DUBAI / WAM HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy has chaired the 40th meeting of the council at its headquarters. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Supreme Council of Energy, attended the meeting. The meeting was also attended by Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General of the Supreme …

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Customs is finely aligned with the wise call of HH President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in declaring this year as the year of reading. Consequently, Dubai Customs launched a series of activities and initiatives in pace with this astute endeavour including the recent “Suggest a Book” undertaking, aimed at encouraging reading as a …

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Parks and Resorts, set to become the Middle East’s largest integrated theme park destination on its opening in October this year, has announced its participation in this year’s Careers UAE, takes place from May 16-18 at the Dubai World Center, in search of skilled, bright Emirati talent. Job seekers will be interviewed by the …

  Tokyo / AFP Toyota on Wednesday warned that its annual net profit will fall by about a third as a stronger yen, and a slowdown in Chinese growth and other emerging markets dent its bottom line. The surprise new forecast — which would mark Toyota’s first profit decline in five years — tipped a 1.5 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) …

  Tokyo / AFP Scandal-stricken Takata said on Wednesday it logged an annual net loss of $120 million, as the company struggles with a massive recall crisis over exploding air bags tied to 13 deaths in the United States and Malaysia. US auto safety regulators last week ordered Takata to recall between 35 million and 40 million airbags installed in …

  TOKYO / AP Mitsubishi Motors cheated on fuel-efficiency testing for almost every model it sold in Japan in the last 25 years, a report said on Wednesday, fuelling questions about the size of a scandal that has plunged the automaker into crisis. Citing unnamed company sources, Japan’s Asahi newspaper said dozens of models sold in Japan have been affected …

  Mumbai / Bloomberg Investors who anticipated that India central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan would bring order to a bad debt-plagued banking system by now are being forced to ratchet back those expectations. Results from ICICI Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. two weeks ago and comments from their top managers fuelled concerns that dud loans will continue to pile …

  Brasília / AFP Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday launched a pivotal debate on the future of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces likely suspension and an impeachment trial that could end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America’s biggest country. Even allies of Rousseff, 68, said she had no chance of surviving the vote, expected later in the day after …

Rio De Janeiro / AP Like Brazil itself, Dayse Lima’s family is deeply split over the political firestorm threatening to force President Dilma Rousseff from power. Lima, a 54-year-old government worker and staunch Rousseff supporter, got so angry at her son Gustavo for bashing the president that she stopped speaking to him. Gustavo, a 27-year-old energy analyst who lived with …

  Manila / AFP After proposing a jet-ski mission to defend remote islands against China, daring the United States to sever ties and joking about burning Singapore’s flag, Rodrigo Duterte is set for a wild foreign policy ride as the next Philippine president. The firebrand politician stormed to victory in national elections this week using an incendiary brand of populism …