Kathmandu / DPA In a bid to shift away from heavy dependence on India, Nepal signed an agreement with China to use transit facilities for third country trade by using the ports of the northern neighbour. However, poor infrastructure on the Nepali side, difficult geographical terrain and without the reach of Chinese train up to Nepali border in Kerung (Gyirong …

Singapore / DPA The contract to build a four-in-one rail and bus depot in Singapore- said to be the world’s first such facility – has been awarded to South Korea-based GS Engineering & Construction Corporation for around US$1.46 billion. The East Coast Integrated Depot will contain three train depots and one bus depot within a single site of 36ha. It …

Bloomberg President Barack Obama is in Cuba, and Silicon Valley is tagging along for the ride. Executives from several technology companies are traveling with the U.S. president on his goodwill tour or introducing new business initiatives focused on the island—or both. Among the companies joining the Cuba parade this week are Google parent Alphabet Inc., Airbnb Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., …

Bloomberg A gauge of the dollar dropped, halting a two-day advance, as comments by Federal Reserve officials suggesting the central bank may raise interest rates as soon as next month failed to boost the U.S. currency’s appeal. The dollar weakened against most of its major peers as traders saw only a 10 percent probability of a U.S. rate hike in …

Bloomberg Venezuela, owner of the world’s largest crude oil reserves, suddenly has a deep thirst for American oil. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil company, has ordered millions of barrels of crude from the U.S. this year, according to published reports and data provided to Bloomberg, in a sign of how the lifting of the ban on U.S. oil …

Bloomberg Coffee, which entered a bull market last week, may climb further this year amid increasing concern that global supply will continue to shrink because of El Nino-induced crop losses in South America and Southeast Asia, according to traders at an industry gathering. Worldwide demand may exceed output by as many as 4 million bags in the season that will …

Bloomberg Chile, widely viewed as a model of stability and democracy in a region plagued by impropriety and upheaval, is facing a campaign funding scandal that has cast a shadow over politicians of all major parties. More than a year of revelations has helped drive to record lows the approval ratings of the government, President Michelle Bachelet, the Chamber of …

BLOOMBERG European stocks fell, while German government bonds rose with gold and the yen after explosions rocked a Brussels airport departure hall and a downtown subway station. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell the most in a week as the attacks caused deaths and injuries and spurred fears of imminent follow-up attacks in the capital of the European Union. Travel …

ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 0.30% to close at 4498.17 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 2.2 billion attaining AED 729.66 billion. A total of 0.76 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 0.91 billion during the trading session of 22-03-2016 through 8596 transactions. The number of companies which …

Dhaka / Bloomberg Bangladesh’s Central Bank has suggested the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had a “major lapse” in allowing hackers to transfer $101 million in transactions that it later flagged as suspicious, according to an internal document seen by Bloomberg. The document, dated March 13, sheds new light on Bangladesh Bank’s interpretation of a cyber heist in which …