European lawmakers on Tuesday approved an end to loathed mobile phone roaming charges in the EU by 2017 and adopted rules to ensure open internet access.
"This abolition of roaming surcharges has been long awaited by everybody: ordinary people, start-ups, SMEs and all kinds of organizations," said Pilar del Castillo, the Spanish MEP who helped steer the legislation through the European Parliament.
Full StorySyria's oil, gas and mineral resource industries have suffered losses totaling more than $50 billion since the country's conflict erupted in 2011, the oil minister said in comments published Tuesday.
Oil Minister Suleiman al-Abbas was quoted as saying by Syria's al-Watan newspaper that attacks carried out by "terrorist" groups and U.S.-led air strikes on jihadists have severely damaged infrastructure.
Full StorySaudi Arabia is studying a rise in its heavily-subsidized domestic energy prices, the oil minister said on Tuesday, as the kingdom confronts a record deficit caused by falling oil revenues.
"All prices eventually rise," Ali al-Naimi said on the sidelines of a mining conference.
Full StoryKuwait's ruler called Tuesday on officials in the oil-rich state to seek alternative revenue sources and reduce public expenditure after state income dropped 60 percent due to a sharp slide in crude prices.
Addressing parliament at the beginning of its new term, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah urged citizens to understand the new measures.
Full StoryJapan's Canon said Tuesday that slumping demand for cameras took a bite out of its bottom line, as consumers increasingly turn to picture-taking smartphones.
The company also blamed sagging sales of its office printers in China and across Asia for a 19 percent decline in nine-month net profit to 151.3 billion yen ($127 million).
Full StoryGermany's transport minister was in Washington Monday to brief his U.S. counterpart on the steps Berlin is taking to address the pollution-cheating scandal roiling Volkswagen, officials said.
Germany's Alexander Dobrindt met Anthony Foxx to discuss Volkswagen, the auto giant which has been under fire since revelations that it purposely evaded U.S. emissions limits.
Full StoryIndia's largest carrier IndiGo launched the country's biggest initial public offering (IPO) in three years Tuesday, seeking to raise $460 million to extend its dominance of the budget airline sector.
IndiGo, India's only consistently profitable airline, is selling shares at between 700 rupees ($11) and 765 rupees each and plans to use the money raised to expand operations and trim debt.
Full StoryWal-Mart is actively looking at the possibility of using drones to make deliveries to U.S. customers, a spokesman said Monday, following the lead of Amazon and other retailers.
The retail behemoth has been testing the technology indoors "for several months" and on Monday made a request to U.S. aviation authorities to do likewise outside.
Full StoryDonald Trump enjoys his reputation as a magnate whose own smarts and business savvy made him a billionaire, but he acknowledged Monday that his father helped him out -- with a "small" million-dollar loan.
"It has not been easy for me," the Republican Party frontrunner in the 2016 presidential nomination race told an NBC television-hosted town hall in New Hampshire.
Full StoryCanada Post announced Monday it is temporarily suspending its program to switch from door-to-door delivery to centralized community mailboxes, a program opposed by incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper had backed the program, which would have saved money in the face of declining deliveries but cut between 6,000 and 8,000 postal jobs.
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