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Bloomberg National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s biggest lender, started initial talks with Riyad Bank for a merger — a deal that would create the Gulf’s third-biggest lender with $182 billion in assets. Talks may not result in a transaction, National Commercial Bank said in a statement. The lender said it has coordinated the move with the central bank and …

Bloomberg China announced another round of tariff cuts, lowering import taxes on more than 700 goods from January 1 as part of its efforts to open up the economy and lower costs for domestic consumers. There will also be cuts to some export tariffs, and temporary import tariff rates will be as low as zero for some goods, the Ministry …

Bloomberg Kenya needs about $85 million annually in the short term for green projects in agriculture, transport and manufacturing, and as much as $888 million annually during the follow- ing five to 10 years, according to a banking industry lobby. The financing is needed to counter the effects of rapid climate change that could erase about 2 percent of economic …

Bloomberg Suncor Energy Inc is working with Alberta’s government to help mitigate the “unintended consequences” of mandated oil cuts, a policy company opposed from the start and now says is hitting it disproportionately hard. Suncor said its initial required output curtailment is higher than the 8.7 percent industrywide level, without giving specific amount. That makes it harder to maintain safe …

ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Airways will introduce Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its daily scheduled service from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong, from March 31, 2019. The two-class aircraft will replace the Airbus A330-200 aircraft currently operating the route. The service will feature the airline’s next-generation business and economy cabins, configured with 299 seats — 28 business studios and 271 …

MEXICO CITY / WAM UAE Ambassador to Mexico Ahmed Hatem Al-Menhali and the Mexican Minister of Communication and Transport Carlos Alfonso Moran have explored ways of reactivating ‘fifth freedom’ (the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one state to another state to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first …

Bloomberg As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is set to start implementing its new six-month agreement to cut output, members responsible for most of the reductions have pledged to extend or even deepen it. Officials from Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed with Saudi Arabia’s expectation that the group, along with Russia and other oil …

ABU DHABI / WAM President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, sent a cable of condolences to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo on victims of tsunami that hit Sunda Strait beaches. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown …

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, Empower, has started the construction of a permanent district cooling plant in Barsha Heights. At a projected cost of AED169 million, the plant will have a total capacity of 31,250 refrigeration tonnes (RT). This is a part of Empower’s efforts to develop more areas and increase the operational efficiency of existing district …

Bloomberg Attorneys general from nine coastal states are intervening in a lawsuit aimed at blocking seismic surveys that could help pinpoint oil under Atlantic waters but also imperil whales and dolphins. The move brings the heft and resources of top state law enforcement officials to a fight over the future of oil and gas exploration along the US East Coast. …