Saudi Aramco’ s $161bn profit is largest recorded by an oil and gas firm
Amnesty International hits out at ‘shocking’ annual figure reaped through fossil fuel
Saudi Aramco has reported a record $161bn (£133bn) profit for 2022, the largest annual profit ever recorded by an oil and gas company, fuelled by soaring energy prices and rising global demand.
The largely state-owned company’s profits rose by 46% year on year and it made more than the recent bumper results reported by Shell, BP, Exxon and Chevron combined.
“Aramco delivered record financial performance in 2022, as oil prices strengthened due to increased demand around the world,” said Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, which is listed on the Riyadh stock market.
China: Xi's government doles out key cabinet positions
Some of the largest ministries will see their current heads stay on, signaling a cautionary stance in the face of economic and political headwinds.
China's new government on Sunday named key cabinet ministers during the annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress.
After President Xi Jinping was given a new five-year term on Friday — becoming the most powerful Chinese politician since Mao Zedong — and Li Qiang was named as premier on Saturday, the Congress's final task was to announce the largest reshuffling of senior positions in a decade.
However, several ministries have seen their current leaders remain in place.
Superpower PosturingFears Grow of New Cold War Between U.S. and China
By Ann-Dorit Boy, Georg Fahrion, Christoph Giesen, Christina Hebel und Bernhard Zand
In a boxy, pink building in Beijing's diplomatic quarter, sandwiched between the Iranian and the Kazakh embassies, a security guard is standing outside the gate, freezing despite his winter coat. Zhanna Leshchynska's office is located in the building behind him, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Beijing. Two years ago, her boss died of a heart attack, and she has been running the diplomatic representation ever since. It's a herculean task: Her country is at war, but no one in China's capital seems much to care.
Thousands take part in fresh Greek protest over deadly train crash
Thousands of people protested on Sunday against safety deficiencies in Greece’s railway network nearly two weeks after dozens were killed in the country's deadliest train crash.
The demonstrators also demanded punishment for those responsible for the head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train that killed 57 people Feb. 28. Police said that more than 8,000 people in Athens gathered outside Parliament to protest on Sunday.
The protesters later marched to the offices of privatized train operator Hellenic Train. The company, which has been owned by Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane since 2017, isn't responsible for the maintenance of the railway network. State-owned Hellenic Railways is in charge of upkeep.
Half a million Israelis join latest protest against Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, organizers say
Half a million Israelis took to the streets in the tenth consecutive week of protests against plans by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judicial system, organizers claimed.
Israel has a population of just over 9 million, so if organizers’ estimates are correct, about 5% of Israelis came out to voice their opposition to the proposed reforms.
Nearly half of the protesters – about 240,000 – gathered in Tel Aviv, the organizers said. In Jerusalem, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of President Isaac Herzog’s house. They carried Israeli flags and chanted slogans including “Israel will not be a dictatorship.”
Iran signals US prisoner exchange could be close
US official denies claims by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that an initial deal has been reached.
Iran’s foreign minister has signalled that an exchange of prisoners with the United States could happen soon after he said an initial agreement has been reached on the long-standing issue, however a US official dismissed the claims as false.
“We reached an agreement in the past few days and if everything goes well on the American side, I think we will witness a prisoner exchange in the short term,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with state television on Sunday.
“An agreement was signed between us and the American side during indirect talks in March last year, but the grounds to implement it have now been prepared. In our point of view, everything is ready. The American side is engaged in its own final technical coordinations.”
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