February, 2017

• 6 February

  Dubai Culture unveils cultural tour guide programme

    DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, announced the launch of its Cultural Tour Guide programme in partnership with Yas Consulting and Training Company. The announcement follows success with the first group of 11 employees trained in the initiative, who were drawn from across the Authority’s …

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• 6 February

  Vodafone-Idea India merger may give rival brands cheap spectrum

  

    Bloomberg A merger under discussion between Vodafone Group Plc.’s India unit and Idea Cellular Ltd. would create a new leader in one of the world’s most competitive mobile-phone markets. For rivals, there’s a silver lining: bandwidth on the cheap. That’s because a transaction may compel the carriers to shed some spectrum and subscribers to ensure regulatory approval under India’s …

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• 6 February

  Indonesia’s economic grows lesser than forecast on spending cut

  

    Bloomberg Indonesia’s economy expanded less than forecast in the fourth quarter as government spending was curbed by a legal cap on the fiscal deficit. Gross domestic product rose 4.94 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Jakarta on Monday. Median estimate of economists was for 5 percent growth GDP declined 1.77 percent …

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• 6 February

  Japan workers get wage hike first time in five years

  

    Bloomberg The wallets of Japan’s workers ended up a bit fatter, with total earnings rising the most since 2010. Total pay rose 0.5 percent from the previous year to an average 3.78 million yen ($33,673), while the number of hours worked dropped. Regular workers saw an increase in pay, while part-timers, who are an increasingly large sector of the …

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• 6 February

  Toyota profit falls 23% on lower sales

    TOKYO / AP Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday that its profit fell 23 percent in the October-December quarter from a year earlier as its sales fell and a stronger yen squeezed its overseas earnings. The company, which recently relinquished the crown of world’s biggest automaker to German rival Volkswagen, reported its fiscal third quarter profit was 486.5 billion …

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• 6 February

  Where Justice Antonin Scalia was wrong…

  

    With an asperity born of exasperation, Justice Antonin Scalia once wrote, “If you want aspirations, you can read the Declaration of Independence,” but “there is no such philosophizing in our Constitution,” which is “a practical and pragmatic charter of government.” Scalia was wrong, and much depends on Neil Gorsuch not resembling Scalia in this regard. Gorsuch can endorse Scalia’s …

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• 6 February

  Singapore is wrestling with corporate life support

  

    The going-concern issue is becoming a problem in Singapore. Ezra Holdings Ltd., an oil-services company, was the latest to indicate it faces debt hurdles that require a restructuring. Under Singapore law, as in the US, that could mean a stay on interest payments until creditors and shareholders agree on a balance sheet that allows the company to keep operating …

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• 6 February

  How to defeat Le Pen

  

    Marine Le Pen could be France’s next president. Sure, her lead in some polls exaggerates her strength before the field narrows to two candidates — but voters’ discontent with normal politics isn’t subsiding. Failing to take the anti-immigrant, populist insurgent seriously would be a huge mistake. For France’s sake, and Europe’s, Le Pen must be defeated. Her party’s blend …

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• 6 February

  Overturning ‘travel ban ruling’ will deepen confusion

    Trump administration is pulling out all the stops in its efforts to get the US President’s ban on travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries and on all refugees reinstated. On Sunday, a federal appeals court denied the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of Trump’s ban. The detention of dozens and the return of others to their departure points …

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• 6 February

  Don’t discount a center-left comeback in Europe

  

    The right-wing, nationalist resurgence in Europe is now a cliche. It is, however, not inconceivable that a successful backlash is developing in some countries before the nationalists had a chance to take over. It’s too early to draw any conclusions, but in the European Union’s two biggest economies — Germany and France (the UK should no longer count) — …

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