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Bloomberg France won’t back off from its planned tax on companies like Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google even after the US suggested it may use trade tools against the levy. The French Senate passed a bill to impose a 3 percent tax on global tech companies with at least 750 million euros ($845 million) in worldwide revenue and digital ...

Bloomberg New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state transit agency must rid city subways of a growing homeless population. In a letter sent to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) board of directors, Cuomo said they should confront the issue as part of a reorganisation plan the state legislature required last month. The MTA and the city police department have ...

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s “Love Bug” has been squashed by the SUV boom. The German automaker marked the end of production of the iconic Beetle at its plant in Puebla, Mexico, and wasted no time talking about what will take its place: a compact sport utility vehicle. It’ll be a beefed-up version of a model sold in China called Tharu and ...

Bloomberg The UK is in talks with the US and other allies about beefing up their military presence in the Persian Gulf to deal with the rising threat to shipping posed by Iran. Britain raised the threat level to 3 — the highest possible — for ships operating in the Gulf, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has achieved considerable success over the past three years, enabling it to attain a leading international stature in the global commodities sector. The value of gold and commodities traded by the DGCX, which is unique in the Middle East, rose to around AED4.85 trillion ($1.32 trillion), according to statistics ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation, stated that the great developments witnessed by the telecommunications and digital sector in the UAE is a key driver for innovation and contributes to advancements in government services. This came during a meeting held at the Dubai Future ...

Dubai / Emirates Business A survey of UAE investors and residents show that the recently implemented UAE Permanent Residency Scheme has created a positive sentiment in the investment community. A random survey of 1,012 respondents indicate that existing investors have more appetite to increase their portfolio, while would-be investors are now more open to start investing. Seventy-nine per cent of ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is continuing to prioritise the ease of doing business with the introduction of new licencing categories and fees designed to make establishing businesses within the Centre easier and more affordable. Four new licencing categories were introduced as part of the new Operating Law and Regulations, including Short-term and Restricted Licences, Comme- rcial ...

Bloomberg Meicai, a Chinese startup that connects vegetable farmers with restaurants, is seeking at least $500 million in funding to try and grab a larger slice of a fragmented food sourcing market, people familiar with the matter said. The company is looking to achieve a valuation of between $10 billion and $12 billion, one of the people said. The figures ...

Bloomberg The US said it would grant licenses allowing companies to export goods to Huawei Technologies Co but won’t remove the Chinese technology giant from an export blacklist, as talks between the world’s two biggest economies resumed. The Department of Commerce will “issue licenses where there is no threat to US national security,” though Huawei will continue to face export ...