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Bloomberg Switzerland is sinking into recession because of business closures to combat the pandemic, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. While the nation has less-stringent rules on social distancing than neighbouring countries, shops, restaurants and leisure facilities are still closed at least until the end of February. The median forecast was for a 0.7% drop in GDP in final quarter ...

Bloomberg The UK economy grew at double the pace expected in the fourth quarter, showing signs of resilience to coronavirus restrictions at the end of a year that delivered the worst recession since 1709. Figures add some weight to the Bank of England’s view that while the economy will likely shrink in the first three months of the year, a ...

Bloomberg German companies from BASF SE to Volkswagen AG risk fines if their suppliers around the world breach human rights. Under new legislation agreed to by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, companies will have to ensure their partners don’t engage in harmful practices and exploitation. In addition to penalties, German firms can also be excluded from public contracts. The so-called Supply-Chain ...

Bloomberg Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is examining the merits of carbon tariffs, a policy measure to tax goods from countries with weaker climate laws that’s won the support of Boris Johnson. The UK prime minister wants Group of Seven countries to discuss the idea of imposing levies on imported goods made in places that don’t have strong rules ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Khalifa University of Science and Technology on Saturday announced DhabiSat, the second CubeSat, designed and developed by Khalifa University students with support from Al Yah Satellite Company (Yahsat) and Northrop Grumman, is getting ready for launch on February 20 from aboard the Cygnus spacecraft. The primary mission of the second CubeSat, previously known as MYSat-2, is ...

Bloomberg Oil in London climbed for a fourth straight week as efforts to clear an oil surplus are seen holding the market over until demand comes back in force. Global benchmark Brent futures surged the most since early January, while West Texas Intermediate crude flirted with $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year. Signs of ...

Bloomberg ByteDance Ltd is said to be exploring a sale of the India operations of TikTok to rival unicorn Glance, in an attempt to resuscitate the once-thriving short video sharing app that’s been banned indefinitely in the South Asian nation. The discussions have been initiated by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp conglomerate, according to people familiar with the talks, who declined ...

ABU DHABi / WAM A new achievement in fields of tolerance and peace has been recorded for the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, publication of its first book, entitled “’Paths to a Culture of Tolerance and Peace”. The President of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, Ahmed Al Jarwan, stated that this book aims to increase feelings of ...

DUBAI / WAM An electronic platform which contains railway engineering information, including 800,000 documents relating to assets of the Red and Green Lines of the Dubai Metro, has been launched. Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), launched the platform, also contains data about the Rail Agency, consultants, ...

DUBAI / WAM The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced that it has been awarded the highest score worldwide of 99.7 percent in the updated International Customer Experience Standard (ICXS2019) for the second consecutive year. The certificate, provided by the International Customer Experience Institute, is an international standard to evaluate the customer service experience in large organisations. It aims ...