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 …