The US economy’s fourth-quarter growth trounced forecasts as cooling inflation fueled consumer spending, capping a surprisingly strong year that defied recession calls. Gross domestic product increased at a 3.3% annualized rate, according to the government’s preliminary estimate out Thursday. For all of 2023, the economy expanded 2.5%. Source link
Australia’s wealthiest are set to lose out as the government tweaks tax changes to help low- and middle-income earners struggling with soaring living costs. The biggest losers under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s new policy will be Australians earning over A$190,000 ($125,000). While they will still receive a tax cut, it will only be about half … Read more
Turkish parliament is set to vote on Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization later this week, a senior government official told Bloomberg on Monday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, which commands a majority in the parliament together with its nationalist ally, will seek parliament’s approval to ratify Sweden’s long-awaited NATO membership, … Read more
US GDP Latest: How Much Did the Economy Grow Last Year? Bloomberg Source link
China and Democratic Republic of Congo are discussing $7 billion in financing as part of a renegotiated minerals-for-infrastructure deal, President Felix Tshisekedi said Saturday at his second inaugural address in the capital, Kinshasa. Tshisekedi has been pushing for a restructuring of a 2008 $6.2 billion contract between the countries, which he says has provided little … Read more
Five Arab nations are quietly touting a settlement for postwar Gaza for which they’ve secured the backing of the US. The problem is that the Israelis on whom the agreement depends aren’t buying it. That means the proposal, which its authors are calling the most plausible solution for long-term security in the region, is out … Read more
The streets leading to India’s most contested religious site are going full throttle. Hindu priests mix with barefooted pilgrims chanting the names of deities. Armed officials patrol the city of Ayodhya from watchtowers and checkpoints. On a sprawling construction site, bulldozers tear into the earth and men use drills to chisel slabs of stone. They’ve … Read more
When Estonia’s much-fêted prime minister, Kaja Kallas, went to Washington in November, she didn’t just meet with White House officials. She also made sure to talk to key allies of Donald Trump. A month earlier, her foreign minister was in the heart of Trump country, thanking workers at a Lockheed Martin Corp. factory in Arkansas … Read more
Huge numbers of merchant ships have continued to navigate the southern Red Sea since warnings by western navies to stay away from the crucial trade route to avoid attack by Houthi militants. On Friday, the Combined Maritime Forces — encompassing both UK and US navies — advised merchant ships to stay away from the danger … Read more
London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Thursday will blame Brexit for costing the UK economy £140 billion ($178 billion), calling on the government to “urgently” rebuild relations with the European Union to stem the decline. Britain’s EU divorce has also meant there are 2 million fewer jobs nationwide than there otherwise would have been, including 290,000 … Read more