Als Reaktion auf die Energiepreisexplosion hat die ägyptische Regierung eine landesweite Geschäftssperrstunde verhängt. Ab dem heutigen Samstag müssen Geschäfte, Restaurants, Cafés und Einkaufszentren unter der Woche um 21 Uhr schließen. Donnerstags und freitags dürfen sie bis 22 Uhr geöffnet bleiben.
Zunächst wird die Maßnahme für ein Monat verhängt. Ministerpräsident Mostafa Madbouly begründete den Schritt mit den gestiegenen Energiepreisen. .
Saudi Arabia has exported 4.355 million barrels per day of crude so far in March, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, down from 7.108 million bpd in February.
The producer is trying to boost crude exports via Yanbu to offset the Strait of Hormuz disruption, with loadings seen rising to record volumes in March. China‘s top refiner Sinopec (600028.SS), opens new tab is set to load about 24 million barrels of Saudi crude from Yanbu in March.
In mid-March, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertiliser blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources told Reuters.
The ban, which has not been formally unveiled, was reported earlier this week by Bloomberg News.
Added to existing bans and export quotas for urea, only a handful of fertilisers – notably ammonium sulphate – can be exported, five sources said. That would mean between half and three quarters of China‘s exports last year are restricted, potentially up to 40 million metric tons, according to a Reuters estimate.
Der Krieg geht unvermindert weiter, wobei Israel nicht nur den Iran angreift, sondern auch den Libanon und weiter in Gaza Völkermord begeht sowie in der Westbank gegen dort seit Jahrhunderten ansässige Palästinenser vorgeht. Die Straße von Hormus ist weiter geschlossen, Energiepreise steigen und es drohen steigende Lebenmittelpreise sowie in manchen Teilen der Welt auch Hungersnöte, da auch die Ausfuhr von Düngemitteln gestoppt ist, die 35% des Welthandels ausmachen.
Besonders Asien ist durch die Energiekrise, die der US-israelische Angriff auf den Iran ausgelöst hat, hart getroffen. Am ganzen Kontinent werden Spar- und Rationierungsmaßnahmen von Regierungen verordnet.
Premierminister Anutin Charnvirakul hat staatliche Behörden angewiesen, ihren Energieverbrauch deutlich zu reduzieren. Eine der ersten Maßnahmen: Viele Staatsbedienstete sollen vorübergehend von zu Hause aus arbeiten. Damit sollen Pendelverkehr, Stromverbrauch in Bürogebäuden und andere energieintensive Abläufe reduziert werden. Ausgenommen von dieser Regelung sind lediglich Mitarbeiter, die im direkten Kontakt mit Bürgern arbeiten und deren Präsenz in Behördengebäuden notwendig ist.
Zusätzlich hat die Regierung ihre Angestellten dazu aufgefordert, Treppen statt Aufzüge zu benutzen, um den Stromverbrauch in öffentlichen Gebäuden zu senken. Auch wenn diese Maßnahme eher symbolisch wirkt, soll sie Teil eines umfassenderen Programms sein, mit dem staatliche Institutionen ihren Energiebedarf möglichst schnell reduzieren.
MBIE data from Monday showed New Zealand had a 58-day supply of petrol, 50 days of diesel, and 47 days of jet fuel, meaning 43 days as of today.
While a further supply to the country was on its way, Stuff reported earlier on Thursday that we may already be down to 17 or 18 days left by the time it arrives.
KATHMANDU, March 12: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has enforced a rationing system for cooking gas, directing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottlers to sell only half-filled cylinders. The decision comes amid a surge in demand driven by panic buying from consumers, fueled by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
According to NOC, there are approximately 150,000 LPG cylinders currently in circulation across the country.
(today)
The Chinese government has moved to ban all fuel exports amid a worsening supply crunch because of the severe disruption in tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The ban covers gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, unnamed sources told Reuters.
The restrictions will take immediate effect, applying to all cargoes that had not passed through customs as of March 11, the sources also said.
