Syria / AFP Syrian troops have found a mass grave containing the bodies of 42 people executed by IS extremists in Palmyra, as Washington warned the group’s leader will eventually “taste justice”. IS has in recent months claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Brussels and Paris, but has lost ground in Syria and Iraq. Days after Syrian troops backed by ...

Washington / AFP The US government is warning its citizens to avoid visiting southeastern Tunisia near the Libyan border as well as the country’s mountainous western areas due to “the threat of terrorism.” In a travel warning out Friday, the State Department warns that IS group extremists have targeted Tunisian security officials, tourists and civilians in the regions. The warning ...

DAKAR / AP The United Nations mission in Congo says it has received allegations of sexual abuse by Tanzanian peacekeepers based in northeast Congo. The statementsaid a response team has been dispatched to investigate Mavivi village where there is initial evidence of sex with minors and transactional sex, as well as paternity claims. It added that Tanzanian and Congolese authorities ...

Vietnam / AFP Lawmakers in communist Vietnam approved a top police general for the role of president on Saturday, making the head of a controversial domestic security force one of the country’s most high profile politicians. Tran Dai Quang won 91.5 percent of the votes during a ballot at the rubber stamp parliament early Saturday, having been nominated by party ...

Johannesburg / AFP A South African anti-apartheid veteran who was jailed with Nelson Mandela has urged beleaguered President Jacob Zuma to step down after a damning ruling found him in violation of the constitution. In an open letter seen Saturday, Ahmed Kathrada, 86, joined a growing chorus of leading figures calling for Zuma to leave office. The criticism comes after ...

Obock / AFP Under a scorching sun, refugees who fled Yemen’s war struggle on in a camp on Djibouti’s rocky shores, a year after Saudi-backed air strikes began devastating their homeland. Over 2,000 Yemenis have made the Markazi camp their home, fleeing the Arabian Peninsula to Djibouti across the narrow Bab Al Mandeb straits—the “Gate of Tears” in Arabic—the key ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The percentage of debtors among UAE family heads in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has declined during 2015 for the second consecutive year to reach about 19.9 per cent on average from its previous rate of 24 per cent in 2014, according to the National Family Status Observatory’s 2015 report. Issued by the Department of Economic ...

DUBAI / WAM Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has inaugurated one of the largest single-rooftop arrays in the Middle East and North Africa, a 1.5 megawatt direct current (MWdc) photovoltaic generation project at Jebel Ali Power Station (JAPS), and successfully connected it to DEWA’s grid. This supports the Shams Dubai initiative, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Senaat General Holding Corporation (“Senaat” or “the Group”), a leading industrial holding company in Abu Dhabi, has recorded a strong performance for the year, registering revenues of approximately AED 14.04 billion for FY 2015, a 5 per cent increase from AED 13.42 billion in revenues achieved in FY 2014. The increase in revenues reflects a stronger ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) has unveiled the layout of 20 sites for children playgrounds to be constructed within parks during 2015-2016 at a cost of more than AED 30.542 million, spanning an area of over 14,000 square meters under the infrastructure projects in Abu Dhabi Mainland – North. These projects, which come as part of ...