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  Karachi / AFP At least 21 people have been killed and dozens more injured after two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi during morning rush hour on Thursday, officials said. Witnesses described watching in horror as one train sped into the city’s Quaidabad Railway Station and rammed into the second, which was stationary, ...

  Islamabad / AFP Pakistan on Thursday accused eight Indian embassy employees of involvement in spying and terrorism but stopped short of expelling them, in the latest apparent tit-for-tat move as relations between the two countries nosedive. The declaration came days after a similar move by New Delhi, which accused six Pakistani diplomats of being part of a spy network, ...

  Sydney /AFP The reclusive leader of the IS group broke a nearly year-long silence as Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul on Thursday, urging his extremists to hold their ground. It was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s first statement since Iraqi forces launched a massive offensive on October 17 to retake Mosul, where the IS chief declared the group’s “caliphate” two ...

  Pretoria / AFP US Marines are using Super Cobra attack helicopters to mount close-range airstrikes against IS militants in the Libyan city of Sirte, the US navy said on Thursday. The gunship attacks, the first of their kind to be confirmed in over two months, were launched overnight from the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock ship deployed ...

  Shanghai / AFP China and Russia will invest up to $20 billion to develop a long-haul wide-bodied jet, reports on Thursday and a company statement said, as Beijing seeks to challenge leading Western manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. The hugely ambitious plan was first agreed between the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), whose products ...

  Frankfurt/ AFP German sportswear group Adidas on Thursday reported a jump in third-quarter profits, lifted by a surge in sales of its own-brand trainers and apparel. The Bavarian company, which sponsors English Premier League giants Manchester United, also confirmed its improved outlook for the year, bolstered by high-profile sponsorships during the Euro 2016 football tournament and the Rio Olympics, as ...

  Emirates Business A unit of HNA Group Co. outbid Hong Kong developers including Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. with an HK$8.84 billion ($1.1 billion) offer for government land in the former Kai Tak airport area, the highest price tag in three-and-a-half years. It was the most hotly contested land tender this year, as a rebound in home prices is ...

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group said it will create a new long-haul unit to fend off Persian Gulf rivals, simplify short-haul operations and work more closely with staff as new Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Janaillac seeks to put his stamp on a company riven by internal strife as its market share ebbs. The group will establish a French arm parallel ...

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc’s plans for its first-ever flights from Frankfurt sparked a bitter response from Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which vowed to fight back against the surprise incursion at Germany’s biggest hub. While Ryanair will begin Frankfurt services with just two jets and four routes, Europe’s top discount airline sees potential for a bigger operation there, David O’Brien, its ...

  Cairo / AFP Egypt floated the country’s pound on Thursday as part of a raft of reforms, after a dollar crunch and exorbitant black market trade threatened to grind some imports to a halt. The government of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is rolling out an austerity programme and seeking billions in support from abroad in order to meet ...