Bloomberg The UK is planning to double the charge on disposable plastic bags issued by the country’s largest retailers to 10 pence as part of a drive to protect the environment. The fee will also be extended to all small shops, according to the plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The proposals are subject to …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc reported a record-breaking holiday season as shoppers loaded their online baskets with items from Echo speakers to Calvin Klein clothes, suggesting consumer optimism isn’t being deterred by a tumbling stock market. The internet retailer said “tens of millions of people worldwide” signed up for its Prime service, which offers free two-day shipping on millions of items as …

RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Minister of State, stated that the memory of the country’s founder and the builder of its modern advancement, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, will remain with the UAE’s people. He made this statement during a dialogue meeting, titled, ‘Centennial of Zayed,’ which was held on Wednesday by the Emirates …

DUBAI / Emirates Business The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) continue to present one of the world’s key growth regions for printing. In 2019, the total value of the commercial print business in Mena is forecast to reach $32 billion, according to research from Smithers Pira, the worldwide authority on the packaging, print and paper supply chains. They released …

Bloomberg A diesel glut in Asia is encouraging traders of the fuel to ramp up cargoes from India to Europe, where stockpiles were ravaged by refinery halts and unusual weather earlier this year. Around 577,000 tonnes of the fuel already arrived this month or are en route to Europe from India’s refineries — whose supplies get sent east or west …

Bloomberg Hess Corp tumbled the most in almost three years, wiping out $1.5 billion in market valuation, after work at the oil explorer’s most promising international investment was halted by a Venezuelan blockade. The intervention threatened to derail development of a 5 billion-barrel discovery off Guyana’s coastline that is so important to Hess’s future growth plans that it receives top …

Bloomberg Renewable energy in Germany probably matched or beat coal power generation for the first time, aided by favorable 2018 weather that boosted wind and solar capacity. The balance of German electricity generation is a closely watched measure by the government, which has funnelled billions of euros towards boosting the renewable energy in recent years. The estimates, which showed wind, …

Bloomberg US stocks rebounded from the worst-ever pre-Christmas session as investors hoped for an end to the turmoil in American markets. The S&P 500 halted a four-day rout of almost 8 percent, clawing back from the brink of a bear market on speculation the selling had gone too far given a relatively robust economy. Amazon surged after providing a reminder …

Bloomberg Gold is rallying into the end of 2018 as turmoil in global equities, the partial US government shutdown and concerns about the outlook for next year stoke demand, lifting prices to the highest in six months. Bullion climbed as much as 0.5 percent on Wednesday, extending last week’s gain and on course for the biggest monthly advance since January …

Bloomberg Donald Trump expressed confidence in the Treasury secretary, Federal Reserve and US economy, moving to calm financial markets further roiled after Bloomberg News reported that the president had discussed firing the central ba-nk’s chairman over raising interest rates. Trump, asked if he has confidence in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said, “Yes I do, very talented guy, very smart person.” …