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RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business Market disruption in financial sectors, branch transformation,enhanced user experience and digitalisation of banking services are some of the main challenges haunting Middle East retail bankers. One of the key questions that remains unanswered about next generation of bank consumers in the region is — will it be mobile, online or branches? This and many other ...

Iraq / AP Fighting between Iraqi forces and militants affiliated with the IS group close to Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, has displaced over 2,000 people in the past week. On one recent night, around a hundred people arrived on the outskirts of the town of Makhmour, in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, having fled violence. The journey ended in ...

RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business If you think of socialising in UAE, a nearby mall would be the first option to come to your mind. Malls are not just places of shopping in UAE, they are rather the lifeline of the country and imagining a life without access to malls is nearly impossible. Over the years, many factors have led ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan’s government will escape a piece of bad news until after a summer election. The $1.3 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund will on July 29 announce what may be its worst annual loss since the global financial crisis — about three weeks later than usual and after an upper house poll that must be held before July ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi, long an opponent of global retail giants, is finally giving them an opening in India. Modi’s government is finalizing details of a policy to allow 100 percent foreign investment in marketing of food made in India. Companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA will be allowed to set up shops as ...

Bloomberg International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she intends to negotiate “in good faith” with the Greek government, signaling that recent animosity over the latest review of the country’s aid program will blow over. “We continue to be focused on addressing the Greek situation,” Lagarde said in an interview in Frankfurt on Tuesday with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua. ...

Bloomberg Hedge funds holding debt in Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank sued to stop the island’s key fiscal entity from making payments to local government agencies as it faces a growing cash shortage and the prospect of insolvency. The funds, which include affiliates of Brigade Capital Management, Claren Road Asset Management and Solus Alternative Asset Management, accused the bank in ...

Vienna / AFP Talks to end the worst violence in decades in the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh kicked off in Vienna on Tuesday. The meeting gathered Russia, the United States and France in the so-called Minsk Group, spearheading attempts to end a low-key conflict that revived bloodily and dangerously last Friday. Analysts say the crisis could set a spark ...

Yangon / AFP Myanmar foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi met her Chinese counterpart in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, an official said, as relations with Beijing take centre stage in the first diplomatic foray of her newly installed pro-democracy government. The Southeast Asian nation sees its giant neighbour—and largest trading partner—as its biggest foreign policy preoccupation with border wars and controversial ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, led a high-level delegation visit to the headquarters of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) to gain first-hand updates on the UAE’s efforts in driving cloud seeding operations managed by NCMS. Dr. Abdullah Al Mandoos, Director of NCMS, welcomed the delegation. Omar Al Yazidi, ...