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  AFP The European Union gave Belgium until a leaders’ summit on Friday to approve a troubled free trade pact with Canada which has been blocked by its small French-speaking region of Wallonia. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said a planned visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sign the deal next week would not go ahead unless the ...

  Dubai / WAM In its efforts to achieve the Smart Dubai Initiative, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has announced that it is making use of Microsoft HoloLens, the world’s first self-contained holographic computer to enhance its operations, improve productivity, accelerate innovation and provide best quality of efficient services to its customers. The Smart Dubai Initiative was launched by ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Masdar City, one of the world’s most sustainable urban developments, is introducing new licences to encourage entrepre- neurs to set up ventures within the City’s business free zone. The announcement coincides with the 36th Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) taking place in Dubai from October 16-20. Masdar City’s full suite of free zone and ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways’ Premium Lounge at Melbourne Airport has been voted Australasia’s Leading Airport Lounge for 2016. The announcement was made at the 23rd Annual World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia ceremony in Danang, Vietnam on October 15. Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, Peter Baumgartner, expressed delight at the win, the airline’s first ever at ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business In the presence and under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed al Qasimi, Chairperson of the ‘Big heart’ Foundation, Chairperson of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, the second edition of the ‘Investing in the ...

  Aleppo / AFP Dozens of civilians were killed as air strikes flattened residential buildings in rebel-held east Aleppo Monday, despite Western warnings of sanctions against Syria and Russia over attacks on the city. Once Syria’s thriving commercial hub, Aleppo has been ravaged by bombing raids and intensifying clashes as President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces fight to capture opposition-held parts of the ...

  Malakal / AFP At least 56 rebels and four government troops were killed in heavy weekend clashes in northeastern South Sudan, in a worrying surge of violence in the world’s youngest nation. Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said on Monday that rebels aligned with former vice president Riek Machar attacked government troops near ...

  Bloomberg The UK dropped out of businesses’ top five locations for investments for the first time in seven years as fears about the country’s plans to exit the European Union added complexity to international deals, consultants Ernst & Young LLP said in a survey of executives. British businesses rank behind investments in the US, China, Germany, Canada and France, ...

  Bloomberg Manhattan rents decreased in September, marking only the second time since February 2014 that median rents for the borough fell from a year earlier. That’s great if you’re single and earning $100,000 a year, or part of a household that spends $100,000 a year on rent. For everybody else in New York, the new rental market data, published ...

  AFP China’s growth slipped to a seven-year low of 6.6 percent in the third quarter, according to a survey, despite ample stimulus and a red-hot property market in the world’s second-largest economy. The median forecast for expansion in gross domestic product (GDP), based on a poll of 18 economists, represents an easing from the second quarter’s 6.7 percent. It ...