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  BAGHDAD / AP A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle on Monday in a bustling market area in Baghdad, killing at least 36 people, Iraqi officials said, hours after the arrival of French President Francois Hollande to the country and amid a fierce fight against the IS group. The bomber driving a pickup truck attacked an outdoor fruit and ...

  Bloomberg Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s largest automakers, forecast sales to climb 4.7 percent this year as they count on new model introductions to counter intensifying competition amid global uncertainties. Hyundai and Kia are targeting to deliver a combined 8.25 million vehicles in 2017 from 7.88 million units a year earlier, according to regulatory filings. ...

  Beijing / AP Beijing and other cities across northern and central China were shrouded in thick smog, prompting authorities to delay dozens of flights and close highways. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau extended an “orange alert” for heavy air pollution for three more days. Beijing’s smog had initially been forecast to lift by Monday. The “orange alert” is ...

  Bloomberg It’s clear the era of rapid growth for US auto sales is over. The industry entered 2017 with analysts projecting the first significant decline in eight years — a drop of 200,000 vehicles, about the equivalent of one factory’s production — to 17.3 million cars and light trucks. While top-earning consumers will continue to snap up luxury vehicles ...

  Bloomberg Euro-area manufacturing expanded last month at the fastest rate since April 2011, in a sign that the currency bloc’s recovery is intact heading into 2017. A Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 54.9 in December, IHS Markit said on Monday. The reading matches the initial estimate on Dec. 15 and was up from 53.7 in November. Higher import costs ...

  Dubai / WAM Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on Saturday night inspected the Dubai Police operations room, set up to secure the New Year celebrations at the Burj Khalifa and on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard in Downtown Dubai. No incidents, security breaches or injuries were reported during the ...

  Dubai / WAM Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has approved the official logo of the ‘Year of Giving 2017’, to be used by all local, government and media entities in all campaigns, programmes and initiatives related to the initiative. The design of the logo reflects all meanings of giving, ...

  Istanbul / AFP Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed on Sunday when a gunman went on a rampage at an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. As police launched a dragnet for the assailant, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the carnage sought to sow chaos and undermine peace, but Turkey would never bow ...

  Kinshasa / AFP The new year in one of Africa’s most troubled countries began in a burst of optimism on Sunday after rival groups agreed a deal for hauling DR Congo out of a perilous political crisis. Under a landmark accord, the country’s contested president, Joseph Kabila—who under the constitution should have left office on December 20—will stay in ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business Under the theme ‘A World as Big as Your Imagination’, the spirit of children’s collaboration has shone through in the artwork submissions received for the forthcoming Sharjah Children Biennial (SCB). Sharjah Children Centres announced receiving a total of 792 artworks from 1,663 children representing 27 Arab and foreign nationalities for the fifth edition of SCB. ...