PRESS TV, London
2022 has been dominated by a cost-of-living crisis, and the figures are staggering. Inflation is running at a double-digit pace, the highest in 40 years and far outpacing wage growth. While food prices have shot up almost 20% and the cost of heating a typical home has jumped more than 150%.
As temperatures plummet below zero and desperation rises, key sector worker unions have launched mass strike actions to pressure the government to raise wages.
The government has pinned much of the blame on economic recovery from the Covid era, however, critics say it’s ruling Conservative incompetence and leadership instability that has left the economy in a dire state.
A lesser-discussed reason for a Europe-wide crisis is the ongoing Ukraine war. Britain has remained a staunch supporter of continued fighting, even upping it’s shipments of arms and financial support.
Fuel prices, food costs, energy bills, low wages, strikes and inflation have all marred 2022. Does the current government have what it takes to resolve these issues in 2023? Perhaps, bit not without major cost to the taxpayer.
China has suspended several 2025 export controls on strategic materials — including rare earths, superhard materials, and lithium batteries – for a year. Is this a concession to the US, or a move in a far more complex game?
"The first aim of China’s export controls was to consolidate its leverage in negotiations. The second was to establish a long-term framework for managing such controls," says Yana Leksyutina, deputy director at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Сhina could activate this mechanism at any moment, and now everyone knows it’s a lever it holds, she explains to Sputnik.
Balancing the Mineral Market
"The moratorium on export bans to the US essentially resets the rare earth market to where it was previously," Jeff J. Brown, author of 'The China Trilogy' and founder of Seek Truth From Facts Foundation, tells Sputnik.
In the meantime, there will be a global rush by the US and its NATO allies to acquire as many rare earth ...
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The impact of the ongoing federal shutdown on the US economy is far worse than expected because it is lasting much longer than anticipated, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Friday.
"The impact on the economy is far worse than we expected, because it's gone on for so long," Hassett told Fox Business. "I think we were thinking that we could have at least 3% [GDP] growth in the fourth quarter. I think now we're expecting something like half that because of the harm [caused] by the Democrats' policy.".......more here
https://sputnikglobe.com/20251107/federal-shutdown-hitting-us-economy-harder-than-expected--white-house-1123074810.html
Dozens of Palestinians, foreign activists, and journalists have been wounded as Israeli army-backed settlers carried out coordinated assaults across the occupied West Bank.
The attacks took place on Saturday, with the biggest number of the casualties, namely 17 people, being caused after settlers raided the outskirts of the Abu Falah village, northeast of the city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Those injured included foreign activists.
According to the agency, settlers also torched a home, while Israeli forces attacked the area, targeting the residents, who had gathered near the scene. The latter incident, though, did not lead to any casualties.
In another wave of violence, settlers launched attacks on Palestinian farmers, journalists, and foreign activists participating in the annual olive harvest across several towns, leaving many with fractures and bruises.
The attacks were most severe in Beita, south of Nablus, where settlers descended from nearby outposts and ambushed ...
