Tour company Thomas Cook collapses; global bookings cancelled

London: Longtime British tour company Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were canceled early Monday. The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set […]

Asia’s $640 billion bad-loan pile lures investors, Deloitte says

Hong Kong: A growing pile of bad debt in Asia is luring more global investors. That’s the view of consulting firm Deloitte LLP, which estimates that non-performing loans held by banks across Asia jumped 23 per cent to $640 billion, amid a slowdown in the global economy and simmering US-China trade tensions. China continues to […]

European economy stumbles as confidence drops to four-year low

Madrid: The outlook for the Euro-area economy has taken another hit, with confidence in industry dropping to its lowest in six years in a sign that the impact of uncertainty from trade tensions and Brexit is getting worse. Industry managers are growing more worried about demand from customers and have downgraded the outlook for employment. […]