February, 2022

• 28 February

  Ukraine reports damage to two nuclear waste facilities

    Bloomberg Two Ukrainian facilities containing nuclear waste suffered damage amid Russia’s now four-day-old invasion, international monitors reported. Missiles hit a radioactive waste-disposal site in Kyiv, and an electrical transformer was damaged in a similar depot in Kharkiv, according to an email from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Inspectors are still awaiting radiation measurements from local authorities to determine the ...

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• 28 February

  China’s muddled Ukraine response feeds domestic debate

  

  Bloomberg As China holds off in publicly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a rare debate has emerged on Chinese social media over the military action by a close diplomatic partner. Images of global anti-war protests — including in Russia— circulated on China’s Twitter-like Weibo over the weekend, as Putin’s forces shelled Ukrainian cities. Articles mocking Russia’s limited ...

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• 28 February

  ECB’s Centeno can’t rule out stagflation amid Russia attack

  

    Bloomberg The euro zone could be vulnerable to stagflation in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine, according to European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Centeno. The Portuguese governor, speaking in an interview in Lisbon on Monday, said he favours continuing the monetary policy “normalization” flagged by officials in recent weeks, though he acknowledged that the conflict ...

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• 28 February

  TD to buy First Horizon in $13.4b US expansion

  

    Bloomberg Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to buy First Horizon Corp for $13.4 billion, putting its massive capital stockpile to use for its largest deal ever and expanding its presence in the US Southeast. The Canadian bank will pay $25 a share in cash for Memphis, Tennessee-based First Horizon, according to a statement Monday. The purchase price is about 37% higher ...

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• 28 February

  US stock index futures drop on return after ‘terrible weekend’

  

    Bloomberg US stock index futures slumped on Monday following a weekend of mounting sanctions on Russia, kicking off another potentially tumultuous week for equity investors. March contracts on the S&P 500 Index slid as much as 2.9% before trimming losses to 1.5% in New York. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 and the Dow were each down 1.3%. The poor ...

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• 28 February

  Airline stocks sink after Europe, Russia slap airspace bans

  

  Bloomberg Shares in European airlines slid after most of Europe closed its airspace to carriers from Russia, which reciprocated with its own bans. A Bloomberg gauge of European airlines dropped as much as 4.8%. In the broader market, the biggest decliners included British Airways-parent IAG SA, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM. Smaller peer Finnair Oyj, which faces a wipeout ...

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• 28 February

  Ruble plunges 30% as Moscow markets freeze over sanctions

    Bloomberg Russian markets were paralysed and traders struggled to price the ruble as international sanctions shook the country’s financial system. The Russian currency lost a third of its value in offshore trading at one point and hit an all-time low of 109.185 per dollar in Moscow. Quotes were infrequent and volatile at the start of the session, and traders ...

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• 28 February

  More than 120,000 benefit from ERC’s winter relief aid in Jordan

  

    AMMAN / WAM The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has intensified its humanitarian efforts and relief programmes to reduce the repercussions of the severe cold and bad weather conditions on the lives of the affected and refugees in Jordan. The UAE provided more winter aid to benefit more than 120,000 people in several Jordanian governorates. The assistance included heating devices, ...

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• 28 February

  UAE’s non-oil foreign trade up 27% to AED 1.9 trillion in 2021

  

    ABU DHABI / WAM The total value of the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade in 2021 amounted to nearly AED 1.9 trillion, reflecting a 27 percent growth compared to 2020, and by 11 percent compared to 2019, as the growth was consistent across all areas of trade, including exports, imports and re-exports. The individual non-oil foreign trade figures of all ...

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• 28 February

  Sharjah Book Authority hosts delegation of US senators

  SHARJAH / WAM Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), received a delegation of US senators including Gustavo Rivera, Kevin Thomas, and James Skoufis, to explore cooperation between the SBA and cultural affairs entities in the United States. During a meeting at SBA’s headquarters, the two parties discussed several topics related to the publishing industry, ...

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