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Paris / Bloomberg Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was charged with illegal campaign financing in relation to his 2012 re-election bid, meaning he is now facing two possible trials in court as he contemplates an attempt to return to office. An investigative judge decided to charge the former French president for exceeding the legal limit for election expenses after questioning ...

London / Bloomberg Britain’s unemployment rate remains at its lowest level in a decade, official data showed on Wednesday. Unemployment stood at 5.1 percent in the three months to December, unchanged from the three months to November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. That was the lowest rate, or proportion of the workforce that are unemployed, since October 2005. ...

LISBON / Bloomberg Portugal just can’t shake off its bears. The nation’s bonds are underperforming their counterparts across the euro area even as a recovery in stocks and oil prices boosted demand for higher-yielding assets. The extra yield, or spread, that investors get for holding Portuguese 10-year bonds instead of the benchmark German bund climbed for the first time in ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze output at near-record levels, the first coordinated move by the world’s two largest oil producers to counter a slump that has pummeled economies, markets and companies. It’s the first significant cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in 15 years and Saudi Arabia said it’s open to further action. Oil pared gains after ...

Tehran / AFP Iran intends to maintain its oil market share but said on Tuesday “there is room for discussion” on output, announcing talks with Iraq and Venezuela within 24 hours in Tehran. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh’s comments avoided a specific reaction to reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze production—on condition that other major oil states ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE Space Agency and the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are discussing future cooperation. A meeting at the UAE Space Agency’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi brought together officials from the two agencies to discuss ways of strengthening partnership and work. The delegation led by Badri Younes, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday announced a 63 percent increase in full-year passenger traffic with partner Jet Airways to and from India, reinforcing the strength of the equity tie-up and the airline’s commitment to one of world’s largest travel markets. Together, the airlines carried a record 3.3 million passengers ...

ALKESH SHARMA / EMIRATES BUSINESS Methods needed to increase the global food production by 70 percent to feed over 9 billion people by 2050; mechanisms best suited to profitably restore land globally; ways to tackle the current worldwide water crisis and steps to bring all economies on a common platform to ensure food security. Participants racked their brains as they ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Blue Bolt Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has acquired a 36% stake in Fenix Power Peru, a thermoelectric power generation company in Lima, as part of a consortium transaction valued at US$786 million. The Peruvian investment fund SIGMA holds 13% of Fenix. Fenix Power is a power generation company which ...

SINGAPORE / WAM A round-table meeting, organised by the UAE Economy Ministry and Executive Directors of 15 of the biggest investment companies in Singapore, was held on Tuesday. The meeting reviewed the importance of expanding economic relations between the UAE and the Republic of Singapore and the need to promote trade and investment establish strong strategic partnerships between the two ...