Sharjah / Emirates Business His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, directed the allocation of AED2.5mn worth of books to enrich Sharjah’s public, school and university libraries. The initiative, which will significantly expand the number of titles available to the public, comes in line with 2016 being declared …

  Beijing / AFP Electric cars have their highest-profile prophet in US-based entrepreneur Elon Musk and their widest adoption in Norway, but China’s vast auto market will decide their worldwide future, experts say. Top global brands will be fighting it out to electrify buyers at China’s premier car show opening on Monday in Beijing. The country is already the world’s …

Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday he will create an extra budget to address the economic damage caused by deadly earthquakes in Kumamoto earlier this month. Abe wants to pass the budget before the current parliamentary session ends on June 1, which comes ahead of an upper house election in July. The earthquakes, which killed …

  Sydney / Bloomberg Australia’s government ruled out curbing a tax break for property investors as it woos homeowners ahead of an expected July election. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed there will be no reform of so-called negative gearing, which allows investors to deduct the costs of owning a rental property, including mortgage interest payments, from their taxable income. That …

  New Delhi / AFP India’s government has revoked embattled former airline boss Vijay Mallya’s passport, after he failed to appear before investigators over a loan probe, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. Mallya, a part-owner of the Force India Formula 1 team who used to run Kingfisher Airlines, left India on March 2 despite calls for his arrest and …

  AERZEN, Germany / AP President Barack Obama, began a visit on Sunday to Germany, hoping to build momentum for a U.S.-Europe trade deal that has become a tough sell, particularly in Germany. Other issues were on the agenda for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, including efforts to counter the extremist IS group, improve cooperation on counterterrorism, and encourage …

  Bloomberg President Barack Obama leaned in further on his warning to the British electorate against embracing a so-called Brexit from the European Union, saying it could take as long as 10 years before the U.K. and the U.S. negotiated a new trade agreement. “The U.K. would not be able to negotiate something with the United States faster than the …

  Frankfurt / AFP Negotiations on a US-EU free trade deal “will fail” if the US refuses to make concessions, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned on Sunday ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama. “The Americans want to hold fast to their ‘Buy American’ idea. We can’t accept that. They don’t want to open their public tenders to …

  Berlin /AP Five German automakers have agreed to recall a total of 630,000 diesel vehicles in Europe following an investigation into their emissions levels, officials said. Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, identified the companies concerned as Mercedes, Opel Volkswagen and its subsidiaries Audi and Porsche. The move followed a probe of 53 models by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority …

  Paris / AFP France’s energy giant EDF will give the final green light to the controversial construction of two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Britain in September, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. French President Francois Hollande “has confirmed France’s engagement” in the project, and “the final decision on investment could be confirmed in September”, Macron said in …