Author: Anadolu Agency
The price of gold reached a new record on Thursday with an ounce trading at $2,983.50 at 1810GMT amid uncertainties caused by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. The ounce of gold rose 1.68% on Thursday to set a new record. The safe haven asset has gained around 10% since Trump took office on Jan. 20. After starting 2025 at $2,620, it has gained around $358 in value since the beginning of the year, while setting new records 12 times this year. While the ounce price of gold rose 27% in all of last year, so far this year it…
US Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff began talks Tuesday in Qatar to push for progress on releasing Israeli hostages amid a proposal by Tel Aviv to extend a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip for 60 days, Israel’s state-run broadcaster reported. The first 42-day phase of a three-phase ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, each of equal length, between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, ended March 1 after they started on Jan. 19. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sidestepped the second phase of the agreement, seeking the release of more Israeli captives…
The 27-member EU exported iron and steel worth €77.8 billion (around $85 billion) worldwide last year, Eurostat released on Wednesday. The EU’s imports in the iron-steel field totaled €73.1 billion, and the foreign trade surplus was at €4.7 billion, official figures showed. In a five-year period from 2019, exports increased by 9.9% and imports by 19.7%. On the iron and steel side, the country’s exports totaled €45.5 billion, up 19.3%, and imports amounted to €33.6 billion, up by 28.7% over the same period. Eurostat said: “For iron and steel, Türkiye was one of the main partners both for exports and…
NASA has launched two missions to explore the universe’s origins and the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the agency announced on its website Tuesday. The SPHEREx observatory and the PUNCH satellite constellation lifted off Tuesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US. After multiple delays since February due to technical reviews and weather conditions, the spacecraft is now set to map the entire celestial sky four times over the next two years, collecting data on hundreds of millions of galaxies. SPHEREx—short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer—will…
Russia on Tuesday said its forces reclaimed five settlements in the Kursk region, which had been captured by Ukraine during last year’s incursion. “Units of the Sever (North) group of forces liberated 12 settlements during the offensive: Cossack Village, First Knyazhy, Second Knyazhy, Zamostye and Mirny,” the Defense Ministry said. The military service also claimed that its forces captured the city center of Sudzha and continued advancing in several districts of the city. Ukraine has yet to comment on Russia’s claims, and independent verification is difficult due to the ongoing conflict.
Following talks with the US in Saudi Arabia, Kyiv has accepted a proposal by Washington for a 30-day Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, according to Saudi official media. The Saudi official Al-Ekhbariya channel said on X late Tuesday: “The US-Ukrainian talks in Jeddah succeeded under Saudi diplomatic efforts.” “After 9 hours of US-Ukrainian negotiations, Ukraine agreed to the US proposal for a temporary ceasefire lasting 30 days, extendable, along with a prisoner exchange between the parties (Russia and Ukraine),” the Saudi broadcaster also said. While the parties are yet to comment on talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said Kyiv considered Washington’s…
Australia on Wednesday described the US tariffs being imposed on its steel and aluminum as “entirely unjustified.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Canberra will not impose retaliatory tariffs, but said US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were an act of “economic self-harm,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. The White House has confirmed it will not grant Australia or any other country an exemption from tariffs, which are part of Trump’s plans to bring more manufacturing to the US. A 25% tariff on Australian steel and aluminum is set to become effective from Wednesday. “Australia has a close relationship with the…
The Tbilisi City Court on Wednesday jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to nine years in prison for embezzling public funds. The court found Saakashvili guilty of using state budget funds for personal expenses during his presidency, including paying for his son’s education, renting planes and luxury cars, and purchasing items for his personal wardrobe. The charges were brought against him in 2014, with the estimated damage amounting to 9 million Georgian lari ($2.9 million). Saakashvili’s defense argued that these expenditures were related to the former president’s official representation. “I am being tried as a thief and falsely accused because…
Türkiye attracted foreign direct investments worth $1.4 billion in January, International Investors Association (YASED) said on Wednesday. The amount of FDI rose by 65% year-on-year in January, the association said, citing the Central Bank figures. It said the total amount of FDIs since 2002 reached $276 billion. Some $934 million worth of investments during January came as capital investment, $356 million in debt instruments, $132 million for purchasing real estate. In the first month of 2025, wholesale and retail trade had a 72% share in investment capital inflows worth $934 million.
Russia said on Tuesday that it does not rule out contacts with officials from Washington in the coming days, as the US and Ukraine held talks in Saudi Arabia during which Kyiv agreed on a 30-day ceasefire. “We do not rule out contacts with US representatives in the next few days,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told state news agency TASS. Her remarks came after talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. In a joint statement, the parties declared Ukraine’s readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an “immediate, interim” 30-day ceasefire, provided that Russia agrees…