International Trade News

Venezuela’s oil economy has almost died due to the US sanction. Now, it relies almost solely on its gold trade for its sustenance. The United Arab Empire, Russia and Turkey are the biggest importers of the Venezuelan gold. Of these three, Turkey’s trade with the socialist Latin American is the one which worries the European Union and the United States the most. It is alleged that the gold reaches Turkey from Venezuela ostensibly for the purpose of refinement is shipped to Iran. The US is of the belief that the network of the Venezuela-Turkey-Iran gold trade is what enables the embattled Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, who is on an ultimatum, to keep the loyalty of his country’s soldiers intact. The west now knows that the best way to topple the aggressive Venezuelan socialist is to cut off his revenue channels. The EU and US’ latest combined attempt to force Turkey to stop its engagements with Venezuela, particularly its gold trade, is regarded as the part of that strategy. The US has reportedly served an ultimatum to Turkey to cease its gold trade with Venezuela.

If Russia and the others does not increase their gold and oil import with Venezuela, Mr Maduro will be toppled as soon as the EU and the US find success in forcing Turkey to withdraw its backup –by all possibility that would not take more than few weeks.

It is not clear from where Iran has come to the picture. There is evidence that Turkey has brought in several tonnes of gold from Venezuela in the name of refinement and none of the imported has been returned. But, there is nothing to assume that what has been imported by Turkey has been exported to Iran. The possibility that Iran has been purposefully brought into the narrative to increase the strength of those against the Venezuelan trade cannot be ruled out blindly.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

Food

Lets make some extra delicious ‘crust’ Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups elbow macaroni
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup butter, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
  • 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup dry bread crumbs

Preparation

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch glass baking dish. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the macaroni, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain and mix with half of the butter.

While the macaroni is boiling, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onions, and cook until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the milk and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently.

Cook and stir until the milk has thickened, about 10 minutes. Once thick and smooth, stir in the salt, white pepper, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, mustard, 2 cups of Cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheeses have melted, then stir in the macaroni until evenly coated. Scrape into the prepared baking dish, and smooth the top.

Toss the remaining 1 cup Cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with the dry bread crumbs in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the macaroni. Bake in the preheated oven until the macaroni is hot and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News

The Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala was found missing and feared dead in a plane missing issue. The plane carried Sala and the Pilot, David Ibbotson on board. The debris from the plane has been discovered in the English Channel.

The plane, Piper Malibu N264DB was lost on 21 January on its way from Nantes, France, to Cardiff. David Mearns, who led a privately-funded search for the aircraft, said that it was located off Guernsey. “All I will say, is that there is a substantial amount of wreckage on the seabed.” said David. He is a marine explorer who has been working alongside the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

A search boat located the debris on the seabed of the English Channel at 9:00 am on Sunday, in a search led by David. The Guernsey Police stopped looking for Sala and Ibbotson three days after the incident had reported, with officials saying the chance of them being alive was extremely unlikely.

Sunaya Paison
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News Politics

The supporters of Venezuela’s opposition will be conducting rallies across the country, supporting the self proclaimed president Juan Guaido and showing their protest against Nicolas Maduro.

“We must all take to the streets of Venezuela and the world with a clear goal: to accompany the ultimatum given by members of the European Union,” said Juan Guaido. Washington has recognized Guaido as the legitimate president and the mobilizations are meant to keep up the pressure. Guido’s supporters hopes to encourage similar moves by other European countries. “We are going to stage the biggest march in the history of Venezuela and our continent,” said Guaido.

Sunaya Paison
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

Food

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds chicken wings
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a shallow baking dish with aluminum foil and grease lightly. Cut tips from chicken wings and discard. Cut between the joint to separate each wing into 2 pieces. Combine butter and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat; heat until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes.

Mix Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper together in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken wing pieces in melted butter mixture; coat with Parmesan cheese mixture in the bowl. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Drizzle any remaining butter on top. Bake in the preheated oven until skin is browned and juices run clear, about 1 hour.

Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

International Trade News

The three major western powers, such as Germany, the UK and France, have established a new payment channel to evade the United States’ economic sanction on the Middle Eastern country of Iran.

The new payment channel, the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), shares no links with the US-linked payment channels the west presently uses widely.

It is this detachment from the popular payment channels that helps the new channel evade the sanction imposed by the US on Iran.

Iran is one of the most important trading partners of the three major European powers. The countries see the Shia-dominated nation not only as a source of cheap oil but also as a potential market for their goods and services.

It was the US’ belief that Iran involved in the destabilisation of some of its prime allies in the region such as Israel and Saudi Arabia that promoted the world’s most powerful country to impose an economic sanction against the Arab country.

The three important western countries were not in the favour of the sanction. It even urged the US to withdraw the sanction.

