WASHINGTON: US lawmakers rubber-stamped a short-term bill to lift the nation’s borrowing authority Tuesday, averting the threat of a first-ever debt default — but only for a few weeks. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to pass the stop-gap $480 billion hike, which advanced from the Senate last Thursday after weeks of heated debate.

WASHINGTON: Kristalina Georgieva was secured in her job at the helm of the International Monetary Fund Monday, after the Washington-based crisis lender’s board reaffirmed its confidence in the scandal-hit Bulgarian economist. 

WASHINGTON: The ongoing hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to distribute vaccines worldwide is worsening the economic divide and darkening prospects for developing nations, the IMF said yesterday. 

KUWAIT: Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom operator in seven markets across Middle East and Africa announced that the company’s Ordinary General Assembly met yesterday in Kuwait and approved the recommendation of the Board of Directors to distribute semi-annual cash dividends of 10 fils per share, for the first half of the current fiscal year.

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced a plan worth 30 billion euros ($35 billion) to re-industrialize France, saying the country should reclaim its crown as a global leader in innovation. 

PARIS: As head of the organization that advises countries on energy policy, Fatih Birol has a blunt message to governments ahead of a crucial climate summit: He wants “real global action”, not just words. 

DOHA: Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, said yesterday it was not pleased with current global prices which have surged to record peaks. “I am unhappy about gas prices being high,” Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi told a press conference. 

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze. 

MUMBAI: Indian giant Tata is buying back Air India, 89 years after founding it as Tata Air and half a century following its nationalization.