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DUBAI / Reuters Oman will delay the introduction of a 5 percent value-added tax until 2019 instead of introducing it next year as originally planned, local media reported, a decision that may hurt its effort to strengthen shaky state finances. All six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council agreed among themselves to impose VAT at the start of 2018. But ...

Bloomberg French tycoon Dominique Louis is doubling down on atomic power, betting that global warming will foster a nuclear renaissance. Three months ago, his nuclear engineering group Assystem SA sold 61 percent of its automotive and aircraft business for 400 million euros ($472 million). Louis used the proceeds to buy back some of the company’s shares and acquire 5 percent ...

Bloomberg Oil’s bull run is grinding to a halt. Hedge funds lowered their bets on Brent crude after they rose to a record a week earlier. And the net-bullish position on West Texas Intermediate, which hit a nine-month high last month, dwindled for a third straight week. The message: After a months-long build-up, investors are wavering, concerned US crude will ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. looks like it’s having a not-so Merry Christmas. Analysts have lowered iPhone X shipment projections for the first quarter of next year, citing signs of lackluster demand at the end of the holiday shopping season. Sinolink Securities Co. analyst Zhang Bin said in a report that handset shipments in the period may be as low as 35 ...

Bloomberg ADT Inc., the security company backed by Apollo Global Management LLC, filed for a US initial public offering. The company filed with an initial offering size of $100 million, a placeholder that’s typically used to calculate fees and will likely change, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. ADT intends to use the proceeds to ...

Bloomberg A picture of inflation-squeezed consumers and Brexit-wary companies emerged in the UK’s latest overview of its economy. Annual growth in the third quarter slowed to 1.7 percent, slightly higher than previously estimated but still the weakest pace in 4 1/2 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The economy expanded an unrevised 0.4 percent from the second quarter, ...

Bloomberg For millions of Americans suffering from debilitating nerve pain, a once-overlooked option has emerged as an alternative to high doses of opioids: implanted medical devices using electricity to counteract pain signals the same way noise-cancelling headphones work against sound. The approach, called neuromodulation, has been a godsend for Linda Landy, who was a 42-year-old runner when a foot surgery ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Hu Changsheng, Director-General of the Organisation Department of the Communist Party of China at the Fujian Province, has praised the UAE’s overall advanced social and development experience. Changsheng made this statement during a lecture organised by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, under the theme, “Promoting the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Preliminary statistical data of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) revealed that the UAE’s general trade volume from January to the end of June 2017 amounted to AED784 billion, compared to AED777.6 billion during the same period of 2016, signalling a one percent growth. The UAE’s general trade volume kept increasing during the first six months of ...

ABU DHABI / WAM A total of 1104 buildings have been completed in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi during Q3 2017, a growth of 3.6 percent from 1066 buildings during corresponding period 2016, in a yet a fresh sign reflecting the significant improvement in the realty sector in the emirate, which is considered among the key economic platforms in the ...