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Damascus / AFP The United Nations prepared to deliver aid to thousands of besieged civilians in Syria on Monday as a fragile ceasefire entered its third day largely intact despite accusations of violations. UN humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said the world body hoped to take advantage of the first major truce in five years of conflict to distribute supplies ...

Mogadishu / AFP At least 30 people have been killed in twin bomb attacks claimed by Shebab extremists at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa, the regional governor said on Monday. “The official number of the dead has reached 30 people—all of them civilians—and 61 others have been wounded, 15 of them seriously,” Abdurashid Abdulahi, governor of ...

Narobi / AFP The UN said on Monday it will send a team of human rights investigators to Burundi to look into allegations of widespread violations committed during the country’s 10-month long crisis. The three investigators are due to visit Burundi for a week from March 1, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a ...

Rawalpindi / AFP Thousands protested in Pakistani cities on Monday against the execution of a man hailed by hardlines as a hero for killing a provincial governor who was seeking reform of the blasphemy law. Protests against the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri were held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and several smaller cities, with demonstrators burning tyres and chanting slogans. But ...

Tehran / AFP Iranian hardliners suffered another election setback on Monday with two leading conservatives ejected from the top clerical body, handing another victory to moderate President Hassan Rouhani whose reformist allies made gains. The public’s rejection of ayatollahs Mohammad Yazdi and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi when picking the powerful Assembly of Experts came as final results were also awaited for ...

Thumbing through the annual report of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is always an education. This year’s 430-page edition is no exception. Crammed with tables and charts, it brims with useful facts and insights. —On page 62, we learn that the growth of state and local government spending on services (schools, police, parks) has been the slowest ...

G20 finance ministers’ disagreement in Shanghai over the best way to stem the economic slowdown had a cascading effect across the universe as hopes pinned on the summit dashed, sending a negative message to the equity markets. Despite being aware about the potential risks, the group’s communiqué did not include the call for coordinated action for which many had hoped. ...

A jump in the core U.S. inflation rate has persuaded many people that deflation is no longer a threat. But even those who never subscribed to the idea that consumer prices might decline for a sustained period should be wary of misreading the data and dismissing the risk of deflation. Core U.S. consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3 ...

There is uncertainty over whether Singapore’s economy is headed for a recession, and the online debate certainly reflects that. Overall, there seems to be a general consensus that growth prospects in 2016 will be challenging. As the island-state’s largest export destination, China’s slowing economy is set to be a drag on Singapore’s growth prospects. According to several observers, including Swiss ...

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business Sustainable efforts of Ajman Emirate to sensitise merchants and end-consumers on their accountabilities and privileges have yielded positive outcomes. The field visits, exhibitions and educational events, have reflected fruitfully in the latest statistics issued by the Commercial Control and Consumer Protection Division (CCCPD) of the Ajman’s Department of Economic Development (DED). Thanks to its initiatives, ...