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Tokyo / AFP Money-losing Sharp on Thursday accepted a multi-billion-dollar bailout from the parent of Taiwan’s Foxconn, ending speculation over its uncertain future with the first foreign takeover of a major Japanese electronics firm. Sharp — which has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for years — had been mulling rival offers from Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, better known as ...

Bangkok / AFP Thai exports fell by nearly nine percent in January, their worst drop in more than four year as economic woes continue to pile up on the kingdom’s military rulers, government figures released Thursday showed. Once one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant and successful economies, Thailand has struggled with lacklustre growth fuelled by more than a decade of ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business As part of the Knowledge Forums that were launched in 2014, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) in coordination with the Office of the Abu Dhabi Excellence Program at the Secretariat of the Executive Council (GSEC), showcased its government excellence experience, initiatives and projects at the forum which was held at Dusit Thani hotel in ...

BLoomberg Fancy another recession? Economists say voting to leave the European Union would dramatically increase the U.K.’s chances of heading down that road. As Britons contemplate their place in the 28-nation bloc before June’s referendum, respondents to a Bloomberg survey said the probability of a slump spikes to 40 percent in the event of an “out” vote. That compares with ...

Bloomberg Rachel Holdsworth has the “Brexit” blues. The 38-year-old London resident is anxious that her already expensive planned holiday to Norway is getting pricier with each passing day. The pound is sinking under the weight of worry that her fellow subjects will vote to quit the EU. “How much I pay will be entirely dependent on the exchange rate,” says ...

Bloomberg Bank of England Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Jon Cunliffe said risks to the UK outlook have increased and policy makers must be ready to act if needed. In a speech in London, Cunliffe said the global and domestic expansion has been weaker than he expected, pay growth will probably remain subdued and “deeper structural factors” may be at ...

Bloomberg Investors are clinging to their German government bonds, looking beyond a report on Thursday that’s predicted to confirm that euro-area inflation accelerated last month to the fastest rate since 2014. As more forward-looking measures signal the European Central Bank is struggling to meet its longer-term consumer-price objectives, the yield on benchmark German 10-year securities stayed about 0.1 percentage point ...

Bloomberg Consumer spending drove the U.K. economy to a 12th straight quarter of growth as the global slowdown took its toll on exporters and business investment slumped. Household spending rose 0.7 percent between October and December, helping to counter a second quarter of declining exports and the biggest drop in business investment in almost two years, the Office for National ...

Bloomberg The strength of Spanish consumers helped maintain momentum in the fourth quarter as an inconclusive election result led to political gridlock. Household consumption showed signs of resistance expanding 0.8 percent from the previous three months, when it grew 1.1 percent, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said on Thursday. Gross domestic product expanded 0.8 percent in the three months to ...

Washington / AP Americans stepped back from buying new homes in January, as purchases plunged sharply in western states where prices are typically higher. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new-home sales fell 9.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000. Most of the decline stemmed for a 32.1 drop in sales in the West. Sales ...