Tokyo / AFP A rapidly-spreading fire engulfed more than 100 buildings and sparked evacuations in a northern Japanese city on Thursday, leaving two people injured and forcing authorities to mobilise the military. Aerial footage broadcast live on Japanese TV showed massive orange flames and thick grey smoke spewing out of buildings throughout much of the day in the city …

  London/ AFP European equities drifted mostly lower on Thursday in quiet pre-holiday trade, with investors awaiting news on the fate of crippled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS). Wall Street also eased at the opening, slipping further away from the elusive 20,000 target on the Dow index. “The long awaited 20,000 benchmark on the Dow isn’t breached yet …

  Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market edged up on Thursday before the release of the kingdom’s state budget for 2017, while Egypt’s uptrend slowed. Other Gulf markets were mixed in modest trading volumes. The Saudi stock index added 0.4 percent. Much activity focused on second-tier stocks such as Saudi Printing and Packaging, which jumped 10 percent. Saudi Electricity climbed 0.7 …