Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. agreed to acquire podcasting company Wondery, as the dominant audiobook purveyor moves to strengthen in another sound-based medium. “This is a pivotal moment to expand the Amazon Music offering beyond music as listener habits evolve,” the Seattle-based retail and media giant said in a statement. Bloomberg News first reported in September that Wondery was exploring a sale, ...

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. is coming to the end of its first year selling China-made cars with a commanding position in world’s biggest electric-vehicle market, but Elon Musk shouldn’t rest on his laurels. While Tesla regularly topped monthly premium EV sales tallies in 2020, helped by the sedans churned out from its multibillion-dollar plant opened to much fanfare in Shanghai last ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted the airport of the interim Yemeni capital Aden during the arrival of members and ministers of the newly formed Yemeni Government to commence its duties in implementation of the Riyadh Agreement. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation stressed that ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) and China announced the political approval of an agreement to open the Chinese market further to EU investors, marking a major step in talks that began in 2013. The breakthrough in negotiations on an EU-China investment deal signals the bloc’s determination to focus on economic opportunities in Asia even amid criticism of Beijing’s record on human ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Municipality is preparing to launch an initiative to exempt companies from paying double fines for their violations. The exemption shall be given to those who pay the basic fines determined for violations before doubling, before mid-February 2021, the municipality said on Wednesday. The companies that violated the provisions of the legislation covered by decrees related to ...

DUBAI / WAM The eighth edition of ‘Sada Al Barq’ exercise for the National Emergency Telecommunication Plan, organised virtually by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) concluded. It was attended by telecom service providers in the UAE including Emirates Telecommunication Group Company (Etisalat), Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) and Al Yah Satellite Communication Company (Yahsat). This exercise comes under the framework ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 150,244 additional Covid-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment. As part of its intensified testing campaign, MoHAP announced 1,723 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 206,092. MoHAP also noted that an additional ...

Sharjah / WAM Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, said that the newly inaugurated House of Wisdom (HoW), an iconic architectural marvel and Sharjah’s new cultural edifice, marks a new chapter in strengthening links between members of the community with their unique cultural ...

DUBAI / WAM The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Dubai Startup Hub initiative has launched eight guides to help startups in the UAE do business. The decision was made at Dubai Chamber’s fifth and final ‘Networking Series’ which was organised in cooperation with Virtuzone, and targeted startups and entrepreneurs and ran from mid-October to mid-December this year. The new ...

DUBAI / WAM Travel is expected to reach another peak at the end of this week for Emirates, as the airline expects yet another busy period. A high volume of travellers will be making their way to Emirates’ dedicated Terminal 3 facilities on January 2-3, 2021, to depart Dubai, in addition to a rush of inbound traffic into the city. ...