00:00And the consolidation of the UAE's banking sector rolls on.
00:06This morning, ADCB, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, confirmed that it would be swapping shares
00:10with Union National Bank, UNB, to create a new entity that would then be acquiring the
00:16privately owned Al Hilal Bank.
00:19UNB's CEO has stepped down or retired, and the group CEO of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
00:25will become the new CEO of the new entity.
00:29The new lender will have $114 billion of assets, making it the fifth largest bank in
00:34the region.
00:35We don't know right now about any potential job losses, although that probably will become
00:41better known in the coming days.
00:43The transaction or merger is expected to close in the first six months of this year.
00:48Elsewhere, Huawei, the Chinese technology maker, has refuted allegations by the US that
00:56it has obstructed justice, stolen technology and committed bank fraud.
01:01On Monday night, US lawmakers filed charges against the Chinese company of fraud and theft
01:07after a long battle over whether Huawei was committing crimes in the US.
01:13The war between the two has already caught up Huawei's CFO, its chief financial officer,
01:19the daughter of the company's founder, who was arrested in Canada last month and is currently
01:24being held on bail awaiting extradition to the US.
01:29The allegations and the accusations threaten US and China trade talks as the two countries
01:35seek to overcome the differences that have held them down since Trump took office in
01:402016.
01:43And lastly, today is a huge day for the California-based technology company Apple as they prepare to
01:49release results that are expected to be weaker than usual.
01:53On January 2nd, they put out an announcement saying that they were expecting lower revenues
01:58on the back of weak growth in China, the first time in over 10 years that they will miss
02:05a target.
02:07That weak growth has impacted other companies like Intel, like Nvidia and like the construction
02:12company Caterpillar, all of whom have suffered from the slowdown in business in China.
02:19Apple have also already been hit by one bad news story today when it was revealed that
02:24FaceTime calls could snoop on the respondent or the recipient of that call.
02:29It was an accidental technology flaw that allowed you to be able to listen even if the
02:34other person hadn't picked up the phone.
02:35You could listen to what they were doing, the microphone would turn on.
02:39Apple say that they are in the process of resolving the issue and it should be done
02:43shortly.
02:44That's all for today.
02:45Thanks very much for watching.
02:46You can find more from www.golfnews.com.
02:48I'm Ed Clouds.
02:49See you tomorrow.
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