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Bloomberg The US delayed an annual report to Congress assessing Hong Kong’s autonomy, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said, amid signals that China’s top agency in the city could take a more hands-on role. The postponement will “allow us to account for any additional actions that Beijing may be contemplating in the run-up to the National People’s Congress that would ...

Bloomberg Telefonica SA and Liberty Global Plc have agreed to create the UK’s largest phone and internet operator, threatening their rivals and marking another industry-defining deal for billionaire John Malone. The deal values the new company at 31 billion pounds ($38 billion), with Telefonica’s O2 being valued at 12.7 billion pounds and Liberty’s Virgin Media valued at around 18.7 billion ...

Bloomberg Industrial production in the euro area’s two largest economies cratered in March, highlighting the crippling impact of just half a month of factory closures to control the spread of the deadly coronavirus. A 9.2% decline in output in Germany and a 16.2% drop in France are the latest signs of the severity of Europe’s slump. The warning from industry ...

Bloomberg AT&T Inc.’s obsession with paying down debt has led to some financial creativity. Right before the end of 2019, AT&T took a collection of cell-tower rent payments that it will receive in the future, rolled them into a subsidiary, then sold shares of the unit to investors for $6 billion. The new entity is called AT&T Investment & Tower ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Authority of Social Contribution–Ma’an has commenced the first deliveries of its food support scheme, providing more than 512 food baskets to Abu Dhabi citizens and residents whose income has been affected by the current health and economic situation. In partnership with Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority, the food basket deliveries will run for three months, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday sent an aid plane containing 7.7 metric tons of medical supplies to Zimbabwe to bolster the country’s efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19. The aid will assist more than 7,700 medical professionals as they work to combat the virus. Commenting on the aid delivery, Dr Jassim Mohammed Mubarak Al ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Consumers and Markets Services Sector – the field arm of the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (ADQCC)- launched its remote inspection initiative, to inspect online platforms, websites and points of sale, that have become a major preference for many consumers for purchasing their needs. In a statement by the council on Wednesday, the initiative ...

Dubai / WAM HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Minister of Finance and Governor of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the United Arab Emirates, announced on Wednesday the launch of a new initiative to create a unified global legal and legislative framework for the Islamic finance sector. Launched by the UAE Ministry of Finance in partnership with the IDB, ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retailers will need to get creative to survive the deepening recession that’s enveloped the city as tourists from the mainland who fuelled past rebounds are unlikely to come to the rescue this time. The city’s retail sales by value in March sank 42% from a year earlier to HK$23 billion ($2.97 billion), according to a government release. ...

Bloomberg India’s dominant services industries crashed last month, signaling a massive contraction in the economy during the strict stay-at-home restrictions. The services purchasing managers index (PMI) plunged by 43.9 points to 5.4 in April, the lowest in the world, hitting single digits for the first time and staying below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion, according to data ...