BEIRUT / AP Fighting intensified on Tuesday in northern and central Syria as government forces sought to repel rebel advances on a government stronghold. A chief opposition negotiator meanwhile said the conditions on the ground were not conducive to political talks. Rebels and activists reported fighting in rural parts of northern Latakia province, a government stronghold, one day after ...

  London / AFP A replica of one of the most iconic monuments destroyed by IS extremists in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra was being unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square on Tuesday. The six-metre-tall scale recreation of the Triumphal Arch is made of Egyptian marble and was carved in the northern Italian region of Tuscany using precision digital technology ...

  Seoul / Reuters South Korea’s central bank kept interest rates untouched on Tuesday for a 10th straight month, and its governor stressed that the current rate level supports economic growth, although a lowered growth forecast for this year kept expectations of a rate cut alive. The Bank of Korea (BOK) committee held its base rate steady at 1.50 percent, ...

  Bloomberg The strengthening krona may force Sweden’s central bank to add stimulus again as criticism mounts that its unprecedented policy moves are threatening stability in the largest Nordic economy. While all 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict that the main rate will be kept unchanged at a record low of minus 0.5 percent, the Riksbank may extend its government ...

  Reuters Samba Financial Group, Saudi Arabia’s third-largest bank by assets, reported a 1.4 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, in line with analyst forecasts. The bank made a profit of 1.26 billion riyals ($336.1 million) in the three months to March 31, down from 1.28 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. said it has named Gerald Keefe as its Hong Kong-based head of corporate banking for the Asia-Pacific region, a newly created role. Keefe, currently head of corporate banking for Japan, will take on responsibilities for Citigroup bankers in the region dealing with companies, financial institutions and public-sector entities, according to a press release. Agnes Liew, another ...

  Moscow / Reuters The New Development Bank (NDB), formed by the BRICS group of emerging nations, has approved its first loans — $811 million for renewable energy projects in Brazil, China, India and South Africa, Russian news agencies reported last week. The BRICS bank, with authorised capital of $100 billion, started work last year on funding initiatives for infrastructure ...

  SINGAPORE / Reuters Asian skies are getting busier and the impact is set to be felt in the jet fuel market as brisk demand for air travel, due to rising incomes and more flights, cuts the region’s aviation fuel surplus in 2017 by the most in at least five years. About 100 million new passengers take to the Asian ...

  BERLIN / Reuters Zalando reported slower first-quarter sales growth after a blistering 2015, but Europe’s biggest dedicated online fashion retailer said sales had accelerated since the Easter holidays in late March and reiterated its annual targets. Fashion retailers such as H&M and Next have reported a weak start to 2016 due to an earlier Easter than last year and ...

  MADRID / Reuters Fast-food company Telepizza has announced it planned to list on Spain’s stock market on April 27, looking to raise 550 million euros ($621 million) from the share sale, to become one of the first Spanish companies to seek a listing this year. Specialised engineering company Dominion, a unit of car parts company CIE Automotive, is planning ...