News

  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 France will force its citizens to work from home for most of next month to contain the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. Workers that have the option to stay away from the office must do so a minimum of three days and if possible four days a week to help reduce social contacts, Prime Minister Jean ...

  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 Ireland’s chief medical officer warned people to avoid shops and not to mix with people from other households indoors, as coronavirus cases soar. People should “avoid crowded places including retail environments” and shop online “where possible,” chief medical officer Tony Holohan said. “Do not socialise or meet indoors with people from the other households,” he added. The nation ...

  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 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 ...

  Bloomberg Oil rises as investors weighed the rapid spread of Omicron against signs it may be milder than previous variants. Brent futures rise 0.7%, swinging between gains and losses amid thin trading volumes. West Texas Intermediate, which didn’t have a settlement due to a US holiday, falls from Thursday’s level. Daily omicron infections in the US has surpassed those ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity with Brazil over the victims of floods that have hit the Brazilian state of Bahia, killing scores of people, leaving tens of thousands displaced, and triggering widespread damage. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its sympathy with Brazilian government, sending condolences to ...

  ABU DHABI / Gulf Time Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Henan Province Airport Group, the parent company of the Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport (CGO) — an important domestic aviation hub and the gateway to the central region of China — aim to establish a strategic partnership to strengthen aviation ties between the UAE and China. This ...

  Bloomberg Ten of this year’s most destructive weather events cost a combined $170 billion in damages, according to a new study. Hurricane Ida, a tropical storm that pummeled much of the eastern US with lashing rain in August, killed at least 95 people and cost the economy $65 billion. A month earlier, floods in Europe caused 240 deaths and ...