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Bloomberg Relief for Asia’s most overworked country doesn’t come easy. South Korea’s new legal limit on working hours — down to 52 hours per week from 68 — can shave as much as 0.3 percentage point off economic growth in 2020, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “The new work-hour limit comes against the backdrop of slowing growth, highlighting the ...

Bloomberg Using code rather than concrete, European companies are busy building walls to protect their data, and are being encouraged by local politicians concerned about threats to their sovereignty. France’s biggest supplier of drinking water is one example. Before switching to Google’s cloud-based office software, Veolia Environnement SA first hired cybersecurity company Atos SE to handle the encryption of its ...

Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP is set to close on more than $12 billion for its debut infrastructure fund, anchored by money from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That figure is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. ...

Bloomberg Europe’s steel industry faces a “tsunami of problems” if a relaxation of import restrictions goes ahead as planned next week, according to steelmakers including top producer ArcelorMittal. From July 1, steelmakers from outside European Union will see tariff-free quotas increase by 5 percent, raising the risk of more supplies into the bloc. While the industry remains optimistic, the-re are ...

Bloomberg Just a few weeks into California’s dry summer season, fires linked to PG&E Corp. have already started to break out. More than 2,000 acres burned in Monterey County last week, with power lines blamed as the cause. Earlier this month, a transformer burst into flames in Marin County, north of San Francisco, and ignited a brush fire. In San ...

WASHINGTON / WAM The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that circumstantial and compelling evidence is needed to apportion blame for the last month’s attacks on four oil tankers in the country’s territorial waters. “The UAE is not pointing fingers of accusation at any state for the recent attacks on four oil tankers in the country’s territorial waters since clear, ...

Bloomberg Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) agreed to a reverse merger with Shuaa Capital PSC that will create an investment bank managing $12.8 billion of assets. The deal values the Abu Dhabi firm’s equity at AED1.5 billion ($408 million) to AED1.6 billion, ADFG Chief Executive Officer Jassim Alseddiqi said in an interview on Wednesday. It also gives the combined entity ...

DUBAI / WAM The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) announced its consolidated financial results for the year ended on December 31, 2018, achieving record revenues of AED232.4 billion ($63 billion) and a net profit of AED21.4 billion. Revenues increased 15.7 percent from the prior year with increases achieved in all key segments and net profit was AED21.4 billion, a decrease ...

Bloomberg Oil rose to a four-week high after an industry report signalled a bigger-than-forecast drop in US crude stockpiles, adding impetus to a rally that’s been driven by a tense standoff between Washington and Tehran. Futures in New York gained as much as 2.3 percent. The American Petroleum Institute reported that inventories fell by 7.55 million barrels last week, according ...

MEXICO CITY / WAM UAE Ambassador to Mexico Ahmed Hatem Al Menhali met with Mexican Assistant Secretary of Communications and Transportation Carlos Alfonso Moran Moguel. The two sides explored ways of enhancing cooperation between the two countries across different sectors. Al Menhali and Moguel emphasised that their cooperation and partnership would support bilateral projects and initiativ-es, particularly those of overall ...