Business

Facebook joins effort to boost newspaper subscriptions

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facebook announced Thursday initiatives to help struggling news organizations gain paid subscribers, following a similar move unveiled earlier this month by Google. The social network giant said it will test “premium news models” for organizations that deliver their content on Facebook, to enable the publishers to have more control over pricing, subscriber relationships and revenue. “Earlier this year, many publishers identified subscriptions as a top priority, so we worked with […]

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Philippines’ Metrobank buys out ANZ credit card stake

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines’ second biggest bank said on Thursday it will spend $288 million buying out the minority stake that Australia’s ANZ has in a credit card joint venture. Metrobank will take over ANZ’s 40 percent share in Metrobank Card Corp. as part of a deal to turn the tie-up into a wholly-owned subsidiary. Metrobank, short for the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., formed the 60-40 joint venture with ANZ in 2003. […]

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Chinese Internet giants step into property rental

SHANGHAI, China (CCTV) — The Chinese government has been emphasizing the development of the rental market as a way to control the country’s real estate boom. The shift has encouraged the nation’s mega Internet companies like Alibaba and JD.com to explore apartment leasing. Alibaba has just launched its property rental service on its payment app Alipay. The service is similar to most rental apps — prospective tenants can find available apartments in suitable locations with […]

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Wall Street gains, cheap yen drive Tokyo stocks higher

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher Thursday, helped by a tailwind from an upbeat Wall Street and a cheaper yen, as traders begin to factor in this weekend’s election in the world’s third-biggest economy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.39 percent, or 82.33 points, to 21,445.38 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.30 percent, or 5.18 points, at 1,729.82. The dollar was higher at 113.05 yen in early […]

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Baidu to hit the road with self-driving bus

by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse LAGUNA BEACH, United States (AFP) — Baidu chief executive Robin Li on Tuesday said the Chinese internet giant will have a self-driving bus on the road soon as it races for a lead in autonomous vehicles. Baidu is collaborating with an array of companies on autonomous cars, and is working with a large bus maker in China to have a self-driving bus running a route by next year, Li said […]

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Bidding war heats up for $5 billion second Amazon Headquarters

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — It’s the prize of a lifetime — a $5 billion investment creating 50,000 well-paid jobs that everyone wants, but only one US city will get. From East to West, from North to South, metropolies across the United States are locked in a frenzied bidding war desperate to woo Amazon into favoring them as the site of the e-commerce giant’s second headquarters. From $7 billion in tax breaks in Newark, […]

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Cash-loving Japanese savers opt to play it safe

by Karyn Nishimura-Poupee Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – The Tokyo stock market might be riding two-decade highs, but a growing number of Japanese are choosing to stash their cash in the humble home safe, wary of negative interest rates in the bank and out of the view of eagle-eyed tax officials. It is no secret that Japan has some of the world’s biggest savers, learning from an early age to put aside some of their hard-earned […]

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Mercedes says recalls 400,000 UK cars on airbag fault

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Mercedes-Benz is recalling 400,000 UK cars owing to a fault that may deploy an airbag by error, the company said on Monday. A statement issued by the carmaker owned by German giant Daimler said the situation was not related to the airbags crisis at Japanese group Takata. Mercedes said it was recalling models — the A, B, C, and E-Class as well as the CLA, GLA, and GLC — built […]

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Tokyo stocks open higher on hopes for corporate results

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street with investors beginning to price in bullish expectations for sound corporate results as earnings season gets underway. The Nikkei 225 index, which has risen for the past 10 consecutive sessions, edged up 0.49 percent, or 104.60 points, to 21,360.16 in early trade. The broader Topix index was also higher by 0.45 percent or 7.75 points, at 1,726.93. The earnings season starting […]

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Airbus to enter into partnership with Canada’s Bombardier

PARIS, France (AFP) — Airbus will take a majority stake in Bombardier’s marquee C-Series airliner program, the companies announced Monday, as the Canadian firm battled against a stiff tariff ruling in the US. The landmark agreement comes after the US administration slapped a 220 percent countervailing duty, as well as an 80 percent anti-dumping tax, on Bombardier CS100 and CS300 aircraft imported into the United States. Boeing accuses Bombardier of manufacturing its 100-150 seat planes […]

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Tokyo stocks up by break after Wall Street gains

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks rose Monday morning, tracking gains on Wall Street as the benchmark Japanese index extended buying sentiment after ending at a fresh two-decade high last week, but scandal-hit Kobe Steel slipped further. The Nikkei 225, which closed at its highest level since November 1996 on Friday, rose 0.63 percent, or 132.94 points, to 21,288.12 by the break, while the broader Topix index was up 0.90 percent, or 15.45 points, at […]

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Oil producers may not need to extend cuts: Kuwait

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AFP) — Oil producers may not need to roll over a deal to cut production beyond March if all members fully comply with their pledges, the Kuwaiti oil minister said Sunday. “The current reduction deal is sufficient to achieve the desired purpose,” of rebalancing the oil market, Essam al-Marzouk told reporters after opening an oil conference. Although “the compliance level to the cuts has reached an unprecedented 116 percent”, this was mainly […]

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