STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - EU lawmakers this week adopted new laws boosting Europe's climate change fight, but a parallel drive to protect biodiversity in bills to be finalized before the end of next year looks to be on shakier ground. Negotiations between the European Commission, EU member states and the European Parliament...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday launched an initiative to help developing economies meet their climate change mitigation and adaptation goals through trade. The initiative Action on Climate and Trade (ACT) . which starts with...

The European Parliament approved the comprehensive rules to regulate the "Wild West" world of cryptocurrencies, hoping to protect investors against abuse and manipulation. EU member states have already backed the legislation covering cryptoassets, including cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum and other tradable tokens whose value is secured using blockchain...

48% of the bond went to central banks and official institutions.

Dubai, UAE -  Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has signed a collaboration agreement with Mastercard that aims to drive digital transformation through partnerships with innovative FinTech companies. The partnership between DIFC and Mastercard will provide FinTech...

Net financing and sukuk investments stood at $65.35bn.

HSBC's largest stakeholder Ping An says the split will improve business.

Dubai, UAE -- The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) Wednesday announced a new $100 million Culinary Investment Fund that will help introduce iconic brands to the UAE capital. DCT said in a statement that the fund will support building and establishing a Culinary School...

Firms will work together on nuclear, renewable energy.

The repurchase will be made through open market transactions.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY - More eurozone interest rate increases will be appropriate to tame high inflation if conditions remain as expected, the European Central Bank's chief economist said Wednesday. The ECB has hiked rates by 3.5 percentage points since July last year in an unprecedented campaign of monetary tightening to bring soaring...

Paris, France -- French supermarket giant Carrefour said on Wednesday it would allow female employees to take days off if they suffer from endometriosis, a medical condition that can cause excessive period cramps. The move is the latest to allow women extra time off in a country where paid menstrual leave...

Diaverum is world’s third-largest provider of dialysis services.

The streaming television giant reported a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, in line with expectations, but said it had delayed a broad crackdown on sharing of account passwords "to improve the experience for members." As growth at Netflix cooled last year, the Silicon Valley based streaming company focused on creating...

The bank's net profit vaulted to US$15mn in Q1, up 80%.

The emirate still remains at the top of the list of places to visit in the region because of the sheer diversity of products it has to offer and the infrastructure it has built.

Paris, France--Sales of new cars jumped last month in Europe, surpassing the level of one million for the first time since June 2021, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association published on Wednesday. New car registrations hit 1,087,939 in March, an increase of 28.8 percent from the same month...

Vienna, Austria - The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have signed a joint declaration to deepen their partnership in securing energy access and promoting energy transition. They also signed a US$1.5 million technical assistance grant agreement in support of...

The US airline posted a quarterly loss of US$194mn.

Baghdad, Iraq--Iraqi police arrested overnight almost 200 people in raids on illegal casinos where alcohol was served in defiance of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The raids targeted four locations in Baghdad where games of blackjack and roulette had been underway, ministry spokesman Saad Maan...

Speaking at a meeting in Florida, the controversial billionaire outlined new rules, first announced Monday, to limit the reach of tweets that do not conform to the platform's guidelines. Since purchasing the so-called bird app in a rollercoaster $44 billion deal last year, Musk has sharply reined in content moderation...

With the cash-strapped country mired in an unprecedented economic meltdown, Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday put off municipal elections scheduled for next month, according to official media. The country has for the second time postponed polls, after they were initially scheduled to take place last year. No new date has been...

The bank's shares dropped 3.7% to $327 in pre-market trading.

The new venture will be launched in 2024.

The bank said its total operating income grew by 5% in Q1.

Move after GSK demerged its consumer healthcare unit.

Firm announced that it would slash 8,500 jobs worldwide.

The company paid a total of $35.56m in dividends for 2022.

Tokyo, Japan--Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has signed two agreements with Japanese partners to strengthen the low-carbon hydrogen value chain between the UAE and Japan. The signing of the deal was witnessed by the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Al Jaber and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry NISHIMURA...

Beijing, China--China's economy grew much better than expected in the first three months of the year as the country reopened after the end of zero-Covid measures, official data showed Tuesday. The figures were the first snapshot since 2019 of the world's second-largest economy unencumbered by the strict health controls that helped...

