News

Bloomberg A federal government mandated panel said air pollution in India’s capital and its suburbs over the last week has worsened to levels that should be treated as a public health emergency. The air quality index, or AQI, hit as high as 744 at some areas in the Indian capital according to website AirVisual, which monitors air pollution around the ...

Bloomberg UK economic growth is set to slow to the weakest pace in a decade next year, leaving Bank of England policy makers on hold through to 2021, according to the EY Item Club. The forecaster will say on Monday that GDP will increase 1% in 2020, down from a projection of 1.5% made in July, due to the weaker ...

Bloomberg A payments platform created by India’s largest retail banks surpassed a billion transactions in October, a milestone that affirms the tremendous growth of services offered by US giants from Walmart Inc to Amazon.com Inc and Google. Indian digital payments took off when the government pushed demonetisation in 2016, invalidating most of the country’s high-value currency notes in a move ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration may not need to put tariffs on imported automobiles later this month after holding “good conversations” with automakers in the European Union, Japan and elsewhere, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. In May, the White House agreed to delay new tariffs on imported vehicles and parts for six months as Washington engaged in negotiations with the European ...

Bloomberg Satellite-maker OneWeb is preparing to raise another $1 billion as costs soar for its planned launch of hundreds of advanced orbiters into space in 2020, the Telegraph reported, citing unidentified people. OneWeb aims to raise the funds from investors as it prepares to launch 30 satellites a month from December in what will be the largest-ever program of its ...

Bloomberg The percentage of people in the US aged 25 to 54 who are employed or actively looking for work has climbed to the highest in a decade as demand in the health-care and education sectors lures more women into the workforce. Labour force participation in the so-called prime-age group rose to 82.8% in October, matching the rate from August ...

Bloomberg United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones, who led negotiations that ended an almost six-week strike at General Motors Co was expected to take a leave of absence Sunday amid reports he is involved in a years-long corruption scandal. Those allegations clouded contract talks with US automakers. “I do not want anything to distract from the mission,” Jones said ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) is on course to break last year’s annual volumes record of 22.3 million contracts traded, having already traded 20.3 million contracts this year, valued at $373 billion. Last month, the DGCX traded 1.68 million contracts, and registered Average Daily Volumes (ADV) of 72,921, up 11.5% year-on-year (y-o-y). DGCX’s success ...

ROME / WAM The United Arab Emirates has been awarded a permanent membership with observer status on the Council of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). The decision was made by ICCROM’s Council 93rd session in Rome, in recognition of UAE’s support and contributions to organisation, including hosting the only regional ...

Bloomberg Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman finally gave the go-ahead for the initial public offering (IPO) of Aramco, deciding there’s enough support from local investors for what’s likely to be a record share sale. The crown prince made the decision at a meeting he chaired and an official announcement is likely as soon as Sunday. The partial privatisation will ...