March, 2016

• 5 March

  Huawei, Edutech to launch smart education solution at GESS

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business With the advent of a true knowledge economy developing across the region, Huawei has partnered with Edutech Middle East to launch a Smart Education solution, which improves student interaction through active learning and making classrooms borderless, at the Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS). Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider ...

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• 5 March

  Euro bears’ wishlist spells extent of ECB’s challenge

  

  Bloomberg European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will have to deliver plenty to meet the expectations of euro bears next week. With Draghi under increasing pressure to boost inflation in the euro region, investors are preparing for a range of measures at next week’s policy meeting, including a cut to the deposit rate and a boost to the ECB’s quantitative-easing ...

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• 5 March

  Osborne backtracks on push to overhaul pension taxes

  

  Bloomberg U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne dropped a plan to overhaul pension tax relief after pressure from industry groups and fellow Conservative lawmakers. Osborne last year studied whether to scrap some pension giveaways and was predicted to flesh out plans in his March 16 budget, only to be warned off amid concerns it would hurt affluent voters. The ...

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• 5 March

  As zero rate looms, Norway says banks strong enough to cope

  

  Bloomberg With talk swirling about the Norwegian interest rate heading to zero, the nation’s finance minister is confident its banks can withstand the added pressure to their balance sheets. “The Norwegian banking system is very robust and has been able to adjust quickly to the new demands in regulatory framework,” Siv Jensen said in Oslo. “They are robust enough to ...

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• 5 March

  Pound’s biggest gain since 2009 signals ‘Leave EU’ anxiety easing

  Bloomberg Easing anxiety over Britain’s potential exit from the European Union may be complemented next week by signs of a stronger U.K. economy, supporting the pound further after its best week since 2009 against the dollar. Britain’s currency recovered from its steepest weekly decline versus the greenback in more than seven years as a report Friday showed wage-growth in the ...

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• 5 March

  From Schengen to ‘Brexit,’ risks to the Euro are stacking up

  

  Bloomberg It’s not only European Central Bank stimulus that has the potential to hurt the euro. From the possibility that Britain might leave the European Union and the impact of refugees flooding the region, to concerns over the economic outlook and political turmoil in Ireland as well as Spain, the euro is facing a slew of hazards. Set alongside economists’ ...

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• 5 March

  Syria ceasefire lulls violence as first week passes in peace

  

  Beirut / AP A shaky cease-fire in Syria brokered by Moscow and Washington has survived its first week, outlasting skeptics’ expectations and providing some hope that a diplomatic solution to the five-year-old war might be possible. With daily incidents of artillery shelling, airstrikes and clashes, it would be easy to dismiss the “cessation of hostilities” as a charade. But the ...

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• 5 March

  Erdogan for ‘refugee city’ in northern Syria

  Istanbul / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested building a new city in northern Syria to house some of the millions of refugees escaping the country’s civil war, reports said on Saturday. Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul that the new city would be located near the Turkish border and said he had even discussed the idea ...

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• 5 March

  Doctors worried over Lebanon’s trash crisis

  Beirut / AP Lebanon’s trash collection crisis, which sent thousands protesting into the streets last summer, is now in its eight month with still no resolution in sight. Though it has prompted political debates and occasional heated discussions, Lebanese doctors and medical professionals are increasingly alarmed by its effect on health. At the emergency room at the Sacre Coeur hospital ...

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• 5 March

  Turkey authority seizes control of anti-Erdogan daily after raid

  

  Istanbul / AFP Turkish authorities were on Saturday in control of a newspaper staunchly opposed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after using tear gas and water cannon to seize its headquarters in a dramatic raid that raised fresh alarm over declining media freedoms. Police fired the tear gas and water cannon just before midnight on Friday at a hundreds-strong crowd ...

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