ABU DHABI / WAM The first political consultation committee between the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) and the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Malta took place virtually. The meeting was chaired by ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Political Affairs and Permanent ...

BLOOMBERG Oil dipped after hot inflation data led traders to anticipate that central bankers are likely to stay hawkish for the coming months, offsetting hopes for higher demand from Asia. West Texas Intermediate dropped below $76.50, reversing earlier reached gains after China and India released strong manufacturing and oil-sales data. Crude has weakened this year as the prospect of tighter ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Central Bank of the UAE has released figures showing that the total investments of banks operating in the country reached a historic high of AED528 billion at the end of December 2022. This represents an 11.5% annual increase or AED54.5 billion compared to the same period in the previous year, when total investments were AED473.2 ...

BLOOMBERG The plan for greater US military access in the Philippines has drawn opposition from politicians who raised concerns the Southeast Asian nation might be embroiled if tensions with China over Taiwan escalate. Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, said the move to allow American troops in more Philippine sites is geared at bolstering the US’ possible defense of Taiwan ...

BLOOMBERG Finland’s parliament ratified Nato’s treaties as the Nordic nation prepares to join the defense alliance, seeking to put momentum back in the bloc’s enlargement. Nine months after Finland submitted its application for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) simultaneously with neighbouring Sweden, lawmakers in Helsinki on Wednesday signed off on the paperwork, voting 184 in favour of ...

BLOOMBERG Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close Russian ally, in talks watched closely for signs that Beijing is expanding coordination with Moscow and its supporters in their standoff with the West. Belarus “fully supports the initiative put forward by you,” Lukashenko told Xi in Beijing Wednesday, according to state-run news agency Belta. He was referring ...

BLOOMBERG Russia’s war in Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions at the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi as the conflict enters its second year. A meeting of the grouping’s finance ministers and central bank heads over the weekend failed to reach a consensus on the language to describe Russia’s aggressions in Ukraine, forcing host India to ...

BLOOMBERG Russian critics of President Vladimir Putin have spent the past year pressing the US and its allies to impose sanctions on thousands of Kremlin officials and business tycoons. Now they want a clear way for those who come out against the war to get off the blacklists. Exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent years in a Russian prison after ...

ABU DHABI / GULF TIME The Emirati company “Markab Capital” signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Italian company “Super Jet International” to establish a factory for the assembly, installation and production of civil aircraft in UAE. The factory, which is scheduled to be completed in 2025, is the first of its kind in the Arab world, through which civil ...

ABU DHABI / GULF TIME As one of the UAE’s leading institutions in the field of finance, Al Fardan Exchange under the umbrella of Al Fardan group has now ventured into the education sector with the inauguration of the Al Fardan Banking Training Institute. With corporate social responsibility at its core, the institute is aimed at developing and empowering UAE ...