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  Bloomberg The European Union is in a political bind as it looks into the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions against Spain and Portugal for breaching budget-deficit limits. The European Commission is seeking the go-ahead from finance ministers to propose fines and a suspension of some EU regional-development funding after concluding that Spain and Portugal took inadequate steps to narrow ...

  Sydney / AFP Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday declared victory for the ruling conservatives after the Labor opposition conceded defeat, but faced a tough time ahead after the narrow mandate in the closely fought election. The declaration ended eight days of uncertainty about the new government’s identity. A tight race between the two major parties left neither ...

  Madrid / AFP Barack Obama met Spain’s King Felipe in Madrid on Sunday, during a symbolic but abbreviated first presidential trip to Spain in the wake of America’s latest spasm of violence. Obama is squeezing in a visit to a key NATO and EU partner before dashing home to deal with the aftermath of a wrenching shooting in Dallas. ...

  Bloomberg French President Francois Hollande, who last month endorsed Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential race, said the November ballot threatens to play out along similar lines to the U.K.’s European Union referendum. Just as U.K. voters rejected calls from political leaders and institutions to stay in the EU, a similarly anti-establishment sentiment may be brewing in the U.S., ...

  Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered the backbone of UAE’s economy. Amid the crude slump, this sector has been contributing much towards the nation’s stability. However, at present, the SMEs are facing a number of challenges ahead to sustain themselves, in the wake of which a bankruptcy policy is being mulled by the ...

  Bloomberg Global cross-border investment will probably decline by as much as 15 percent this year as trade remains sluggish, China’s commerce minister said after a Group of 20 trade ministers meeting Sunday. The G-20 representatives pledged to increase their efforts to facilitate trade and urged other World Trade Organisation member nations to do likewise to enable global commerce, Gao ...

  Bloomberg President Barack Obama said he expects the U.K. will abide by the wishes of British voters and carry out plans to leave the European Union, and urged both sides to conduct the departure with minimal disruption. “We have to assume that a referendum having been passed with a lot of attention” and relatively high participation rate “is going ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s consumer prices rose less than analysts forecast in June as new central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn pledges to bring inflation to the government’s target by the end of next year. The benchmark IPCA consumer price index climbed 0.35 percent after a 0.78 percent rise the previous month. That was lower than the median forecast for a 0.37 ...

  DUBLIN / WAM With salaries and job opportunities falling at home, dozens of Irish teachers are heading to the UAE next month to take up posts in primary and secondary schools, according to a report on Saturday in the Irish Independent newspaper. “A sense of adventure is the attraction for some, with others viewing the opportunity as a chance ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE’s direct non-oil trade recorded AED 269.5 billion during the first quarter of 2016, maintaining almost the same figures achieved in Q1 last year, said the Federal Customs Authority (FCA). FCA said its preliminary statistics show that imports, AED 166.1 billion, accounted for more than half of the UAE non-oil foreign trade during Q1 this ...