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  Paris / AFP Paris was on high alert for more street clashes on Thursday as unions prepared another march against labour market reforms in a three-month protest campaign which has been marred by violence. The march is to take place after the another round of bitter negotiations in which the embattled Socialist government tried to ban the protest over security ...

Nigeria / AFP Three Australians, a New Zealander and a South African have been kidnapped along with two locals in Nigeria’s southeast after their vehicle was attacked, officials said on Thursday. The hold-up, in which the driver was shot dead, happened in the Akpabuyo district near the capital of Cross River state, Calabar, at about 7 am (0600 GMT) on Wednesday, ...

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank has reduced its public speaking as it battles the opposing forces of a housing boom and weak inflation. The Reserve Bank has more than halved the number of on-the-record speeches it gives a year, from 18 in 2014 to eight last year and four so far in 2016. Of those, Governor Graeme Wheeler gave ...

  Bloomberg The USA Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as many as six times over the next 18 months and the Bank of Canada should be getting ready with increases of its own, Bank of Nova Scotia Chief Economist Jean-Francois Perrault said. While both central banks will be cautious about snuffing out recoveries, the USA job market will have ...

  Bloomberg Norway’s central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged at a record low amid signs the economy of western Europe’s biggest oil producer will narrowly avoid a recession thanks to record fiscal and monetary stimulus. The rate was left at 0.50 percent, as forecast by 14 of 15 analysts surveyed. The bank raised its outlook for rates looking ahead, ...

  Bloomberg Three of Australia’s largest banks face maximum potential penalties of A$231 million (US$173 million) if they lose civil suits related to alleged rigging of an interest rate benchmark, a fraction of their combined first-half profits of A$10 billion. The Australian securities regulator has filed separate legal actions against Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, National Australia Bank ...

  Bloomberg Tanzania’s central bank should rally to the defense of the shilling using means at its disposal, including stopping ‘dollarization’ of the economy, President John Magufuli said. The currency of the natural gas-producing country has weakened almost 2 percent against the dollar this year, extending depreciation of 19 percent in 2015. Tanzania held US$3.9 billion of gross international reserves ...

A panel of Asia experts recently conveyed to American audiences the alarm that Asian observers feel about U.S. withdrawal from the region. Gathering in New York on Monday for a panel hosted by NTT and Kinokuniya — a Japanese publishing company and book store, respectively – the experts discussed a wide range of divisive issues in Asia’s security landscape – ...

  It is a tough time for major automakers hit hard by scandals over concealing faults that cause pollution. These revelations have a negative impact on investors and consumers as executives try to contain mistrust through redressing these technical errors, but at a huge price. Volkswagen’s admission in September that it had illegally fitted special devices in 11 million diesel ...

  Luke Hunt SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS While the police were counting the toll in Orlando left by Afghan-American Omar Mateen – who shot dead 49 people – the authorities in the southern Philippines were attempting to identify Canadian Robert Hall, who was kidnapped and this week killed by Abu Sayyaf militants. Mateen and the Abu Sayyaf were Islamic State ...