* Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on March 19 stressed the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda. The AfCFTA will induce an increase in intra-African trade of 52 percent by 2022 and significantly increase Africa's industrial and agricultural exports, according to Faki. * The US Department of Commerce has started accepting the domestic industry's product exclusion requests from the recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on March 19, according to a rule published by the department. * Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on March 19 accused Islamic Hamas Movement of being responsible for bombing the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah in Gaza last week. He promised that what happened "will not pass." * China remained Dubai's biggest non-oil trade partner in 2017 with 176 billion dirham (US$47.95 billion) worth of trade. This accounted for 13.6 percent of … [Read more...]

* Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told the Security Council that a cease-fire, although fragile, has been holding for the past six days in one part of the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta. He voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, Afrin and across the country. * The Space Industry Bill, which will unlock an exciting era of British space innovation, exploration and investment, has been signed by Queen Elizabeth on March 15. The government believes it will create the potential for hundreds of highly-skilled jobs and bringing in billions of US$ for the economy. * Austria's economy is maintaining its strong growth momentum and will expand even more this year than previously expected. According to the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) and the Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS), two leading economic research institutes, Austria's economy to reach 3.2 percent and 2.8 percent respectively in 2018. *FIFA has approved the use of … [Read more...]

* The US Commerce Department said it will begin accepting requests on March 19 for product exclusions from President Donald Trump's new steel and aluminum import tariffs, but it could take up to 90 days for the agency to make determinations. * Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel has said that the European Union (EU) is now in a critical phase and Germany wanted to address major European issues quickly together with France. The European Council set for next week will be the first time to talk about the idea of EU's future relations with Britain after the latter quits the bloc. * As many as 30,000 civilians evacuated from rebel-held areas in the Syrian capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta area on March 17, state news agency SANA reported. The mass evacuation took place through two crossings, one in the Hamouriyeh area and the other near the Water Resources facility in Harasta area in Eastern Ghouta. * The African Union (AU) has decided to deploy about 40 observers in Egypt for the … [Read more...]

* Germany's Social Democratic Party voted for a government coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Conservative Union, local media reported Sunday. The result ended the five-month-long political stalemate after the September 24, 2017, Federal Parliament elections. * Militants in Syria's eastern Ghouta have imposed a curfew in areas under their control to prevent civilians from leaving through a humanitarian corridor while a truce is in place, Interfax news agency reported, citing Russian military. * Germany and France will bring forward plans to introduce a common corporation tax system in response to tax cuts announced by the U.S. President Donald Trump administration, Chancellor Angela Merkel said. * Almost a week after a deadly quake struck the rugged Papua New Guinea highlands, nearly 150,000 people remain in urgent need of emergency supplies as damaged roads and landslides have hampered the delivery of aid to isolated communities, agencies have said. … [Read more...]

* The U.S-India "two-plus-two" ministerial dialogue in spring is expected to discuss regional security and bilateral navy cooperation, the U.S. Department of Defense said on March 1. *The Republic of Korea (RoK)'s presidential Blue House is expected to unveil a plan next week to send a special envoy to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news agency reported on March 2. * Venezuela announced the new date May 20 for presidential elections, following an agreement between the government and opposition parties on March 1. The agreement pushes back elections that had been scheduled to take place on April 22, a date that had in turn moved up elections originally set for December. * The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on March 1 slammed U.S. accusation regarding "a theory of cooperation of manufacturing chemical weapons" between the DPRK and Syria. * The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on March 1 successfully launched … [Read more...]