• HSBC calls for vetoing split proposal

    HSBC's largest stakeholder Ping An says the split will improve business.
  • Car sales vault in Europe, cross 1 million mark first time since 2021

    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...
  • US raid in Syria targets senior IS leader: Centcom

    Beirut, Lebanon--A US helicopter raid on Monday targeted a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, US Central Command said. "US Central Command forces conducted a unilateral helicopter raid in northern Syria in the early morning... targeting a senior ISIS Syria...
  • Saudi Arabia and Netherlands discuss export of clean hydrogen to Europe

    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...
  • Europe’s largest nuclear reactor begins operation in Finland

    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.
  • Medical tourists spent $270m in Dubai during 2022: DHA

    Awadh Seghayer Al Ketbi, Director-General of the DHA, said Dubai’s ability to provide high-quality patient-centered medical care has accelerated its growth as an Arab, regional and international healthcare destination.
  • Tunisia recovers 14 more migrant bodies after shipwreck

    Tunisia has recovered 14 bodies of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in the Mediterranean, bringing to 24 the number of dead after their boat headed for Europe sank, the coastguard said. The spokesman for the National Guard announced that 41 Tunisian migrants, including five women and nine children, had been "rescued"...
  • Dubai sees heavy influx of medical tourists in 2022, spending US$270m

    DUBAI, UAEI--Dubai saw remarkable growth in medical tourism in 2022 with 674,000 medical tourists spending $270 million in the year. According to a report issued by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), 39% percent of the medical tourists who came to Dubai were from Asian countries, 22% from Europe and the...
  • Tunisia intercepts over 14,000 migrants in January to March 2023

    TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's coastguard said Friday it had intercepted over 14,000 migrants trying to reach Europe from January to March, more than five times the number of those who attempted the trip in the first quarter of 2022. "Coast guard patrols prevent 501 clandestine attempts to cross the maritime border...
  • This March sets a temperature record for second-warmest month ever

    Paris, France--Earth had its second-warmest March on record with Antarctic sea ice shrinking to its second-lowest extent, the EU's climate monitoring agency said on Thursday. "The month was jointly the second warmest March globally," said a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The report is based on computer-generated analyses...
  • EU parliament adopts tough rules to tackle gender pay gap

    Women earn on average nearly 13 percent less per hour than men for the same work in the 27-nation European Union, according to official data for 2020. Under the new rules, workers can demand to know individual and average pay levels, broken down by gender, in their workplace.
  • SES seeks merger with Intelsat

    The tie-up would lead to the creation of a $10 billion plus group.
  • Scotland’s first Muslim leader’s rise underlines ‘new norm’ in UK

    The newly-elected head of the Scottish National Party (SNP) joins the growing ranks of leaders from Britain's old imperial possessions who are remaking the face of UK politics. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is the Hindu son of parents whose familial roots lie in India.
  • Tunisia appeals to Europe for ‘more understanding’

    Calling for "constructive discourse" from the European Union after many leaders warned the country is facing a crisis that could impact the 27-member bloc, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar said that he had invited the European side to "show more understanding of this particular phase through which our country is...
  • Criminals set to use ChatGPT for fraud, other cybercrimes: Europol

    Created by US startup OpenAI, ChatGPT appeared in November and was quickly seized upon by users amazed at its ability to answer difficult questions clearly, write sonnets or code, and even pass exams. "The potential exploitation of these types of AI systems by criminals provides a grim outlook," The Hague-based...
  • Algeria dismantles Syria-Europe international trafficking network

    In a crackdown on organized crime, Algeria has dismantled an international network specializing in trafficking people through Algeria to Europe, according to local media reports. The agency tasked with fighting crime arrested nine Syrians and six Algerians suspected of belonging to the group which trafficked Syrians and Lebanese.
  • Gas price in Europe slips below US$43 for first time since 2021

    LONDON, UK- Europe's natural gas price slid Monday below US$43 for the first time in more than a year and a half, dampened by mild weather and high storage levels. In morning London deals, the price of benchmark Dutch TTF gas hit $42.5 per megawatt hour - last seen in July...
  • EU unveils plans to scale up net-zero technology

