Manila / AFP Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he planned to meet a fugitive Muslim rebel wanted over a deadly siege, promising to ignore an arrest order in an effort to forge peace. The announcement was the latest dramatic attempt by the firebrand leader to end decades-long insurgencies with Muslim and communist rebels that have claimed more …

  Caracas / AFP Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed to jail opposition leaders if they incite violence during upcoming protests seeking a referendum on removing him from power. Maduro, blamed by opponents for a devastating economic crisis, accused opposition leaders of plotting a “terrorist coup” against him before Thursday’s nationwide protests. “We must defeat the coup d’etat without impunity,” he told …

  Washington / AFP The United States rebuked Israel on Wednesday over what it said was its accelerated building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in the face of mounting international concern. “We are deeply concerned by the government of Israel’s announcement today to advance plans for over 500 new settlement units in the West Bank,” a senior …

  Tokyo / AFP Surging flood water and mud brought by a devastating typhoon killed nine people in an elderly care home in northern Japan, officials said on Wednesday, after the third storm in two weeks ripped through the country. The bodies were discovered in a riverside care complex half buried in mud, uprooted trees and rubble after Typhoon Lionrock tore …

  Washington / AFP Donald Trump announced he will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president just hours ahead of his much-anticipated Arizona speech on immigration. The Republican presidential nominee’s surprise trip south of the border comes as debate about his immigration policies is reaching fever pitch. Although his visit holds potential political peril, Trump could …

  Dubai / WAM Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), has recorded strong growth in H1, 2016, becoming the number one financial centre in the Middle East and Africa, with 143 new companies licensed, including 39 leading financial firms. The DIFC has registered significant growth in workforce to over 21,000 professionals across more than 1,500 firms and continued infrastructure development including launch …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM A team of researchers from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, in collaboration with Tadweer – Abu Dhabi’s Centre of Waste Management, are testing an integrated chemical reactor they have designed to produce high-quality biodiesel from fats, including waste cooking oil, in less time and with less energy and potentially lower cost than traditional biodiesel …

  Dubai / WAM The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in collaboration with Emaar Properties, is starting the trial run on Thursday of the first autonomous 10-seater car shuttling over a 700-metre long track at the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard. Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said, “The trial run of the …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, manager and operator of ports and the Khalifa Industrial Zone in the emirate, has partnered with Abu Dhabi Chamber to establish a representative office of the chamber at the business centre of the Khalifa Industrial Zone, Kizad, in Al Taweelah. The new representative office was inaugurated by Mohamed Helal Al …

  Dubai / WAM The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) on Wednesday organised a ‘creativity lab’ workshop themed, ‘Envisioning the Future’, to discuss innovative solutions and industry solution in the energy sector, 3D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data. IoT is the connection of everyday physical objects to the Internet in order to gather real-time data about …