ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates has maintained its regional lead and ranked fifth globally in global competitiveness, according to the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2019, published by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) on Wednesday. ‘‘UAE enters top five for the first time,’’ said the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings. ‘‘The United Arab Emirates — ranked 15th ...

Bloomberg Oil slumped as escalating trade hostilities between the US and China stoked fears of slowing global growth, overshadowing forecasts for a drop in American crude inventories. Futures in New York lost as much as 2.5% after rallying 2.1% following Chin- ese media suggestions on Wednesday that the nation could restrict rare earth exports to the US. American crude inventories ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Airways is transforming its economy class flight experience by upgrading its cabins and refurbishing its 23 narrow-body Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. The renovated cabins will feature ergonomic “extra-spatial design” seats by UK-based Acro, an innovator in the manufacturing of aircraft seats. The retrofit programme, which includes new, personalised wireless streaming entertainment to smartphone and ...