News

Bloomberg The Philippines lowered its alert on the Taal volcano south of the capital amid weaker eruptions and earthquakes that in the past weeks had spewed ash and molten rock, causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. The alert was reduced to 3 from 4 out of a 5 rating-scale, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator for a post-Brexit trade deal said he’ll work “night and day” for an agreement, though the UK‘s departure will have “innumerable and lasting consequences.” There is a risk the two sides will fail to get a trade agreement by the December 31 deadline and the UK crashes out of the bloc, Michel Barnier ...

Bloomberg Google engineers said a tool Apple Inc developed to help users avoid web tracking is fundamentally flawed and creates more problems than it solves. The Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature on Apple’s Safari web browser, which is meant to block tracking software used by digital advertisers, can be abused to do the exact opposite, according to a paper released by ...

Bloomberg Having just persuaded France to hold off on a digital tax that would hurt its biggest technology firms, the US is facing a similar threat from another part of Europe. The Czech Republic is debating plans to impose one of the world’s highest levies on global internet companies — albeit as a stop-gap measure — brushing aside possible US ...

Bloomberg A year ago, Uber Technologies Inc hiked the price of rides in London and placed the surcharges into a fund that would help drivers switch to electric vehicles. Uber said drivers would be able to start tapping into that fund in the form of discounts on electric cars made by Nissan Motor Co. The two companies agreed to offer ...

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess is preparing to muscle Elon Musk out of the electric-car lead. While Tesla Inc is paving the way in sustainable mobility, the world’s biggest automaker is buying software companies and ramping up investments in electric vehicles and battery cells, Diess said at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s an open race,” ...

NAIROBI / WAM Policy makers, mayors, academics, business people, community leaders, artists and urban planners are among thousands of participants to attend the world’s leading conference on urbanisation, the World Urban Forum (WUF), in Abu Dhabi from February 8-13. It will be the first time that the World Urban Forum, which is convened by the UN agency focused on sustainable ...

Bloomberg Crude posted the worst weekly decline in more than a year on concern that the spread of China’s coronavirus will cripple fuel demand. Brent futures sank 2.2% in London. Deaths from the coronavirus rose to at least 26 and China expanded travel restrictions for about 40 million people in an attempt to halt contagion. The US is monitoring more ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE Consulate in Houston has confirmed that all Emiratis in Houston are safe following the explosion that occurred in a factory in the city, advising all UAE citizens in Houston to register for the online “My Presence” service via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website or its smart application and to communicate with the consulate ...

SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) recorded a seven percent increase in its total net profit, making a total of AED545.5 million in 2019, in comparison to the AED510.4 million recorded in 2018. In a statement on Saturday, the bank said its balance sheet reflects strong performance and sound financial position, with total assets reaching AED46.4 billion at the ...