News

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) announced the launch of Etlaq, a new platform for its professional training programme. Etlaq – Arabic for “launch” – is inspired by the bold ambitions and forward momentum that characterise the UAE. Originally launched as the Graduate Training Programme in November 2019, the rigorous 12-month programme seeks to attract high-performing, ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Masdar has announced the arrival of Abu Dhabi high-tech sector drivers, the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) and its two-pillar entities, Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and ASPIRE, to Masdar City in the capital of the UAE. The council, which shapes the R&D strategy in the emirate; TII, the dedicated ‘applied research’ pillar of ATRC; and Aspire, ...

Bloomberg France is ready to start reducing financial support to businesses and workers hit by coronavirus restrictions as its vaccination program offers a route out of the crisis, Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne said. The government has spent more than 40 billion euros ($48.8 billion) in 2020 and 2021 to protect employment, benefiting 2.7 million people on furloughs last month, up ...

Bloomberg UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wants the US government to sign up to a global tax on technology companies such as Google and Facebook Inc, he said in an interview with the Mail. He urged President Joe Biden’s administration to discuss the new tax in time for Group of Seven meetings next month. The US has indicated ...

Bloomberg A full global deal to overhaul taxation rules and make multinationals pay more in countries where they operate may not be achieved until October, the chief of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday. Speaking in Paris, Angel Gurria said a “180-degree change in the position of the US” has accelerated the talks, making an ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s economy returned to its pre-pandemic level in the first quarter as the recovery in the largest Nordic economy is outpacing most of its wealthy peers. The gross domestic product was unchanged in the first quarter from the year-earlier level, on a calendar-adjusted basis, according to the Stockholm-based statistics office. Swedbank’s analysts Pernilla Johansson and Maria Wallin Fredholm said ...

Bloomberg Assicurazioni Generali SpA offered to buy Italian insurer Societa Cattolica di Assicurazioni SC in a deal valuing the smaller rival at 1.5 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Generali, which already has a stake of about 24% in the company, is offering investors 6.75 euros per Cattolica share in an all cash deal, the insurer said in a statement. The offer ...

Bloomberg The US merchandise-trade deficit narrowed for first time this year as the value of exports surged to a record and imports fell from an all-time high. The deficit shrinks to $85.2 billion from $90.6 billion in March, according to Commerce Department data. The median estimate in Bloomberg survey of economists had called for a $92 billion shortfall last month. ...

DUBAI / WAM As part of the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) announced the allocation of an additional 19 million meals to the Gaza Strip. In collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme, low-income families and individuals will receive food vouchers, equivalent to 19 million meals, to empower them to purchase a ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Mubadala Investment Company on Sunday announced that it has invested GBP 350 million (AED1.82 billion) in IVC Evidensia, Europe’s largest veterinary care provider. Headquartered in Bristol, UK, IVC Evidensia operates a network of more than 1,500 veterinary clinics and hospitals in 12 countries across Europe caring for over four million pets. Founded in 2011, the company ...