LAKE ISABELLA / AP A deadly wildfire that roared through dry brush and trees in the mountains of central California gave residents little time to flee as flames burned dozens of homes to the ground, propane tanks exploded, and smoke obscured the path to safety. An elderly couple trying to flee from the flames were overcome with smoke outside ...

Caracas / AFP Opposition leaders in Venezuela said they have finished the process of authenticating signatures on a petition to recall President Nicolas Maduro, and have enough to hold a referendum on removing him. “The number of signatures has clearly exceeded the minimum needed,” said Vicente Bello, coordinator for the referendum effort. Government election authorities now have 20 days to ...

  Reykjavik / AFP Iceland began voting in a presidential election Saturday, two months after the Panama Papers scandal tainted part of the political elite, with newcomer Gudni Johannesson seen clinching an easy victory. Polling stations opened at 0900 GMT, with 245,000 Icelanders eligible to cast ballots. Polls were to close at 2200 GMT, with the first results expected shortly ...

  Tribal Areas / WAM The UAE-Pakistani Friendship Road, funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) at cost of US$60.6 million, has been inaugurated in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan. The move follows the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of ...

  Dubai / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) staff are distributing Iftar meals to drivers on the roads and at traffic intersections before Maghrib prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. The gesture is in implementation to the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to mark June ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Unilever signed an agreement to promote healthy lifestyle through a yearlong campaign comprising of several awareness initiatives and outreach programs for Dubai residents. The MoU was signed at the DHA headquarters by His Excellency Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority(DHA) and ...

  Dubai / WAM In line with its continued efforts to offer optimum services to customers, the Inheritance Department at the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) has launched an initiative to provide enabling services to beneficiaries at their homes, particularly widows and the elderly. Customers who are sixty years old and above, as well as widows passing through the Idda ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business Al Qasba, Sharjah’s premier leisure, tourism and family destination, hosted a group of fatherless children from the Sharjah Social Empowerment Foundation (SSEF) in commemoration of the 12th annual Zayed Humanitarian Day. Celebrated on Ramadan 19, Zayed Humanitarian Day honours the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the nation, with ...

  Leonid Bershidsky “Please tell me I’m still sleeping and this is all just a bad nightmare,” former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb tweeted after waking up to the U.K. referendum results. It feels like a betrayal, but it’s really a wake-up call. The millions of Britons who on Thursday voted their distrust of the European Union are not the ...

Jackson Ewing SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS The major economies of Northeast Asia are developing carbon markets to help meet their climate change commitments. They would benefit from doing so in concert. Like much in the current climate change arena, market activities beneath the global scale are booming. Carbon markets have almost doubled since 2012, with 40 states and 23 cities, ...