April, 2016

• 9 April

  Darfur votes in referendum shunned by rebels

  

  Sudan / AFP Sudan’s conflict-hit Darfur region starts voting on Monday on whether to unify its five states, a long-standing demand of rebels seeking greater autonomy, but ongoing instability means insurgents are boycotting the referendum. The three-day vote is expected to maintain the five-state system, which President Omar Al Bashir’s ruling party says is more efficient but which observers say ...

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• 9 April

  Fast trains boost London fringe homes by 29% before tracks open

  

  Bloomberg Home prices are surging in London’s outer districts as improvements to rail networks and lower prices lure Londoners further out of the expensive city center. Home values in West Ealing, where the commute time to London Liverpool Street will fall by half when a Crossrail train station opens in 2019, climbed 29 percent in the 12 months through February, ...

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• 9 April

  Investors approve Marriott’s $12.4bn Starwood takeover

  

  Bloomberg Marriott International Inc.’s $12.4 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. was approved by shareholders of both companies, cementing a deal to create the world’s largest hotel operator following a tumultuous bidding war. Holders of more than 97 percent of Marriott shares voting at a company meeting, representing more than 79 percent of outstanding shares, voted in favor ...

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• 9 April

  Spanish social housing sale to Blackstone flawed, auditor finds

  

  MADRID / Reuters The sale of hundreds of subsidised flats by Madrid’s former city council to private equity investors such as Blackstone was riddled with flaws, a preliminary report from a local auditing body said. The 2013 sale has long been a target of public anger in Spain at a time when the economy is still recovering from a deep ...

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• 9 April

  Consumer borrowing in USA increases

  

  Bloomberg American household borrowing climbed more than forecast in February from a month earlier, led by financing for automobiles and college education. The $17.2 billion increase followed a $14.9 billion gain in the prior month that was larger than previously estimated, Federal Reserve figures showed on Friday. Non-revolving credit, which includes student and automobile loans, rose while revolving credit, which ...

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• 9 April

  Prime Vancouver land sold to aboriginal groups for $369.7 mn

  

  VANCOUVER / Reuters British Columbia said it had reached a C$480 million ($369.7 million) deal to sell a large swath of land on Vancouver’s exclusive west side to three local aboriginal groups, opening up the property for potential redevelopment. The deal, which includes two parcels totaling a combined 38.8 acres (15.7 hectares), will give the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations ...

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• 9 April

  Jafza sees 8% growth in firms

  

  Dubai /EMIRATES BUSINESS Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the flagship freezone entity of Dubai and the trade and logistics hub for the wider Middle East region, has achieved strong performance in terms of the quality of investments and the number of new companies registered in 2015. HE Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World and Chairman of ...

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• 9 April

  Etihad Rail transports over 5mn tonnes of granulated sulphur in 18 months

  

  WAM Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s US$11 billion national railway network, has announced that it has transported more than 5.24 million tonnes of granulated sulphur in the first 18 months of Stage One operations for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), from sources at Shah and Habshan to its point of export at Ruwais. Equivalent to ...

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• 9 April

  Optical company rolls out free insurance for kids

  OUR CORRESPONDENT / EMIRATES BUSINESS The UAE-based eyewear company is the first in the optical market to offer free insurance to children with addition to test at home facility. Specsaddict.com aims to provide the UAE customers with new and innovative services, which also makes them the pioneer in using MIT technology for eye testing. Considering the complications related to the children ...

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• 9 April

  Banks Federation holds ordinary AGM

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The UAE Banks Federation, a professional body representing 49 member banks operating in the UAE, held its Ordinary Annual General Assembly Meeting at the Head Office of the Commercial Bank of Dubai. The meeting, chaired by HE AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation, was attended by Federation Board members and representatives of ...

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