News

  London / AFP British staple Marmite was taken off the virtual shelves at supermarket Tesco on Thursday, following a reported row with supplier Unilever over pricing after the pound plummeted on fears over the UK’s Brexit plans. Jars of Marmite were “currently not available” in the online store of Tesco — the world’s third biggest supermarket chain — after ...

  Caracas / AFP Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro can pass his 2017 budget without the approval of the opposition-majority legislature, the Supreme Court ruled, triggering an outcry from the leftist leader’s opponents. Maduro and the National Assembly have been at each other’s throats since the center-right opposition took control of the legislature in January, ending the left’s 17-year monopoly on ...

  Berlin / AFP Germany’s top court on Thursday gave the government the go-ahead to approve a planned EU-Canada free trade deal, in a setback for activists who had sought to block the agreement. The Constitutional Court did set certain conditions however, stipulating that Germany may only commit to the so-called CETA deal if it wins assurances that it can ...

  Brussels / AFP The EU misspent 5.5 billion euros ($6 billion) in 2015, the bloc’s financial watchdog said Thursday, warning that Brussels needed to regain the trust of European citizens shaken by Brexit and other crises. Badly spent funds went on paying overcharged personnel costs for developing cloud computing services, it said. Another example included aid earmarked for small- ...

  New York / AFP Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the two major US soda giants, have given millions of dollars to health organizations while quietly fighting anti-obesity measures such as taxes on soft drinks, a new study shows. The Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo, from 2011 to 2015, sponsored 96 national health organizations battling public health problems such as obesity, diabetes and ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business As much as 94% of all companies in the UAE are SMEs. Together, they contribute 30% of the country’s GDP, and employ 72% of the country’s working population. The figures come from BLOOVO.COM’s latest research on the beneficial role SMEs play in catalysing economic diversification and employment regionwide. SMEs operate extensively throughout the rest of ...

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Etihad Airways has received the Skytrax Certified 5-Star Airline Rating — the most coveted quality standard in the airline industry, further strengthening its position as a leader in innovative guest experience, service and hospitality. The rating follows an exhaustive three month audit of the airline’s global product and service offering by the London-based research ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business EY MENA announces the launch of EY Growth Solutions — a new business model of innovative on-demand solutions, offering companies access to subscription services with inbuilt flexibility, standardization and competitive pricing. Gerard Gallagher, MENA Advisory Leader, EY, says: “Companies in the region are impacted by new taxes like VAT, digital innovations and changing customer demand. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business In collaboration with Artspace Dubai, The Alfred Basbous Foundation inaugurated on Thursday its fourth exhibition in Dubai. “Figurative to abstraction”, a two part exhibition of selected studies, drawings and works of the late renowned artist will stay on view until November 10, and the second part taking place on November 23, until January of next ...

  Bloomberg Egypt has received a $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, an Egyptian central bank official said, bringing it closer to securing a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The official, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t yet public yet, didn’t specify when Egypt received the funds. Net foreign reserves rose by $3 ...