News

  Washington / AFP The move to self-driving cars is coming faster than most people think, says the head of ridesharing giant Lyft. Within five years, autonomous vehicles will account for the majority of Lyft rides, says co-founder and chief executive John Zimmer. Lyft, which has a partnership with General Motors on autonomous vehicles, says he sees a “transportation revolution” ...

  Bloomberg CFO Lending Ltd, a U.K. payday lender, must give back 34 million pounds ($44.4 million) to more than 97,000 customers because of unfair practices, including failing to assess the affordability of loans for clients, according to the U.K. markets regulator. CFO Lending was ordered to pay the compensation by the Financial Conduct Authority after an investigation showed the ...

  Sydney / AFP An Australian-led consortium with Chinese investment won a 50-year-lease on Monday on the nation’s biggest container and cargo port for Aus$9.7 billion (US$7.3 billion), the latest maritime asset to be privatised. The Port of Melbourne, which deals with more than 3,000 ships annually, was snapped up by a consortium including Australia’s second-largest wholesale funds manager the ...

  Sydney / AFP The owners of a Chinese ship that ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 2010 agreed to pay Australia Aus$39.3 million (US$29.6 million) on Monday, in a settlement dismissed by conservationists as “woefully inadequate”. The fully-laden coal carrier Shen Neng 1 hit a shoal in April 2010, leaking tonnes of heavy fuel oil and threatening ...

  Beijing / AFP China’s banking sector could be facing an imminent debt crisis, a global central bank watchdog has warned, fuelling fresh fears about a blowout in the world’s number two economy that could hit the world economy. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) — dubbed the central bank of central banks — said a gauge of Chinese debt ...

  Seoul / AFP Hanjin Shipping Co., the South Korean container line that sought bankruptcy protection last month, received a court advisory to return all chartered vessels to cut costs while the company is in the midst of reducing its fleet. Giving the ships back to the owners makes sense as they were chartered at high rates, a spokesman at ...

    Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Organisations in the oil and gas industry must adapt to an increasingly interconnected energy landscape by taking a streamlined and coordinated approach to security, urge UAE and international experts. The promise of emerging technology brings with it a growing concern of data and infrastructure protection within the industry, which has proven to be ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business Over 3,100 participants from 137 countries, including the Sharjah Libraries delegation from Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), attended the 82nd IFLA World Library and Information Congress (IFLA WLIC) — the annual flagship conference of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) — held in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Over the course of its visit, the Sharjah Libraries ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business The judging panel for the 8th edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature, which will be announced on November 2, has been approved and appointed by the award’s management. Organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), and sponsored by the Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat Group), the jury comprises five ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Telecom Co. is exploring options for its indirect stake in billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan’s Maxis Bhd., the second-largest Malaysian wireless carrier by market value, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Gulf kingdom’s biggest telecommunications operator is gauging interest in its 25 percent holding in Binariang GSM Sdn., which is the controlling shareholder of Maxis, according ...