Author: News Desk

Washington : Inflation is easing faster than expected but has not been fully defeated, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva said, urging central bankers to carefully calibrate their decisions on cutting interest rates to incoming data. Georgieva said headline inflation for advanced economies was 2.3% in the final quarter of 2023, down from 9.5% just 18 months ago, and the downward trend was expected to continue in 2024. That would create the conditions for central banks in major advanced economies to begin cutting rates in the second half of the year, although the pace and timing would vary, she…

Madrid : British and Spanish foreign ministers will meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain’s exit from the European Union. The two ministers will hold talks with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo will also attend. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that while the meeting with his British counterpart David Cameron “may not be the final day,” he was optimistic of an agreement “as soon as possible.” “These are complex, technical issues, and then we will have to…

Washington : World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Friday he plans to highlight a range of process improvements next week to speed up the development lender’s loan approvals, improve the accountability of its 16,000 employees and attract private capital to projects. Banga told reporters ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings that the development lender had reduced its average 19-month project approval time by about three months and would cut it by another three months by the middle of next year. Banga, a former MasterCard CEO who took over the helm of the World Bank last June,…

Moscow, : Russia on Thursday test-launched its Angara-A5 space rocket for the first time from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East, successfully putting a test load in low orbit as part of an effort to develop a new post-Soviet launch vehicle. The test launch of the Angara-A5, Russia’s first post-Soviet space rocket, was aimed at underscoring Moscow’s ambition to be a major space power and the growing importance of Vostochny, situated in the forests of the Amur region of Russia’s Far East. But two launches of the Angara rocket were aborted at the very last minute on both Tuesday…

Abu Dhabi : Brazilian forward Malcom scored twice to help Al-Hilal ease to a 4-1 victory over Al-Ittihad and claim the Saudi Super Cup title in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Jorge Jesus’ side, top of the Saudi league and still alive in the King’s Cup and Asian Champions league, are bidding for a quadruple of trophies this season. Al-Hilal, who won their fourth Saudi Super Cup title and extended their run to 34 consecutive victories in all competitions, took an early lead after five minutes through Malcom following a one-two with Saleh Al-Shehri. Abderrazak Hamdallah equalised in the 21st minute…

Orenburg : Floods engulfed cities and towns across Russia and Kazakhstan on Wednesday after Europe’s third-longest river burst its banks, forcing about 110,000 people to evacuate and swamping parts of the Russian city of Orenburg. The deluge of meltwater overwhelmed scores of settlements in Russia’s Ural Mountains, Siberia, Volga and areas of Kazakhstan after major rivers such as the Ural, which flows into the Caspian, rose more 70 cm (2 feet 3 inches) beyond its bursting point to over 10 metres (33 feet). In Orenburg, a city with a population of 550,000 about 1,200 km (750 miles) east of Moscow,…

Riyadh : Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is scheduled to organise the third edition of the Future Aviation Forum 2024 (FAF 2024) between May 20 and 22 in Riyadh. The FAF 2024, which will attract more than 5,000 international experts from the aviation industry, leaders of international airlines, and officials from aviation authorities in participating countries, will discuss global aviation issues, air transportation, the development of environmental sustainability in the civil aviation sector, enabling advanced air transport, and enhancing global connectivity. The…

Rome : Nine people are dead and 15 are missing after the latest migrant-boat shipwreck in the southern Mediterranean late on Wednesday.  The Italian Coast Guard managed to save 22 people in an operation in the Maltese search-and-rescue zone. The survivors and bodies of the victims were taken to Lampedusa.

Guatemala City : Guatemala’s president issued a natural disaster declaration Wednesday as 44 forest fires continue to burn across the Central American country. President Bernardo Arévalo said that 80% of the fires were started by people. Farmers often burn stubble and grass in their fields around this time of year in preparation for planting. “The current situation is not a coincidence, 80% of those fires were set,”. Authorities canceled classes across three central provinces to protect students from the prevailing smoke. One of the largest fires is near a suburb of Guatemala City, the capital. The declaration frees up funding…

Manama : The Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture launched a mobile arboretum initiative during Ramadhan to help raise environmental awareness and encourage citizens to participate in afforestation efforts.  The ministry, in cooperation with the Capital Municipal Council and municipal councils, distributed 4,455 seedlings to citizens and residents through this initiative across 14 areas throughout the kingdom’s governorates. Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, emphasised that the initiative, the first of its kind in Bahrain, aligns with the kingdom’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, as well as the national…