Tokyo / AFP Tokyo businessman Randal Furudera isn’t about to swap his German-made BMW M5 for a “boring” Japanese car, although he’ll give them some grudging respect for their ho-hum dependability. Deep-pocketed buyers like Furudera are driving sales in Japan of high-end foreign brands, which dominate the niche sector in a car market long seen as all but shuttered to ...

  Amsterdam / Relaxnews European Union policy makers and European vehicle manufacturers have reached their first agreement on the future of self-driving cars and their place on the continent’s roads. The ‘Declaration of Amsterdam’ endorsed by the Informal Transport Council represents a first agreement among all parties regarding how potentially life-saving technologies are to be deployed on European roads. Tackling ...

  Relaxnews To celebrate National Parks’ Service 100th anniversary, from April 16 to April 24, everyone is enjoying free admission to all national parks in US these days. The National Park Service usually offers free entry to national parks on certain days of the year, including President’s Day weekend and Veteran’s Day, however in honour of their anniversary this year ...

  Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business What began as a small Heliopolis salon in 1980, the Mohamed Al Sagheer name has become a flagship in the beauty industry, encompassing a chain of 25 salons across Egypt, with branches in Doha, Qatar and Dubai. Over the last 30 years, Al Sagheer Group has expanded to include state of the art spas, ...

  Our Correspondent / EMIRATES BUSINESS Hold on tight to your dream, that’s the general mantra being circulated around the world amid rumors of tumultuous economic times ahead in 2016. Company, business and government expenditures across the globe — including here in the Middle East — are being curtailed; projects are being put on hold and headcounts slashed amid lingering ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Major stock markets in the Gulf rebounded in late trade on Monday to close higher despite the collapse of oil producers’ talks in Doha, while Egypt’s bourse surged to a six-month closing high. The failure of Sunday’s Doha meeting to agree on an oil output freeze was a blow to sentiment in the oil market, and ...

  SHARJAH / WAM President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent a cable of condolences to President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Tsugunomiya Akihito, Emperor of Japan, on the victims of the earthquake that hit both countries leaving many people killed and injured. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa also expressed his condolences and sympathy to the families of ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of ports and Khalifa Industrial Zone in the Emirate, and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will pave the way for knowledge sharing, joint research projects, and job opportunities for students. Abdullah Humaid Al Hameli, Acting Executive Vice President – ...

  DUBAI / WAM The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced the introduction of a new app for smart phones to facilitate the job of parking inspectors, and ease the processing of parking permits in the Emirate of Dubai. The step is part of RTA’s relentless efforts to equip inspectors with top-notch devices, and ensure the speedy processing of parking ...

  PARIS / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, Empower, awarded a contract that will boost the company’s production by 30,000 Refrigeration Tonnes (RT), according to Ahmad bin Shafar, Chief Executive Officer. “Being the world’s largest district cooling services provider in terms of capacity, we continuously work on increasing our operations to cater to the needs of our rapidly increasing client-base ...