July, 2019

• 24 July

  Trump ‘third country’asylum rule doubles down on failure

  Another directive on immigration from the Trump administration begets another court challenge. In a sweeping rule change, the administration has declared that, with narrow exceptions, any “alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States across the southern border after failing to apply for protection in a third country outside the alien’s country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful ...

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• 24 July

  Flight shaming won’t cut carbon emissions in Asia

  

  This summer, European vacationers are being brought down to earth. A campaign, marked by hashtags such as #stayontheground and #flightshame, is pressuring travellers to think twice about the carbon impact of their air travel. Even airlines are joining in the public shaming. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is encouraging people to fly less, and Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s CEO recently declared that ...

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• 24 July

  European Central Bank leans into active inertia

  

  Having been upstaged again last week by the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank will join its US counterpart in global economic spotlight when the Governing Council meets on Thur- sday in Frankfurt and, like Fed, signals further monetary stimulus ahead. But ECB is facing a much more difficult script than the Fed. Lacking a more substantial role, the council’s ...

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• 24 July

  Spain can flourish with a coalition government

  

  This week, Spain may finally get a government based on the results of its April parliamentary election. If it doesn’t, there’s likely to be a fourth election in as many years. Spain joins the growing ranks of countries run for extended periods by technocrats rather than politicians, and it appears to be doing fine — like most of the others ...

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• 23 July

  China backs UAE’s commitment to regional peace, stability: Xi Jinping

  BEIJING / WAM Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the significance of peace and stability in the Gulf region for the Middle East as well as for the whole world, saying the region should be an “oasis of security” rather than a new “source of turmoil.” “China backs the UAE’s commitment to regional peace and stability,” Xi said, calling on ...

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• 23 July

  Adnoc sales to Chinese firms reach AED29 billion in 2018

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The strategic ties between the UAE and China in the past five years have led to close cooperation on all fronts, with the UAE becoming China’s main commercial partner in the region, reflecting the vision and the mutual coordination of the leadership of the two friendly countries. During the past five years, the UAE and China ...

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• 23 July

  US sanctions China firm for buying Iran oil

  Bloomberg The US has sanctioned a Chinese state oil trader for violating restrictions on Iranian crude, an attempt to tighten restrictions on the Islamic Republic and cut off one of its biggest buyers. Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., the secretive company with links to the Chinese military, has a history of taking Iranian crude and fuel, at times as part of barter ...

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• 23 July

  IMF cuts global growth forecast amid trade row

  

  Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund further reduced its global growth outlook, already the lowest since the financial crisis, and suggested that policy “missteps” on trade and Brexit could derail a projected rebound. The world economy will expand 3.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent next year, both down 0.1 percentage point from April projections, the fund said in its latest ...

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• 23 July

  UAE is fastest growing e-commerce market in Mena: Report

  

  DUBAI / WAM The UAE is the most advanced e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, according to a joint study by Dubai Economy and digital payment solutions leader, Visa, titled the “UAE eCommerce Landscape”. The study also estimates that e-commerce transactions in the country will hit $16 billion (AED59 billion) in 2019 and grow 23 ...

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• 23 July

  DP World reports stable volume performance

  

  DUBAI / WAM DP World PLC handled 35.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first half of 2019, with gross container volumes growing by 0.5 percent year-on-year on a reported basis and 0.5 percent on a like-for-like basis. Its strong performance across Asia Pacific, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa drove growth in ...

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