Bloomberg French voters were heading to the polls on Sunday to select two candidates for the presidential runoff, an election that will determine how far the populist wave can go in Europe. After a campaign that has remade the nation’s political landscape, four candidates with radically different visions are in a position to qualify for the next round. They ...

  Bloomberg Israeli airstrikes killed an unknown number of Syrian soldiers at a weapons depot in rural Quneitra province, Al Jazeera TV reported. An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to comment. Sunday’s strike came after several projectiles from Syria hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Friday and the army returned fired at areas where the launching originated. Since violence in Syria ...

  Bloomberg Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said he fears that a wider majority for Theresa May’s Conservatives in the June 8 general election will give her “a blank check for Brexit at any cost.” Voters should elect candidates of any party who will “keep an open mind” on the shape of the trade deal the U.K. reaches with ...

  Bloomberg The UK’s Liberal Democrats won’t be part of any coalition after June’s general election and plans to become the main opposition by attracting voters who want to stay in the European Union, its leader Tim Farron told The Observer. Farron said while Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour will push for a hard Brexit ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business An impressive 110,000 people from around the region have stepped through the doors of the Expo Centre Sharjah during the first four action-packed days of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF). The enormous variety of interactive activities, seminars, workshops and debates is drawing hoards of families and schoolchildren as well as renowned authors, historians, researchers ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business Celebrating Russia’s culture of literary genius and the outstanding titles that have enriched world literature, representatives from the Russian section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) have attended the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival 2017 (SCRF) as the UAE Board on Books for Young People’s Guests of Honour. Russian representatives showcased and ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The UAE Space Agency is implementing 14 special events and initiatives as part of its activities for the Year of Giving, which was declared by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. Among the Space Agency’s contribution to the Year of Giving is the Martyrs Badge initiative, in which badges ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Jebel Ali Customs Center, the modern facility and one of the major customs centers in Dubai, boasted a number of quality achievements during 2016. The center recorded 348 seizures of restricted, fake and prohibited materials. This means a 24 percent increase compared to 2015 which recorded 281 seizures. The center, which includes a client center ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia may offer “almost interest-free” loans to companies in labor-intensive industries as part of a plan to stimulate an economy squeezed by low oil prices and spending cuts, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said. Al-Jadaan, speaking in an interview in Washington, also said the government is on track to slash its budget deficit by 30 percent this year ...

  Bloomberg US oil drillers slowed the pace of a months-long expansion as invest- ors worry that growing shale production will ruin OPEC’s efforts to prop up prices. Drillers added 5 rigs targeting crude this week, bringing the total to 688, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data reported. While all four of the biggest oil basins boosted activity this week, ...