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  AFP With new iPhones hitting the markets Friday, Apple is seeking to regain momentum and set new trends for the smartphone industry and tech sector. The newest versions of the California-based technology giant’s lifestyle-changing iPhone aim to win over users with sophisticated camera technology, water resistance, more power and other improvements. But Apple has raised eyebrows by eliminating headphone ...

  AFP Facebook, Twitter and news organizations including Agence France-Presse have joined a coalition of media and technology groups seeking to filter out online misinformation and improve news quality on social networks. First Draft News, which is backed by Google, announced Tuesday that some 20 news organizations will be part of its partner network to share information on best practices ...

  Bloomberg Yi Wang was hearing the same refrain over and over: Why are English classes in China so expensive? And why aren’t I proficient yet? The former Google product manager decided to do something about it and started an app called LiuLiShuo, which basically means “speaking fluently” in Mandarin. The app, which claims more than 30 million users, is ...

  Emirates Business Saudi Arabia’s thriving auto aftermarket trade, valued at nearly US$2.6 billion in 2015, has attracted the attention of global manufacturers, as they lay down plans to grow their business interests at the Kingdom’s dedicated aftermarket industry trade show. Figures released by Saudi’s General Authority for Statistics provide a graphic sketch of the importance of the Kingdom’s vast ...

  Bloomberg Offshore oil-rig operators, grappling with the biggest industry downturn in a generation, say they finally have the bottom in sight. The problem is, they could be stuck there for a long time. Transocean Ltd., which owns the biggest offshore-rig fleet in the world, believes utilization for floating units will reach bottom toward the middle of next year, Chief ...

  BENGHAZI / Reuters Libya has lifted force majeure at some of its main ports and is resuming exports, the National Oil Corporation said on Thursday. “Exports will resume immediately from Zueitina and Ras Lanuf, and will continue at Brega … exports will resume from Es Sider as soon as possible,” NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said. He said Libya’s U.N.-backed ...

  Emirates Business In 2015, Egypt was one of the fastest-growing economies in the Middle East and North Africa region – second only to Morocco – with GDP growth of 4.5 per cent. It is a clear sign that the project-led recovery plan and economic reforms initiated by Cairo are paying dividends. There has been a sharp step-up in project ...

  Manila / AFP Rodrigo Duterte shot dead a justice department employee and ordered the murder of opponents, a former death squad member told parliament Thursday, in explosive allegations against the Philippine president. The self-described assassin testified under oath that he and a group of policemen and ex-communist rebels killed about 1,000 people between 1988 and 2013 on Duterte’s orders ...

  Geneva / AFP Twenty trucks loaded with desperately needed aid for eastern Aleppo have crossed into a buffer zone between Turkey and Syria, a high-level UN official said on Thursday. “The 20 trucks… have passed over the Turkish border, they are in the buffer zone between the Turkish and Syrian border,” Jan Egeland, head of the United Nations humanitarian ...

  Denpasar / AFP An explosion on a speedboat in Bali left two foreigners dead and 18 other tourists injured Thursday, sparking dramatic scenes as rescuers rushed to haul stunned and bloodied holidaymakers off the vessel. Dazed passengers, many covered in cuts and bruises, were taken to medical centres on the Indonesian holiday island after the blast, with TV footage showing ...