CHICAGO / AP Powerful storms packing multiple tornadoes swept through parts of the Midwest on Wednesday night, damaging homes and a gas station in central Illinois and sending tens of thousands of soccer fans seeking shelter during the Copa America semifinal in Chicago. Chuck Schoop, emergency manager for Livingston County in central Illinois, said a tornado destroyed the canopy of ...

  TOKYO / AP There will be no Fourth of July fireworks for American troops in Japan this year due to restrictions imposed after a former US Marine was accused of murdering and raping a woman on Okinawa. The US Navy in Japan said Thursday that it had canceled planned annual Independence Day fireworks at its bases as part of ...

  NEW YORK / AP Facing questions about meager fundraising, slipping poll numbers and campaign instability, Donald Trump is tending to business — in Scotland. In his first international trip since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump plans to check on a pair of his championship golf resorts. Some Republicans worry that the billionaire’s attention is divided between his businesses ...

  Seoul/ AP Leader Kim Jong-Un threatened US military bases across the Pacific after North Korea’s test of a powerful new missile triggered emergency UN Security Council talks late Wednesday on curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Kim, who personally monitored Wednesday’s Musudan missile test, applauded a “great event” that significantly bolstered the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability, the official KCNA news ...

  WELLINGTON / AP A New Zealand man was sentenced on Thursday to more than three years in prison for distributing militant videos in the first case of its type in the South Pacific nation. After his sentencing, 26-year-old Imran Patel had to be dragged by security guards from an Auckland courtroom , according to The New Zealand Herald newspaper. ...

  Nicosia / AFP Cyprus finally brought a massive wildfire under control on Thursday after a five-day battle that saw two firefighters killed and five foreign governments send aircraft to help, a minister said. Hundreds of firefighters remain on standby to put out any rekindling flames, Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis told reporters. Firefighting aircraft deployed by Britain, France, Greece and ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The share of global electricity generated by solar photovoltaics (PV) could increase from 2 per cent today to as much as 13 per cent by 2030, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Released on Wednesday at InterSolar Europe, Letting in the Light: How Solar Photovoltaics Will Revolutionise the Electricity ...

  DUBAI / WAM Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Chairman of Emirates Islamic and Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Group, rang the market-opening bell on Wednesday to celebrate the listing by the bank of a US$750 million Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. The nominal value of Sukuk currently listed on Nasdaq Dubai has reached US$41.81 billion, the largest total ...

  Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS Tadweer has celebrated its 5-day long Occupational Environment, Health & Safety (OEHS) Week for 2016. With its two strategic partners, the initiative is aimed at promoting a culture of occupational environment, safety and health for its employees, contractors and community. The Universal Hospital conducted various health and well-being initiatives and National Trading and Pharmaceuticals, NTPE, ...

  Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Free Zone (DFZ) Council, chaired the third council meeting held at the Emirates Office Tower. The session highlighted the UAE’s responsibility in seeing through to completion the international agreements signed on the prevention of double taxation. The Council also explored suitable solutions for increasing ...