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Bloomberg President Joe Biden announced measures to increase the number of federal contracts awarded to small, disadvantaged businesses. He also said he had directed his administration to more aggressively prevent discrimination in home appraisals, a detriment for wealth accumulation for Black families. Last week, Biden reiterated calls for Congress to overhaul US policing as he met with the family of ...

Bloomberg The French government will use algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify small firms at risk of collapse in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and provide as much as $3.7 billion to protect them. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire presented the new measures as part of a plan that also includes an extension of crisis lending facilities to the ...

Bloomberg European Union (EU) officials struck a deal to crack down on international companies’ efforts to dodge taxes by requiring greater disclosure, as a coordinated push by governments to take a bigger slice of corporate revenue gathers pace. Negotiators representing the European Parliament and EU governments agreed to a package forcing companies with a total revenue exceeding $917 million in ...

Bloomberg Euro-area factories are struggling to keep up with the economic recovery as orders rise faster than production, setting the bloc up for a summer spike in inflation. Delivery delays for raw materials and components are constraining output growth, leaving companies unable to meet rising demand, according to a survey by IHS Markit. While purchasing activity rose at the fastest ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE was ranked among the top 20 countries in the world during the year 2020 in five indices related to the competitiveness of the tourism sector in the country according to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC). The country’s achievements in the tourism sector included the indexes in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Airports and Masdar announced the completion of Abu Dhabi’s largest solar-powered car park, which will save 5,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The three-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) project is installed on the car shading at the short-term car park of the Midfield Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport, with 7,542 solar panels ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM On behalf of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) and President of the Regional Association II (Asia), on Tuesday launched NCM’s new electronic services. Dr Abdulla Al Mandous said, “Owing to the unwavering support of ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (Adafsa) issued a charter to introduce relevant stakeholders within its business to artificial intelligence (AI) principles and ethics. The charter is made up of four guiding principles to enable the ethical use of AI in Adafsa responsibly and without discrimination. Adafsa is one of the Abu Dhabi’s first ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced that the work progress at Hatta hydroelectric power plant has reached 23 percent. The plant production capacity is set to reach 250 megawatts (MW) with a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt hours and a lifespan of 80 years. The plant, which is the first of its kind in the Gulf ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s government approved a set of economic stimulus measures worth 140 billion baht ($4.5 billion) to counter the impact from the nation’s biggest coronavirus outbreak yet. The measures — which include cash handouts to welfare-card holders and special groups, co-payments and cash rebates — are expected to be implemented from July, Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman, said on Tuesday. ...