March, 2023

• 8 March

  Emirati women play significant global role in addressing various challenges

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM On March 8, the UAE celebrated International Women’s Day to recognise the realities and challenges that women face, as well as to acknowledge the ongoing efforts towards women’s empowerment. The UAE has leveraged its global stature to support women’s issues by launching a series of initiatives, programmes, and plans to promote women in all communities, strengthen ...

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• 8 March

  Oil dips as hawkish Fed chief spurs flight from risk assets

  

  BLOOMBERG Oil held a hefty loss after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled interest rates could rise higher and faster than previously anticipated, raising concerns about the economy and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate futures edged lower near $77 a barrel after posting the biggest one-day decline since early January. The remarks, made during a testimony before Congress, opened the ...

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• 8 March

  Silal set to launch UAE’s largest automated packhouse in Al Ain

  

  AL AIN / WAM Silal, Abu Dhabi’s leading food, agriculture, and technology company, has announced that its state-of-the-art automated packhouse in Al Ain will deliver up to 216 tonnes of fresh produce daily and will be the largest of its kind in the UAE. Covering an area spanning 14,000 square metres, Silal’s automated packhouse includes a 4,930 square metre grading ...

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• 8 March

  Deal inked to boost growth of Abu Dhabi industrial sector

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added) and Tawazun Industrial Park, established by Tawazun Council, have signed a memorandum of understanding to boost industrial sector’s competitiveness and further develop it by implementing initiatives and programmes of the Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy (Adis). The agreement was signed by Arafat Al Yafei, Executive Director of Added’s Industrial ...

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• 8 March

  Nato chief warns Bakhmut may fall ‘in the coming days’

  

  BLOOMBERG Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the possible fall of Bakhmut “in the coming days” would not indicate a turning point in Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We must continue to provide support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting with European Union (EU) defense ministers in Sweden. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, made a second ...

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• 8 March

  EU defense ministers support fast-tracking Ukraine ammunition

  

  BLOOMBERG European Union (EU) defense ministers cautiously welcomed a plan to send Ukraine ammunition from their existing stocks, but urged the bloc to work faster on jointly procuring shells to jump-start production. “What is crucial is that Ukrainians direly need ammunition and we have to ramp up production within Europe,” Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told reporters in Stockholm ahead ...

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• 8 March

  Xi’s frustration at Biden grows with warning of conflict

  

  BLOOMBERG Back in November, before the latest downward spiral in US-China ties, Xi Jinping cast himself as a statesman in a meeting with Joe Biden. Saying both nations need “a responsibility for history,” Xi appeared to play ball with US calls to “compete vigorously” with China while establishing “guardrails” to avoid conflict. After speaking with Biden for more than three ...

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• 8 March

  M23 rebels agree to ceasefire in Congo

  

  BLOOMBERG The M23 rebel group clashed with Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers, defying a ceasefire that was meant to go into effect on March 7, according to the United Nations. “The secretary-general reiterates his call on the M23 to respect the ceasefire to create conditions for its full and effective withdrawal from all occupied areas,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman, said ...

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• 8 March

  UK PM Sunak to meet Biden, Albanese for top-level meeting

  

  BLOOMBERG UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to the US next week to meet President Joe Biden and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for a top-level meeting of the so-called Aukus allies. Sunak will be in the US, where he will meet the US and Australian leaders, his spokesman Max Blain told reporters. Talks are expected to focus on ...

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• 8 March

  Sri Lanka’s rupee to reverse gains, plummet 20%: Fitch

  

  BLOOMBERG  Sri Lanka’s rupee, which became the world’s best performing currency this year amid hopes of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, may resume declines and lose a fifth of its value against the dollar by end-2023, according to Fitch Solutions. “We are optimistic that Sri Lanka will be able to secure an IMF board approval by early 2Q 2023,” ...

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