TUNIS: Tunisia’s state phosphate firm CPG pays Abdel-Basset Klifhi a salary of $280 a month, even though he spends most days in his favorite cafe in the southern town of Metlaoui. He is one of 21,000 people taken on by the Companie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) since Tunisia’s autocrat president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali…
BEIRUT: Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbors that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the EU must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel — which it regards as an enemy country — over a sea area of about 860 sq. km extending…
BEIRUT: Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbors that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the EU must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel — which it regards as an enemy country — over a sea area of about 860 sq. km extending…
LONDON: A former Barclays executive told in-house lawyers he felt sick when he was told the bank could be challenged by criminal authorities over side deals with Qatar during a 2008 emergency fundraising, a London fraud trial heard on Wednesday.Richard Boath, in the dock at Southwark Crown Court with former Barclays CEO John Varley and…
LONDON: Britain wants offshore wind farms to provide one third of the country’s electricity by 2030, the government announced Thursday, at a time when its nuclear energy ambitions are stumbling.Working with the private sector to take advantage of the island nation’s surrounding waters to power homes and businesses with increasing amounts of renewable energy, the…
SINGAPORE: Oil edged up on Thursday amid ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran, but price gains were capped by record US crude output and rising commercial fuel inventories.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.31 per barrel at 0637 GMT, up 9 cents, or 0.2 percent,…
SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon on Wednesday unveiled plans to open more bookstores and “4-star” shops selling only the best-rated products — while closing its smaller “pop-up” kiosks in the US.“After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program, and are instead expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star,” a spokeswoman told AFP.…
SINGAPORE: Oil edged up on Thursday amid ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran, but price gains were capped by record US crude output and rising commercial fuel inventories.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.31 per barrel at 0637 GMT, up 9 cents, or 0.2 percent,…
DOHA: Qatar has sold bonds worth $12 billion, the finance ministry said Thursday, attracting strong demand despite an economic and diplomatic boycott by its former Gulf allies.“The state of Qatar has achieved a successful return to the international financial markets with a total of three tranches — worth $12 billion,” said a ministry statement carried by…
TOKYO: Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn’s top lawyer vowed Thursday to mount a “thorough” defense to restore his client’s reputation, as the “tired” businessman spent his first day out of a Tokyo detention center recovering.“Of course he is tired,” Junichiro Hironaka told reporters camped outside his office.“He was taken into custody unexpectedly at the airport,…
SHENZHEN, China: Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a US law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment.Huawei Technologies’ lawsuit, announced Thursday, asks a federal court to throw out a portion of this year’s US military appropriations act that bars the government and…
SEOUL: Hyundai Motor Co. is considering plans to suspend production at its oldest plant in China as it reels from tumbling sales and massive overcapacity in its biggest market.The move by Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Motors was the No.3 automaker in China until 2016, highlights the reversal of fortunes in the world’s biggest…
NEW YORK: A fresh round in the battle for equal pay will be fought at upcoming US corporate annual meetings, where investors will demand that firms reveal how much less women earn than men.The latest tactic is to use shareholder resolutions — where stock owners propose issues to be voted upon — to request companies’…
PARIS: The French government on Wednesday unveiled plans to slap a 3 percent tax on the French revenues of Internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook.The bill is an attempt to get around tax avoidance measures by multinationals, which pay most of their taxes in the EU country they are based in — often at…
NEW YORK: A fresh round in the battle for equal pay will be fought at upcoming US corporate annual meetings, where investors will demand that firms reveal how much less women earn than men.The latest tactic is to use shareholder resolutions — where stock owners propose issues to be voted upon — to request companies’…
GENEVA: More efficient fuels and more sophisticated combustion engines are needed to bring down carbon dioxide pollution and to secure the long-term future of Saudi Aramco’s business, the company’s chief technology officer said on Wednesday.“The growth of transport is greater than the growth of alternative drivetrains,” Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer at Saudi Aramco told…
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s housing minister said on Wednesday he expects investments in the real estate financing sector to reach between SR60 billion and SR80 billion ($21.33 billion) in 2019. Real estate financing for January hit SR4.7 billion, and coming months were expected to see even bigger figures, Majed Al-Hogail told Reuters on the sidelines of…
NEW YORK: A fresh round in the battle for equal pay will be fought at upcoming US corporate annual meetings, where investors will demand that firms reveal how much less women earn than men.The latest tactic is to use shareholder resolutions — where stock owners propose issues to be voted upon — to request companies’…
NEW YORK: A fresh round in the battle for equal pay will be fought at upcoming US corporate annual meetings, where investors will demand that firms reveal how much less women earn than men.The latest tactic is to use shareholder resolutions — where stock owners propose issues to be voted upon — to request companies’…
PARIS: Global trade tensions and political uncertainty are weighing on the world’s economy, the OECD warned Wednesday, cutting its global growth forecast for this year to 3.3 percent, down from the 3.5 percent it predicted in November.The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which groups the world’s top developed economies, also warned of potential risks…
