News

  BEIJING/ AP China’s top economic planner pledged on Tuesday to continue cutting steel and coal production that have been a source of trade friction with many countries. China reached targets for cuts in production capacity last year, Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said, adding that hundreds of thousands of steel and coal workers have ...

    BLOOMBERG India’s automobile sales fell the most in 16 years last month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unprecedented clampdown on cash prompted consumers to delay their purchases of cars, motorcycles and trucks. Automobile sales fell 19 percent to 1.2 million units in December, the biggest drop since the same month in 2000, according to data released by the ...

  Bloomberg Consumers in China bought passenger vehicles at the fastest pace in three years to take advantage of a tax cut on small-engine automobiles, boosting deliveries of automakers from General Motors Co. to Great Wall Motor Co. Dealerships sold 23.9 million cars, sports utility and multipurpose vehicles last year, capping a 15.9 percent gain, according to data released Tuesday ...

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. bet early on virtual reality, buying Oculus VR 2 1/2 years ago to get its groundbreaking headset. Now it’s fighting claims that the Oculus Rift was built with stolen technology and promoted with a false origin story about a young entrepreneur tinkering in his parents’ garage. What started as a falling out between tech geeks has ...

  Bloomberg Optimism among America’s small businesses soared in December by the most since 1980 as expectations about the economy’s prospects improved dramatically in the aftermath of the presidential election. The National Federation of Independent Business’s index jumped 7.4 points last month to 105.8, the highest since the end of 2004, from 98.4. While seven of the 10 components increased ...

  Bloomberg Google, Facebook Inc. and other Internet companies will be covered by strict new European Union privacy rules that seek to limit access to consumers’ data. The EU proposed in a draft law unveiled in Brussels Tuesday giving online users more control of their settings and limiting the “overload of consent requests” for cookies people encounter when browsing the ...

  Bloomberg BMW lost its crown as the world’s biggest luxury-car brand to Mercedes-Benz, ending its reign after more than a decade amid a cluttered lineup of aging models. The Munich-based manufacturer sold 80,000 fewer cars last year than the Daimler AG brand, which drew younger buyers with sporty redesigns and a bigger array of increasingly popular SUVs. A rebound ...

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai-based developer Nakheel and Thai hotel group, Centara Hotels and Resorts, on Monday signed a joined venture agreement to create a 550-room, AED500 million beachfront resort with waterpark on Deira Islands in Dubai. Under the agreement, signed in Bangkok by Nakheel Chairman, Ali Rashid Lootah, and Centara Chairman, Suthikiati Chirathivat, the two companies will deliver an ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) announced the successful placement to institutional investors of a 30-year senior unsecured Formosa Bond, for a total nominal amount of US$885 million. The transaction follows NBAD’s inaugural US$696 million public Formosa Bond in October last year, the first 30 year Formosa Bond from the MENA region, which brings ...

  AJMAN / WAM The executive team of the Ajman Electronic Government discussed on Monday the progress in Ajman’s Digital Transformation Plan 2017-2022 and the mechanisms and initiatives to implement the plan in various operational sectors in the emirate. The team also reviewed the first 100-day plan of action, which aims to transform 30 top-priority services into e-services in sync ...