Bloomberg Japan’s economic recovery will be delayed more than previously expected as the delta variant pushes up infections to record levels, according to a Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member. “The current spread of infections is more than expected at the time of the July policy meeting,” Toyoaki Nakamura, one of nine members on the board, told reporters in Tokyo. ...

Bloomberg South Korea became the first major Asian economy to raise interest rates, with more hikes in the pipeline as its central bank indicated that financial risks pose a bigger threat to the economy than the latest virus outbreak. Governor Lee Ju-yeol said the quarter-percentage-point hike to 0.75% still left rates in an accommodative position that supports the economy. He ...

Bloomberg Barclays Plc acquired a $3.8 billion portfolio of credit cards from retailer Gap Inc., giving it a new route to American consumers. The British bank will issue co-branded and private label credit cards in the US to Gap customers from the second quarter next year, Barclays said in a statement. While Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has made the ...

Bloomberg BlackRock Inc is gearing up for the first test of Chinese investor appetite for its own mutual fund products, more than 15 years after entering the world’s most promising wealth market. The company’s new China unit is launching its debut product on August 30, just two months after winning regulatory approval to become the nation’s first wholly foreign-owned mutual ...

Bloomberg A vulnerability in Microsoft Inc.’s cloud database system left data at thousands of clients exposed to potential cyberattacks for about two years, according to the Israeli cybersecurity firm that discovered the bug. More than 3,300 of the software giant’s customers were exposed to a flaw in its Azure Cosmos DB database product that could have granted a malicious actor ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc said a “very small percentage” of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices have an audio problem and pledged to repair the products for affected customers. The phones in question, manufactured between October 2020 and April 2021, have a defect with a component on the receiver module, Apple said on its website. The repair will be free ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc is bringing voice and video calling to its flagship social networking service, the latest attempt to fine-tune its communications features after spinning off Messenger as a separate app in 2014. Some users, including those in the US, will be able to place voice or video calls from the Facebook app. The new feature is just a test, ...

Bloomberg Japan’s Rohm Co. says that vital semiconductors for automobiles and industrial machinery will likely remain in short supply at least throughout next year, adding to ominous warnings about further fallout from the global chip crisis. The Kyoto-based chipmaker, whose customers include Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co and Honda Motor Co., has been hampered by a severe shortage of ...

DUBAI / WAM Christophe Lutumdula Apala Pen’Apala, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), highlighted his country’s keenness to learn from UAE’s economic model, by exchanging knowledge and technical expertise in all areas, most notably in the economy, commerce and administration. He made this statement during his meeting with Humaid Mohammed bin ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Engineering announced the signing of a strategic partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), to provide Passenger to Freighter (P2F) conversions on Boeing 777-300ER’s. In 2019, IAI and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) announced the launch of the Boeing 777-300ERSF, a programme which established a P2F conversion dubbed ‘The Big Twin’ denoting its status as the ...