Bloomberg Struggling UK retailer Debenhams Plc moved to protect itself from creditors after closing its stores because of the coronavirus. The department-store chain filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators under UK insolvency procedures. The company said the goal was to avoid being pushed into liquidation as it eyes reopening after virus-related restrictions are eased. Debenhams envisions what it ...

Bloomberg Retailers have a new tool to use in the scuffle between landlords and tenants: a court ruling that could help them withhold rent. Pier 1 Imports Inc is the latest retailer to seize on the precedent, asking a judge to let it skip rent payments amid the coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered stores across the US. The judge overseeing ...

Bloomberg American Airlines Group slashes daily flights from New York-area airports by 95%, joining United Airlines Holdings Inc in eliminating most operations in the nation’s largest city as the increase in Covid-19 cases guts travel demand. Daily departures from New York’s LaGuardia airport tumbled to eight from Tuesday through May 6, with a drop to three at John F Kennedy ...

DUBAI / WAM The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) acquired an 80 percent stake in Emaar Properties’ Downton Dubai district cooling business. The UAE-based district cooling developer announced the AED2.48 billion ($675 million) acquisition on Monday, noting that Emaar will retain a 20 percent stake as part of the long-term partnership. Downtown Dubai is Emaar’s flagship mega-development at the heart ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a 108 trillion yen ($989 billion) stimulus package, Japan’s largest ever, to rescue the coronavirus-hit economy with Tokyo and six other economic hubs set to be put in a state of emergency. The package, equivalent to about 20% of the nation’s economic output, will include cash handouts worth 6 trillion yen for households and ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) plans to impose tariffs on lighters, plastic fittings from the US in retaliation over controversial American duties on imported steel and aluminum, according to EU officials. The EU intends to apply a 20% tariff on lighters and a 7% levy on plastic fittings for furniture in response to a US decision in February widening the ...

Bloomberg Oil pared losses amid signs that Saudi Arabia and Russia are making progress towards an agreement to curb crude output as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the global economy. Futures fell 3.3% in New York, having earlier plunged 11%. Large oil-producing nations are racing to negotiate a deal to stem the price crash, but hurdles remain. A meeting of ...

Dubai / WAM Emirates Post has announced that it will reduce working hours on a temporary basis at all its Dubai-based Customer Happiness Centres. This decision is in line with the latest directives of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management aimed at containing the spread of the Covid-19. Starting today, Emirates Post Customer Happiness Centres in Dubai will ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, will partner with Australian company Elenium Automation to trial new technology which allows self-service devices at airports to be used to help identify travellers with medical conditions, potentially including the early stages of Covid-19. Etihad will be the first airline to trial the technology, which can monitor ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Startup Hub, an entrepreneurship initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organised its first online event for its new members, within the framework of its plans to continue delivery of all programmes and activities digitally. This comes in line with its support of business continuity and commitments towards developing entrepreneurship in the emirate, it added. ...