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  PARIS / AFP France’s presidential race started in earnest on Wednesday as seven rightwing candidates including ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy were confirmed to contest a November primary, with the nominee seen as the likely winner of next year’s election. The stakes are high with polls showing that the winner of a duel between the two leading candidates from the Republicans ...

  Manila / AFP President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on crime is threatening the Philippines’ economy and endangering its democratic institutions, international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s warned on Wednesday. S&P maintained its stable outlook for the Philippines, but highlighted a range of “weaknesses” under the new Duterte administration that also included his foreign policy and national security statements. ...

  Beijing / AP Liu Jingtang was a Samsung loyalist. The Shanghai technology consultant traded up steadily through its smartphones to the new Note 7. But Liu’s devotion was shaken by the Korean tech giant’s confusing response to its latest product safety scare. Liu, 32, said Samsung Electronics quickly confirmed his Note 7 wasn’t covered by a recall announced last ...

  Frankfurt / AFP Volkswagen investors have filed 1,400 lawsuits seeking 8.2 billion euros in compensation from the car giant over its emissions cheating scandal, a German court said Wednesday, adding to a long list of legal woes for the embattled firm. Investors say the automaker failed to disclose details of the case in a timely way, leading them to ...

  Copenhagen / AFP After a lacklustre recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, Denmark’s central bank has warned that the labour market faces a squeeze as unemployment falls, the population ages and young people shun vocational jobs. At Technical Education Copenhagen, traineeships for another 20 to 30 lorry drivers could probably have been found if only people were interested in ...

  Emirates Business Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in strategic partnership with the Dubai Design District (d3) and supported by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Downtown Design will return this October 25-28 for its fourth edition as the commercial centrepiece of Dubai Design Week. Hosted in d3, the creative ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business GCC Financial Technology (FinTech) startups are cashing in on the always-connected banking habits of Millennials, say industry experts ahead of GITEX 2016. There is a surge in growth of “moneyhawks” — the high-income, and under-35-year-old customers who want constant mobile access to their banking and finance accounts. Banks often struggle to profit from their customers. ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of the ports and Khalifa Industrial Zone in the Emirate, has seen a successful first half of 2016 with new remarkable results announced on Tuesday. This comes in parallel with the prosperous economic growth witnessed in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, reaffirming its prestigious commercial ...

  Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, commended the sports achievements of the UAE National Paralympic team at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team won seven gold, silver and bronze medals. While meeting the members of the team at Zabeel ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has been awarded the ‘Airline of the Year’ award for the third consecutive year by UK magazine, Travel Trade Gazette (TTG). The awards were announced on Monday night at a prestigious ceremony at the Lyceum Theatre in London’s West End. The airline was nominated in two ...