November, 2016

• 20 November

  Three-way race as French right holds presidential primary

  

    Paris / AFP France’s right-wing presidential hopefuls kick off their nominating contest on Sunday as a sudden tightening of the race cast doubt on ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s chances of regaining the Elysee Palace. A late surge by the third-placed Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Sarkozy, catapulted him into pole position for the first-round primary vote. A voter survey ...

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• 20 November

  Party ready for Merkel’s 4th term as chancellor

  

    Berlin / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party on Sunday she will seek re-election next year, a move likely to be welcomed in many capitals as a sign of stability following poll triumphs for Brexit and Donald Trump. After months of feverish speculation, Merkel said at a meeting of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) that she would run ...

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• 20 November

  Erdogan: Turkey can spurn EU and join Shanghai Pact

    Istanbul / AFP President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey should not be “fixated” on joining the EU and has reiterated the idea of joining Russia and China in a Eurasian security group, local media reported on Sunday. His comments come as Turkey’s decades-long hopes of joining the European Union have reached a nadir, driven by the aftermath of the ...

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• 20 November

  KSA makes $10.7bn of delayed payments to private sector

  

    DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s government has made payments of 40 billion riyals ($10.7 billion) that it owed to private sector companies, the kingdom’s Arab News newspaper quoted a senior construction industry executive as saying. With its oil revenues slashed by low crude prices, the government of the world’s largest oil exporter has cut spending sharply this year and ...

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• 20 November

  Saudi drives energy innovation with hi-fi construction technology

  

    Riyadh / Emirates Business The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is realizing Saudi Vision 2030 energy goals with advanced offshore construction technology, experts announced on Sunday in the build-up to ADIPEC 2016. Saudi Vision 2030 aims to increase oil and gas localization from 40 percent to 75 percent. Supporting these energy goals, leading Middle East’s leading firms are driving investment ...

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• 20 November

  Oil may rise to US$55 if all producers cooperate: Iran

    DUBAI / Reuters Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh expressed optimism on Saturday about an upcoming OPEC meeting and said crude prices could jump to $55 a barrel if an agreement is reached and non-OPEC producers cooperate. “We are receiving positive signals that increase the likelihood of agreement at the meeting … and I’m optimistic about the situation,” Zanganeh told ...

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• 20 November

  USG Boral ME unveils major expansion at ‘The Big 5’

  

    Dubai / Emirates Business USGBORAL ME, the renowned manufacturer of interior finishing products, has begun production of metal ceiling panels from its Dammam factory in Saudi Arabia, the newest and latest plant for metal ceiling in the region for the past 5 years. The move marks a major expansion of the company’s product portfolio, which comprises plasterboard, ceiling lining ...

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• 20 November

  UN envoy in Damascus as regime pounds Aleppo

  

    Aleppo / AFP Syria’s regime on Sunday pursued a relentless assault of rebel-held east Aleppo that has killed more than 100 civilians in recent days, as the UN’s peace envoy arrived in Damascus for talks. Air strikes, artillery fire and barrel bomb attacks continued through the night and into Sunday morning as the army pressed a new offensive that ...

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• 20 November

  Yemen falls calm as ceasefire takes hold

    London / AFP Violence subsided on Sunday in Yemen, a day after the beginning of a 48-hour ceasefire declared by the pro-government Arab coalition battling rebel fighters for almost 20 months. An AFP correspondent in Sanaa said there had not been any air strikes in the rebel-held capital by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition since the ceasefire entered into ...

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• 20 November

  Mosul escapees narrate human shield ordeal

    Qabr al Abd / AFP Iraqi civilians who escaped from the IS group stronghold of Mosul said extremists forced them from their villages and drove them “like sheep” to use as human shields. Bashar huddled with his family on the back of an Iraqi security forces pick-up truck after finally fleeing an area of Mosul still held by IS. ...

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