    BRUSSELS, BELGIUM- The European Commission proposed the Net-Zero Industry Act to scale up manufacturing of clean technologies in the EU and make sure the Union is well-equipped for the clean-energy transition, local media reports said. This initiative was announced by President Ursula von der Leyen as a part of the...
  • Iran-US nuclear talks dead for now, says acclaimed scholar

    The degree of anger and sympathy for the protesters, particularly among the American and European public, makes it near impossible to reach a nuclear deal, believes Vali Reza Nasr.
  • Lebanon’s central bank chief snubs European investigators’ team

    Salameh had been summoned to appear at Beirut's justice palace on Wednesday morning but objected to the session and instead sent a legal representative, the judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
  • ‘US role in Middle East is stabilizing but diminishing’

    The world is facing a new environment where powerful global leaders and corporate leaders are creating uncertainty and risk, Eurasia Group chief Ian Bremmer tells TRENDS.
  • Credit Suisse shares down

    The bank has lost 81% of its value since Greensill bankruptcy.
  • Europe warned industry will flee unless energy prices lowered

    Brussels, Belgium - The European Union must urgently lower energy prices and ease regulations to stop industry fleeing the continent, European businesses said on Monday, as Brussels prepares plans to stimulate the green economy. The European Union is racing to make Europe more attractive for the companies that could be tempted...
  • VW to cut e-car prices

    The price drop is seen as a direct response to cuts by Tesla.
  • Tunisian coast guard rescues 1,008 Africans headed for Europe

    Tunis, Tunisia--More than 1,000 Africans trying to reach Europe have been rescued in a single night off Tunisia, the coast guard said Friday, after a wave of violence against black migrants. Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials in the North African country to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration,...
  • Judge to quiz Lebanese central bank head in embezzlement case

    Lebanon opened its probe following a request for assistance from Switzerland's public prosecutor probing more than $300 million in fund movements by Riad Salameh and his brother. Last month, Swiss media reported that 12 banks in the European country had received a large part of the money Salameh is alleged...
  • Norway earns record oil, gas revenue after Ukraine war prices rise

    Norway earned 1.5 trillion kroner ($140 billion) in revenues from oil and gas, according to estimates by Statistics Norway (SSB). It was "by far the highest ever recorded in the statistics" and almost three times the 498 billion kroner earned in 2021, according to SSB.
  • European Commission bars TikTok use by staff over data protection

    The ban also means European Commission staff cannot use the Chinese-owned video-sharing app on personal devices including phones that have official apps installed, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by news website Euractiv.
  • Etihad Airways to run three Abu Dhabi-Lisbon flights a week

    Abu Dhabi, UAE - Etihad Airways is introducing a new direct service between Abu Dhabi and Lisbon, effective from 2nd July 2023. The airline will be connecting Abu Dhabi to Portugal’s capital city right in time for the summer holidays, with three weekly flights scheduled to be operated on Tuesdays,...
  • European Union leaders offer ‘full solidarity’, aid to Erdogan

    Brussels, Belgium--The 27 EU leaders wrote to their Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday to express their "full solidarity" and offer more emergency aid after a devastating earthquake. "We stand ready to further step up our support in close coordination with the Turkish authorities. Our thoughts will continue...
  • Equinor posts record profit

    Output slipped by 2% to 2.04 million barrels per day of oil equivalent.
  • Europe in crossfire of US-China economic rivalry

    The United States has adopted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which contains $370 billion in sweeping investments, subsidies and tax cuts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest-ever US programme to combat climate change. But some of its provisions have been criticised by European Union officials as discriminatory...
  • Turkey comes out with retaliatory travel alert for US, EU

    Ankara has been most recently outraged by anti-Islamic protests by a far-right extremist who was allowed to burn the Koran outside the Turkish embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen.
  • Europe extends sanctions against Russia for six more months

    They have been routinely extended for six-month periods over the past eight years. The EU has imposed nine rounds of sanctions on Moscow since it launched a major cross-border offensive last year. Some eastern European nations had sought to extend the sanctions by one year this time.
  • US sues Google over dominance of online ad market

    In this latest suit, prosecutors took aim at Google's extremely profitable advertising business, asking that it be broken up to level the playing field for other companies. Google's ad dealings generated more than $200 billion in sales in 2021 and is parent company Alphabet's biggest moneymaker by a wide margin.
  • Investigators from Europe to quiz Lebanon central bank chief

