Hasansham Camp / AFP Years of life under extremist rule and war have left thousands of Iraqi children old beyond their years and in desperate need of playtime to overcome their trauma. Malak, 11, says she has “come back from hell”. She huddles in a long black coat at the Hasansham displacement camp where thousands of people have lived since ...

  Paris / AFP The UN’s cultural agency called for emergency measures on Thursday to prevent further looting at the historic Iraqi city of Nimrud which has been wrecked by IS militants. Nimrud, founded in the 13th century BC on the Tigris river about 30 kilometres southeast of Mosul, was retaken by Iraqi forces on November 13 after it was overrrun ...

  Juba / AFP Despite a brief truce, hopes for peace have crumbled in South Sudan as its civil war hits the three-year mark with ethnic violence only getting worse and no end in sight. “South Sudan’s war continues to escalate and engulf more and more of the country,” said Alan Boswell, an independent analyst, who expects further major offensives with ...

  Yangon/ AFP A new Rohingya insurgency in Myanmar’s Rakhine is a “game-changer” for the troubled state, conflict experts said Thursday, warning the army’s crackdown risks setting off a spiral of violence and radicalisation among the Muslim minority. Troops have taken control of the north of the state since October 9 when armed men carried out raids on posts along the ...

  Ajman / Emirates Business The Ajman Real Estate Conference 1, being organized by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency – Ajman (ARRA), the state-run institution mandated with regulating the real estate activities and developments in Ajman, was inaugurated this morning by Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Director General of Survey and Land Registration Bureau – Bahrain, ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention successfully received ISO 9001:2015 certification for Quality Management Systems. The UK-based Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), the world’s leading provider of independent assessment services, certified nine of the Ministry’s new central departments following stringent assessment. Dr. Mohamed Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Health and ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business DEWA received Sheikh Majed Al Sabah, CEO of 360 and founder of The Fragrance Kitchen (TFK). He is one of the most influential Arabs and one of the most influential people in the world on social media. It was his first visit to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Seih Al Dahal, ...

  Abu Dubai / Emirates Business Union Insurance appointed Etisalat to manage its core IT network infrastructure which will allow the company to focus on delivering innovative, high-value insurance products to their customers in the UAE. As one of the early adopters of Etisalat’s Managed Telephony and Data Connectivity solutions, Union Insurance is now outsourcing the operations and management of ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The utilities sector has historically under-invested in information technology (IT), but an increasing number of utility companies in the MENA region are waking up to the benefits of smart technology – particularly smart grids, a Booz Allen Hamilton report has found. According to Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, smart grids offer ...

  Fujairah / WAM His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, spoke of a bright future for the nation’s tourism sector during the opening of a new resort in emirate. Also, Sheikh Hamad Al Sharqi stressed the importance of the tourism sector in the UAE. He noted that the strategic location of the ...