Abu Dhabi / WAM The Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi Executive Council reviewed strategic plans of those government entities aligned with the Abu Dhabi Plan. The plans were first reviewed by the sub-committees of the Executive Council. The Committee reviewed the strategic plans for government sectors, including social development; security, justice and safety; economic development; infrastructure and the environment; in addition ...

  Washington / AFP “Big data” could play a huge role in the 2016 US election, even if Donald Trump doesn’t think so. Trump, who sailed through the Republican primaries using unconventional campaign rallies and Twitter messages, has indicated that he sees little use for popular data analytics tools to help target specific voters. But analysts say he may be at ...

  Caracas, Venezuela / AFP Venezuela’s government on Saturday extended by two weeks a decree reducing the public sector workweek to Mondays and Tuesdays in a bid to tackle the oil-rich country’s electricity crisis. The enforced leave was first announced in late April, a drastic move for a government also grappling with an economic crisis that has Venezuelans queuing for hours ...

  Bloomberg Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., India’s largest drugmaker, said its U.S. unit received a grand jury subpoena from the Justice Department’s antitrust division related to generic products and pricing. The summons also sought documents about communications with competitors and others regarding the sale of generic drugs, along with corporate and employee records, Sun Pharma said in a May 27 ...

  Niteroi, Brazil / AP The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the deep political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label Louis Vuitton. Around 500 guests, including A-listers Jaden Smith and Catherine Deneuve and fashion royalty flown in from New ...

  Bloomberg Mitsui & Co. has been chosen to deliver Colombia’s first cargo of liquefied natural gas later this year as the country prepares to place a floating import terminal into service, according to the terminal’s developer. Mitsui will send the cargo to the gas storage complex that Sociedad Portuaria El Cayao SA ESP, owned in part by Colombia gas ...

  Baghdad / AFP Iraq’s elite forces deployed around Fallujah, marking a new phase in efforts to retake the extremist bastion, as concern grew for trapped civilians there and in neighbouring Syria. After almost a week of shaping operations around Fallujah, the arrival of the counter-terrorism service (CTS) signalled that an assault on the IS group inside the city may ...

  Rome / AFP A week of shipwrecks and death in the Mediterranean culminated on Sunday with harrowing testimony from migrant survivors who said another 500 people including 40 children had drowned, bringing the number of feared dead to 700. Brought to safety in the Italian ports of Taranto and Pozzallo, survivors told the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and Save ...

  London / AFP The British coastguard said it rescued 19 migrants on Sunday from the Channel after their inflatable boat began to take on water. “The rhib (rigid-hulled inflatable boat), with 19 people on board was located at 2.00am and the incident handed over to Border Force,” it said in a statement. The mission included the deployment of a ...

  SHINDAND / AP A breakaway Taliban faction is willing to hold peace talks with the Afghan government but will demand the imposition of Islamic law and the departure of all foreign forces, a senior leader of the group said Sunday. Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi told a group of around 200 followers in eastern Afghanistan that his faction had no ...