Bloomberg The European Union’s (EU) executive arm said this year’s recession may be much worse than previously anticipated, proposing a suspension of the bloc’s draconian fiscal rules to cushion the fallout from a deadly viral outbreak that has brought its economy to a halt. “Assuming an extension of the health crisis up to the beginning of June or beyond, the ...
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London papers slash costs as virus scares off readers, ads
Bloomberg The cries of London’s iconic newspaper vendors are being silenced because the coronavirus is forcing millions of commuters to stay home and advertisers are snapping shut their wallets. The Evening Standard newspaper, which distributes about 800,000 free copies a day in the capital, said it will pivot to home delivery to reach workers who would normally pick up the ...
Read More »Restaurant suppliers stuck with tons of unsold food
Bloomberg Franco Fubini, who founded fruit and vegetables seller Natoora Ltd., is used to charging celebrity chefs a premium price for carefully tended produce, like white peaches from Italy, Sicilian pomegranate and Essex heirloom tomatoes. But in the past week, sales have evaporated. As shoppers empty supermarket shelves of pasta and dried beans, wholesalers like Natoora, which buys from more ...
Read More »China orders local staff out of US news outlets in Beijing
Bloomberg Authorities in Beijing have forced at least seven Chinese nationals to stop working for American news outlets there, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the US and China over media access. Members of the New York Times, Voice of America and two other outlets were dismissed from their jobs on ...
Read More »Autoterminal Khalifa Port launches technical centre
ABU DHABI / WAM Autoterminal Khalifa Port, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Ports and Autoterminal Barcelona, the operator of the advanced RoRo terminal at Khalifa Port, has unveiled an all-new technical centre aimed at diversifying the portfolio of services on offer to customers. As the first facility of its kind in the region, the centre provides a wide range ...
Read More »Dubai banks announce business relief package for customers
Dubai / WAM Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai banks have come together to offer a comprehensive relief package to help their customers ease financial pressures in the current economic environment caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The measures announced by the ...
Read More »FAB provides AED 5mn laptops to UAE students
ABU DHABI / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has partnered with the Ministry of Education to support its distance learning platform. The bank will provide laptops worth AED 5 million to students in the UAE, in line with FAB’s commitment to support the communities in which it operates and to support the education sector; one of the UAE’s key ...
Read More »ADX to manage remote e-voting for companies’ AGMs for free
ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced that it will be managing remote e-voting for Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of companies listed on the Exchange free of charge. This move will enable a crucial aspect of AGMs to be carried out remotely and will apply to AGMs taking place from March 17 until the end of ...
Read More »Modi’s ‘stay at home’ call may deepen economic slowdown
Bloomberg India’s economy, already in the grip of a slowdown, is in for more pain after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens to stay at and work from home to curb the coronavirus outbreak. The services sector, which accounts for about 55% of India’s gross domestic product, is poised to be the worst hit after Modi, in an address, ...
Read More »Hotelier grandson of Asia’s sugar king turns venture capitalist
Bloomberg As a 17-year-old trainee bellboy, Kuok Meng Xiong spent a summer opening doors at his family’s Island Shangri-La hotel in Hong Kong. It was here, sweating through back rooms and service corridors, that he started to learn the hard truths of running a business. Now, after more than 20 years and a career spent helping run the family’s operations ...
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