The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s plans to bolster its finances are taking on a new sense of urgency as lower oil prices put the economy under more strain than at any other time in the past decade. In recent weeks, the kingdom raised a $10 billion loan, clamped down on currency speculators and informed banks of plans to raise as much ...

  Beijing / AFP US envoys pressed China on Monday to cut excess steel production that is flooding global markets and to reach a diplomatic settlement to territorial disputes in the South China Sea as the two sides opened a high-level dialogue. The annual meeting of Cabinet-level foreign affairs, trade and other officials from both sides is meant to head off ...

  WASHINGTON / Tribune News Service The US government wants its students to know more about India—from its ancient trade history to the present day start-up ecosystem as the country’s growth story may have “far-reaching implications” on the “life and career” of the young Americans. The US State Department, in collaboration with the Ohio State University, launched a six-week online ...

  Sydney / Bloomberg Australian opposition Labor party pledged a A$3 billion ($2.2 billion) childcare package during an election campaign and said it plans to allow parents to claim more rebates regardless of their income if it won the polls. The policy would start January if the party is victorious in next month’s election and entails a 15 percent increase ...

  Shanghai / Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd., Asia’s biggest Internet company, is increasing the size of a syndicated loan to $4.4 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The operator of the WeChat and QQ instant message systems now has commitments from 25 lenders to the facility, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the details ...

Kuala Lumpur / AFP An unspecified number of passengers and crew were injured when a Malaysia Airlines flight from London to Kuala Lumpur was hit by severe turbulence, the carrier said, as photos emerged showing a cabin strewn with debris and upended meal carts. The trouble-prone national flag carrier, which is still trying to shake the stigma of the double ...

  Beijing / AFP President Xi Jinping said China and the US needed to trust each other more as both sides sought to minimise tensions over the South China Sea at the opening on Monday of key annual talks in Beijing. China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea despite competing claims by several Southeast Asian neighbours, and has ...

  Nairobi / AFP A Burundian journalist was arrested over the weekend and handed over to the dreaded secret service, witnesses and his colleagues said on Monday, expressing fears over his well-being. Egide Ndayisenga from Bonisha FM, a leading radio station, was arrested on Sunday morning in the northwestern city of Cibitoke, a witness said. “He was visiting friends,” the ...

  ANKARA / AP A bus carrying schoolchildren, teachers and parents has plunged into an irrigation canal in southern Turkey, killing 14 people — six of them children, officials and reports said on Monday. Twenty-six other people were injured in the accident which occurred late Sunday as the bus was returning from a school trip to a national park and ...

  Halula / AFP US-backed fighters advanced to within five kilometres (three miles) of the IS group’s stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria, threatening a crucial extremist supply line. The assault by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) adds to the pressure on IS as it faces another offensive by Russian-backed regime troops in its bastion province of Raqa and in ...