Moscow /AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia on August 9 for his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin since Moscow and Ankara mended ties damaged by the downing of a Russian jet last year, Turkish officials said on Tuesday. “The ambassador has informed us that our dear president (Erdogan) has confirmed that he will be in ...

  Vientiane / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday talks with Russia about cooperation in Syria were “making progress”, adding he hopes next month to announce new steps aimed at ending the fighting. Russia and the United States support opposing sides in Syria’s five-year war, which has left 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee ...

  Ansbach / AFP Democratic power players Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders offered contrasting heartfelt and hard-headed endorsements of Hillary Clinton, imploring a riven and feisty party convention to unite against Donald Trump. As polls showed Trump ahead of Clinton in the race to the White House, the first lady wowed the Philadelphia crowd as she impeached Trump’s character and hailed ...

  Sydney / AFP The Australian government ordered an inquiry on Tuesday after graphic evidence emerged of prison guards assaulting teenage boys, with one shown hooded and shackled in scenes likened to Guantanamo Bay. National broadcaster ABC showed footage of offenders, many indigenous, being stripped naked, tear-gassed and held in solitary confinement for weeks at a youth detention centre in ...

  Vientiane / AFP The United States warned North Korea on Tuesday that it faces “real consequences” over its internationally condemned nuclear and missile tests, which have inflamed tensions in East Asia. “Together we are determined… to make absolutely certain that DPRK (North Korea) understands that there are real consequences for these actions,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters ...

  Dubai / WAM This year, Dubai maintained its attractiveness to global investors as in the first half of 2016, over 8,000 new companies joined the membership of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry bringing its total membership to 193,000 with a 4.3% growth. This new addition takes the non-profit business organisation membership closer to 200,000 while enhancing the Chamber’s reputation ...

  Dubai / WAM The second edition of the Innovation 4 Impact Competition will take centre-stage at the Global Islamic Economy Summit 2016 (GIES 2016) to be held under the theme ‘Inspiring Change’, at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, from October 11-12. Islamic digital economy entrepreneurs from around the world will compete for a chance to win cash, gain global publicity, ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM AkzoNobel has raised its stake in Akzo Nobel Powder Coatings SAE in Egypt from 60 percent to 100 percent. The transaction forms part of the company’s accelerated growth strategy for Egypt and the wider North Africa region. As well as operating a state-of-the-art powder coatings plant in Cairo, Akzo Nobel Powder Coatings SAE also has a ...

  Dubai / WAM The number of ideas put forward by Dubai Customs (DC) staff to the Mohammed bin Rashid Smart Council, from its launch in October 2015 until the end of June, was 1,527, of which 687 were approved, representing about 45% of the overall number submitted. This percentage was reached as a result of the enthusiasm shown by ...

  PHILADELPHIA En route to fight one of his many duels, French politician Georges Clemenceau bought a one-way train ticket. Was he pessimistic? “Not at all. I always use my opponent’s return ticket for the trip back.” Some Hillary Clinton advisers, although not that serene, think her victory is probable and can be assured. Her challenge is analogous to Ronald ...