DUBAI / WAM Her Majesty Queen Rania Abdullah of Jordan, called on Arab societies to break the “mould” that restricts women’s participation in social development. “We share a common challenge – to actively fight currents that are trying to throw us centuries behind. Despite best attempts and achievements, we are restricted by conflicts and backward ideologies,” Queen Rania told a ...

DUBAI / WAM Clara Gaymard, President of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, said that Global Women’s Forum Dubai “is not about how the world sees women, but how women see the world.” In a ringing endorsement to the ‘innovative spirit of Dubai, Clara Gaymard, President of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, issued a clarion ...

DUBAI / WAM The opening session at the ‘Women on Boards’ hub in The Discovery at Global Women’s Forum Dubai on Tuesday explored new approaches to achieving better-balanced representation on corporate boards and enhancing how women influence today’s corporate governance agenda. The panel discussion moderated by Mette Laursen, Founder, LinKS from Denmark featured key speakers from a number of organisations; Ayesha ...

SEOUL / AP Move over, Apple and Samsung. The next big smartphone might be from little-known Chinese brands such as TCL and OPPO. Along with other Chinese phone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi, Chinese brands have surpassed Samsung in China and are encroaching on Apple’s turf. In the coming years, analysts forecast that these cheap Android phones with not-so-cheap ...

Tokyo / AFP The yen picked up on Tuesday as another fall in oil prices dented sentiment, while the pound was under pressure over worries that Britain may vote to leave the European Union this year. Traders pushed into the Japanese unit — widely seen as a safe investment in times of turmoil — after another drop in crude prices, ...

Sydney / AFP A Chinese investor was given the green light to buy Australia’s largest dairy farm company, with the finance minister saying he welcomed foreign investment “not contrary to our national interests”. The sale of farmland to foreigners including to Australia’s biggest trading partner China has been a sensitive issue, with Canberra in November blocking the sale of one ...

Kathmandu / AFP Nepal has lifted its months-long rationing of fuel following the end this month of a border blockade by people protesting against a new constitution, officials said on Tuesday. The months-long blockade caused a crippling shortage of fuel and other vital supplies in the landlocked Himalayan country. But members of Nepal’s ethnic Madhesi community decided to call off ...

New York / AP Argentina has reached a settlement with several bondholders for $250 million and 185 million euros, a court-appointed mediator said as the country continues work toward ending a debt crisis that has damaged its ability to maneuver financially abroad. The latest deals boost to more than $1.5 billion the amount Argentina has committed in deals since President ...

Washington / AP U.S. officials say the Pentagon’s long-awaited plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer the remaining detainees to a facility in the United States calls for up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings. The plan, ...

Washington / AP President Barack Obama sent lawmakers an official $1.9 billion request to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America and the U.S. He is also requesting flexibility to use a limited portion of leftover funds provided in 2014 to fight Ebola to take on Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects. Top House ...