By Dinesh Nair and Sarah McBride SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday, but will not attend a controversial investment conference now underway in that city, according to two people familiar with the matter. He also skipped a dinner held at the residence of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the managing director of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, on Monday night. Son is leaving Riyadh today. Both sources declined to be identified because the plans are private. Son joins a growing list of business leaders who have distanced themselves from the Future Investment Initiative conference, but his move is particularly notable because SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund has a $45 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Son's planned absence was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal. The exodus from the event, sometimes called “Davos in the Desert,” was … [Read more...] about SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son goes to Riyadh, skips conference
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India may open talks on foreign flying rights
NEW DELHI: India is likely to further open foreign flying entitlements with several countries, helping ease travel worries on some of the usually busy routes and start direct flights to Greece. Over the next two months, India will start negotiations on foreign flying rights with Nigeria, Dubai, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Cambodia to add more seats on the routes. Greece currently doesn’t have any such pact with India and the two sides are considering a deal for the first time. This is also the first time in two years that the government is negotiating foreign flying rights at such a large scale. “The plan is to negotiate agreements with all six nations. The increase will primarily be pegged on quota sought by Indian carriers,” said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named. Analysts said any increase in bilateral entitlements is good for consumers as it means more flights in the international sector, but they wanted the government to formulate … [Read more...] about India may open talks on foreign flying rights
Environment advocate Greta Thunberg is Time Person of the Year
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was named Time’s “person of the year” Wednesday, becoming at age 16 the youngest person to whom the U.S. magazine has given the title.Thunberg emerged as the face of the youth climate movement after she started skipping school once a week to protest outside her country’s parliament. In the past year and a half, she has drawn large crowds at international conferences and demonstrations outside Sweden.Some have welcomed Thunberg’s environmental activism, including her speeches challenging world leaders to do more to stop global warming. But others have criticized the teenager’s sometimes combative tone.“For sounding the alarm about humanity’s predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads, Greta Thunberg is TIME’s 2019 Person of the … [Read more...] about Environment advocate Greta Thunberg is Time Person of the Year