The latest move is capable to provoke the US. The US’ present regime is already unhappy with the European powers’ attitude against its long standing demand that the European countries should step up their defence spending to pay justice to their financial obligation to the NATO force.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News Politics

The National Assembly of France has cleared a controversial law that bans the wearing of masks at protests. It is perceived as an attempt to reduce violent incidents during street protests. For the last few weeks, France has been witnessing violent street protests. In these protests, the masked protesters have participated in large numbers. It is observed that the majority of those engaged in the unlawful act of public property destruction during these protests have been those covered their faces with masks.

Meanwhile, in the assembly, the manner the French security officials have handled the violence protests organised by the yellow-vest has also invited serious criticism. Recently, a protester has lost one of his eyes when a French official’s attempt to disperse that protester went wrong.

The yellow-vest movement, which originally started as a protest against the issue of fuel price hike, has now transformed into a class struggle between the elite establishment and the rest which is totally detached from the establishment class.

By now, the establishment has understood that the movement cannot be handled in the manner it usually handles a public unrest.

The new developments indicate that the National Assembly is not sure how to handle this situation. A considerable number of lawmakers are neither willing to endorse the government to carry on freely with its cursing mission, not interested to encourage the protesters to destabilise the system.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

Crime News

The Belgian authorities have geared up their investigation into the alleged kidnap of children of Democratic Republic of Congo for certain orphanages run in Belgian.

It was a European media that firstly exposed the adoption scandal. The media found that some of the children living in the Belgian orphanages were not actually orphans as their biological parents were alive in the country from where they were brought to the continent. The media also released a controversial statement of the biological parents of one of the DR Congo children living in Belgian as an orphan. As per the statement, the child was taken away to Europe in the pretext of a holiday camp. According to the statement, the parents were convinced that their child would be returned to them after that camp. The media reported that the child’s parents were extremely worried about their kid as those taken their child did not keep their assurances.

Recently, in the investigation launched by the Belgian authorities, it has been identified that the child mentioned in the media report was not the only victim. The authorities have secured information about at least fifteen children who were brought to the continent in the similar manner.

The authorities are planning to collect DNA samples from all those who were brought to the continent in the same period in which the identified victims were brought in.


Julienne Mpemba, a Belgian-Congolese lawyer, is the prime suspect in the case. The lawyer denies all allegations of wrongdoings.

Families fleeing fighting between the DR Congo army and rebels walk toward the eastern city of Goma.

DR Congo, marred by the civil wars and diseases, is where the majority of African orphans live. A considerable number of African orphans live in Europe are from this country.

At this moment, it remains unclear why children are kidnapped from DR Congo.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

Food Health News

A Polish media has busted a racket, which has allegedly smuggled sick cattle into Poland and sold them illegally in their abattoirs. The Polish investigators have launched an investigation into the illegal racket. The report has considerably reduced the demand of Polish beef across the European continent.

How popular is Polish beef in Europe

Poland is the seventh largest producers of beef. Its beef is not as popular as the beef produced in Ireland, Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany and France. The UK is the biggest importer of Polish beef. It imports Polish beef as much as it imports Irish beef.

As per the EU regulation, no slaughter house should slaughter cattle in the absence of medical expert. The video released proves that there were no medical personals in the featured slaughter houses when they performed the slaughtering. The Polish authorities see this absence through suspicious eyes, like many who have watched that video.    

What the Polish media has found

Through a sting operation, it has exposed the illegal way some of the Polish abattoirs operate. The video released by the media shows the presence of sick cattle in certain Polish abattoirs.

What veterinary experts say

A veterinary expert says that the video released by the media is reliable, and clearly proves the illegality of the operations carried out by those abattoirs featured in that.

Is this the first time such a report has surfaced

In the past, a large amount of meat was withdrawn from the EU market due to a similar issue.

Europeans respect quality more than any thing else. No other continent gives importance to quality as much as the Europe does.

The European Union market follows high market standards. In the EU market, no goods and services which compromise on its quality are encouraged. Often the EU countries fail to comply with that necessity. In most situations, that is done purposefully to amass huge profit.

The latest development is also seen as the one intended to gain profit.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News Politics

The longest shutdown in the US history comes to an end. U.S. President Donald Trump announces a deal with congressional leaders to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks, ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The shutdown over the president’s demand for the the border wall finding is now into its 35th day. Trump spoke regarding the deal from White house.

“We have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government” – Donald Trump

Trump warns of emergency if no border deal with democrats. Donald Trump on Friday signed bill to reopen the government. The government is opened by Trump for 3 weeks. An estimate of 800,000 federal employees will return to work now. Trump had demanded congress to give him money for building border wall. Trump says that he will resume discussion after February 15th.

Sunaya Paison
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright