Bloomberg Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s latest US expansion plan is facing rising political obstacles. Two members of the House of Representatives urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to conduct a “full and thorough” investigation of Ant Financial’s proposed acquisition of MoneyGram International Inc., a money-transfer service. “The proposal merits careful evaluation as it would provide Chinese …

  Bloomberg Foreign investors gorging on Indian stocks and bonds propelled the rupee to its best first-quarter performance since 1975. The currency, Asia’s best performer this month, has rallied 4.7 percent since December 31 as a thumping win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in state elections boosted bets for continuation of his government’s reform agenda, luring overseas funds. The …

  Bloomberg Democratic lawmakers in Illinois are considering implementing their own inter- net safeguards at the state level after Republicans in Washington voted to roll back Obama-era internet privacy protections that were to take effect later this year. An Illinois House committee endorsed two online privacy measures, including one that would allow people to find out what information companies such …

  Bloomberg In the sixth grade, Austin Russell turned a Nintendo gaming handset into a cell phone. At 15, he built a holographic keyboard. By 17, he’d filed for a patent. Now at 22, he’s running a startup at the heart of Silicon Valley’s latest technology mania. As founder and chief executive officer of Luminar Technologies Inc., Russell and his …

  Bloomberg As Europe’s industrial companies attempt to modernize production with sensors and software, Microsoft Corp. is trying to grab a piece of the spending. The US software giant is launching a new lab in Munich — following openings in Redmond, Washington and Shenzhen, China — for customers investing in the so-called Internet of Things, the idea that everything from …

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Aldar Properties PJSC (‘Aldar’), Abu Dhabi’s leading listed property development, investment and management company, awarded its main contract for Mayan, a luxury residential development located on Yas Island, to Ghantoot General Construction, one of the leading construction companies in the region. The AED 500 million (AED 0.5 billion) contract will deliver the construction of …

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, has announced that it will be attending Milan Design Week 2017 – the world-leading design industry event that will take place from April 4-9 and stage a wide range of exhibitions under its umbrella, including the acclaimed Salone Internazionale …

  Dubai / WAM Dubai’s trade performance has shown steady and sustainable growth over the last five years, with non-oil trade volumes in metric tonnes registering a compound growth rate of 6.1% according to figures from Dubai Customs. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment which impacted global trade, Dubai’s trade volumes grew a healthy 8.2% in 2016, compared to the previous …

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etisalat has reduced its roaming rates for voice calls, SMS and data. Starting from April 1, Etisalat’s prepaid and post-paid customers would enjoy discounted roaming rates of up to 35% on data, outgoing voice calls to UAE, GCC and local destinations and outgoing SMS while traveling to any Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, …

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai’s success in maintaining its advanced position among the cities of the world in terms of capital inflow and the number of new FDI projects is a major achievement, said His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy. It reaffirms the investor confidence in Dubai while also underlining its role as a major …