Bloomberg FBI Director James Comey confirmed the bureau is probing potential ties between President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia during the 2016 campaign and said there’s no evidence to support the president’s allegation that his predecessor “wiretapped” Trump Tower last year. “I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI,” Comey told …

  KABUL / AP A suicide car bomb targeted a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, killing at least six members of an intelligence unit, an Afghan official said on Tuesday. Hayatullah Hayat, the governor of the province, said seven other members of the service were wounded in the attack, which took place late Monday near the provincial capital, Lashkar …

  SEOUL / AP South Korean prosecutors grilled the country’s just-ousted president on Tuesday in a long-awaited investigation of corruption allegations that ended her rule and now threaten to put her in jail. The questioning of Park Geun-hye came 11 days after the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to dismiss her over suspicions she colluded with a confidante to extort money …

  Perhaps no other piece of economics jargon has caused as much confusion as the term “strong dollar.” The phrase suggests patriotic strength, of the USA riding roughshod over its economic rivals. In reality, dollar strength just means purchasing power — a stronger dollar lets US residents and businesses buy more things from overseas, while a weaker dollar helps them …

  Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao has negotiated a partial retreat from a tough situation in India on reasonable terms. Given a bloody price war brought on by a new rival, the deal to join forces with Idea Cellular Ltd is smart even though Colao has ceded control without getting a premium. Vodafone Group Plc and Idea said on Monday that …

  Presumably at the insistence of the U.S. administration, the latest statement from the Group of 20 big economies conspicuously dropped the standard promise to “avoid all forms of protectionism.” It’s worth pausing to understand why that promise was ever worth making, and honoring. The reason is surely not that governments always keep their word. For years they’ve been backsliding …

  At last, the much heralded date for UK to file divorce papers to leave European Union has been announced. British Prime Minister Theresa May will invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process of leaving the EU, on March 29. It will start the clock on two years period, during which to complete the most important negotiation …

  Sharjah / Emirates Business As part of a massive investment drive, Sharjah-based Omran Properties is to launch three real-estate projects in the emirate worth AED 2.47 billion. The unprecedented developments, the first Omran have made in Sharjah, bring new residential, retail, commercial and hospitality opportunities to Sharjah’s existing and potential investors. The company, established in 2016 through a strategic …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Total volume of personal loans in the UAE increased to AED 349.9 billion in February 2017, according to a UAE Central Bank report issued on Tuesday, which affirmed the banks’ continual contribution to the overall wellbeing and growth of the economy. By providing personal and corporate finance facilities, as well as creation of jobs, the UAE …

  Dubai / WAM The UAE Ministry of Finance has launched the first phase of its awareness and education workshops that will prepare businesses for the new tax system that will be introduced by the end of this year, in the case of excise tax, and early next year for value-added tax, VAT. As the UAE prepares to introduce both taxes …