Author: admin@primenews

For more than 120 years, the Matild Palace has stood over the Elisabeth Bridge, welcoming those who cross the Danube River from Buda to Pest – the two halves that make up Hungary’s capital city. Built in 1902 when the Austro-Hungarian empire was economically strong, the palace was erected as a symbol of strength and success. From its golden era in the early 20th century to the present day, the Matild was a place where people came to be seen and to bask in the glory of its luxurious surroundings. Before the empire dissolved in 1918, Europe’s rich, royal and…

Egypt has agreed to allow aid trucks into Gaza, as anger rises globally over Israel’s siege of the isolated enclave in response to the brutal, coordinated Hamas attacks nearly two weeks ago. The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israel has sparked growing protests across the Middle East and heightened fears that the war could spiral into a wider regional conflict. Speaking on his way back from a visit to Israel, United States President Joe Biden said his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had agreed to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid – the only one not controlled by Israel.…

China’s real estate market remains a drag and will put pressure on global growth. New home prices fell in September, a third straight month of decline, according to data released Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), despite Beijing’s efforts to shore up the sector. The data comes at a time when Country Garden, once the country’s biggest homebuilder, is fighting for its life. The property slowdown will impact not just China, but also global growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday. New home prices in 70 major cities fell by 0.1% in September from a year ago,…

A two-state solution to establish an independent Palestine is the “fundamental way out” of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Xi Jinping said Thursday in the Chinese leader’s first public comments on the war since it broke out nearly two weeks ago. “The top priority now is a ceasefire as soon as possible, to avoid the conflict from expanding or even spiraling out of control and causing a serious humanitarian crisis,” Xi was quoted as saying by China’s state-broadcaster CCTV. Xi, who made the comments in a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Beijing, said China is willing to work with…

A two-day global gathering billed as China’s “most important diplomatic event” of the year wrapped up in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, with Beijing touting its outsized role in world development – and its alternative vision to that of the United States. Two dozen leaders and more than a hundred delegations, largely from the Global South, came together for a packed schedule of forums and bilateral meetings revolving around Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – the global infrastructure drive that has cemented China’s place as a major international player since its launch a decade ago. The gathering…

General Motors and Honda, along with Cruise — GM’s autonomous driving subsidiary — have agreed to create a driverless ride-hailing company in Japan. The company will use the Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle to give rides in Tokyo, Japan’s largest city. The companies plan to begin providing services in 2026. The Cruise Origin, an electric vehicle GM builds at a factory in Detroit, has no steering wheel, pedals or space for a driver. Honda helped design the vehicle along with Cruise and GM. Unveiled in 2020, it holds up to six passengers who sit facing one another. GM said it plans to…

Longtime Costco chief executive Craig Jelinek will step down at the end of the year, the company said Wednesday. Ron Vachris, Costco’s president and chief operating officer, will replace him. Costco’s stock was little changed during after hours trading Wednesday, a sign investors were unfazed. Jelinek has been Costco’s CEO since 2012. The company’s stock has increased five-fold during his tenure. Costco has 861 warehouses in the world, including 591 in the United States. The company is the third largest US retailer behind Walmart and Amazon. Costco had around 66 million paid members and 119 million cardholders in 2022, making it…

Beijing is once again trying to have it both ways. It has spent over a year tiptoeing over Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Asian superpower has refused to condemn the invasion and instead provided much-needed diplomatic and economic support for Moscow. Now, as Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas threatens to spiral into a broader conflict that could shatter stability in the Middle East, China has called for a ceasefire while criticizing Israel’s actions. It has also noticeably not condemned Hamas for carrying out what has been called the worst single day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, while voicing its support for a two-state…

Americans hoping to borrow money to buy a house or apartment are facing mortgage rates at the highest levels in more than 20 years. The average interest rate on the typical 30-year, fixed rate home loan rose to 8% for the first time since 2000, according to Mortgage News Daily, which tracks rates. The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has been raising interest rates to try to bring down inflation. That has pushed up borrowing costs. Rates are up by nearly half a percentage point in just the last two weeks. The last two years has seen a ratcheting…

Finnish telecoms giant Nokia is to axe between 9,000 and 14,000 jobs by the end of 2026 to cut costs. The announcement was made as the company reported a 20% drop in sales between July and September. The company blamed slowing demand for 5G equipment in markets such as North America. It currently has 86,000 employees around the world, and has axed thousands of jobs since 2015. Nokia wants to cut costs by between €800m and €1.2bn (£695m-£1bn) by 2026, it said. It currently has 86,000 employees, and will reduce that number to between 72,000 and 77,000 staff. Advances in…