Any good arson investigator can spot areas of higher concentration of an accelerant at the scene of a fire. In the conflagration sweeping bricks-and-mortar retail, it’s likely that history will designate the accelerant as the newly appointed head of the first major chain to start closing profitable stores in large numbers: Macy’s chief executive, Jeff Gennette. The future of ...

  Silicon Valley tech companies have good reason to be concerned about President Donald Trump’s plans to review the H-1B visa program, which has been crucial in providing them access to foreign labour. It wouldn’t be such a big deal, though, if they didn’t put their offices in such expensive places. The valley’s biggest employers each host thousands of workers ...

  With the exception perhaps of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., first-quarter earnings at US banks are booming, powered by gains in fixed-income trading. But if you think that’s cause for celebration among job seekers in Asia, you’d be wrong. Beyond digital banking, the region’s hiring thermometer is set to deep freeze. It’s a reflection of the broader slowdown in investment ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways will debut its innovative mobile exhibition unit at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, providing delegates with a first-hand experience of its award-winning cabin products and inflight service. The 16m long mobile exhibition unit, weighing approximately 22 tonnes and measuring 50m², travelled to the UAE from Europe where it has clocked 60,000km ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, is looking to gain further impetus from the Middle East, even as the Indian Ocean island nation increasingly reaps the positive dividends of rapidly growing tourist numbers. The airline will be making fresh forays into the region, which is ...

  Bloomberg United Airlines cancelled Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz’s expected 2018 elevation to chairman and tied compensation more closely to customer service, after a passenger’s forcible removal from a flight sparked a public-relations disaster. Maintaining an independent chairman “is a means to ensure that Mr. Munoz is able to more exclusively focus on his role as chief executive officer,” ...

  Bloomberg Canadian discounter WestJet Airlines Ltd. is arming itself for more fare wars by planning to start an ultra-low-cost carrier to fend off domestic upstarts. Service is expected to begin late this year with a fleet of 10 Boeing Co. 737-800s in ‘high density’ configuration, Calgary-based WestJet said in a statement. The venture will aim to offer “no frills, ...

  Bloomberg After seven months of work, the biggest digital advertising companies think they have a solution to the existential threat of consumers blocking online ads. Google, the biggest player in this world, is at the center of the plan, although the company and its partners are keen to present the initiative as a group effort. The Coalition for Better ...

  Bloomberg After revolutionizing phones, Apple Inc. is testing self-driving cars and exploring augmented reality. Recent hires suggest the company is now also looking to the skies. The iPhone maker has recruited a pair of top Google satellite executives for a new hardware team, according to people familiar with the matter. John Fenwick, who led Google’s spacecraft operations, and Michael ...

  CHITUNGWIZA / AP Zimbabwean boys as young as 10 hurry every weekend to a boxing ring whose nickname, Wafa Wafa, in the local Shona language suggests that whoever enters will be lucky to come out alive. No one has died in the ring, let alone suffered serious injury. But the exchanges can be brutal and bleeding is part of the ...