September, 2016

• 26 September

  Uproar in Italy after Swiss region vote to block foreign workers

    Geneva/ AFP Italians were up in arms on Monday after the southern Swiss canton of Ticino voted for a measure that would force employers to prioritise local residents over commuters living in Italy. The text, entitled “Ours first”, was put to a popular vote by the populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), and was accepted Sunday by 58 percent ...

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• 26 September

  Japan pledges to watch Chinese warplane activity

    TOKYO/ AFP Japan’s top government spoke- sman warned China on Monday against expanding its military activity to the skies over disputed East China Sea islands after eight Chinese warplanes flew near the area over the weekend. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that Japan scrambled at least one fighter jet after the planes passed over the Miyako Strait on ...

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• 26 September

  Clinton and Trump neck and neck before first debate

  

    Washington / AFP The lengthy US presidential campaign is careening towards a 90-minute on Monday showdown, with Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump squaring off in their first televised debate as they sit nearly neck and neck in the polls. The event, which is expected to be watched — and parsed — by tens of millions of Americans, ...

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• 26 September

  Azerbaijan holds referendum on boosted presidency

  

    Baku / AFP Azerbaijanis went to the polls on Monday in a controversial referendum on handing extra powers to long-serving President Ilham Aliyev, with opposition and rights groups criticising the proposed constitutional changes as undemocratic. The amendments would extend the president’s term in office from five to seven years, and create a powerful new first vice-president position and several ...

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• 26 September

  ‘Jungle’ camp to be razed by year-end: Hollande

    Calais / AFP French President Francois Hollande said on Monday the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais would be dismantled by the end of this year under a plan to spread asylum seekers around the country. “I have come to Calais to confirm the decision that I took with the government… to dismantle (the camp) definitively, entirely and rapidly, that ...

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• 26 September

  Colombia, FARC to sign historic peace deal

  

    Cartagena / AFP Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the FARC rebels, Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, are due to sign a historic peace deal on Monday to end a five-decade war. The former enemies will sign the accord at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) at a ceremony in the colourful colonial city of Cartagena on the Caribbean coast, ...

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• 26 September

  Global court takes up Timor, Australia sea border row

  

    The Hague / AFP In a blow to Australia, an international arbitration court agreed on Monday to take up a decade-long maritime border dispute between East Timor and Canberra which cuts through lucrative oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) “held that it was competent to continue with the conciliation process” initiated by ...

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• 26 September

  Saudi banks rally on central bank monetary action

  

    Dubai / Reuters Saudi banking shares rallied on Monday after the central bank said it would deposit about 20 billion riyals ($5.3 billion) at commercial lenders and introduce two new money market instruments to fight a surge in market interest rates caused by low oil prices. Riyadh’s main index climbed 0.7 percent as three-quarters of the banking shares rose. ...

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• 26 September

  Equities slide back after Fed-inspired rally

    London / AFP Stock markets slumped on Monday, extending a pre-weekend drop that followed a Fed-inspired rally, while a crash in the share price of Deutsche Bank offset a surge in German business confidence. After last week’s burst of enthusiasm on the back of the US central bank’s decision to keep interest rates on hold for a little longer, ...

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• 26 September

  Market for fit outs fuels furniture industry

  

    DUBAI / Emirates Business The GCC market for interior contracting and fit outs in 2015 was estimated at US$ 7.06 billion, according to a recent report of the GCC Building, Construction and Interiors Market by Retailspace. Growth in this sector is set to climb by 25.62 percent to US$ 8.87 billion by 2016, from the projects likely to be ...

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