March, 2016

• 27 March

  Britain plans cuts to border force budget, labour opposition says

  

  Bloomberg Britain’s opposition Labour party said the government is planning to cut its border force budget by 6 percent in each of the next two years, citing “whistleblowers” within the agency that it didn’t identify. The reduction would result in 88 million pounds ($124 million) of cuts during that span, Labour said on its website on Saturday. Border Force staff ...

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• 27 March

  Terror wave adds to fears for fragile Turkish tourist-dependent economy

  

  Istanbul / AFP Six suicide attacks in eight months and a spat with Russia have added to concerns for the Turkish economy as tourists flee, taking billions of dollars in spending elsewhere, and foreign investors skirt the troubled country. Days after a suspected IS extremist blew himself up on a top shopping street in Istanbul, hotels, restaurants and retailers in ...

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• 27 March

  Syrian troops drive IS militants out of historic city of Palmyra

  

  Damascus / AP Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes drove IS fighters from Palmyra on Sunday, ending the group’s reign of terror over a town whose famed 2,000-year-old ruins once drew tens of thousands of visitors each year. Government forces had been on the offensive for nearly three weeks to try to retake the central town, known among Syrians ...

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• 27 March

  Israeli leader slams criticism of military after shooting

  Jerusalem / AP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the military on Sunday following uproar over footage of a soldier lethally shooting a Palestinian attacker who had already been shot and subdued. Netanyahu said the incident in question does not reflect the military’s conduct, and that criticism of the armed forces as a whole over the incident is “outrageous and ...

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• 27 March

  4 Bangladeshis killed in Libya

  Dhaka / AFP Four Bangladeshis have been killed in gunfights between rival groups in the war-torn Libyan city of Benghazi, a minister said on Sunday. State minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said he did not yet have full details on the dead. Alam said embassy officials had received three bodies and they were being stored in a hospital in ...

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• 27 March

  Thousands of Iraqis flee Mosul fighting

  

  Makhmur / AFP Thousands of desperate civilians were fleeing fighting on Sunday on the new front opened by Iraqi forces against the IS group south of the city of Mosul. Families crammed in the back of pickup trucks, sometimes bringing dead and wounded with them, emerged from the dust after crossing the front line and were met by Kurdish forces. ...

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• 27 March

  Myanmar army chief vows to uphold democratic transition

  Naypyidaw / AFP Myanmar’s powerful army chief vowed on Sunday to keep the nation “on the path to democracy”, days before Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government takes office after decades of army rule. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks at an annual display of military might by Myanmar’s armed forces, a body that long crushed democratic aspirations ...

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• 27 March

  Migrants rush to Greek camp on ‘border will open’ rumours

  

  Idomeni / AFP Hundreds of hopeful refugees flooded back to Greece’s overwhelmed Idomeni camp on the border with Macedonia on Sunday following rumours that the closed frontier would be forced open. The renewed influx came as Greek authorities were trying to evacuate an estimated 11,500 people who were stranded at the squalid camp after Balkan states slammed shut their borders, ...

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• 27 March

  We’re not a poor country, Donald

  

  We are a very wealthy society, and we shouldn’t forget it. Donald Trump apparently has — along with many other people. Visiting recently with The Washington Post editorial board, here’s how Trump explained his suggestion that the United States limit its overseas military commitments, including support for NATO, founded in 1949: “I think that we are not in the position ...

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• 27 March

  Need to nurture SMEs for robust economy

  Global economy is facing uncertainties as never before. It’s challenges galore out there. The business ecosystem is changing in the flicker of an eyelid. And the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not untouched by these swift changes. No wonder then the UAE government has a tough task ahead: not just to support the segment but also to ensure that ...

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