Bogota / AFP Colombia’s Senate has approved a revised peace accord between the government and the FARC rebel group, taking a first step toward ratifying an agreement that was rejected by voters. The text, which was renegotiated after an earlier version was given a thumbs down in the October 2 national referendum, now must be approved by the lower house ...

  Beijing / AFP Prime Minister Theresa May hit back on Wednesday at the European Union’s refusal to open talks on the future of EU citizens in post-Brexit Britain before formal divorce talks begin. EU President Donald Tusk on Tuesday rebuffed a call by British lawmakers to put the status of Europeans in the UK and Britons living elsewhere in ...

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine ratcheted up tensions with Moscow on Wednesday by warning the Kremlin its military intended to hold two days of rocket launching exercises near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea. The tests would begin on Thursday and almost certainly further damage relations between two former Soviet neighbours that treat each other as open foes. Rocket exercises near the ...

  Nicosia / AFP Rival Cypriot leaders can overcome their differences in stalled peace negotiations if they show “flexibility”, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Wednesday after talks with the two sides. “I welcome the progress that has been made in recent months and I salute the courage and determination that is being shown by the leaders on both ...

  Eisenstadt / AFP Campaigners for Austria’s Greens-backed presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen are having a hard time in Burgenland state, where the far-right has carved out a cosy alliance with the Social Democrats, one of the country’s two main parties. The SPOe, which grew out of a Marxist worker’s movement and remains close to the unions, broke a major ...

  AFP / Bloomberg German heavyweight airline Lufthansa cancelled a further 890 flights on Wednesday as pilots remained on strike in a long-running wage dispute. Lufthansa said some 98,000 passengers were grounded by the walkout, which flight crew extended to long-haul flights after Tuesday’s action affected only short-haul services. The airline has sought to limit the impact of the strike ...

  Bloomberg Walt Disney Co. ceased doing business with one Chinese toymaker and put another on notice following reports of labor violations. Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, said in a memo posted on its website that it would no longer allow the Dongguan Qing Xi Juantiway Plastic Factory to make products featuring the company’s characters. The violations had been ...

  Bloomberg Breitling, the Swiss watchmaker known for aviation-themed timepieces worn by actor John Travolta, is weighing a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The process is still in the early stages, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the deliberations are private. The most likely suitors are luxury-goods companies rather than private equity firms, ...

  Bloomberg Apparel chains such as H&M, Zara and Forever 21 conquered the retail world by promising fast fashion: cheap, trendy and disposable. Yet there’s a growing number of consumers this holiday season who want just the opposite. Data shows that shoppers — especially millennials, the target market for fast-fashion companies — are increasingly looking for clothes made of higher-quality ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi based Jenaan Investment, is participating at SIAL 2016 which is being held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from December, 5-7. As an investment specialist within the agricultural value chain, Jenaan has a strategic objective to contribute positively towards the UAE’s food security, by investing in diversified types of agro-related projects, ...