DUBAI / Reuters Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain has agreed to buy Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat’s 92.3 percent stake in Sudanese fixed line operator Canar for AED 349.6 million ($95.2 mn). The deal would strengthen Zain’s grip on Sudan’s telecom sector where it is already the top mobile operator by subscribers and has long sought to add a fixed-line licence. It is ...

  BANGKOK / AP Japan’s foreign minister announced a multibillion-dollar initiative on Monday to promote development in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region, which encompasses parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand through which the river flows. In a speech at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Fumio Kishida affirmed the importance of Southeast Asia’s economic prosperity to Japan. He pledged 750 billion yen ($7 ...

  New Delhi / AFP Hundreds of taxi drivers protested in New Delhi on Monday against a ban on diesel cabs, the latest initiative aimed at improving air quality in the world’s most polluted capital. India’s top court on Saturday ordered taxis run on the dirty fuel off the city’s roads, refusing industry requests for more time to switch to ...