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Heavy rain and floods in Afghanistan kill 22

Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said today. The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for […]

Landscape, Outdoors, Nature

Egypt’s urban inflation accelerates to 10.5%

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation accelerated in March to 10.5 percent, its highest in nearly three years and faster than analysts had expected, data from the state statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Sunday. The inflation figure, up from 8.8 percent in February, was greater than a median forecast of 10 percent in a Reuters […]

UAE, Pakistan in push for stronger trade ties

Leaders of the UAE and Pakistan have reaffirmed earlier commitments made by the two countries to boost bilateral trade. Pakistan imports from the UAE stood at £5.9 billion in 2021, according to the United Nations’ Comtrade database on international trade, but there is currently no formal free trade agreement between the two countries. A free […]

Person, Human, Plywood

Saudis ‘let down’ by US over Houthi security threats, says royal

Saudi Arabia feels “let down” by the United States in tackling security threats to the kingdom and wider region by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, a senior member of the Saudi royal family and former intelligence chief said. Traditionally strong ties between Riyadh and Washington have been shaken under U.S. President Joe Biden by the 2018 […]

Bulldozer, Tractor, Vehicle

Brazil plans ‘fertilizer diplomacy’ trip to secure more imports

Brazil’s new agriculture minister Marcos Montes will visit Jordan, Egypt and Morocco in a tour starting this week to discuss increasing fertilizer imports from those countries. “It’s a pilgrimage that we are calling fertilizer diplomacy,” Montes said in an interview with Reuters late on Monday, adding he would be joined by private sector representatives. “We […]

Bicycle, Bike, Vehicle

Deliveroo backs off plan to cut pay of UAE riders after strike

Delivery service Deliveroo on Monday put on hold plans to cut pay and extend working hours for its drivers in the United Arab Emirates after a rare strike over the weekend. The Amazon-backed company said in an email to restaurants, seen by Reuters, that it had paused proposed changes in its rider pay structure and […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

Turkey, Saudi to revive great economic potential, Erdogan says

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have a common will to “reactivate a great economic potential” between the two countries, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, after his first trip to the kingdom since 2017. Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Saudi Arabia, where he sought to mend frayed ties, Erdogan said the sides […]

Regulators call for external checks on bank climate data

Regulators could force banks and other financial firms to hire external auditors to check on the accuracy of their climate data, the Financial Stability Board said in a report on Friday. Financial firms are being required to spell out how climate change is affecting their business as part of government efforts to meet net-zero economy […]

Tunisia’s dinar hits record low versus dollar

Tunisia’s dinar currency has fallen to record lows versus the dollar, driven down by high inflation, a worsening trade deficit and the severe impact of the Ukraine crisis on public finances. It traded at 3.074 against the dollar on Thursday, central bank data showed on Friday. Earlier this month, the state statistics institute said Tunisia’s […]

Airplane, Aircraft, Vehicle

Qatar Airways suffers setback in feud with Airbus

A British judge has denied a bid by Qatar Airways to reinstate a jet contractcancelled by Europe’s Airbus in the latest twist to a dramatic feud playing out in UK courts. The companies have been locked in a safety dispute for months on Europe’s A350 long-haul jet. Their unprecedented bust-up widened in January when Airbus revoked a separate deal for […]

Visitors to Turkey jump 130% in March

The number of foreign visitors arriving in Turkey jumped 129.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.08 million in March, data showed on Friday, as the sector continued to recover from the impact of measures to combat the spread of coronavirus since 2020. The arrivals compared with a level of 718,097 foreign visitors in March […]

Hong Kong eases coronavirus rules for aircrews

Hong Kong will shorten mandatory hotel quarantine for passenger flight crews to three days from seven, while cargo crews will be exempt, modest steps at unwinding coronavirus curbs that have turned the city into one of the world’s most isolated places. The changes, which take effect in May, give the global financial hub’s aviation trade […]

Ecuador Energy Minister resigns, as country starts talk over new oil contracts

Ecuador’s Energy Minister Juan Carlos Bermeo resigned on Thursday, saying he had “completed a cycle,” just as the country begins the process of renegotiating oil block contracts with private companies. Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso appointed Bermeo as minister of energy and non-renewable natural resources in June last year, charging him with the mission to build […]

Person, Human, Clothing

Germany: Gazprombank accounts do not breach Russia oil sanctions

European energy firms can open special accounts with Gazprombank to pay for Russian gas, a key demand by Moscow, without breaching sanctions if transferring euros or dollars to them fulfils their contractual obligations, the German Economy Ministry said. Russia cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland this week for failing to pay in roubles, raising […]

Trump finally posts on Truth Social: “I’M BACK!”

Former US president Donald Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social late Thursday for the first time since the app he founded launched two months ago, saying “I’M BACK!” Trump broke his silence as Elon Musk sealed a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, which last year permanently banned Trump citing a risk of […]

Sterling set for biggest drop in six years against dollar

Sterling rose against the dollar on Friday but was still set for its sharpest monthly drop since October 2016, while edging higher against the euro. The dollar dropped from its recent 20-year high while still on track for its best month since 2015, bolstered by a combination of expectations for US rate hikes and growth […]

Egypt seeks private sector participation in state-owned assets

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the government to set a program for the private sector’s participation in state-owned assets, with a target of $10 billion annually for four years, state TV quoted him as saying on Tuesday. The broadcaster did not mention any other details about the method of participation. The Egyptian president also […]

Iran summons Afghan envoy after protesters’ attack

Iran summoned the Afghan envoy to Tehran, Iranian state TV reported, afterprotesters threw rocks at Iranian diplomatic missions in Kabul and Herat over what they called “mistreatment of Afghan refugees” in the Islamic Republic. The protests began after videos posted on Twitter in recent days showed young Afghan refugees in Iran being harassed and humiliated […]

Person, Human, Audience

Turkish court sentences Kavala to life in prison

A Turkish court sentenced philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison on Monday finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government by financing 2013 nationwide protests, in a case that Europe’s top court and Ankara’s Western allies said was politically motivated. Kavala, 64, has been in jail for 4-1/2 years without a conviction and […]