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Bloomberg Spain’s securities regulator banned short selling for a month in an attempt to shield local stocks from the volatility caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The decision “has been taken due to the extreme volatility taking hold of European securities markets, including those based in Spain, their performance in the context of the situation arisen as a result of the ...

Bloomberg The euro area’s gigantic bailout fund is exploring how it can use its reserves to cushion the impact of a virus-induced recession, in a move that could help reassure markets after a spike in borrowing costs for the region’s most vulnerable economies. Klaus Regling, the head of the European Stability Mechanism, said Monday it has an unused lending capacity ...

Bloomberg FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. are dropping the normal signature rules for package deliveries to protect customers and workers as the coronavirus outbreak worsens. In a small sign of how the disease is changing business as usual, FedEx said it’s suspending the need to sign for most packages. UPS is also forgoing routine signatures. For parcels that ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi Executive Council announced on Monday a dynamic economic stimulus package, in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, with the follow-up of HH Sheikh Hazza bin ...

Bloomberg Oil’s spectacular collapse deepened as widening global efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus looked set to trigger the most severe contraction in annual oil demand in history. Futures tumbled more than 9% after losing a quarter of their value last week. Demand for jet fuel, gasoline and diesel is falling off a cliff as a result of ...

DUBAI / WAM The Smart Dubai Department launched the ‘100% Paperless Stamp’ initiative as part of its contribution to the ‘Government Development Track’ – one of six tracks announced by Dubai Council, which was inaugurated at the beginning of 2020 by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Central Bank of the UAE announced on Monday that it will cut interest rates, beginning March 16, following US Federal Reserve cuts to contain the economic repercussions of coronavirus. Following US Federal Reserve Board’s decision to cut the Federal Funds Rate at an emergency meeting to contain the repercussions of the global pandemic Covid-19, the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) on Monday announced the winning team for the 2020 edition of Al Robot, a robotics competition that challenges students at universities and higher education institutions in the UAE to design and build industrial robots for use at EGA’s aluminium smelters. The winning team was from Abu Dhabi University and competed against ...

SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) has announced that it has intensified health and safety control campaigns on business establishments within the emirate to ensure the general public’s safety. According to a statement issued by the department, all cinemas, amusement parks, amusement and electronic games centres, bodybuilding and fitness gyms are to close from March 16-31. The ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Zayed House for Islamic Culture (ZHIC) has distributed more than 48,000 publications in 13 languages to interested persons, public and private entities, cultural institutions and UAE embassies abroad. The distribution aims to enrich the content of the Islamic culture and enhance the status of the Arabic language in the UAE community, said a ZHIC press release ...