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Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s point man for North Korea said the US was ready for talks “anywhere, anytime” with Pyongyang, providing a strong signal Washington is prepared to revive a stagnant disarmament dialogue. Sung Kim, the US special representative for North Korea, said after discussions on Monday in Seoul with South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk and Japan’s Takehiro Funakoshi that ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Emirates Development Bank (EDB) on Sunday announced that it has signed an agreement with Beehive, the UAE’s first Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platform, to expand funding options for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The announcement follows EDB’s strategic pledge to support SMEs, startups and large corporates across five priority sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure, food security and ...

Dubai / WAM A specialised state-of-the-art hospital has opened its doors in Dubai Science Park, offering spinal, neurosurgical, neurological, orthopaedic and radiosurgery treatments, supported by an advanced cancer centre and neuro-rehabilitation space. The AED 700 million Neuro Spinal Hospital and Radiosurgery Centre has 114 beds – four times the capacity of its former premises in Jumeirah. The hospital also features ...

SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah Airport received the inaugural flight of the Kazakh airline “FlyArystan”, coming from Almaty International Airport and greeted it with a traditional water cannon salute. The airline seeks to benefit from the growing demand for travel to and from the Emirate of Sharjah by building this line, with a frequency of two weekly flights. The choice of ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dubai Chamber) launched a new video series that showcases the impactful ways in which it will connect local and global business communities at Expo 2020 Dubai. The “En Route To The Expo” series focuses on business leaders from the UAE, sharing their thoughts on what they are expecting from the mega-event, ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) has announced the launch of construction of a Wastewater Monitoring Lab in Abu Dhabi that will analyse wastewater samples and issue early warnings to prevent the spread of infectious diseases or harmful substances, as well as curb any adverse effects on the environment. The lab is being developed in ...

Bloomberg When hundreds of protesters gathered outside Japan’s embassy in Yangon during the height of nationwide anti-coup protests in February, Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama emerged from the gates with a firm warning for the junta: Release the detained civilian leadership “immediately.” The remarks, delivered in Burmese, drew applause from pro-democracy demonstrators hoping Japan would take concrete action to pressure Myanmar’s military, ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi made a bold call for more economic stimulus in European countries to help bring growth back to pre-pandemic levels. “Protracted uncertainty means that the case for monetary and fiscal expansion remains compelling,” the former European Central Bank (ECB) chief said in speech in Barcelona. “We will not reach this objective without additional effort. So ...

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) privately estimates that a deal allowing Argentina to reschedule payments on $45 billion owed to the lender will be pushed into 2022 as President Alberto Fernandez has little incentive to quickly agree on the basis of a new program. While the IMF has said it’s constructively engaging with Fernandez’s administration, negotiations entailing fiscal austerity ...

Bloomberg The outlook for the UK’s sovereign debt score has been upgraded to stable by Fitch Ratings, which said that the country’s economy and public finances have proved more resilient to the pandemic shock than the credit assessor had anticipated. Fitch previously had a negative outlook on the UK, but the country avoided being downgraded, with the firm keeping its ...