Brussels / AFP European Union member states on Thursday approved visa-free travel for Ukraine citizens, long sought by Kiev to help cement ties as it combats pro-Russian rebels in the east. Visa-free travel was part of an EU-Ukraine partnership accord signed in 2014 as the country, a Soviet-era satellite, angered Moscow by casting its lot with the West. In return …

  Paris / AFP Despite voting to leave the EU, Britain is deepening defence ties with France, agreeing to pool missile development research centres in a step presented on Thursday as “historic”. European countries have been slow to pool arms know-how, fearing an erosion of their sovereignty. The deal announced at a Franco-British defence council in Paris goes much further than …

  Dubai / Emirates Business GCC airlines should transform their distribution business models and how they sell to customers, according to a recent study by management consultancy Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company), part of the PwC network. Three trends are reshaping the GCC’s travel sector and threaten to weaken the connection between airlines and their customers: 1) shifting customer behavior …