The UK general election will be held on July 4, King Charles III has already approved the dissolution of Parliament, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
“Earlier today, I spoke to His Majesty King Charles III to request the dissolution of Parliament. The King has granted this request. We will hold a general election on July 4,” said Sunak, speaking in Downing Street.
“This is the moment for Britain to determine its future,” he emphasized.
The election campaign will begin in the country after the dissolution of Parliament.
According to Sky News, on Downing Street there were “long and open discussions” about whether to hold elections now or in the fall. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, for example, has been pushing for a summer election.
Earlier in May, the Conservative Party of the current British Prime Minister lost almost half – 474 – of the seats in local councils in the English elections. The Conservatives had about 1,000 seats in English councils so far.
The Liberal Democrats gained an additional 104 seats, while the Greens gained 74 seats. In addition, taking advantage of the Conservatives’ failure, some smaller parties improved their positions.
Then the head of the British opposition Labor Party Keir Starmer spoke in favor of a general election in the UK.
Sunak holds the post of British Prime Minister since October 2022.
Earlier Experts Club analytical center presented an analytical material about the most important elections in the countries of the world in 2024, possible elections in the UK were among the top 5 most important elections in the world in 2024, more video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M?si=eGb95W02MgF6KzXU Subscribe to Experts Club YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
NEC “Ukrenergo” plans to apply schedules of hourly shutdowns all day Thursday.
As noted by the system operator in its Facebook on Wednesday evening, this is due to the expected cloudiness for tomorrow, which will reduce the production of electricity by solar plants.
It also clarifies that the GGOs concern both the population and industry.
As reported, today GPOs apply from 19:00 until the end of the day.
Since 2014, 570 squares and parks have been created and renovated in the capital, including Peremoha, Sovky, and Nyvky, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
“Since 2014, we have renovated and created a total of 570 parks and squares. From now on, Kyiv residents and guests of the capital, as well as families who took refuge in our city during the war, can walk along the breathtaking slopes of Volodymyrska Hill, the modern Kurenivskyi Park, and the renovated Peremoha, Sovky, and Nyvky parks, a new recreation area in Troyeshchyna, as well as a real green diamond of Kyiv – Natalka Park, which has already become part of a large recreational area that we continue to create in Obolon,” Klitschko wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his mayoralty in the capital.
Klitschko has been the mayor of Kyiv since June 5, 2014.
index housing prices in Ukraine at the end of January-March 2024 amounted to 116%, while in the same period of 2023 the index amounted to 111.4%, reported the State Statistics Service (Gosstat). According to its data, in the primary market housing prices in the first quarter of 2024 accelerated growth to 17.6% against 9.8% in the first quarter of last year. Three-room apartments went up in price the most – by 17.9%. The growth of prices for one-room apartments amounted to 17.8%, two-room apartments – 17.5%.
In the secondary market, prices accelerated growth to 15.3% in January-March 2024 against 12.5% in the same period of 2023. Thus, the price growth for one-room apartments amounted to 15.9%, two-room apartments – 15.2%, three-room apartments – 15.5%.
According to the agency, compared to the previous quarter, housing prices rose by 5.7%, with the primary market – by 5.2% and the secondary market – by 6%.
According to the State Statistics Committee, in the first quarter of 2024, prices on the “primary” increased for one-room apartments by 5.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, for two-room apartments – by 5.3%, three-room apartments – by 4.9%. In the secondary market, prices rose by 6.1%, 6.2% and 5.9%, respectively.
The State Statistics Committee pointed out that the figures are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territories and part of the territories where hostilities are (were) conducted.
Germany’s central bank expects the country’s economy to grow in April-June for the second consecutive quarter after falling at the end of 2023.
According to preliminary calculations of the statutory office of the Federal Republic of Germany, in January-March GDP increased by 0.2% compared to the previous three months. It fell 0.5% in October-December 2023.
“The economy is likely to expand slightly again in the second quarter,” the Bundesbank said in a statement on Wednesday.
Activity in the services sector was likely to have continued to strengthen on the back of rising household income and consumer spending.
“Growth in household disposable income is likely to take the upper hand from consumer uncertainty,” Central Bank analysts suggested.
However, they noted that the construction sector remains very weak.
The German labor market is expected to remain resilient and wages look set to continue to rise rapidly. This could be a risk to cooling inflation, which the Bundesbank estimates will accelerate slightly again in May.
The final data on Germany’s first-quarter GDP dynamics will be released on May 24, while preliminary information for the second quarter will be presented on July 30.
Earlier Experts Club analytical center and Maxim Urakin released a video analysis of how the GDP of the world’s countries has changed over the past years, more detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=BsZmIUERHSBJrO_3.
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CENTRAL BANK, ECONOMY, EXPERTS CLUB, GDP, GERMANY, MACROECONOMICS, URAKIN
The Swedish government intends to provide long-term support to Ukraine through a three-year military support program (2024-2026) totaling SEK 75 billion (EUR 6.5 billion), the Swedish government website reports.
“In order to strengthen Swedish support for Ukraine, as well as to strengthen the long-term perspective, the government and the Sweden Democrats agree to introduce a military support program for Ukraine for 2024-2026. Sweden will increase its support, and its volume will amount to SEK 75 billion in military support for 2024-2026, SEK 25 billion per year,” the statement said.
It is noted that Sweden’s total military and civilian support for Ukraine, taking into account this proposal, will amount to more than SEK 100 billion. Military support within Ukraine can, for example, take the form of free transfer of defense equipment, financial contributions and financial support for the purchase of defense equipment.
The government also noted that, depending on the type of support used, the program’s framework could burden public finances for several years and even beyond 2026.
Following the Russian invasion in February 2022, Sweden has allocated the equivalent of SEK 37 billion for various efforts to support Ukraine. In particular, through 15 military support packages totaling about SEK 30 billion, and that Ukraine is now the largest country where Swedish aid is directed.