Nationwide Blackout in Venezuela
Electricity has been cut off across Venezuela, including the capital Caracas
The new minimum wage covers only 1/10 of the cost of basic food products, reported NOVA TV.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro doubled the minimum wage to the equivalent of about $ 8 per month in a situation of hyperinflation and a strong devaluation of the Bolivar national currency, France's press reported, quoted by BTA.
With a published yesterday's decree, the minimum wage increased from 18,000 Bolivaras ($ 3.46 to the official rate) to 40,000 Bolivaras ($ 7.69).
Maduro also resumed the payment with food coupons with single value of 25 000 bolÃvares (4.80 dollars).
The new minimum wage covers only one tenth of the cost of basic food products, according to the Senda NGO, which examines living standards. With this money, only about 4 kg of beef can be bought.
Venezuela is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis. Currently, the country is experiencing acute shortages of medicines and essential products. For this year, the International Monetary Fund predicts hyperinflation of 10,000,000 percent. The entry into force of the US embargo on Venezuelan oil tomorrow will probably further aggravate the economic situation in the country. According to Maduro, economic sanctions have already caused $ 30 billion in damages to the economy, which receives 96 percent of its oil revenues.
Russia has reported what it describes as one of the largest Ukrainian drone strikes since the beginning of the full-scale invasion
A powerful earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Crete, Greece
US President Donald Trump privately told European leaders during a phone call on 19 May that Vladimir Putin is unwilling to end the war in Ukraine because he believes he’s currently winning
Two Israeli Embassy staff members were shot and killed on Wednesday night outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington
Andriy Portnov, a controversial figure and former senior official under Ukraine’s ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, was fatally shot outside the American School in Madrid
The European Union has moved to review Article 2 of its Association Agreement with Israel, signed in 2000
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