Bloomberg With Covid-19 grounding flights, emptying hotel rooms, and turning popular destinations into ghost towns, this might seem the most futile time to think about frequent flyer miles and loyalty points. In mid-March, the US State Department issued a “do not travel” alert for the entire world. Travel is the last thing on most people’s minds, according to a survey ...

Bloomberg Struggling passenger airlines can turn planes into cargo-only aircraft provided they take steps to prevent fires and keep weight balanced, US aviation regulators said in new guidance. With passenger demand plunging to nearly zero, some airlines have begun carrying more cargo to provide revenue. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) guidance will allow them to carry it in what had ...

Bloomberg Shanghai Pehchaolin Daily Chemical Co, a Chinese skincare company that owns the 89-year-old premium beauty brand Pechoin, is in talks with potential investors for a minority stake sale, according to people familiar with the situation. Shanghai Pehchaolin has received interest from prospective investors including some private equity firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is set to sell about 600,000 barrels a day of crude to the US in April, the highest volume in a year, according to a Saudi industry official familiar with allocations to American refiners. The shipments, agreed with refiners as Saudi Arabia ramped up production to a record 12.3 million barrels a day this month, come at ...

RIYADH / WAM The Houthi militia fired a ballistic missile against civilian targets in Yemen’s Ma’rib, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. “The Houthi militia’s escalation of hostilities using ballistic missiles to deliberately target civilians and civilian objects underscores the militia’s denial of all efforts and initiatives of ceasefire and deescalation, the last of which was the initiative by the Joint ...

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is hoping more private commercial holders of African bonds will join a global push for debt relief as the continent faces a $44 billion shortfall in its fight against the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The IMF estimates that Africa needs $114 billion in 2020 to spend on health and social services that ...

Bloomberg India put curbs on investments in its companies from neighboring nations including China, seeking to cut the risk of opportunistic takeovers as the coronavirus outbreak drives down valuations. A foreign investor from any country that shares a land border with India will now only be able to invest with government approval. At present, such restrictions apply only to FDI ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business Under the patronage of His Excellency Prof. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah (UoS), the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University held its Online Scientific Research and Studies Forum. Several faculty members and graduate studies students from the various College programs participated in four simultaneous sessions using video ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Zayed University Assistant professor, Dr Mohamed Mihoub, was granted the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award; one of the Arab world’s most lucrative literary prizes, for his efforts in translating “Al-Insan Al-Romantiq” (L’homme Romantique) by the French Philosopher, Georges Gusdorf. The annual award, which highlights the global imprint and influence of Arabic writing and culture, aims ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business Air Arabia announced it operated a new repatriation flight from Nepal to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home free of charge. The special flight also carrying belly-hold cargo took off from Nepal on April 17 at 17:45 local time and landed in Sharjah International Airport same day at 20:25 local time. Air Arabia remains committed to ...