April, 2016

• 25 April

  120,000 visitors attend 8th edition of SCRF in five days

  

    Sharjah / Emirates Business The number of visitors to the 8th edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), the region’s foremost literary event for young people, exceeded 120,000 visitors during its first five days. The figure is a significant increase in the number of attendees recorded in the same period during last year’s festival. Organisers of SCRF 2016, which ...

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• 25 April

  Global carmakers see rising competition at China show

  

  Beijing / AFP Global carmakers gathered in Beijing on Monday to show off their wares as competition intensifies and growth slows in the world’s biggest auto market, with the key SUV and new energy vehicle sectors the focus of attention. The flamboyant show, which alternates between the capital and commercial hub Shanghai, came after auto sales in China grew just ...

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• 25 April

  China to build $11bn airport to meet growing demand

  

    Beijing / Bloomberg China plans to spend as much as $11 billion on a second airport in the southwestern city of Chengdu to help meet growing demand for air travel in the world’s second-biggest economy. The proposed facility will have three runways, one of them as long as 4,000 meters, according to a statement posted on the website of ...

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• 25 April

  Reliance profit falls in eight months to highest

    Mumbai / Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd., which reported the highest quarterly profit in more than eight years on Friday, fell to the lowest in more than a month on concerns over cost-overruns and delays in projects. The shares declined as much as 2.6 percent to 1,012.30 rupees, the lowest since mid-March, and traded at 1,015 rupees as of 2:31 ...

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• 25 April

  Philip Morris pleads not guilty to tax dodge

  

    Bangkok / AFP Tobacco giant Philip Morris on Monday pleaded not guilty to dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in import tax to Thailand, a crime carrying a massive fine of up to $2.27 billion. Thai prosecutors accuse the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, of evading some 20 billion baht ($568 million) ...

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• 25 April

  Singapore consumer prices decline in record slump

  

    Singapore / Bloomberg Singapore’s consumer prices fell for a 17th consecutive month in March, the longest period of decline on record, reflecting the impact of lower oil costs and a weakening economy. Consumer prices dropped 1 percent from a year earlier as transport and housing costs fell further, the statistics agency said in a statement on Monday. That compares ...

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• 25 April

  Obama calls for strong, united Europe

  

    Hanover / AFP US President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for European unity in the face of rising populism and scepticismon Monday, warning this was a “defining moment” for the continent. “A strong and united Europe is a necessity for the world,” Obama said in the German city of Hanover, in a landmark speech that carried the tone ...

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• 25 April

  Bomb-hit Brussels subway station reopens a month on

    BRUSSELS / ap The Brussels subway station where 16 people were killed by a suicide bomber has reopened just over a month after the attacks. Security remains high across the underground network, which was hit during the March 22 peak morning travel period. The opening of the Maelbeek station early Monday brought the Belgian capital’s underground network back up ...

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• 25 April

  Poland’s ex-leaders: New govt is demolishing democracy

    Warsaw / AFP Three former Polish presidents and other prominent former leaders are accusing the right-wing government of demolishing the country’s democracy and its international standing. They are also urging lawmakers to disregard what they call the “draconian” new legislation the government is proposing. The appeal on Monday on the front page of the GazetaWyborcza daily was signed by former ...

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• 25 April

  NATO 3 months from Libya coast mission

  

    Rome / AFP NATO is three months away from launching patrols off Libya as part of a plan to stop migrants arriving in Italy, Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview published on Monday. Pinotti told daily La Stampa that Rome was expecting its allies to approve the plan at a summit of NATO leaders in Warsaw ...

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