Maduro affirms Venezuela will recover its economy despite sanctionsVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in the framework of his annual message before the National Assembly, highlighted that the country is on the road to economic recovery amid the illegal unilateral and coercive sanctions imposed by the White House.

United States jobless claims – a proxy for layoffs – climbed by 23,000 last week to 230,000 for the week ending January 8The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose in the first week of January amid raging COVID-19 infections, but that number still remains low by historical standards.

Freezing temperatures and frozen assets are a lethal combination for the people of AfghanistanThe UN secretary-general has warned that millions of Afghans are on the “verge of death” - urging the international community to fund the UN’s $5 billion humanitarian appeal, release Afghanistan's frozen assets, and jump-start its banking system to avert economic and social collapse.