Being a Chinese airline can seem pretty sweet. The country’s major carriers have what’s soon to be the world’s biggest aviation market to themselves. Operating costs are often on a par with budget carriers elsewhere. Thanks to their lack of fuel hedges, Chinese airlines have even pocketed an outsized benefit from the slump in oil prices. Sooner or later …

  The candidates in this Sunday’s French presidential election, Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, are alike in one way: Both stand outside the mainstream parties, promising an end to politics as usual. That’s something France’s voters appear to want. Beyond that, however, the differences are stark, and you could sum them up like this: Macron is a safe choice, …

  US President Donald Trump met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for the first time in the White House on Wednesday. Trump is confident he could broker a Middle East peace deal as he told Abbas that the agreement between Israel and Palestine is “maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.” “Throughout my life I have …

  Bloomberg Glasgow, the Tees Valley, Northumberland — these are places that haven’t voted Conservative in decades, if ever. If the scale of Theresa May’s victory in Britain’s local elections was startling, so too was its geography. In one fell swoop the prime minister has claimed entire swathes of Labour’s traditional vote in working class areas of the Midlands and …

  Bloomberg France’s presidential election erupted into new controversy just before voting was due to start as the campaign of front-runner Emmanuel Macron said it was the victim of a “massive” cyber attack. Minutes before a blackout on all campaigning at midnight Friday, Macron’s team said in a statement that hackers mixed fake documents with real ones stolen from staff’s …

  Bloomberg The North Atlantic Treaty Organization needs to show strength and keep open lines of dialog amid a new political security situation in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. The NATO alliance must stick together in the face of threats including Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the chancellor said in her weekly podcast on Saturday. The trans-Atlantic alliance shouldn’t allow itself …

  Bloomberg A large convoy of militants attacked a Chadian military camp near Lake Chad early Friday, killing nine soldiers, according to an army statement. The militants were suspected to be members of the Boko Haram extremist group that’s based in northeastern Nigeria, the army said in the statement read on state TV late Friday. At least 40 assailants died …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), financed AED700 million worth of development projects in Bangladesh. In a report, the Fund said that it has provided the Bangladeshi government with grants and concessionary loans to fund nine development projects. These projects covered several sectors including industry, energy, and infrastructure. Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) hosted a briefing session on the capital restructuring of United Insurance Company (UIC), in an effort to maintain the positive links between the exchange and its listed companies, brokers, and investors. ADX Chief Executive, Rashed Al Blooshi, UIC Board Member, Nawwaf Ghobash, and senior management from both sides, as well as …

  Dubai / Emirates Business A concerted focus on infrastructure development paired with economic diversification is expected to revive the Gulf region’s commercial vehicle market, providing impressive business opportunities for auto manufacturers and aftermarket sellers. According to a March 2017 report from analysts TechSci Research, approximately 240,000 commercial vehicles (CVs) were sold in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2016, …