Dubai / WAM The UAE has topped the list of GCC countries in advertising spending in the first quarter of 2017 with AED1.5 billion, accounting for 46 percent of the total advertising expenditure across the Gulf region, according to TBWA Worldwide, a top 10 ranked global advertising network. The UAE is followed in the second place by Saudi Arabia …

  LONDON / Reuters Global demand for oil is finally close to outstripping supply after nearly three years of surplus production, despite growth in the overhang of unused crude, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. The agency said oil stocks across the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell by 17.2 million barrels in March. Over the first …

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE stock markets are the most attractive across the GCC states and the Middle East region in its entirety, boasting a P/E ratio of 14.00 over the past 12 months, ending in March, 2017. PE ratio, in addition to double book value, is one of widely used and common stock valuation tool. It is …

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Arab Trade Financing Programme (ATFP) approved US$ 1.108 billion in credit facilities all over the last year, bringing to $13.3 billion the total credit provided by the programme for boosting inter-Arab trade since its establishment. This is announced by Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hamoody, ATFP Chairman and CEO, during the 28th annual meeting of …

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the region, became the first bank worldwide to pilot ‘KinTrans,’ a technology that enables easy two-way communication between sign language communicators with hearing disabilities, and people who use spoken languages. The bank’s commitment to people with disabilities supports the ‘#MyCommunity’ initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin …

  Bloomberg US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov vented disagreements after hours of talks in Moscow while signaling that neither side is giving up on improving relations soured by Russian hacking and deepening differences over Syria. Tillerson’s first trip to Russia as the top US diplomat was so freighted with tension that the Kremlin …

  BEIRUT / AP A misdirected airstrike by the US-led coalition earlier this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the IS group in northern Syria, the US military said on Thursday. US Central Command said coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target IS militants south …

  CAIRO / AP At least 97 African migrants are missing and believed drowned after their Europe-bound boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, the Libyan coast guard said. Spokesman Ayoub Gassim said 23 migrants were rescued around 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the Libyan coast after authorities received a distress call. Fifteen women and five children are among …

  Riyadh / WAM The workings of the second group of the UAE-KSA Joint Determination Retreat, organised by the UAE-Saudi Co-ordination Council, were launched in Riyadh on Thursday, with the attendance and participation of ministers, high officials and general managers from both countries. The retreat came from the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his …

  Dubai / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) organised the ‘Edha’at’ (Arabic for ‘Flashes’) event, to share success stories and innovative initiatives as part of the Knowledge Management’s initiatives, and promote and encourage innovation and continued development among DEWA’s employees. 18 success stories were shared by a number of creative and innovative employees of Distribution Power Division during the …