    Continuing with their probe into Lebanon's money laundering and embezzlement, investigators from Europe will question Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh next month as part of a probe into his and his brother's affairs, according to a judicial official. Both Salameh and his brother Raja deny any wrongdoing.
  • Auto sales in Europe drop to a three-decade low in 2022

    Paris, France--New vehicle registrations in Europe dropped to their lowest level since 1993 last year as component shortages continued to hinder automakers, an industry group reported Wednesday. Despite an uptick in sales since August, the overall number of EU registrations fell 4.6 percent to 9.3 million, a level last seen three...
  • Global recession likely in 2023, say WEF chief economists

    Almost two-thirds of chief economists believe a global recession is likely in 2023, with 18 percent of them considering it extremely likely – more than twice as many as in the previous survey conducted in September 2022. A third of respondents consider a global recession to be unlikely this year.
  • Middle Eastern SWFs eye Europe, US for cheap assets

    The region's SWFs more than doubled their investments in Western economies to $51.6 billion in 2022 from $21.8 billion a year earlier, says the latest Global SWF report.
  • Europe will return to Russian gas, says Qatar energy minister

    ABU DHABI, UAE - European countries will eventually resume higher imports of Russian gas, Qatar's energy minister and gas company CEO predicted on Saturday, warning that market volatility could last for years. Russian gas exports to Europe plunged after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, head of QatarEnergy,...
  • Europe looks at GCC for LNG supplies amidst crisis

    The year 2022 witnessed several deals involving Gulf nations and leading natural gas consumer countries that seek to secure their LNG supplies in both near and distant future.
  • Record cocaine seizures in Antwerp as Belgium battles drug gangs

    The annual figure was released one day after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a gun attack on an Antwerp home that the city's mayor dubbed the latest outrage in an ongoing "drug war". Belgium's main container terminal is now considered the main gateway for illegal drugs into Europe,...
  • Stocks mostly drop as traders track China, US rates

    Major stock markets mostly dropped as warnings that US interest rates would continue to rise and remain elevated offset growing optimism over China's economic reopening after Covid lockdowns. Equities enjoyed a strong start to the new year thanks largely to Beijing's decision to throw off the shackles of its strict...
  • European wages to increase at ‘very strong’ rate, says ECB

    "Robust labour markets" alongside "increases in national minimum wages" and "trade unions demand(ing) higher wage increases" are also set to place upward pressure on wages.
  • Climate change leads to warm winter for Europe

    After experiencing searing summer heat and a drought unprecedented in centuries, a wave of warm weather across Europe this winter has melted the snow from ski slopes in the Alps and Pyrenees, and seen temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) even in normally-freezing central regions.
  • Amazon CEO says 18,000 jobs to be cut from workforce

    Washington, United States--Amazon announced Wednesday it will cut more than 18,000 jobs from its workforce, citing "the uncertain economy" and the fact that the online retail giant had "hired rapidly" during the pandemic. "Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we're sharing today, we plan to eliminate just...
  • Germany uses more renewable energy, still falls short of CO2 goal

    The setback comes despite a record 4.7 percent drop in energy consumption last year, partly in response to soaring fuel prices because of the war in Ukraine. But the energy saving gains were wiped out by the government's decision to burn more coal and oil to make up for the...
  • European gas prices fall to lowest level since record high in 2022

    A mild winter has enabled countries to tap less gas from stocks that were built up in anticipation of cuts in supplies from Russia, which was Europe's main supplier before the war.
  • Investigators from Europe to visit Lebanon in central bank chief probe

    A team of investigators from Europe will visit Lebanon next month to probe into the wealth of central bank governor Riad Salameh blamed widely for the country's unprecedented crisis. The long-serving chief is among top officials held responsible for the crisis dubbed as one of the worst in modern global...
  • Kuwait exports first shipment of quality diesel to shortage-hit Europe

    Kuwait City, Kuwait-- Kuwait National Petroleum Company has exported the first shipment of the advanced diesel fuel to the European markets in light of the severe shortage of energy sector in the continent. Kuwaiti media reports said the company shipped 66,000 tons, and the shipment was produced with special specifications...