Blog List Layout

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) has announced that UAE nationals with diplomatic, special and normal passports can now travel to the Republic of Tajikistan without pre-entry visas and for stays of up to 30 days for each visit. The decision comes into effect on January 1, 2022. Entry to Tajikistan for ...

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Chamber has announced that it will shift to a 4.5-day working week starting January 3, 2022, in a move that falls in line with a newly approved work week for the UAE federal government employees. The official working hours will be 9 working hours per day Monday-Thursday, from 8:00 until 17:00, and four working hours ...

  DUBAI / WAM Shaheen H Al-Ghanem, CEO of Warba Bank, a leading Kuwaiti Islamic Bank, Tuesday rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing of the bank’s $250 million perpetual Tier-1 Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, in the presence of Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). This is the third Sukuk listing by Warba Bank ...

  Bloomberg North Korea’s ruling party started a major policy meeting to lay out priorities for the coming year and how to respond to the Biden administration’s invitation to return to nuclear disarmament talks stalled for about two years. Leader Kim Jong-un attended the opening session of a Workers’ Party Central Committee meeting, the official Korean Central News Agency said. ...

  Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak plans to cut tens of thousands of jobs within the UK civil service over the next three years, the Financial Times (FT) reported. The Treasury is expected to set parameters for the reductions in early 2022, the newspaper reported, citing people briefed on the plans. The reductions are meant to save government ...

  Bloomberg Canada has welcomed more than 401,000 permanent residents in 2021, achieving its goal set last year, and marking the highest immigration year on record. The federal government announced the milestone, adding that the record immigration flows were attained despite the ongoing pandemic, which prompted the country to close its borders to foreigners for much of the year. Because ...

  Bloomberg For US school officials struggling with a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, winter break can’t come soon enough. There were 646 Covid-related school closings for this week, up from 356 the week before, according to Burbio, a data service that aggregates calendars nationwide. Schools in states including Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio shifted to virtual learning or closed ...

  Bloomberg The European Union is weighing a broad set of new powers, including possible export controls, that would give it the ability to protect the bloc’s supply chain during periods of crisis. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will unveil the proposal as soon as the spring, according to an EU official familiar with the plan. The new ...

  Dubai / WAM Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) signed an MoU with Emirates NBD and Crediti Fintech, for the implementation of the ‘UAE Trade Finance Gateway’. The receivables financing marketplace is designed to help businesses based in the UAE obtain fast and easy access to finance and boost their business, while supporting the UAE’s ‘Operation 300bn’ industrial strategy which aims ...

  DUBAI / WAM Visits to Expo 2020 Dubai continue to climb substantially, increasing to 8,067,012 in the period up to December 27 as the most significant global gathering of 2021 continues to welcome visitors safely and responsibly. Expo’s stringent Covid-19 safety measures are designed to protect everyone on site, and include mandatory mask-wearing – indoors and outdoors – for ...