News

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has been awarded the New Distribution Capability (NDC) Level 4 certification, by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). NDC enhances communication between the airline industry and travel agents, which allows for more effective merchandising, competitive propositions and product personalisation. The NDC standard allows Etihad to transform the ...

Dubai / WAM A French-Japanese consortium has won a contract for the operation and maintenance of the Dubai Metro as well as the operation of the Dubai Tram. The contract covers 15 years (9 base years and six renewable years) and amounts to approximately AED542 million ($147.56 million) per annum. The consortium consists of three companies namely Keolis, Mitsubishi Heavy ...

SHARJAH / WAM The Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) in Sharjah welcomed 66,663 visitors to six of its centres during January and February 2021. The numbers were broken down as follows: 2,500 visitors to the Wasit Wetland Centre; 1,925 visitors to the Kalba Bird of Prey Centre; 3,590 visitors to the Buhais Geology Park; 1003 visitors to the Al ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 240,035 additional Covid-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry stressed its aim to continue expanding the scope of testing nationwide to facilitate the early detection of coronavirus cases and carry out the necessary ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) sued the UK for failing to recover illegal tax breaks doled out to multinational firms, in the second legal move against the former member state this week. Authorities still haven’t clawed back all of the 100 million euros ($119 million) in tax breaks aimed at luring multinational firms to the UK territory of Gibraltar, more ...

Bloomberg The French economy is weathering the Covid pandemic and government restrictions better than previously forecast, putting it on a path to stronger growth this year, the Bank of France said. Activity falls less than the central bank initially expected at the end of 2020 as household and business investment held up despite the lockdown in November. The central bank ...

Bloomberg Portugal will continue implementing measures to protect jobs as it eases confinement measures and tries to recover from the deepest slump in decades, Labor Minister Ana Mendes Godinho said. “Our top priority has been the protection of employment,” Mendes Godinho said. “We plan to continue to monitor and reinforce the measures that are needed to protect the income of ...

Bloomberg Greece is set to issue its longest-maturity bonds since 2008, completing the country’s full return to debt markets. The nation is selling 30-year bonds via banks, which could be an opportunity for investors to pick up yields that are likely to be the highest in the euro area. Greece is following others in the region in seizing on low ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. unveiled new technology to boost government and health care organisations’ vaccine management systems, including scheduling shot appointments and monitoring results, to fix shortcomings weeks after the company’s initial custom-built programs ran aground in a few states. The Microsoft Vaccine Management product is made up of features and new apps that the software company said will improve upon ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi vowed to free up more economic stimulus and increase vaccinations to offset a prolonged lockdown amid a coronavirus resurgence. The premier, at his first news conference since his governing coalition was sworn in on February 13, unveiled a 32 billion-euro ($38 billion) pandemic relief package he called “only a first step.” The package was ...