In recent years, the “Occupy” movements and “Arab Spring” came to symbolize popular actions for social change across the world. In Southeast Asia, the massive gathering of citizens against an unjust political order is more widely known as an expression and legacy of “People Power.” The idea of People Power became a potent political force when it led to the ...

Tom Pu-chih Hsieh Le Cordon Bleu and Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (NKUHT) have been trying to set up a branch of the famous French cooking school in Taiwan since 2011. However, due to protectionism sentiment and bureaucracy on the island, the French chefs cannot show Taiwanese students how to cook and instead can only teach the ...

Hong Kong / AFP Asia’s share rally stalled on Tuesday with markets battling a fresh fall in the price of oil and fears for the Chinese economy. Japanese stocks fell as a stronger yen hit exporters while Shanghai also closed down, after the first indicators for Asia’s biggest economy this month showed private gauges of manufacturing and services falling to ...

ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 0.41% to close at 4301.75 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 2.88 Billion attaining AED 697.8 Billion. A total of 0.89 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of 0.96 Billion AED during the trading session of 23-02-2016 through 10255 transactions. The number of companies which ...

Tokyo / BLOOMBERG Tokyo stocks fell on Tuesday as a stronger yen hit exporters and auto parts giant Takata dived on news it could be hit with tens of millions more recalls linked to a deadly airbag scandal. The market got off to a strong start, tracking a rally on world bourses as oil prices picked up. But those gains ...

Riyadh / AFP A subsidiary of state-owned Irish airport operator daa has won the bid to operate Saudi Arabia’s first privately run terminal, official media in the kingdom and the company said. Colm Moran, CEO of daa International, signed the deal to manage and operate Riyadh’s Terminal 5 with Sulaiman al-Hamdan, president of regulator the General Authority of Civil Aviation ...

Washington / AP A UN panel approved a temporary ban on cargo shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger planes because they can create intense fires capable of destroying an aircraft. The decision by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation’s top-level governing council isn’t binding, but most countries follow the agency’s standards. The ban is effective on April 1. “This ...

Sydney / AFP Australian carrier Qantas on Tuesday said first-half net profit soared 234 percent on the back of belt-tightening and lower oil prices, as it announced a Aus$500 million stock buyback to share the spoils with investors. The Aus$688 million (US$497 million) result comes on the heels of a ruthless cost-cutting drive that has seen thousands of jobs axed ...

New York / AFP US corporate major Honeywell has held talks to acquire United Technologies in a deal that would merge the two US industrial heavyweights with major aerospace operations, CNBC reported. Honeywell initiated the talks within the last two weeks, offering United Technologies a premium in stock and cash, the report said, adding that a deal could fall through in ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg Sysco said that it will pay about $800 million to buy rival European food distributer Brakes Group, a deal which will help the company expand in the region. The companies valued the deal at $3.1 billion, when $2.3 billion of debt is included. Houston-based Sysco is purchasing Brakes Group from its private equity owner, Bain Capital. ...