London / AFP Voting starts on Monday to decide if veteran leftist Jeremy Corbyn will remain leader of Britain’s Labour party, with an ill-tempered campaign deepening divisions that threaten the party’s future. Ballots and online voting forms were being sent to party members, who have until September 21 to decide whether to replace Corbyn with MP Owen Smith, previously ...

  Tokyo / AFP The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea will meet this week in Tokyo, with their countries at odds over territorial disputes and a US missile defence system. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, China’s Wang Yi and South Korea’s Yun Byung-Se will have dinner on Tuesday before formal talks on Wednesday, Japan’s foreign ministry said in ...

Oslo/ AFP The Philippine government said Monday it hoped to reach a peace deal with communist guerrillas within a year, as the two sides kicked off talks in Norway aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest insurgencies. “On the part of the (government) panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months,” Silvestre Bello, the government delegation’s head of ...

  Dubai / Reuters Gulf stock markets fell early on Monday after oil and Asian equities dropped because of the threat of a U.S. interest rate hike, while Dubai builder Drake & Scull declined sharply because of concern about its financial situation. Brent crude dropped back to just above $50 a barrel in Asian trade amid talk that a U.S. ...

  London / AFP Eurozone stock markets rose on Monday looking ahead to a key meeting of central bankers at the end of the week, but London retreated on heavy falls for heavyweight mining shares. Around 1000 GMT, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent compared with the close on Friday. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 0.3 ...

  Tokyo / AFP Tokyo stocks closed higher on Monday on a weaker yen after the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve talked up the US economy while the Bank of Japan’s boss indicated there could be fresh easing measures next month. In the US, Stanley Fischer on Sunday said the world’s top economy had met the bank’s targets and ...

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Continuous improvement, innovation, and environmental sensitivity have become the watchwords for the cleaning industry in the region as more and more companies in the sector are sourcing products and equipment keeping sustainability in mind. Globally, the market for green cleaning products is expected to reach US$51 billion in value terms with a CAGR of ...

  Ajman / Emirates Business The Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) announced the launch of two classification programs for desert camps and tourism villages, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates. Desert camps are divided into two types which are day use and overnight but will fall under one category while tourism villages will have different categories ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The growing power of social media influencers and bloggers has been borne out by new research from Dubai-based PR agency BPG Cohn & Wolfe that shows that 71 per cent of UAE residents aged 18-40 are happy to take advice online before purchasing. Beauty, fashion and food are the areas where residents are most ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business ENOC Retail, Emirates National Oil Company’s retail business segment, announced ambitious growth plans of 150 per cent for its Zoom stores network in the UAE by 2025 to cater to increasing customer demand and population growth. The company also aims to triple its turnover in the next 15 years. ZOOM’s growth plans include the opening ...