DPA Franziska Berra has been plucking coca leaves for 65 years. In scorching heat, from 9 am until at least 5 pm, eight hours almost without a break: just coca. She never learned anything else. “Now the price has hit rock bottom,” says the 80-year-old, who bends down all day to pluck the green leaves and covers her head with ...

AFP The steel plants and cement factories scattered across China’s Shandong province have made it one of the most contaminated areas of the world’s biggest polluter. But for one company, that just makes the business climate better. ASL Masks says it turned out more than 100,000 face coverings last year and aims to more than double that in 2016 as ...

Emirates Business Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the sole buyer of all electricity and desalinated water output in the Oman Sultanate, plans to shortly invite prequalified bidders to submit proposals for the development of Independent Water Projects (IWP) in Sharqiyah and Dhofar governorates, a top official has revealed. Ahmed bin Saleh al Jahdhami, CEO of OPWP , said ...

Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS The government of the Republic of Azerbaijan has lifted advance visa requirement for citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi, Japan, Malaysia, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea and Singapore. His Excellency Mr. Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has been closely monitoring the lifting of visa process and ...

Beijing / Bloomberg Persistent capital outflows from China since mid-2014 were probably driven more by local companies paying down their dollar-denominated debt — in anticipation a stronger US currency — than investors ditching Chinese assets, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The outpouring of China’s currency “led to two different narratives,” researchers for the Switzerland-based institution said in ...

Beijing / AFP China’s economy “absolutely will not” suffer a hard landing, the chief of its top planning body said on Sunday, as Beijing’s leaders try to reassure global investors about the world’s second-largest economy. Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), made the comments to reporters on the second day of the annual meeting of ...

Tokyo / DPA The Japanese government plans to start talks with the European Union to conclude a deal that would require EU airlines to provide Passenger Name Records, a move aimed at beefing up antiterrorism defences at Japan‘s borders. According to sources, EU airlines that have routes to Japan would have to provide this electronic record before a flight departs. ...

Taipei / DPA Women are the most active customers in Taiwan’s online retail market, prompting local e-commerce operators to revise marketing strategies to meet the needs of female shoppers. Japan-based Rakuten’s e-commerce platform in Taiwan sees women account for 70 percent of its membership, according to the United Evening News. The paper cited the Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba as indicating that ...

Beijing / Bloomberg AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., controlled by China’s richest man, agreed to buy Carmike Cinemas Inc. in a $1.1 billion all-cash deal that would create the world’s largest cinema chain and extend Chinese influence in the movie industry. AMC, majority owned by billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co., will pay $30 a share for Carmike, a 19 ...

Brussels / AFP European leaders will push Turkey at a summit on Monday to agree to “large-scale” deportations of economic migrants from Greece, as EU chief Donald Tusk says he sees the first hints of a resolution to the migrant crisis. With a fresh surge expected in the warmer spring weather, the European Union’s 28 leaders are pinning much of ...