January, 2019

• 6 January

  Dubai achieves record water loss rate of 6.6%

  

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), made a new world record by reducing losses in its water networks to 6.6 percent, compared to 15 per cent in North America, making it one of the lowest in the world. The new achievement shows how Dubai Government organisations are surpassing their global counterparts. “At Dewa, we work to further ...

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• 6 January

  50% reduction on commercial fines in Dubai

  

  DUBAI / WAM The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED) announced an automatic settlement facility for traders eligible for 50% reduction on commercial fines. The announcement is in line with the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Tolerance by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The 50% reduction ...

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• 6 January

  Congo presidential vote results delayed in wake of criticism

  

  Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo delayed the release of provisional results from last week’s presidential election as criticism of the country’s handling of the vote grew. Congolese went to the polls on December 30 to find a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who’s ruled since 2001, in an election that was already two years overdue. The central African nation ...

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• 6 January

  ‘May could further delay Brexit vote’

  

  Bloomberg Theresa May’s aides are believed to be planning to make parliament’s approval of her Brexit deal conditional on Brussels providing further concessions, specifically on the thorny issue of the Irish backstop, the Telegraph reported. The move is intended to limit opposition and gain more time for negotiations to continue with the EU, the newspaper said. The vote, penciled in ...

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• 6 January

  South Africa’s ANC to dominate May vote

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) appears on track to dominate its sixth straight national election in May as it increasingly wins back supporters alienated by former President Jacob Zuma’s scandal-marred rule, an opinion poll shows. Sixty-one percent of 3,571 adults interviewed face-to-face by research company Ipsos between October 23 and December 4 last year said they’d vote ...

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• 6 January

  US to protect Kurds in Syria pullout

  

  Bloomberg US forces will remain in northeastern Syria until Turkey agrees not to go after the Kurds, National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday, clarifying that President Donald Trump is committed to protecting opposition allies. “That’s what the president said, the ones that fought with us,” Bolton said, ahead of a meeting this week in Turkey with President Recep ...

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• 6 January

  Yellow Vests’ protesters storm ministry

  

  Bloomberg France’s Yellow Vest movement staged mostly peaceful anti-government rallies on January 5 for the eighth weekend in a row but the protests ended with a small group smashing down the entrance to the ministry of the government spokesman. French television showed thousands marching along the Seine in Paris to gather in front of the National Assembly as well as ...

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• 6 January

  Anti-Orban protests surge in Hungary

  

  Bloomberg Hungarian anti-government demonstrations showed no sign of abating after almost a month of rallies that have snowballed from workers’ demands to scrap a law on more overtime hours to a call for the end of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s illiberal rule. After a holiday lull, thousands of people gathered in Budapest to resume the most sustained protest wave against ...

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• 6 January

  US bond yields pull off lows as Fed embarks on listening tour

  

  Bloomberg Strong data and soothing words pulled markets out of a tailspin last week, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues have plenty of chances next week to bring traders closer to policy makers’ viewpoint on interest rates. Surprisingly robust US labour figures helped close some of the gap between investors and the Fed’s projections, which imply two ...

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• 6 January

  Brexit talks to set pound fortunes

  

  Bloomberg Brexit will return as the dominant driver for the pound next week as Parliament debates UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal. Sterling lost over 5 percent in 2018 as fears of a hard exit from the European Union grew, and the currency’s direction this year will depend on whether lawmakers will be able to avoid the UK crashing ...

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