News

  Geneva / AFP The UN health agency on Tuesday urged countries to start taxing sugary beverages as they fight against an obesity epidemic, pointing to evidence that price hikes can dramatically reduce consumption. The World Health Organization’s recommendations on sweetened beverages came as the world seeks to bring down whopping obesity rates, with one in three adults overweight. “There ...

  The US government reiterated its request that construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota be paused, while authorities consider the impacts of its route on a Native American tribe. The Dakota Access Pipeline has been the subject of a months-long protest, in which Native Americans and their supporters have camped out in the state’s prairie lands to block ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Private sector companies in Dubai experienced another strong improvement in business conditions during September. This was highlighted by the seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index posting 55.1, down fractionally from 55.7 in August but still well above the 50.0 no-change threshold. On average in the third quarter of 2016, the headline index signalled ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, announced the launch of its ‘Reading Box’ initiative that hold its first event at The Dubai Mall. This interactive public initiative will run across Dubai from October 11 – 24 in support of the UAE Government’s Year of Reading ...

  Emirates Business DarkMatter, an international cyber security firm headquartered in the UAE, announces that its cyber governance and risk expert, Harshul Joshi, will participate in a Dubai Future Accelerators panel discussion entitled, “Cybersecurity in a Smart City”. The session will take place from 7-8pm on October 12 at the Dubai Future Accelerators auditorium in the Jumeirah Emirates Towers offices. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business A majority of the accidents in the workplace are caused due to either a poorly trained or supervised workforce or badly-equipped workers, according to a senior Dubai Municipality official, who was speaking at the recent BOHS Worker Health Protection Conference held in Abu Dhabi recently. Raed Al Marzouqi, Head of Occupational Health and Safety at ...

  Reuters The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) plans to finalize several new standards by the end of the year, as the standard-setting body works through a revamp of its guidance for the $2 trillion industry. Bahrain-based AAOIFI has published a draft sharia standard for gold-based products with a one month consultation period ending Nov. 9, ...

  Reuters A joint venture of HaskoningDHV UK and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co has been awarded a contract to design the infrastructure for the Ras Al Khair maritime yard in Saudi Arabia, a statement from the firms said on Tuesday. The duo, based in the Netherlands and South Korea, have been awarded the front-end engineering design contract, with the ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, ADX, has climbed 0.12 percent in September to reach 4476 and become the second growing index in the GCC after Bahrain. The retail sector gained 6.15 percent, followed by telecommunications, 1.27 percent and the banking sector 0.67 percent. The services sector has declined by 7.94 percent, and the industry sector by ...

  DUBAI / WAM Emirates Airline and Google have launched the ‘Celebrating Arabic Reading’ initiative throughout October in a collaboration designed to reach millions of smartphone users in the region, and support the UAE’s Year of Reading, a national move spearheaded by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The ...