The man who set up the most popular social network in Russia axed all of his online friends in one fell swoop on Monday. Having them, he wrote, was so 2010. That may be a sign of the times: Predictions from a few years ago that social networks would lose ground to messenger apps appear to be coming true. ...

  Bloomberg Relief rippled across markets from stocks to bonds and currencies on bets that pro-growth centrist Emmanuel Macron will become France’s next president. Havens including gold, the yen, Treasuries and bunds fell out of favor. Every industry group in the Europe 600 Index rose, volatility fell by a record, and the cost of insuring against losses on French banks’ ...

  Reuters Saudi Arabian telecoms company Mobily slumped after worse than expected results on Monday, but the market was buoyed by stronger quarterly earnings from the insurance sector, while performance across the rest of the region was mixed. Shares of Etihad Etisalat(Mobily) tumbled 6 percent to 21.05 riyals after it swung to a net loss of 163 million riyals ($43.47 ...

  Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA will fly from London to Singapore beginning this fall, taking on British Airways and Singapore Airlines Ltd. as it expands its long-haul budget services in Asia. Tickets on the new route will start at 179 pounds ($230) one-way, with ‘premium’ seats priced from 699 pounds, Norwegian said in a statement. The service will commence ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) on Monday announced the appointment of Robin Kamark as Chief Executive Officer, Airline Equity Partners. Kamark will be responsible for leading and developing the Group’s minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia. Reporting to the Group ...

  Bloomberg Air Berlin Plc’s service levels have fallen sharply this month in a sign that the unprofitable German carrier is struggling with the process of downsizing into a smaller network airline focused on long-haul services. Just 56.4 percent of Air Berlin flights arrived on time through April 17, the lowest reading in at least 16 months and 30 percentage ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The total value of 1,153 hospitality projects in the six members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) exceeded US$148.4 billion (AED544.62 billion) in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new report by project research and intelligence provider BNC Network. The GCC’s hospitality industry constitutes 7 per cent of all active projects in the ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The sixth session of the UAE-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, and co-chaired by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and his counterpart, Shahin Mustafayev, Minister of Economic Development in Azerbaijan, concluded on a high note. Those at the committee’s meeting discussed economic co-operation and enhancing bilateral ...

  LONDON / WAM Embassy of the UAE in London has hosted a lunch banquet in honour of a delegation from the UAE Ministry of Economy and private organisations and British investors participating in the UK-GCC Public Private Partnership Conference in London, to bolster ties among the business communities in both countries. In remarks delivered at the banquet, UAE Ambassador ...

  SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has signed an agreement with Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), in its capacity as the representative of the International Certificates of Origin Council (CO), according to which COs issued by Sharjah Chamber will be awarded an international recognition. The agreement aims to allow scaling of international commercial ...