Bloomberg Italy’s populist government is heading back to the drawing board as it struggles to find investors for bankrupt airline Alitalia SpA, with UK discounter EasyJet Plc close to bowing out of the latest rescue proposal, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Delta Air Lines Inc. is still on board as part of efforts led by Deputy Premier Luigi ...

Bloomberg Flughafen Zurich AG and Aena SME won concessions to operate airports in Brazil in an auction. The tender was seen as a test of investors’ appetite towards President Jair Bolsonaro’s market-friendly agenda that includes a massive privatisation plan. Bids for the three regional blocks came in well above the initial ask, and the government will collect fees of some ...

Bloomberg Battered minibus taxis snake the perimeter of Ivory Coast’s latest shopping hotspot, a brand new mall in a sprawling Abidjan suburb that shows how grocers like France’s Carrefour SA are turning their attention to lower-income African customers. The parking lot reserved for car owners lies empty, contrasting with the throng of shoppers inside the crowded $30 million Cosmos Mall, ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is ending its experiment with electronics-focussed pop-up stores, shuttering 87 kiosks located inside shopping malls, Whole Foods Market locations and Kohl’s stores around the US. “After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program,” an Amazon spokeswoman said. The closings are expected to be completed by the end of April, the Wall ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE is ranked number one for the highest fibre to the home (FTTH) penetration among all its global counterparts for a third year in a row, according to the leading industry body FTTH Council. The council published its annual report that showcases the countries with the highest fibre optic network penetration globally. The report highlighted ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business UAE start-ups secured $31.36 million in investments which account for 88 percent of the whole deal value of the region. Local services, e-commerce & financial services are the top three industries accounting for 44 percent of the entire deal count. In addition, logistics (9.3 percent), software (7.1 percent), media (4.6 percent), education (4.6 percent) and transportation ...

Bloomberg Oil gained for a second straight week as Opec assured traders it’s committed to culling supplies ahead of a key meeting with allies in Azerbaijan this weekend. Futures advanced 4.4 percent in New York and settled just pennies off a four-month high. Opec self discipline and a surprise reduction in US crude inventories signalled tightening supplies, but concern that ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business The Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) concluded the emirate’s first-ever Sharjah-Barcelona Business Seminar, engaging with more 150 Spanish investors and senior officers at the Spanish city of Barcelona, in a bid to enhance Emirati–Spanish relations in trade and investment. The seminar was focused on exploring new investment opportunities in education and healthcare, and other sectors ...

Mexico / WAM Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Jarwan, President of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, has met with Olga Sanchez Cordero, Mexican Interior Minister, and discussed ways to build bridges of cooperation between the Council and vital sectors in Mexico, including the government sector. The meeting, which was attended by Ahmed Hatem Al Minhali, UAE Ambassador to Mexico, and ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM His Highness Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, asserted that the UAE under the wise leadership is adamant in its efforts to enhance digital life safety and protect citizens from online threats. The focus of the National Agenda for Wellbeing on the quality of digital life ...