Masonry Layout

  New Delhi / Bloomberg India’s finance minister has ratified a decision that Apple Inc. must meet local sourcing rules to open its own stores, according to people familiar with the matter, dealing what may be a fatal blow to the iPhone maker’s effort to open retail outlets in the country. Minister Arun Jaitley decided to support the decision by ...

  Kuwait City / AFP The UN envoy said on Wednesday that Yemen’s warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he headed to New York to brief the Security Council. “We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement. “The discussions ...

  Los Angeles / AFP Protesters opposed to Donald Trump hurled rocks and bottles outside a rally he spoke at in New Mexico, the same day the bombastic billionaire won the Republican presidential primary in Washington state. The victory brings Trump, the last Republican standing in the 2016 US presidential race, one major step closer toward clinching his party’s nomination. ...

  Ise-Shima / AFP US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima. Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global ...

  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business Weakening consumer sentiments and dwindling markets have started taking a toll on various trades in the Middle East region. The mobile phone industry is also experiencing much of the heat, with a recent survey report citing that shipments of phones have declined by over 10 percent during the first quarter of 2016, compared with ...

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business If you thought that it is just data and money that is at stake during cyber-attacks, think again. In UAE, cyber-crimes expose not only the vulnerability of the company’s security system, but also shake the customers’ confidence and trust. A UAE-centric survey recently reported that companies might lose substantial number of their customers after ...

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business Going beyond its regular ‘sun-sand-shopping’ image, UAE is making considerable strides towards eco-tourism and making it a vital part of the buoyant UAE hospitability sector along with the financial diversification. According to World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts, the UAE’s tourism sector is expected to experience annual real growth of about 6.5 percent till 2021, ...

  Brussels / AFP Eurozone ministers reached a vital deal with Greece on Wednesday to unlock bailout cash and start tackling the country’s debt mountain as demanded by the IMF, but analysts warned details are sketchy, spelling trouble further down the road. The agreement unlocks €10.3 billion ($12 billion) in bailout cash that Greece urgently needs to repay big loans to ...

  London / AFP Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday said it was cutting at least another 2,200 jobs owing to low oil prices and following its takeover of smaller rival BG Group. “Shell staff have today been informed about the progress being made on integrating BG into the company, and on further measures that are necessary to ensure ...

  Bloomberg Chinese officials plan to ask their American counterparts in annual talks next month about the chance of a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in June, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese delegation will try to deduce whether a June or a July rate rise is more likely, as their nation’s policy makers prepare for the potential ...