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Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Swae, an award-winning startup based in Vancouver, have partnered to launch iFikra, an artificial intelligence-powered platform aimed at unlocking the full potential of Etihad’s workforce by enabling every employee to contribute to innovation. Designed to harness the collective creativity of the organisation, the iFikra platform is ...

Bloomberg Some Chinese exporters are going to extreme lengths to avoid the hit from Donald Trump’s tariffs. Vietnam said that it found dozens of fake product-origin certificates and illegal transfers by companies trying to sidestep US tariffs on everything from agriculture to textiles and steel. It was one of the first times an Asian government has publicly alleged such misbehaviour ...

Bloomberg Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has picked China International Capital Corp (CICC) and Credit Suisse Group AG to lead a planned Hong Kong share sale, people familiar with the matter said. The online retailer is in discussions with other investment banks seeking a role on the offering, according to the people, who asked not to be identified ...

Bloomberg China’s rare earths shipments fell in May as prices surged on signs of possible export controls on the minerals amid the escalating trade war with the US. Exports declined to 3,640 tons last month, down 16 percent from April and an 18 percent drop from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. Shipments, which can be volatile month-to-month, ...

Bloomberg Japan’s economy is set to contract in the current quarter following growth that was better than first estimated in the first three months of the year, according to one of the country’s top economic forecasters. Gross domestic product is likely to shrink by 0.5 percent in the second quarter, Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research, said in ...

Bloomberg The decades-old alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co descended into open enmity as the two sides sparred over governance changes at the Japanese automaker, an apparent tit-for-tat following Nissan’s refusal to endorse a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa said it was “most regrettable” that Renault planned to stymie board reforms, ...

Bloomberg Alphabet Inc.’s Google agreed to buy Looker Data Sciences Inc. for $2.6 billion, expanding its offerings to help customers manage data in the cloud. The acquisition gives Google a new tool in its campaign to sell more cloud storage and software. So far, the company has struggled to compete with larger rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and late ...

Bloomberg UK manufacturing output fell the most in almost 17 years in April as the boost from Brexit stockpiling evaporated and car producers went ahead with planned shutdowns. The 3.9 percent decline, the most since June 2002, saw the economy as a whole shrink for a second straight month, Office for National Statistics figures show. Vehicle production plunged by a ...

Bloomberg The slowdown in US hiring seen in the jobs report could get even worse, as President Donald Trump’s still-escalating trade war threatens further blows to employers. The May payroll figures — which missed all economist estimates and included steep downward revisions — translated into a four-month average jobs gain of 127,000. That’s the slowest since 2012, and compares with ...

Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is partnering with Silicon Valley startup Aurora Innovation Inc. to develop and deploy a fleet of self-driving commercial vehicles in a bid to catch up with other automakers that have invested heavily in the technology. The two companies signed an agreement to integrate Aurora’s self-driving platform into Fiat Chrysler’s commercial vehicle lines in the US. ...