Bloomberg People who make a living guiding others through bankruptcy in Canada say they’ve never been busier. Record debt burdens, rising borrowing costs and, in some cases, bigger payday loans are driving many Canadians to seek relief, according to several licensed insolvency trustees who spoke to Bloomberg. They say November was their busiest on record, and December — typically a ...
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US political issues keep investors on tenterhooks
Bloomberg If emerging markets had their way, this Christmas week would be like any other: quiet, with just a handful of economic releases and low trading volumes. But political dramas playing out in the US are keeping investors on tenterhooks. The US government shutdown over President Donald Trump’s demand for border-wall funding is likely to last past Christmas. And even ...
Read More »Uber loses UK lawsuit over drivers’ employment rights in gig economy
Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc lost a UK lawsuit over the employment rights of its drivers, in a landmark judgment that threatens to force companies in the country’s burgeoning gig economy to offer benefits such as paid vacations. London’s Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge by the ride-hailing firm over a lower court ruling that found its drivers are “workers,†meaning ...
Read More »Canadian battery maker says ‘tech costs’ will drop
Bloomberg CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc, a Canada-listed maker of batteries that can last for as long as two decades, said the cost of its technology may halve within four years, potentially boosting its uptake over lithium-ion units. Costs of its vanadium redox flow battery units, which can discharge power for four hours, will decline to $150 per kilowatt hour ...
Read More »Telefonica chief takes no chances as Elliott stalks Europe
Bloomberg The mere mention of Elliott Management Corp is enough to rattle any telecom executive after the New York activist fund took on Telecom Italia SpA — Europe’s most indebted phone company — and removed its CEO. So when Elliott this month denied a media report it was targeting southern Europe’s other debt-laden carrier, Telefonica SA, it seemed the Spanish ...
Read More »Etihad to fly Dreamliner to Hong Kong
ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Airways will introduce Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its daily scheduled service from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong, from March 31, 2019. The two-class aircraft will replace the Airbus A330-200 aircraft currently operating the route. The service will feature the airline’s next-generation business and economy cabins, configured with 299 seats — 28 business studios and 271 ...
Read More »UAE and Mexico discuss fifth freedom flights
MEXICO CITY / WAM UAE Ambassador to Mexico Ahmed Hatem Al-Menhali and the Mexican Minister of Communication and Transport Carlos Alfonso Moran have explored ways of reactivating ‘fifth freedom’ (the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one state to another state to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first ...
Read More »Opec can extend oil cuts if needed: Al Mazrouei
Bloomberg As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is set to start implementing its new six-month agreement to cut output, members responsible for most of the reductions have pledged to extend or even deepen it. Officials from Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed with Saudi Arabia’s expectation that the group, along with Russia and other oil ...
Read More »UAE sends condolences
ABU DHABI / WAM President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, sent a cable of condolences to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo on victims of tsunami that hit Sunda Strait beaches. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown ...
Read More »Empower to set up AED169mn cooling plant at Barsha Heights
DUBAI / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, Empower, has started the construction of a permanent district cooling plant in Barsha Heights. At a projected cost of AED169 million, the plant will have a total capacity of 31,250 refrigeration tonnes (RT). This is a part of Empower’s efforts to develop more areas and increase the operational efficiency of existing district ...
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