The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

Tripoli / AFP The designated head of Libya’s UN-backed unity government has met the country’s controversial army chief, retired General Khalifa Haftar, as he prepares to submit a new cabinet lineup. Fayez Al Sarraj’s official Facebook page said he met Haftar on Saturday as part of a series of meetings to assess “the opinions, fears and worries of influential sides ...

Tokyo / AFP Japan has doubled the number of F-15 fighter jets deployed on the southern island of Okinawa, near disputed islands in the East China Sea, the defence ministry said Sunday. Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force now has about 40 F-15s on Okinawa’s Naha base, according to the defence ministry. The move comes as Japan and China have routinely clashed ...

Justin Sink / Bloomberg President Barack Obama will visit a US mosque for the first time in his presidency next week, when he travels to Baltimore Feb. 3 to meet with Muslim community leaders. Obama will hold a round-table with community members and “reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values—welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, ...

Alan Bjerga / Bloomberg The Pentagon confirmed it sent a ship into waters claimed by China, calling it a “freedom of navigation” operation meant to challenge attempts by that country and others to restrict navigation in the area. The USS Curtis Wilbur got to within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of Triton Island in the South China Sea, Defense Department ...

United States / AFP Months into their campaigns, US presidential candidates were suddenly racing against time in a final frenzied weekend of persuasion politics before Iowa kicks off the nomination process. Democrat Hillary Clinton, fearful of a 2008 repeat when she was beaten to the punch in Iowa by an upstart Barack Obama, was leaving nothing to chance, stumping in ...

Addis Ababa / AFP Ethiopia is struggling from its worst drought for 30 years with millions in dire need of life saving aid, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Sunday. At least 10.2 million people need food aid in Ethiopia, a figure the UN has warned could rise sharply, as “forecasts indicate that it could double within months” casting a ...

Thomas Penny / Bloomberg Google Inc. denied it reached a “sweetheart deal” with British tax authorities as a dispute continued over the 130 million-pound ($185 million) settlement, which was called a victory by the UK Treasury and dismissed as “derisory” by opposition lawmakers. UK Business Secretary SajidJavid separately said the agreement “wasn’t a glorious moment” and he shares “the sense ...

The Hague / AFP Over 10,000 unaccompanied migrant children have disappeared in Europe, the EU police agency Europol said on Sunday, fearing many have been whisked away into sex trafficking rings or the slave trade. Europol’s press office confirmed the figures that were published in British newspaper The Observer, adding that the numbers were for the last 18-24 months. The ...

Khan Yunis / AFP Azza Al Najjar struggles in vain to keep her two-year-old warm by wrapping him in blankets in her prefabricated metal home as a winter storm lashes the Gaza Strip. “The cold increases the suffering of people here,” the 24-year-old mother says. “My son has breathing problems and with the weather his condition has worsened.” The family ...

Damascus / AFP At least 45 people were killed and 110 wounded on Sunday in three bomb blasts near the revered Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab outside the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said. State news agency SANA said the first blast was caused by a car bomb that detonated at a bus station near the shrine. It said two ...