Business

Nearly 40 world leaders and scores of finance officials are gathered in Beijing to build a new platform for international trade and counter US unilateralism and protectionist policies. Dubbed as the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, they aim to reinvent the ancient Silk Road to connect Asia to Europe and …

Microsoft has seen its stock market value top $1 trillion (£774bn) after reporting better-than-expected sales and profits. The US software giant passed the mark briefly on Thursday, before its share price fell back. It makes it one of only three public firms to have hit the $1tn mark, the others …

Facebook has said that it expects to be fined up to $5bn by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. The penalty would be a record by the agency against a technology company and a sign that the United States was willing to punish big tech companies. The social network …

Apple is giving customers new ways to recycle their iPhones. It’s part of the company’s lofty long-term goal of using only recycled or renewable materials to make its products. On Thursday, Apple released its 2019 Environment Report outlining the steps it is taking to help protect the environment from the …

As spring flower fields around the Netherlands burst into bloom, painting the countryside with dazzling swathes of red, white, and blue, a modern-day tulip bubble may be forming: tourists. More than a million foreign sightseers are expected to visit this country of 17 million people on Easter weekend, a record, …

Pinterest, the online scrapbook company, has priced its shares at the top end of its range as it becomes the latest “unicorn” to make its stock market debut. It will start selling its shares at $19 (£14.50) each, giving the loss-making firm a market value of $10bn. Pinterest is yet …

Heathrow airport has announced increased passenger numbers for the 29th month in a row – but traffic to and from Asia dropped by 2 percent, and to the Middle East by 11 percent. More than 6.5 million passengers passed through the UK’s busiest airport in March, an average of 210,000 …

The world’s largest aircraft took off over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday. The carbon-composite plane was built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp. The white airplane called Roc, which has a wingspan the length of an American football field and is powered by six engines on a twin fuselage, took …

The Zimbabwe government has come under fire after it emerged that it spent thousands of dollars on importing legal wigs from the UK for local judges, with critics lambasting the purchase as a colonial hang-up and a waste of money. The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported that the country’s Judiciary Service …

Cutting the cable cord just got a little more expensive. The price of a YouTube TV subscription is going up by $10 to $49.99 a month. The Google-owned company announced the price hike in a blog post-Wednesday. YouTube said it was raising prices to bring customers “the best service possible.” …

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has been rearrested in Tokyo on fresh financial misconduct allegations. Authorities arrested the 65-year-old less after he was dramatically freed on bail last month in Japan following more than 100 days in detention. According to local media, prosecutors entered Ghosn’s temporary accommodation in central Tokyo …

Dubai’s economy grew 1.94 percent in 2018, the government said on Wednesday, hitting its slowest pace since a contraction in 2009 when the economy was hobbled by a debt crisis. “A weakening external backdrop, a strong U.S. dollar and the ongoing correction in the property market are headwinds for a …

Oil rose to around $68 a barrel on Tuesday as OPEC supply cuts and expectations of lower U.S. inventories outweighed concern about weaker demand due to an economic slowdown.The price of global benchmark Brent crude has risen by more than 25 percent in 2019, supported by supply curbs by the …

  Oil prices rose to new 2019 highs on Tuesday, supported by supply cuts from OPEC and falling output Brent crude oil futures were up 55 cents at $68.09 per barrel at 1145 GMT, having earlier risen to a new 2019 high of $68.16 a barrel, their highest since November …

Boeing shares slumped almost 13 percent on after the second fatal crash of one of its 737 Max 8 planes. The sell-off wiped around $30bn (£23bn) wiped off Boeing’s valuation leaving the world’s largest plane manufacturer on track to record its biggest single-day trading fall in two decades as concerns …

French supercar maker Bugatti has unveiled the world’s most expensive new car, sold to an unnamed buyer for at least $11m (£9.5m) before tax. The exact price is not being revealed but is thought to have overtaken the previous new car record – about £8-9m for a Rolls-Royce Sweptail. With …

Oil rose to around $66 a barrel on Tuesday as the market balanced OPEC-led efforts to tighten supply with the restart of Libya’s biggest oilfield and the prospect of weaker demand. Supply curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies have helped to drive a 20 percent …

Three of the rarest known US paper bills in existence, dating back to the 19th century, are expected to fetch up to $8 million when they are auctioned in Baltimore next week. The remarkable set includes two $1,000 bills — one from 1869 and another from 1891 — and a …

Oil prices were broadly steady on Friday as surging U.S. supply and concerns of a global economic slowdown were offset by falling OPEC output. International Brent crude futures were at $66.39 per barrel at 1231 GMT, up 8 cents from Thursday’s settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures …

Shares of the pharma and medical giant Johnson & Johnson have tumbled sharply after an investigation suggested the company had known for years its famous baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. Reuters published a lengthy inquiry into one of the company’s most celebrated products, that claimed as early as …