Dubai / Emirates Business Gulf Craft impressed crowds at the Dubai International Boat Show with the global unveiling of its latest innovations, including two luxury superyachts in its Majesty Yachts brand, and an oceangoing yacht from the Nomad Yachts series. The debuts were part of the Emirates-based shipyard’s impressive display of 14 bespoke yachts and boats – valued at approximately ...
Read More »Global cafés chain opens at Abu Dhabi Int’l Airport
Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi International Airport and Costa Coffee hosted a ceremony to inaugurate the global coffee chain’s 134th store in the UAE. The UK-based coffeehouse is the latest commercial food and beverage offering at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Daniel Cappell, Abu Dhabi Airports Acting Chief Commercial Officer, joined Costa Coffee UAE’s General Manager, Eric Hughes, and ...
Read More »Survey shows MENA goes tech during Ramdan
Dubai / Emirates Business Facebook in the Middle East and North Africa announced on Tuesday key insights from a research that shows how consumers in MENA are making decisions during the Ramadan period, with mobile technology playing a key role. Like many things in our lives, Ramadan has been hugely influenced by the rise of new technology – especially mobile ...
Read More »Chevron may weigh sale of Asian geothermal assets
Bloomberg Chevron Corp. is considering a sale of its geothermal assets in Asia as it seeks to counter a slump in energy markets, according to people familiar with the matter. The operations could fetch as much as $3 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the deliberations are private. Chevron, the largest USA oil ...
Read More »German unemployment at record low in February
Frankfurt / AFP German unemployment remained at current historic lows in February despite a massive influx of refugees, as the recovery in Europe’s biggest economy remains on track, data showed on Tuesday. The unemployment rate — which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole — stood at 6.2 percent in February, unchanged from January. In numerical ...
Read More »Pound in best run in 2016 amid ‘Leave EU’ trades
Bloomberg The pound jumped for a fourth day versus the euro, its longest run of gains since November, as investors questioned the extent of declines driven by concern over a possible British exit from the European Union. Sterling rose for a second day against the dollar. While Markit Economics said U.K. manufacturing expanded last month at the slowest pace in ...
Read More »Greek creditors to resume reforms audit by Mar 10
Athens / AFP Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday that an EU-IMF audit of the debt-laden country’s reforms would likely resume by March 10, hinting that the process was being delayed by divisions among the creditors. “My estimate is that (senior creditor representatives will) return in the first ten days of March,†Tsipras said in a televised interview. ...
Read More »Euro-area factories cut prices at fastest pace since 2013
Bloomberg Euro-area factories cut prices at the fastest pace in almost three years in February, compounding an already worrisome inflation environment for the ECB. Markit Economics said the price gauge of its manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell further below the key 50 level, dropping to the lowest since June 2013. All countries bar one in its monthly survey reported falling ...
Read More »Norway seeks to piggyback on ‘Brexit’ deal to escape EU’s grip
OSLO / Bloomberg As the U.K. agonizes over whether to stay or leave, Norway is eyeing its own way of distancing itself from the EU. The thing is, the Nordic nation isn’t part of the club to begin with. The case illustrates how hard it will be for the U.K. to escape the bloc’s influence even if it decides to ...
Read More »Syria’s Aleppo gets taste of peace but thirsts for water
Aleppo / AFP A landmark ceasefire has lifted the burden of daily rocket attacks and bomb blasts in Syria’s second city Aleppo—but not its residents’ profound thirst. Citizens on both sides of the fault line dividing Aleppo between regime and rebel forces are suffering from their longest water shortage yet in the nearly five-year war. “The general situation in the ...
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