BLOOMBERG  President Xi Jinping has resisted crossing Washington’s red lines over arming Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. But that hasn’t stopped China edging closer to Moscow’s military in another way: direct engagement. China and the armed forces of Vladimir Putin conducted six joint military exercises together last year, the most in data going back two decades. That accounted for two-thirds …

BLOOMBERG  At least 35 people have died and 10 are missing in flooding and landslides across storm-battered South Korea, with heavy rainfall forecast to continue, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. Eight bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the central city of Osong, North Chungcheong Province, where about 15 vehicles, including a bus, …

BLOOMBERG Pita Limjaroenrat, whose political party won the most seats in Thailand’s general election, should get more chances to secure enough votes from lawmakers and become prime minister, according to an opinion poll. He was backed by more than 60% of the 1,310 participants nationwide in the July 11-12 survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) to be …

BLOOMBERG The leader of the UK’s political opposition promised his party would avoid large government spending increases to ensure economic stability. In an article in the Observer newspaper, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer wrote that, if elected, his government would focus on regulatory changes, including reform to the planning system to increase housebuilding. “If we are to turn things around, …

DUBAI/ WAM Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) joined the UAE delegation to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which runs from July 10-19 at the UN headquarters in New York. Established in 2012, the High-Level Political Forum is the UN’s central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable …

ABU DHABI / WAM UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent a written letter to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico, which included an invitation to the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be held in Expo City Dubai this November. The letter was delivered to …

NEW YORK / WAM Over the past three years, poverty rates in poor countries have surged, with the number of additional individuals living on less than $3.65-a-day reaching 165 million by 2023 according to a new policy brief from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), titled “The Human Cost of Inaction: Poverty, Social Protection and Debt Servicing, 2020–2023”. According to …

JEDDAH / WAM The Union of News Agencies of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (UNA-OIC) has held a workshop to introduce the Global Media Congress (GMC) in its second edition, in cooperation with the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec). The workshop sought to introduce the second edition of the Congress, which will be …

ABU DHABI / WAM HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, (Mother of the Nation), Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), has emphasised that the UAE has tremendous energies and bright young minds that rely on it to continue the comprehensive and sustainable …

DUBAI / WAM HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, said Dubai continues to reinforce its position as a major global economic hub, guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Driven by HH Sheikh …