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  London / AFP Retail sales in Britain, a key driver of the economy, rebounded 1.4 percent in July from June’s drop, official data showed on Thursday, indicating no immediate fallout from Brexit but analysts warn of a tough year ahead. Sales by volume rose far higher than expected following a 0.9-percent drop in June that had been caused by ...

  Bloomberg Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, whose fertilizer company is investing more than $6 billion in potash mining, said it could take at least a decade for the potash market to work off the excess because of the past “disruptive” actions by the largest sellers. Potash prices have collapsed since 2013, when a trade pact between Russian and Belarusian producers, ...

  California / AFP Weary firefighters on Thursday battled a raging inferno that was threatening the homes of more than 82,000 people in southern California and sent flaming “firenadoes” tearing across the brush. Nearly 1,600 firefighters were fighting the giant blaze, but had only contained four percent of it, according to a fire service official. Dramatic local TV news footage ...

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) — an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices — will showcase the best practices and experiences of the green building champions from across the Middle East and North Africa region at a special event on August 24 from 8.30am to 11.30am ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business SellAnyCar.com, the Middle East’s first and largest car buying service guaranteeing the purchase of any car within 30 minute, has released new research indicating that the price variance in classified ads for pre-owned car creates ambiguity and lowers the rate of successful transactions. The research is part of a SellAnyCar.com initiative to identify and address ...

  Manila / Bloomberg The Philippines economy grew faster than economists predicted last quarter, giving a boost to new President Rodrigo Duterte as he seeks to attract more investment and speed up infrastructure spending. Gross domestic product increased 7 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, the fastest pace since the same period in 2013, the ...

  Beijing / Bloomberg China is adding new instruments to its economic dashboard that will incorporate big data to help better track innovation and entrepreneurship in the new economy. Three indicators tracking innovation, entrepreneurship and the new economy are rolling out this year to gauge output in those fast-moving, category-bending and hard-to-measure sectors. All three will be distilled partly from ...

  Dubai / WAM The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) organised the third batch of training sessions for 75 students of the Carbon Ambassadors Programme, the next generation of leaders and experts, who will implement ambitious national strategies and plans as well as contribute to innovating new initiatives and programmes, as part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. Conducted ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced the successful installation of its Unit 3 Steam Generators (SGs) marking another milestone in the development of the UAE’s first nuclear energy plant through the UAE peaceful nuclear energy programme. Steam Generators play a key role in the conversion of energy generated by nuclear fission into electricity which will ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey on Wednesday began freeing the first of some 38,000 prisoners not linked to the failed coup who are to be released in a move aimed at relieving pressure on prisons overcrowded with putsch suspects. The parole decision came as Turkey presses on with the biggest purge in its modern history after the July 15 bid ...