RAMALLAH, December 28, 2025 (WAFA) – Deadly Israeli attacks continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire, as Israel has killed 401 Palestinians in the Strip, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since the genocide began to 70,925, according to the Government Communication Center at the Prime Minister’s Office in Situation Report No. 68, covering the period between December 22 and December 29, 2025, until 08:00 a.m.
– Ceasefire in Place, Yet Israeli Violations Persist: Eighty days after the ceasefire, Israel continues large-scale military operations in Gaza, including systematic demolitions, airstrikes, blockade, and restrictions on humanitarian access, resulting in additional Palestinian casualties and widespread destruction.
– Continued Humanitarian Collapse: Severe food insecurity, winter exposure, blocked reconstruction, and restrictions on temporary housing continue to place hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk, underscoring Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of civilians.
……………..
Vieira said that „the map posted by President Milei needs an urgent update“ and presented data favorable to Brazil without directly mentioning Argentina. The minister highlighted that under President Lula, the country „is modernizing and addressing its social problems,“ has a „growing economy, the lowest unemployment levels, international reserves of US$ 360 billion,“ and has exited the Hunger Map.
Vieira also noted that Brazil has had a „stable currency for 30 years“ and does not owe „a single cent to the IMF,“ while a government source pointed to Argentina’s financial difficulties.
In 2024, Milei’s first year in office, poverty in Argentina surged to 52.9%, later falling to 31.6% in the first half of the year—still higher than Brazil’s 23.1%. The IMF extended a US$ 20 billion loan to the country.
(December 8, 2025)
Mass protests over Bulgaria’s 2026 budget have plunged the country into yet another political crisis, with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s minority government facing a no-confidence vote, a mass petition demanding its resignation and the prospect of an eighth early parliamentary election in five years.
The dispute comes just weeks before Bulgaria is due to adopt the euro on 1st January 2026 and risks overshadowing what was intended to be a landmark step in the country’s European integration.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown, even though residents in some states already have received the funds.
During the meeting, emphasis was made on „the depth of the partnership between Lebanon and the World Bank for nearly seventy years and the pivotal role the WB has played in supporting Lebanon throughout various difficult stages, from wars to economic and social crises.“
The President of the Republic thanked the delegation for „the continuous support that the World Bank provides to Lebanon,“ and presented the progress achieved so far in terms of the ongoing reforms, particularly with regard to strengthening governance and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund to rebuild confidence in the country’s financial sector and attract investments.
McConnell, in a written order on Sunday, gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture two options.
One option was to make the full payment of SNAP benefits for November by the end of the day Monday by using Section 32 Child Nutrition Program fundings and other unspecified funds.
The other option was to “make a partial payment of the total amount of the contingency fund and … expeditiously resolve the administrative and clerical burdens it described in its papers, but under no circumstances shall the partial payments be made later than Wednesday.”
Democrats are suing the Trump administration in part over its refusal to use the SNAP emergency fund, which they contend has about $5 billion, to fund the program. But a recent memo by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) argued there was no legal standing to use the fund and that federal SNAP funds would run dry by Nov. 1 if Democrats did not vote to end the shutdown.
A pair of federal judges ruled on Friday that the administration would have to pay out the food stamp benefits for November, either in full or partially.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins affirmed the memo during a Friday press conference,
U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr.’s oral order Friday came just before the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, is set to run out of money this weekend. Trump administration officials have not yet indicated whether they will appeal the ruling.
The Senate‘s barely-there approval – fuck Shady Vance – of Trump‘s heinous 900-page bill represents the largest transfer of wealth to the rich in U.S. history along with the largest cut to Medicaid and food assistance, all in the obscene name of (partly) funding a $975 billion tax break for the already richest 1%. The bill, „a tipping point between normality and fascism,“ also pours over $170.7 billion into „a campaign of extermination against immigrants that evokes the greatest human rights atrocities of the past,“ funding the hiring of vastly more Nazi thugs to terrorize, humiliate and put in cages millions of brown people who do much of this country‘s work.
