The repercussions of the disruption of navigation in the Egyptian Suez Canal following the stranding of a giant container transport ship continue to affect the global economic and commercial situation.

 The disruption of this vital waterway, which connects the Red and the Mediterranean seas, has serious impacts as it is the lung of global trade and the lifeline that connects the east and the West in the light of a global economic crises and high oil prices.

On Tuesday, the container ship “Ever Given”, a Japanese-owned huge ship operated by Taiwan got stuck in the Suez Canal because of strong wind and blocked the route. The blockage causes the suspension of daily trade exchange that is estimated at 9.6 billion US dollars, equivalent to 400 million US dollars per hour.

The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free the stuck huge vessel, after an earlier attempt has failed to end the blockage.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has called on the international community to deepen gender equality in order to fill growing gap between men and women when it comes to political leadership and ensure that women have a strong voice in rebuilding economies after the COVID-19 pandemic.   

 In an interview with The Associated Press Mlambo-Ngcuka said that the pandemic has left women facing increasing domestic violence and being laid off from two-thirds of the jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis. In addition, 11 million girls are at risk of never returning to school, child marriage has increased, and there are more orphans and child-headed homes, she said.

“So whatever you touch, women are in a bad space, as a result of the pandemic” and the underlying discrimination “that has always been there," she said. “This therefore suggests that building back better is about gender equality, just as it’s about green economies and any equitable sharing of resources.”

The unfair American and western sanctions on Syria, including the so-called Caesar Act", unequivocally uncover the West's hypocrisy and crocodile tears for the Syrian people, because these suffocating sanctions badly affect the Syrians' livelihood and exacerbate their humanitarian suffering, according to Patrick Cockburn, the Irish writer and journalist.

In an article published by the UK's "The Independent" Newspaper on Friday, Cuckburn said that "great dollops of hypocrisy invariably accompany expressions of concern by outside powers for the wellbeing of the Syrian people. But even by these low standards, a new record for self-serving dishonesty is being set by the Caesar Civilian Protection Act, the new US law imposing the harshest sanctions in the world on Syria and bringing millions of Syrians to the brink of famine."

The writer made it clear that the United States claims that its coercive measures and sanctions aim at protecting civilians in Syria. However, the truth is that these sanctions are destroying Syria and despite attempts by Washington and the West to hide the main purpose of these sanctions under a false humanitarian cover,  these measures act as collective punishment that is impoverishing all the Syrian people.

US President Joe Biden previously told ABC News that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would "pay a price" for alleged interference in the 2020 US presidential vote, also agreeing when journalists asked if Putin is a "killer", Sputnik reported on Thursday.

Putin has addressed Joe Biden's controversial statement about alleged Russian meddling in the 2020 presidential elections, which took a personal turn against him.

"As for the statement by my American counterpart, we really are, as he said, personally acquainted. What would I answer him? I would tell him: stay healthy! I wish him good health", the Russian president said, stressing he is not joking or being ironic.

 "There have been many difficult, dramatic, and bloody events in the history of each nation. But when we assess other people, when we assess other states, other peoples, we are always looking in the mirror. We always see ourselves there", Putin said.

According to the president, the American governing class was formed in the age of the conquest of the continent by Europeans, "which was linked to elimination of the local population, this was direct genocide of Indian tribes".

Putin stressed that the US will have to take Russian interests into account.