While the Taliban officially launched their annual spring offensive this week pledging large-scale attacks, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will for the first time in 15 years be able to deploy a light attack aircraft specifically designed for counterinsurgency operations in their fight against the insurgents. The Afghan Air Force (AAF) will begin this year’s fighting season …

BLOOMBERG Global stocks rallied for a fifth day and oil climbed, while the dollar reversed gains, and Singapore’s currency dropped as the city state unexpectedly loosened monetary policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose as Nestle SA led a surge in food companies, after Asian equities posted their longest rally in a year, while Standard & Poor’s Index futures were …

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 1.49% to close at 4631.26 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 11.02 billion attaining AED 751.25 billion. A total of 0.68 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 1.25 billion during the trading session of 14-04-2016 through 9997 transactions. The number of companies …

  Tokyo / Bloomberg The top executive of Japan’s biggest bank delivered a rare criticism of the central bank, saying its negative interest-rate policy has contributed to anxiety among households and companies and prolonging it may weaken financial institutions. “Both households and businesses have become skeptical about the effectiveness of policy measures to address the current economic problems,” Nobuyuki Hirano, …

  Reuters Japan’s economy is expected to have narrowly avoided another recession at the start of 2016 but economists in a poll also predicted that growth and inflation will remain tepid this year, held back in part by the recent sharp rise in the yen. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) surprised in a split January decision to implement a tiny …

  Reuters Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, posted a 1.1 percent increase in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, according to a bourse statement, on the back of rising income from loans, fees and commission. The bank made a profit of 43.8 million rials ($113.8 million) in the three-month period ending on March 31, up from 43.3 million rials a year …

  Reuters Saudi Hollandi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s oldest lender, posted a 5.1 percent fall in first-quarter net profit on Thursday as income from trading, fees and commissions dipped. The lender made a profit of 511.5 million riyals ($136.5 million) in the three months to end-March, down from 538.9 million riyals in the corresponding quarter of 2015, according to a bourse …

  Reuters Britain’s Legal & General Group PLC and Swiss Re AG are among firms said to be weighing bids for Deutsche Bank AG’s Abbey Life Assurance Co, sources familiar with the matter said. In September, it was reported that the German lender was exploring the possible sale of its British insurance unit Abbey Life. Phoenix Group Holdings, Britain’s largest …

  Washington / AFP The World Bank and the new China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), originally seen as possible rivals, joined hands with an agreement to co-finance projects. The two development banks signed off on a framework for working together on infrastructure programmes over the coming year which will give the World Bank some crucial oversight on how projects are …

  FRANKFURT / Reuters Lufthansa is in talks with the owners of Scandinavian carrier SAS and Brussels Airlines to expand the number of destinations it flies to and grow its low-cost Eurowings business, people close to the German airline said. Two sources said that Lufthansa had been in talks with the owners of SAS since the autumn, which could lead …