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  Bloomberg A day before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, another pro-Russian president was sworn in far to the east, in NATO member Bulgaria, as questions arise over the future of the alliance amid rising animosity with its Cold-War adversary. Rumen Radev, a 53-year-old, US-trained general, took an oath of office on Thursday in Sofia after defeating the ruling party’s ...

  NICOSIA / AP Greece’s president says an insistence by Turkey and Turkish Cypriots on keeping troops and military intervention rights on Cyprus even after the ethnically split island is reunified is “anachronistic” and unacceptable.” President Procopis Pavlopoulos says such positions are contrary to European Union norms and would create “dangerous precedents” if implemented. He said after talks with Cypriot President ...

  PRISTINA / AP Kosovo’s foreign minister has written to his counterparts in the European Union, US and other countries denouncing “numerous acts of provocation and aggression” from Serbia, an official said on Thursday. The minister, Enver Hoxhaj, called on the EU, which facilitates Pristina-Belgrade talks to normalize ties, “to urge Serbia to remain committed to good neighborly relations,” according to ...

  BEIJING / AP Sidestepping recent disputes over Taiwan and regional security, China said on Thursday that “important progress” has been made in its relationship with the US under President Barack Obama and the two countries should move forward as partners rather than competitors. Asked to sum up relations under Obama, who leaves office Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying recalled ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Egypt’s blue-chip stock index tumbled on Thursday after Reuters reported that authorities were considering temporarily reintroducing a stamp duty on stock market transactions, while Saudi Arabia was supported by quarterly corporate earnings. The index dropped 3.7 percent, its largest single-day decline since June 2016. Local traders were heavy net sellers after a Finance Ministry source, speaking ...

  Bloomberg For some China investors, the outlook for bonds is becoming a compelling reason to buy stocks. December’s debt selloff, the biggest in six years, may just be the start as policy makers crack down on speculative trading, according to HFT Investment Management Co. With the Shanghai Composite Index one and a half years on from its own bubble ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways on Thursday announced its Abu Dhabi – Düsseldorf route will be operated 14 times a week with the addition of a new daily service, effective March 26. The double daily schedule will provide greater choice to local passengers travelling between Abu Dhabi and Düsseldorf, and further increase connectivity to and from Germany ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business As the fifth edition of the Sharjah Children Biennial continues to display the outstanding work of international young artists, Her Excellency Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council (FNC), and Sheikha Alia Al Qasimi, Founder of ‘Minbart’ visited the event at Sharjah Art Museum. On their first leg of their ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) – a member of the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives – is set to expand its “A Book in Minutes” initiative, which has already published up to 105 books. Launched by the Foundation three years ago, the initiative seeks to promote reading and to spread knowledge to ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Continuing its expansion program, Careem, the region’s leading ride-hailing service, has now expanded to more than 50 cities across the broader MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) region, including Turkey and three new cities in Pakistan. Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of Careem, said, “Our main focus is to broaden and deepen our ...