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Brussels / Belgium Top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was captured in a dramatic raid in Brussels, was to be questioned by Belgian police on Saturday ahead of his speedy transfer to France. Following his release from hospital where he was treated for a slight gunshot wound to the leg sustained during his arrest, Abdeslam was to be quizzed ...

WASHINGTON / AP The US and the Philippines announced five locations where American forces will have access under a new defense pact, including one facing disputed islands in the South China Sea. The announcement came at strategic talks in Washington, where the allies reiterated their opposition to the militarization of outposts in those waters, where six Asian governments have competing ...

United Nations / AFP The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea over its ballistic missile launches and demanded Pyongyang to refrain from further violations of UN resolutions. Backed by China, Pyongyang’s ally, the council said in a unanimous statement that “all these launches were unacceptable” and “constituted a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions.” The statement was adopted ...

Hyderabad / Bloomberg Airbus Group SE, whose A380 jet doesn’t have a single customer in India, is still looking for a carrier in the South Asian country to buy the superjumbos, betting infrastructure growth in the world’s fastest growing air travel market will fail to keep pace with the rise in traffic. Airlines in India will need more of the ...

Paris / AFP A bid by French household goods group Conforama, majority-owned by South Africa’s Steinhoff, for rival Darty has won the backing of Darty’s board, both companies said, derailing a planned Darty tie-up with retail giant Fnac. Conforama earlier this month launched a conditional all-cash offer for Darty at 125 pence ($1.75, 1.61 euros) per share, aiming to create ...

Bloomberg British supermarket group Sainsbury’s said it had made a formal offer worth £1.4 billion for Home Retail Group, owner of catalogue chain Argos. The cash-and-stock takeover is worth the equivalent of $2.0 billion or 1.8 billion euros. Argos sells household items, including televisions, furniture and gardening tools. With South African household goods group Steinhoff having walked away from the ...

HONG KONG / AFP Fashion designer Victoria Beckham launched her first shop outside Britain in Hong Kong as she seeks to tap the Asia market despite a downturn in luxury spending. Beckham’s store in Hong Kong’s Landmark building lies at the heart of the upmarket Central district, a cluster of high-end brands and five-star hotels. The British designer did a final ...

Copenhagen / AFP Bang & Olufsen, the Danish maker of upmarket sound systems and televisions, said on it had entered a partnership with LG Electronics to outsource its production of televisions. The struggling Danish firm, which said in November it was in talks with a potential buyer, said the deal “will address Bang & Olufsen’s key challenges related to scale ...

Bloomberg Hackers who stole $101 million from Bangladesh’s central bank stalked its computer systems for almost two weeks beforehand, according to an interim investigation report seen by Bloomberg. Prepared for Bangladesh Bank by cyber security firms FireEye Inc. and World Informatix, the assessment offers a tantalising glimpse into how cyber criminals can use banks’ own systems against them. The cyber ...

LONDON / Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) should force banks to set aside more capital to support lending in a downturn, former policy maker Charles Goodhart said. The countercyclical capital buffer is currently set at zero and while the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has said it intends gradually to increase the level to 1 percent, Goodhart said such a ...