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Bloomberg Forces loyal to Libya’s eastern leader Khalifa Haftar have taken control of the country’s biggest oil field and say the deposit is secure and ready to resume production. Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army fanned out in the southwestern Sharara field, people with knowledge of the matter confirmed. Armed protesters had closed down the 300,000 barrel-per-day deposit in December, demanding …

Bloomberg Drax Group Plc has started capturing carbon dioxide at its Yorkshire power plant for the first time in a pilot project to develop the technology. The six-month bioenergy carbon capture and storage test aims to suck up a ton of carbon dioxide a day at its biomass plant, with technology that isolates the pollutant from flue gases released when …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has approved a plan to ease levies businesses pay on foreign workers to help revive economic growth. Authorities will exempt some companies from paying the 2018 fees or reimburse those that have already paid, according to the official-Saudi Press Agency. To qualify for the aid, businesses need to have made strides in hiring more Saudi …

Dubai / WAM Rt Hon Liam Fox, UK Secretary of State for International Trade, has said that the UK enjoys strong trading relations with GCC countries and is looking forward to have a free trade agreement with the bloc in the right time. He also said that the World Government Summit is very indicative of the UAE getting increasingly outward …

Emirates Business Lockheed Martin, the United States-based global technology leader, is set to showcase its latest advanced technology solutions at the 14th edition of the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (Idex), the only one in the Mena region, to be held in Abu Dhabi from February 17-21. At Idex, the defense and security firm will highlight a diverse portfolio of …

Dubai / WAM The Legislative Week, organised by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee of the Emirate of Dubai (SLC), was launched on Sunday, with the opening of the “Legislation Lab”, an interactive platform that gave representatives from 67 government entities the opportunity to discuss current and emerging challenges and to explore ways to further develop government legislation, …

Bloomberg Chevron Corp. vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Paris Accord on climate change, potentially averting a shareholder rebellion at its annual general meeting. The US oil major pledged to reduce air pollution intensity by 25 to 30 percent by 2023, as recommended in the Paris agreement that took effect in 2016. The target applies across …

VATICAN / WAM His Holiness Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church, reflected on his Journey to the United Arab Emirates, at his General Audience on Wednesday. The journey to the UAE “wrote a new page in the history of dialogue between Christianity and Islam,” His Holiness the Pope said, affirming that the visit underlined the commitment to “promote peace …

Bloomberg Oil steadied below $54 a barrel as signs of weakening economic growth from Europe to the US and a reported increase in American crude stockpiles were offset by supply curbs from Opec and its allies. Futures in New York fell as much as 1.5 percent before paring losses. Growth concerns were fueled by a drop in German factory orders, …

ABU DHABI / WAM HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, stressed that the UAE is a nation of tolerance and peace whose foundations were laid by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the …