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Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF

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A year of conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in a “devastating impact on the economy” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the IMF said Thursday, including a nearly 90 percent drop in Gaza’s GDP.

“Preliminary official estimates indicate an 86 percent decline in GDP in the first half of 2024” in Gaza, said International Monetary Fund communications chief Julie Kozack.

She added that Gaza’s “civilian population faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid delivery.”

In the West Bank, “already grim prospects have further deteriorated, and preliminary official data indicate a 25 percent decline in GDP in the first half of 2024,” Kozack told reporters at a regular briefing.

Israel has been at war in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in the country, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,788 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.

Israeli economy also hit

Israel’s economy has also been battered by the war, with three main ratings agencies downgrading its debt.

After shrinking by 21 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, Israeli GDP rebounded by 14 percent in the first three months this year, official data showed.

But growth turned sluggish in the second quarter at 0.7 percent.

Kozack also noted that “in Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country’s already fragile macroeconomic and social situation.”

“We’re closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty,” she added.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, began exchanging cross-border fire from Lebanon with Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attack. But the conflict has escalated after Israel announced this week that its troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the country where the group holds sway.

The bombing has killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

Hezbollah-backer Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, prompting Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay.

Iran said it was in retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in a massive bombing in south Beirut.

US President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the US presidential election.

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Politics

‘Time for American people to know TRUTH’: Donald Trump orders declassification of assassination files of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King

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January 24, 2025

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US President-elect Donald Trump (File photo: Reuters) © Provided by Asian News International (ANI)
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Washington, DC [US], January 24 (ANI): United States President Donald Trumpsigned the executive order ordering the declassification of records regarding the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert F Kennedy, and the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr, and said it is time for the American people to know the “truth”.

Sharing the detailed document, the White House stated, “Providing Americans with the truth after six decades of secrecy.”

“The Executive Order establishes the policy that, more than 50 years after these assassinations, the victims’ families and the American people deserve the truth,” the statement added.

Specifically, the order directs the Director of National Intelligence and other appropriate officials to Present a plan within 15 days for the full and complete release of all John F Kennedyassassination records and Immediately review the records relating to the Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr assassinations and present a plan for their full and complete release within 45 days.

Notably, In Trump’s first term, he ordered agencies to move toward disclosing more information about the John F Kennedy assassination

According to the White House, the President John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required all records related to the assassination be released in 25 years, absent a presidential certification that: Continued postponement is necessary due to identifiable harm to the military defence, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and Such identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

“In October 2017 and April 2018 certifications, President Trump directed agencies to reevaluate redactions and disclose any information that no longer warranted withholding. President Biden delayed disclosure in 2021, 2022, and 2023,” the statement added.

Trump said the continued withholding of the John F Kennedy records is “not in the public interest and is long overdue”, while further adding that releasing the Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassination records is in the ‘public interest’.

Notably, it was President Trump’s campaign promise to release assassination records to give Americans the truth.

President Trump pledged on multiple occasions to release the JFK files, specifically stating in June 2024 that he would do so “early on.”

“When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the TRUTH!” Trump stated. (ANI)

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info

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Niger Explosion: Governance must prioritize human lives through proactive policies – Peter Obi

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January 23, 2025

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Peter Obi, former governor and 2023 presidential candidate, has called for urgent safety measures to prevent recurring disasters like the tragic petrol tanker explosion that claimed over 100 lives in Suleja, Niger State.

Obi made this appeal during his visit to the site of the explosion, the gravesite, and the Sarkin Dikko palace along the Dikko-Maje Road.

“Today, emotion took the greater part of me as I left Lagos this morning and headed to the site of the tragic petrol tanker explosion, the gravesite, and also the Sarkin Dikko place along the Dikko-Maje Road in Suleja, Niger State, where over 100 lives were lost, more than 50 injured, and many properties destroyed,” Obi shared on his official X handle on Wednesday.

At the explosion site and the graveyard, where 80 victims were buried, Obi expressed sorrow over the preventable tragedy.

He also visited some of the injured victims at the hospital, offering them support and encouragement.

“These recurring disasters call for urgent safety measures: repairing roads, more enlightenment of tanker vehicle operators, investing in healthcare, and lifting people out of poverty to prevent such heartbreaking losses,” he added.

Obi extended his condolences and solidarity to the Dikko community during his meeting with Sarkin Dikko and his council.

He revealed the importance of proactive governance to safeguard human lives.

“Human lives are invaluable, and governance must prioritize their protection through proactive policies,” he stated.

“Together, we can ensure such tragedies become a thing of the past,” he said.

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Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest billions in US during call with Trump

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21 hours ago

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January 23, 2025

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President Donald Trump meets with then deputy crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the White house on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 Evan Vucci/Copyright 2017 The AP. All rights reserved.
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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said on Thursday that the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion (€576 billion) in the United States over the next four years after a phone call with US President Donald Trump.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s comments come after Trump mused about returning to Saudi Arabia as his first foreign trip back in office.

State-run Saudi Press Agency said, “the crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion (€576 bn), and potentially beyond that.”

The agency did not elaborate on exactly how the money would be spent.

During their conversation, the two also reportedly discussed ways the two countries could cooperate to establish peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

There was no immediate response from the White House regarding the call. It also wasn’t clear whether Trump’s call with the crown prince was his first with a foreign leader since returning to the Oval Office.

However, it was his first reported abroad.

Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia

After his inauguration, Trump talked about the possibility of heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017.

“The first foreign trip typically has been with the UK but… I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion (€429 bn) worth of our products,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office.

“I think I’d probably go (again),” the recently inaugurated leader said.

In recent years, the US has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports — once the bedrock the relationship between the two nations.

Trump maintained close relations with Saudi Arabia, even after the crown prince was embroiled in controversy after he was implicated in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

The billion dollar pledge, which dwarves the gross domestic product of many nations, comes as the kingdom faces budgetary pressures of its own. Global oil prices remain depressed years after the height of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting the kingdom’s revenues.

Meanwhile, the crown prince has continued to invest in NEOM, a new city in the Saudi Arabian desert. The country also needs to build tens of billions of dollar’s worth of new stadiums and infrastructure ahead of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which it is hosting.

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