The Chinese government issued its first petroyuan-denominated long-term oil trading contracts in the spring of 2018, with the move posing an audacious challenge to the petrodollar - the powerful instrument of global trade and finance ensuring the US dollar's status as the de facto world reserve currency for over 50 years now.
Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources Bandar Al-Khorayef told the South China Morning Post this week that Riyadh is ready to “do what’s in its best interest” and “try new things,” including as far as the use of the petroyuan in settlements for crude oil are concerned.
The comments, made on the eve of Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE starting Wednesday to discuss expanded cooperation with the oil rich Gulf kingdoms, signal a "new dawn" in relations between China and Gulf powers, Dr. Wang Zhimin, director of the Institute of Globalization at China’s University of International Business and Economics, told Sputnik.
“In energy cooperation between China and the Middle East, settlements using the yuan have become an important topic. The expansion of the use of the currency in settlements for energy transactions is a gradual and long-term process that requires step-by-step reforms, opening up, and natural market selection. In addition, given the relationship with the United States, the process of using the yuan to settle cross-border oil transactions by countries such as Saudi Arabia may encounter certain difficulties,” Wang said, pointing to US efforts to shore up the petrodollar as Washington’s global economic hegemony fades.
Pointing to the trend of “dedollarization” in China-Middle East trade, Wang cited the currency swap agreement reached between Beijing and Riyadh last year, and interest in using the yuan for oil payments as a reflection of a “growing trend of diversification of the international monetary system, including the decline of the dollar’s share in international payments.”
Russian economist Nikita Maslennikov says the petroyuan has good prospects as a major alternative to the petrodollar, which could leave it accounting for up to 8% of global transactions by 2030, notwithstanding “strong pressure, including political pressure, from other market players," and other factors.
“Sooner or later a single BRICS settlement system will emerge, and Saudi Arabia is also going to be part of it,” Maslennikov said, noting that it’s “extremely difficult” to predict the future status of the petroyuan amid plans by some countries to forge ahead with an “energy transition,” and take other steps, like launching digital currencies, which could lead “to a significant adjustment of settlements in national currencies.”......more below
Gaza authorities have accused Israel of systematically stealing organs from Palestinian bodies, a disturbing act that underscores the regime’s ongoing brutality.
With the international community turning a blind eye, officials warn that such atrocities will continue as long as Israel remains immune to accountability for its war crimes.....more below
UG Solutions, a leading US military subcontractor that previously provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and helped run Gaza’s deadly aid distribution system, is aggressively recruiting for a new round of deployments to the blockaded Palestinian territory, a media report says.
A former army officer who recently applied for a position told Drop Site that a UG Solutions official openly described plans for more than a dozen new aid sites in Gaza.
The officer further emphasized that the company was “going to need a lot more guys.”
Applicants are reportedly being told deployments could begin by December, with salaries of up to $1,000 per day plus per diem.
One recruit described interviews focused on weapons tests, “rules of escalation,” and questions about whether he would obey superiors regardless of past military rank. After multiple rounds of vetting, he was abruptly rejected......more below
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/11/20/759192/US--GHF-Gaza-Israel-
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran now considers the Cairo understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) terminated, following the passage of an anti-Iran resolution at the agency’s Board of Governors.
The Board on Thursday narrowly approved the resolution drafted by the European Troika - France, Germany and the UK - and the United States—passing 19–3 with 12 abstentions—that urges Tehran to “without delay” report on its enriched uranium stockpile and facilities damaged in the June aggression by Israel and the US, while omitting any mention of Iran’s longstanding cooperation with the agency.
Araghchi condemned the move, calling the resolution “illegal and unjustified.” He said the measure was adopted “under pressure from these four countries” despite opposition or abstentions from 15 board members.
Araghchi said the action undermined the IAEA’s “credibility and independence” and would disrupt the agency’s cooperation with ...