Musk's founding of X.AI artificial intelligence corporation, a rival to OpenAI came several weeks before he joined experts in signing an open letter urging an overall hiatus in the development of AI technology. The signatories argued that the pause should be used to bolster regulation and ensure AI systems were...

Net profit reported by the companies jumped to a record high of US$ 273.3 billion in 2022,  compared to US$ 199.0 billion in 2021, according to a new report by Kamco Invest.

Dubai, UAE - Dubai's real estate market recorded real estate deals worth AED1.8 billion on Monday, Dubai Land Department said. The deals include 496 sales transactions worth AED1.67 billion ($450m) on Monday, in addition to 107 mortgage deals totaling AED169.05 million ($46m), and 13 gift deals amounting to AED32.08 million...

Dubai, UAE -- The Charitable Jood Eskan Subscription, Saudi Arabia's campaign for providing housing for low-income families, has entered the Guinness World Records for realizing the highest target for an electronic charitable campaign in one month. The campaign was launched by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saudi and Crown Prince...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Air France and plane manufacturer Airbus were acquitted Monday over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight after a French court ruled their errors could not be proven as the disaster's cause. While the ruling was expected after prosecutors recommended to the Paris court not to seek a...

The firm provides customized digitalization solutions.

The deal is worth more than $770 million, the companies said.

Dubai, UAE – Jordan’s tourism revenue increased by 88.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 to reach 1.18 billion Jordanian dinars ($1.66 billion) as nearly 1.5 million tourists visited the country. The Central Bank of Jordan said the tourism income during March grew by 49 percent year on year...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - G42, an Abu Dhabi-based AI technology holding group, and Mubadala Investment Company on Tuesday announced the launch of M42, a first-of-its-kind, tech-enabled, integrated healthcare company created through the coming together of G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health. M42 combines G42 Healthcare’s medical and data-centric technologies with Mubadala...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-- Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands have discussed the possibility of exporting clean hydrogen from the kingdom to Europe. In this regard, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra in Jeddah. The meeting also...

Doha, Qatar-- Inflation in Qatar rose by 4.01 percent year-on-year in March, because of a rise of prices across eight categories, according to data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority.   The Consumer Price Index of March 2023, which is a broad measure of inflation, reached 105.55 points, up by...

The Tesla tycoon bitterly denies that misinformation has surged since his turbulent $44 billion acquisition of the messaging platform, but experts say content moderation has been gutted after mass layoffs, while a paid verification system has served to boost conspiracy theorists.

The most powerful nuclear reactor in Europe, with a capacity of generating 1,600 megawatts, Olkiluoto 3 reached full power in late September for the first time since construction began in 2005.

Dubai, UAE -- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and its Shari’ah compliant digital banking subsidiary Al Hilal Bank have announced a partnership with Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) to bring digital UK banking to UAE nationals and residents through Nomo. Customers in the UAE can now open UK-based...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed S. Al-Sudani chaired a meeting focused on discussing the provisions of the federal budget bill submitted to the Parliament. The meeting was attended by Parliament Deputy Speaker Muhsin Al-Mandalawi, Parliament Deputy Speaker Shakhwan Abdullah and MPs of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, as well...

Prince Mohammed said the latest transfer will "solidify PIF's strong financial position". Authorities did not give a value for the latest shares, which have been moved from the world's biggest oil exporter to Sanabil Investments, a firm controlled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that is led by Crown Prince...

Dubai, UAE -- The UAE continues to be the second most important export destination for India, according to annual trade figures released by India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The US and the UAE retained the first and second places respectively in this category during the financial year 2022-23, the...

Brussels, Belgium--Depending on which side you're on, tech giant Microsoft is either the hero fighting to bring some of the most popular video games to more people, or the villain on the brink of killing competition in the sector. The Xbox-owner has embarked on a campaign to convince all three EU,...

A statement put out by G7 said the phase-out will be achieved by "promoting sustainable consumption and production of plastics, increasing their circularity in the economy, and environmentally sound management of waste". German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke hailed the bloc's new plastic pollution pledge as an "ambitious goal".

Major cloud service providers such as Microsoft, Tencent Cloud, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, and Alibaba Cloud are establishing local cloud regions.