New York / AFP Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off Thursday in a closely watched US presidential debate ahead of the key New York primary in the increasingly acrimonious Democratic race for the White House. The former secretary of state holds a double-digit lead over the Vermont senator in polls and needs a big win in next Tuesday’s ...

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday appointed pro-Western speaker Volodymyr Groysman as prime minister in a bid to end months of political gridlock and unlock vital aid to the war torn-state. Lawmakers voted by 257 to 50 to approve the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk —condemned by President Petro Poroshenko for losing the public’s trust—and select Groysman ...

Berlin / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition agreed on Thursday on tough measures to spur the integration of migrants and refugees, including sanctions for failing to take part in programmes such as language classes. The deal, hammered out in six hours of late-night talks between Merkel’s conservative Christian Union bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD), also included plans ...

  Beijing / AFP China slammed the US for its human rights record on Thursday, state media said, denouncing it for police brutality and civil rights violations a day after Washington criticised Beijing’s own performance. In a report sourced mainly from US media, China said “the US government refuses to hold up a mirror to look at itself, it has ...

Last week, Arrium, one of the two dominant steel manufacturers in Australia went into voluntary administration with debts of over $AU 3 billion ($US 2.3 billion). With the failing of the company having the potential to affect up to 8,000 jobs nationwide, there have been calls for the federal government to bail out Arrium. The opposition Labor Party wants to ...

  Jonathan Dove SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS China’s foreign policy is evolving, and Africa may be both its proving ground and litmus test. As Beijing is seeking to expand its global role, its national interests, citizens, and assets need to be protected abroad, and nowhere else is this need as acute as it is in Africa. Consequently, China seems to ...

While the Taliban officially launched their annual spring offensive this week pledging large-scale attacks, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will for the first time in 15 years be able to deploy a light attack aircraft specifically designed for counterinsurgency operations in their fight against the insurgents. The Afghan Air Force (AAF) will begin this year’s fighting season ...

BLOOMBERG Global stocks rallied for a fifth day and oil climbed, while the dollar reversed gains, and Singapore’s currency dropped as the city state unexpectedly loosened monetary policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose as Nestle SA led a surge in food companies, after Asian equities posted their longest rally in a year, while Standard & Poor’s Index futures were ...

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 1.49% to close at 4631.26 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 11.02 billion attaining AED 751.25 billion. A total of 0.68 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 1.25 billion during the trading session of 14-04-2016 through 9997 transactions. The number of companies ...

  Tokyo / Bloomberg The top executive of Japan’s biggest bank delivered a rare criticism of the central bank, saying its negative interest-rate policy has contributed to anxiety among households and companies and prolonging it may weaken financial institutions. “Both households and businesses have become skeptical about the effectiveness of policy measures to address the current economic problems,” Nobuyuki Hirano, ...