Dubai / Emirates Business Preparations are proceeding on-schedule and according to plans for the Mother of the Nation Festival and its five distinct activity zones, as announced by the organising committee at Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority. The update comes ahead of the Festival’s official launch on Thursday, March 24. With only five days remaining until the Festival opens ...

Bloomberg Stephen Crabb, the ex-secretary of state for Wales, has been appointed to succeed Iain Duncan Smithas U.K. work and pensions secretary after the former Conservative leader resigned in protest at planned cuts to welfare payments for the disabled. The move comes after Duncan Smith dramatically resigned last night, sending PM David Cameron a two-page letter that attacked a series ...

Bloomberg The outlook on Serbia’s junk credit rating was raised to positive by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the country’s implementation of structural and fiscal reforms to help ease its debt burden. Moody’s left the Balkan nation’s sovereign debt rating at B1, four steps short of investment grade and on par with Vietnam and Kenya. Fitch Ratings has Serbia at ...

Bloomberg Bonds are set to extend this week’s gains because investors are underestimating the power of the European Central Bank’s stimulus, says Commerzbank AG, ranked as the top dealer by Germany’s debt agency. Government securities across the euro zone rose this week as the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will raise interest rates more slowly than previously anticipated. Its ...

Bloomberg Next Wednesday marks exactly three months until Britain’s referendum on its European Union membership. That gives another opportunity for an insight into how concerned pound traders are about the outcome. The benchmark three-month gauge of volatility in sterling versus the dollar will cover the June 23 vote for the first time next week, giving traders another instrument to protect ...

Aberdeen / AP It’s Thursday night and the Spider’s Web watering hole is packed with beefy guys in windproof jackets and massive backpacks. The exhausted oil rig workers pile their bags against the wall, play pool or just slump in the leather seat. But despite the crowded atmosphere, there’s not much laughter. It’s not work that bothers them, but the ...

WASHINGTON / AP Cuba’s government said it plans to do away with a penalty on converting U.S. dollars, but warned the Obama administration not to expect more changes until the U.S. trade embargo is lifted. Three days before President Barack Obama visits the island, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez dismisses Obama’s lofty rhetoric about using his visit to speak directly ...

Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for a seventh straight month as the inflation outlook continued to worsen and economic growth unexpectedly accelerated. In a split decision, the seven-member board voted to lift the key rate by a quarter point to 6.5 percent, bank Governor Jose Dario Uribe told reporters after the meeting in Bogota. Policy makers ...

Bloomberg Brazil is moving closer to unwinding a measure designed to shore up the nation’s currency as speculation President Dilma Rousseff will be impeached sparks a rally in the real. On Friday, the central bank said it will offer up to 20,000 foreign-exchange reverse swap contracts, which are equivalent to buying dollars in the futures market. The auction, which will ...

Bloomberg The dollar’s third straight weekly decline is triggering signals that U.S. currency weakness may be overdone. The greenback has gone from beating its major peers last year to losses against every one of those currencies this month. That’s pushed one measure of dollar momentum, the relative strength index, to its most extreme in almost four years as the Federal ...