NEW YORK / AP Toys that teach aren’t a new thing, but a growing number are calling for kids to build with blocks, circuits or everyday items before reaching for a tablet screen. Play is how kids learn about the world around them, whether it’s a toddler throwing a ball or teens playing video games. It’s about seeing how ...

  TOKYO / AP Toyota Motor Corp. has developed a new way of observing the movements of tiny particles in batteries used to power electric vehicles — an advance it says will help boost their cruise range by 10 percent to 15 percent. Toyota engineer Hisao Yamashige explained to reporters on Thursday at the Japanese automaker’s Tokyo office the complex ...

    BEIJING / AP China’s biggest online travel service Ctrip.com is buying Skyscanner i n a deal that values the British travel search site at 1.4 billion pounds ($1.7 billion). The deal announced Thursday adds to a string of global acquisitions by Chinese companies in search of technology, brands and access to foreign markets. Ctrip.com International Ltd. said the ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Breaking a sweat? Researchers are creating a skin patch that can test those droplets while people exercise and beam results to their smartphones, possibly a new way to track health and fitness. The experimental gadget goes well beyond activity monitors like the Fitbit. A little larger than a quarter, it’s almost like a tiny lab stuck ...

  Bloomberg U.S. highway safety officials called on smartphone makers to add features that would keep motorists from using functions linked to a surge in deaths due to distracted driving, a proposal that drew immediate opposition from the electronics industry. The voluntary guidelines proposed Wednesday asked device makers to take steps such as blocking some video displays and preventing manual ...

  Abu Dhabi / NEW DELHI / WAM The UAE reviewed the steps it has taken so far to further promote entrepreneurship environment and highlight opportunities of building economic and business partnerships that support small and medium entrepreneurs (SME) to penetrate into new markets at regional and international levels. This came during the panel discussion themed ‘Global Partnership Opportunities for ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Etihad Airways has set its planned five-year sukuk at $1.5 billion, the upper end of an expected range of $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, banks leading the transaction said on Wednesday. The UAE airline set the final spread for its debut Islamic debt issuance at 210 basis points over midswaps, after one bank involved said on ...

ABU DHABI / WAM UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat said on Wednesday the company had entered into a strategic partnership with Talia, a market-leading teleport, satellite and terrestrial network operator. Under the agreement, Talia is committed to capacity on Yahsat’s upcoming Ka-band Al Yah 3 satellite, located at 20 degree W, to be launched in 2017, alongside existing services on the ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM In line with his commitment to innovation as a key pillar of future government work, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the Minister of Finance of the UAE, inaugurated on Wednesday the Innovation Lab at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Headquarters in Dubai. He attended the first brainstorming session ...

  Bloomberg As India undergoes the world’s biggest currency overhaul in decades, one official is noticeably absent: central bank Governor Urjit Patel. The head of the monetary authority has spoken just once since the government invalidated 86 percent of currency in circulation in a surprise move on Nov. 8. Mounting cash shortages pushed the Supreme Court to warn of riots, ...