April, 2020

• 30 April

  Ministry launches ‘Sanadcom’ initiative

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Education launched the “Sanadcom” initiative for children of the medical, administrative, and nursing staff working in the country, and who are the first line of defence against Covid-19, to promote their academic progress and meet all their technical and psychological requirements, as their parents are busy fighting the pandemic. This initiative, in cooperation ...

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• 30 April

  ZHO, Microsoft to accelerate remote, assistive learning

  

  DUBAI / WAM The Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination (ZHO) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to enhance its remote learning initiative and ensure continuity in education, the development of skills and social empowerment of people with disabilities. The MoU was signed between Abdullah Al Humaidan, General-Secretary at ZHO, and Sayed Hashish, General Manager ...

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• 30 April

  Venezuela’s PDVSA new head is planning major overhaul

  

  Bloomberg New leadership at Petroleos de Venezuela SA is considering a major overhaul that could see the company streamlining its oil business and even forsaking decades of state monopoly, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposal, outlined in a document seen by Bloomberg and dated March 2020, was devised by newly appointed PDVSA head Asdrubal Chavez, who is ...

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• 30 April

  S Africa maintains legal challenge to oil sale despite slump

  

  Bloomberg South Africa said it will proceed with a court case to invalidate the sale in 2015 of its strategic oil stocks, despite crude prices recently dropping below what traders paid at the time. The $280 million deal for 10 million barrels of South Africa’s reserves, criticised as a rip off when oil prices were in a slump, was sold ...

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• 30 April

  Canadian oil town hit by flood on top of price crash, virus

  

  Bloomberg Four years after devastating wildfires burned down sections of Fort McMurray, the city in the heart of Canada’s oil sands is now grappling with two new emergencies at the same time: the coronavirus pandemic and flooding. Just as people were sheltering at home to avoid the virus, a 25-kilometre (16-mile) natural dam created by melting ice on the Athabasca ...

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• 30 April

  Continental Resources sued over failed $200mn oil deal

  

  Bloomberg Continental Resources Inc is being sued by a closely held oil driller that accused the shale giant of walking away from a $200 million deal following an historic collapse in crude prices. Casillas Petroleum Resource Partners and Continental signed a so-called purchase and sale agreement on March 6, according to the lawsuit, one trading session before crude tumbled about ...

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• 30 April

  Norway joins oil production cuts for first time since 2002

  

  Bloomberg Norway, western Europe’s biggest oil producer, joined international efforts to curb supply for the first time in almost two decades after prices plumbed new depths. The Nordic country will cut production by 250,000 barrels a day in June and 134,000 barrels in the second half of the year, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said. That’s based on a reference ...

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• 30 April

  France, Spain plunge into deep slumps; German jobless surges

  

  Bloomberg The French and Spanish economies plunged into record contractions and German unemployment climbed more than expected amid virus shutdowns that are pushing Europe into its deepest recession of the post-war era. France shrank 5.8%, the most since 1949, with Spain suffering a 5.2% drop in GDP. The figures highlight the dramatic effect of government-ordered shutdowns as just two weeks ...

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• 30 April

  Homebuilders cancel land purchases as UK economy declines

  

  Bloomberg UK homebuilders are starting to pull out of deals to buy land as they brace for a hit to demand. Inland Homes Plc, a firm that specialises in getting urban sites ready for construction, said on Thursday that three deals with large publicly traded homebuilders had been aborted because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cancelled deals show how developers ...

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• 30 April

  Russian manufacturing gauge slumps to lowest since records began in 1997

  

  Bloomberg A gauge of Russian manufacturing slumped to the lowest level since records began in 1997 as lockdowns across Europe choked demand. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 31.3 in April, down from 47.5 in March, IHS Markit said on Thursday. The median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for 40.5. “Output and new orders contracted ...

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