BRUSSELS: The European Union took aim at the business model of gig economy companies like Uber and Deliveroo yesterday with plans that could force them to reclassify their workers as fully-fledged employees. 

ROME: Italian regulators hit Amazon with a 1.1-billion-euro ($1.3-billion) antitrust fine yesterday for allegedly abusing its dominance in the market, the latest action against US Big Tech in the EU. 

BEIJING: Debt-crippled Chinese property giant Evergande has defaulted for the first time, Fitch Ratings agency said yesterday, as authorities scrambled to avoid contagion throughout the world’s second biggest economy. The Chinese government sparked a crisis within the property industry when it launched a drive last year to curb excessive debt among real estate firms as well as rampant consumer speculation.

MUMBAI: Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal is the latest alumnus of India’s prestigious technical universities appointed to head a multi-billion-dollar US tech firm, and Shivani Nandgaonkar wants to follow in his footsteps. 

BRUSSELS: The European Commission yesterday launched a bid to equip Brussels with new powers to swiftly retaliate against efforts by foreign governments to undermine the European economy and businesses. 

BEIJING: Chinese property firm Kaisa suspended share trading in Hong Kong yesterday as questions swirl over its ability to make repayments and contagion spreads within the country’s debt-ridden real estate sector. 

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced the launch of its Mastercard prepaid red plus card, the first prepaid card with a cashback program targeting the youth segment in the Middle East. 

KUWAIT: Shaikha Al-Bahar, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Group said that the pandemic accelerated the drive towards digitization while differentiating how serious and committed each bank is to its digital approach. 

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco said it has signed a $15.5 billion lease and leaseback agreement for its gas pipeline network with a consortium led by BlackRock Real Assets and Hassana Investment Company in its second major infrastructure deal this year.