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BANGKOK / Bloomberg Thai Airways International Pcl will continue to ground 10 Airbus A340s it hasn’t been able to sell because flying the four-engine planes isn’t worth it, even after fuel prices plunged more than 40 percent in the past year. “The fuel consumption is so uneconomical,” Thai Airways International President Charamporn Jotikasthira said in an interview in Bangkok. “All ...

Washington / Bloomberg It’s Valentine’s Day today, and Americans will buy $1.1 billion of confectionery to mark the occasion, according to data from the Washington-based National Confectioners Association. That’s up 2.6 percent from last year and the most since at least 2011. About three-quarters of that will be chocolate. The volume of US retail chocolate sales is expected to drop ...

NEW DELHI / WAM The United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India exchanged a number of cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding in a number of areas. The exchange ceremonies were witnessed by His Highness Sheikh Mohmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and His Excellency ...

Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has directed the World Government Summit (WGS) to establish new international partnerships and launch knowledge initiatives with world governments to shape the next generation of leaders and help them prepare for future challenges and changes across all ...

London / AFP World stocks slumped on Thursday, gripped by another fierce sell-off after a warning by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen over the global economy, while oil fell close to 12-year lows. New York’s Dow Jones Industrial Average sank overnight as Yellen also played down the chances of another US interest rate hike any time soon. The news sparked ...

Munich / AFP Russia said on Thursday it was ready to discuss a ceasefire in Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to kick-start peace talks derailed by the regime onslaught on the besieged city of Aleppo. Tens of thousands of Syrians have fled to the Turkish border as government forces, backed by Russian bombers and Iranian ...

Monterrey / AFP At least 52 inmates were killed in a Mexican prison brawl on Thursday, as prisoners fought with bats, sticks and blades and ignited a fire in the overcrowded penitentiary. Twelve others were injured during the “pitched battle” that lasted 30 to 40 minutes at the Topo Chico prison in the northern industrial city of Monterrey, said Nuevo ...

Rome / AFP Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has compared Europe’s recent economic policies to administering drugs to artificially prolong the life of a terminally ill patient. A regular critic of EU’s budget deficit rules, Renzi said in an open letter published by La Repubblica on Thursday that austerity economics had resulted in Europe being left behind by the United ...

Zika is a rarity in Brazil: a crisis that isn’t widely blamed on Dilma Rousseff ’s government. And a mobilization against mosquitoes may even help the president climb out of a political hole. In the northeastern town of Limoeiro, corruption scandals and a deepening recession have eroded support for Rousseff ’s Workers’ Party. But the town in Pernambuco state is ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The UAE’s Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest tower, has bought a stake in a South African project development and management consultancy, an Emaar spokesperson has confirmed. The consultancy has delivered an estimated $6.43bn-worth of schemes across the African, Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern regions. “Emaar has acquired a stake in Mirage Leisure & ...