ABU DHABI / WAM More than 300 exhibitors from around the globe are expected to participate in the 4th International Franchise Conference and Exhibition 2016, to be held on December 14, in Abu Dhabi, organisers said on Sunday. The two-day event seeks to enhance the contribution of the private sector to economic growth and diversification in the UAE and ...

  Rome / AFP Prime Minister Matteo Renzi voted on Sunday in a constitutional referendum that has put his future on the line, divided Italy and raised fears of political and economic turmoil across Europe. Renzi, who has vowed to quit if he loses, was counting on a last-minute turnaround in voter sentiment to win backing for his proposals to ...

  Kiev / AFP Five Ukrainian police were killed by friendly fire in a tragic accident in which officers mistook colleagues for burglars, officials said on Sunday. Three burglars initially escaped the crime scene amid a gunfight between different security forces, although they were later detained. “Last night a devastating tragedy took place that killed five police officers,” Anton Gerashchenko, a ...

  Colombo / AFP A gunman shot dead three women, including a council leader, as they were leaving a restaurant in a small Finnish town on Saturday night, police said. Investigators cited by the SST news agency on Sunday said the municipal council head and two local journalists were killed in the town of Imatra by a man armed with ...

  Oakland / AFP Fire crews in California worked into the night Saturday sifting through the remains of a warehouse gutted by a blaze during a rave party, with officials saying they fear the death toll could reach 40. Relatives of dozens of people missing in the Friday night blaze in Oakland near San Francisco continued their anxious wait for news. ...

  Kuala Lumpur / AFP Aung San Suu Kyi must step in to prevent the “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Malaysia’s prime minister said on Sunday as he mocked the Nobel laureate for her inaction. Addressing a 5,000-strong rally in Kuala Lumpur, Najib Razak said the Myanmar government must stop the bloody crackdown in its far west that has ...

  Santiago De Cuba / AFP Fidel Castro’s ashes were buried alongside national heroes in the cradle of his revolution on Sunday, as Cuba opens a new era without the communist leader who ruled the island for decades. Capping a week of tributes and mass rallies, Castro was laid to rest near the mausoleum of 19th century independence icon Jose Marti ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE’s history, folklore, customs and cuisine is on display at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival 2016. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, took a tour on Sunday of the festival, being staged in Abu Dhabi. The theme of the festival is “The UAE as ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM President of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on Sunday visited Wahat Al Karama (Oasis of Dignity) memorial, to honour UAE’s martyrs and their sacrifices to defend the country and its achievements, in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Khalifa bin Tahnoun bin Mohammad Al Nahyan, Director of the Martyrs’ Families’ Affairs Office at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, Ali ...