…

Elon Musk has claimed a turnaround in Tesla sales after a slump even as Starlink, the internet service provider that he owns, is growing.Elon Musk has said he is committed to staying on as Tesla’s CEO for at least another five years, weeks after the electric vehicle maker’s chair dismissed reports that the board had approached executive search firms about finding his successor. Having reasonable control of Tesla was the most important factor in staying on as head of the company, Musk said on Tuesday at an economic forum in Qatar. “Yes, no doubt about that at all,” Musk said…

Despite slowdown, data points to reliance of Chinese economy in the face of Donald Trump’s tariffs.China’s industrial output and retail sales growth have slowed amid trade tensions with the United States. Factory output grew 6.1 percent year-on-year in April, down from a 7.7 percent rise in March, data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. While down compared with the previous month, the figure beat analysts’ expectations. Analysts polled by the Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies had respectively forecast growth of 5.5 percent and 5.7 percent. Retail sales grew 5.1 percent year-on-year, slower than the 5.9 percent growth recorded…

United States House Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill”, a wide-ranging tax and spending legislation, is at a crucial moment. The nearly 400-page legislation proposes sweeping changes which include extending the 2017 tax cuts, slashing taxes for businesses and individuals, and enacting deep cuts to social programmes like Medicaid and SNAP. While Republicans tout the bill as a boon for economic growth and middle-class relief, nonpartisan analysts warn it could add trillions to the national debt and strip millions of Americans of medical and food assistance. The bill will be voted on by the House Budget Committee today and, if passed, will…

Saudi and Qatari payments settle Syria’s arrears, allowing World Bank and IMF to re-engage.The World Bank says it will restart operations in Syria following a 14-year pause after the country cleared more than $15m of debt with financial backing from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The United States-based institution announced on Friday that Syria no longer has outstanding obligations to the International Development Association (IDA), its fund dedicated to low-income countries. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid off Syria’s outstanding debts of approximately $15.5m, paving the way for renewed engagement with international financial bodies. “We are pleased that the…

Moody’s cited rising debt, saying US had repeatedly failed to end the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and interest.Moody’s Ratings has stripped the United States government of its top credit rating, citing successive governments’ failure to stop a rising tide of debt, a surprise move that could complicate President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut taxes and send ripples through global markets. On Friday, Moody’s lowered the rating from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1. “Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs,” it said as…

Avelo Airlines, a Texas-based budget carrier, is facing backlash from both customers and employees over its decision to operate deportation flights under a new contract with the Trump administration. Avelo, which has been struggling financially, signed a contract with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last month to transport migrants to detention centres inside and outside the US, according to an internal company memo reviewed by the Reuters news agency. On Monday, the airline flew its first flight under the deal from Arizona to Louisiana, data from flight-tracking services FlightAware and Flightradar24 showed. Avelo plans to dedicate three…

Ben Cohen among seven people arrested after interrupting testimony by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.The cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and six other people have been arrested after disrupting a United States Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. The arrests of Ben Cohen and the other protestors on Wednesday came as US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was giving testimony to lawmakers on his shake-up of federal health agencies. “Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,”…

United States President Donald Trump has announced that US sanctions on Syria will be lifted, in a huge boost to the government in Damascus, which took power after the overthrow of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December. “There’s a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilising the country and keeping peace,” Trump said in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the first of a three-day visit to the Middle East, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.” Trump is also expected to…