It will kick about 16 million people off health insurance by cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid, because who needs health insurance. It will throw millions of poor families, veterans, the elderly and disabled off SNAP by cutting $285 billion in food assistance, because who needs food. It will cut funding to rural hospitals, nursing homes, student loans, wind and solar energy – electric bills will soar 30% – costing millions of jobs and adding almost $4 trillion to the national debt, to be paid by our children and grandchildren, one of many excellent reasons it‘s said to be the most unpopular legislation since passage of the economically disastrous Embargo Act of 1807.
Worse off
Low-income Americans
Many people at the lowest end of the income ladder would be worse off because the package would enact historic cuts to the nation’s safety net program, particularly Medicaid and food stamps.
Among the many changes to these programs would be the addition of federally mandated work requirements to Medicaid for the first time in its 60-year history and the expansion of the work mandate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for food stamps. Parents of children ages 14 and up are among those who would have to work, volunteer, take classes or participate in job training to keep their benefits.
Merz darf nicht Kanzler werden – auf keinen Fall. Nun hat er auch noch vor, „Totalverweigerern“ das Bürgergeld zu streichen. Will Deutschland wirklich dem Geist von BlackRock die Sozialpolitik überlassen? Mit Taurus gegen Russland und mit Unverstand gegen die Armen im eigenen Land? Das ist keine Lösung, sondern eine Gefahr für ganz Deutschland.
The World Food Program said it is suspending deliveries of aid in Gaza after one of its humanitarian teams was hit by gunfire this week as it approached an Israeli military checkpoint.
In a statement, the United Nations agency said none of its employees were injured during the shooting on Tuesday night, which occurred after a convoy of its trucks had delivered assistance to central Gaza. The agency said one of its vehicles had been hit by 10 bullets — five on the driver’s side — a few yards from the Israeli security post at the Wadi Gaza bridge.
„The situation is really, really bad. Food in out refrigerators has gone bad so we are forced to leave Jenin and take shelter with relatives outside the city.“
The resident said there was no internet or event the ability to charge phones. „It feels like Gaza‘s conditions,“ they added.
The plight of Gaza’s people continues to worsen in the enclave where humanitarian operations are “ongoing where feasible” amid repeated evacuation orders from the Israeli military, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned on Tuesday.
In an update, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke rejected any suggestion of stopping the lifesaving aid operation, despite the multiple challenges linked to the war and ongoing fighting, sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October.
“There’s been no decision to halt, there never has been, we’ve been there for 10 months, so [it is] ongoing where feasible. I want to remind you that only 11 per cent of the territory of the Gaza Strip is not under evacuation orders…so we’re trying to work with that number and keep the operation going.”
„We‘re unable to deliver today with the conditions that we‘re in,“ a senior UN official told Reuters. „As of this morning, we‘re not operating in Gaza.“
„Where do we move now?“ the official said, adding that staff were forced to move so quickly that equipment was left behind.
In a resolution (A/HRC/55/L.30) on the Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised), the Council demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment; calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza; calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza; calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel; urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people and calls upon all States to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate; invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session; requests the Secretary-General to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and decides to remain seized of the matter.
The results of the vote are as follows:
In favour (28): Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.
Against(6): Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay and United States.
Abstentions (13): Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.
(05.04.2024)
The UN’s top human rights body adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”, while also calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
(03.04.2024)
Calling Israel “an extension of European colonialism”, Ahmed Abofoul, a Legal Expert at Al-Haq, said that South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice represents the Global South’s impatience with Western hypocrisy. He criticized the West’s relentless campaign of distorting international law to support their stance — an example is the right to self-defence. There is no doubt that an occupying Power does not have the right to self-defence against the people it is occupying, as those people, according to international humanitarian law, have the right to self-defence. The West’s complicity has made Gaza “not only a graveyard of children but a graveyard of international law”, he asserted. On the UNRWA accusations, he observed that Western democracies moved fast to suspend funding without waiting for evidence, only to discover later that Israel was lying.