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  Bloomberg UK mortgage approvals slumped to an 18-month low in July and consumer borrowing slowed following the decision to leave the European Union. Banks and mutually owned lenders signed off on 60,912 home loans, the fewest since January 2015, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. Unsecured lending rose by 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), the least in almost ...

  Beirut / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Tuesday for more cooperation with India on security and trade as the world’s two biggest democracies try to strengthen ties, in part to counter China’s rising influence. Kerry also said he was hopeful of moving ahead on a deal to provide nuclear energy assistance to India, as the nations seek ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey’s week-old cross-border offensive in Syria could become a drawn-out affair that stokes tensions with Washington if Ankara continues to take the fight to US-backed Kurdish fighters, analysts say. Turkey says its unprecedented operation aims to rid the border of both the IS group and the anti-IS Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group. ...

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business The ICT Fund, the financing tool of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced it is organizing the UAE Drones for Good Award and the UAE AI Robotics for Good Award, two different sets of competitions each having local and international categories. The awards aim to encourage innovative ideas and designs intended to help ...

  Bloomberg Dealmaking in Australia’s office market has plunged by the most since the global financial crisis as owners hang on to assets that are among the highest-yielding in the region. Commercial property transactions in Australia fell 57 percent to $7.5 billion in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to Real Capital Analytics, Inc. That’s ...

  Bloomberg Cracks are starting to show in China’s labour market as struggling industrial firms leave millions of workers in flux. While official jobless numbers haven’t budged, the underemployment rate has jumped to more than 5 percent from near zero in 2010, according to Bai Peiwei, an economics professor at Xiamen University. Bai estimates the rate may be 10 percent ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi School Model (ADSM) will be rolled out to Grade 9 public school students this year in line with the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s (ADEC’s) 10-year strategic plan to improve the quality of education in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and as part of the Cycle 3 restructuring model. During a press conference held ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Dubai announced that 20 per cent of direct and indirect spending on the Expo 2020 event will be allocated to small and medium enterprises. Under the plans, contracts worth more than AED5 billion will be allocated to local and international SMEs in the coming years, EXPO 2020 said in a press release. The landmark ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Etihad Airways has launched its annual global sales campaign, targeting business and economy guests, with fares available on a wide range of destinations served around the world and fares available for travel until June 2017. The sale will offer up to 50% off fares to forty-five of the world’s most popular destinations from across Europe, Asia, ...

  Bloomberg The European Commission on Monday insisted talks on a huge US free trade deal were on track, rejecting German claims that irreconcilable differences had left the deal dead in the water. “The ball is rolling right now. The Commission is making steady progress,” Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said when asked about comments by German vice chancellor and economy ...