NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Friday / December 10
NATO's eastern front
U.S. President Joe Biden called the leaders of Ukraine and nine Eastern European NATO countries, pledging support should Russia attack Ukraine, and vowing to include them in decisions about the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Twitter after a 90-minute talk with Biden late Thursday that they discussed possible ways to resolve the conflict in Russian separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
After Zelensky, Biden talked for 40 minutes with the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, all of which joined NATO after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Lithuanian President Biden asked for permanent US troops in the Baltic states. The presidential adviser said Biden promised Central European NATO members "additional military capabilities" and to include them in decisions about the region.
Maduro's oil minister
According to Reuters, citing Venezuelan sources, President Nicolas Maduro plans to replace Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, an important ruling party official and ally, who serves as a representative of his government to Opec and a member of the state oil company's board of directors, due to health problems.
Al Aissami's health has deteriorated in recent weeks and the situation may render him unable to perform his ministerial duties, at least temporarily, according to sources.
Maduro is expected to appoint Asdrubal Chavez, a cousin of his predecessor Hugo Chavez and current president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), as oil minister on an interim basis.
Israeli-US military plans
During a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, in Washington on Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Iran has failed to engage constructively diplomatically in the Vienna talks.
Austin said Biden was ready to resort to other options if the current American policy towards Iran fails.
“We are fully committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Austin said. It is in the national security interest of the United States, Israel and the world,” he said. Gantz described Iran as "the greatest threat to global and regional peace and stability".
US data
Weekly jobless claims fell last week, hitting the lowest level in 52 years, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
The first applications for unemployment insurance in the world's largest economy fell to 184,000 in the week ending December 4. The lower figure, 182,000', was recorded on September 6, 1969.
The core consumer price index, important in the policy evaluations of the US Central Bank (Fed) is set for release on Friday.
U.S. President Joe Biden called the leaders of Ukraine and nine Eastern European NATO countries, pledging support should Russia attack Ukraine, and vowing to include them in decisions about the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Twitter after a 90-minute talk with Biden late Thursday that they discussed possible ways to resolve the conflict in Russian separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
After Zelensky, Biden talked for 40 minutes with the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, all of which joined NATO after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Lithuanian President Biden asked for permanent US troops in the Baltic states. The presidential adviser said Biden promised Central European NATO members "additional military capabilities" and to include them in decisions about the region.
Maduro's oil minister
According to Reuters, citing Venezuelan sources, President Nicolas Maduro plans to replace Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, an important ruling party official and ally, who serves as a representative of his government to Opec and a member of the state oil company's board of directors, due to health problems.
Al Aissami's health has deteriorated in recent weeks and the situation may render him unable to perform his ministerial duties, at least temporarily, according to sources.
Maduro is expected to appoint Asdrubal Chavez, a cousin of his predecessor Hugo Chavez and current president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), as oil minister on an interim basis.
Israeli-US military plans
During a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, in Washington on Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Iran has failed to engage constructively diplomatically in the Vienna talks.
Austin said Biden was ready to resort to other options if the current American policy towards Iran fails.
“We are fully committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Austin said. It is in the national security interest of the United States, Israel and the world,” he said. Gantz described Iran as "the greatest threat to global and regional peace and stability".
US data
Weekly jobless claims fell last week, hitting the lowest level in 52 years, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
The first applications for unemployment insurance in the world's largest economy fell to 184,000 in the week ending December 4. The lower figure, 182,000', was recorded on September 6, 1969.
The core consumer price index, important in the policy evaluations of the US Central Bank (Fed) is set for release on Friday.
