ABU DHABI / WAM ADNOC Distribution has announced the temporary closure of Embassy Area service station in Abu Dhabi. The service station will remain closed from March 28 for 6 weeks for conversion to SMART services as well as the execution of facility upgrade works. Khalid Hadi, Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communication Division at ADNOC Distribution, said, “The temporary …

SHARJAH / Emirates Business A new Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) initiative is encouraging local school students to bury themselves in books this year at its line-up of museum libraries. Coinciding with UAE reads initiative, ‘Read at Sharjah Museums’ is a year-long scheme held to mark the UAE leadership’s recent declaration of 2016 as Year of Reading. Hundreds of school students …

WASHINGTON / AP Bernie Sanders scored three wins in Western caucus contests, giving a powerful psychological boost to his supporters but doing little to move him closer to securing the Democratic nomination. While results in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii barely dented Hillary Clinton’s significant delegate lead, Sanders’ wins underscored her persistent vulnerabilities within her own party, particularly with young voters …

Lahore / AFP At least 56 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an apparent suicide bomb ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter on Sunday, officials said. Dozens of ambulances were seen racing to the park, situated near the centre of the city of …

Brussels / AFP Belgians gathered on Sunday in solidarity and defiance in central Brussels to remember victims of the country’s worst-ever terror attacks as prosecutors charged a second man over a foiled attack in France. As mourners gathered at a square which has been transformed into a shrine to the victims of Tuesday’s attacks on the airport and the metro …

Kuala Lumpur / AFP Leaders from across Malaysia’s political spectrum said on Sunday they plan to present a petition to the country’s Islamic royalty seeking the removal of scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak over a corruption crisis. The highly unusual grouping of heavyweights from the ruling party, the opposition and civil society groups was formed in early March, when it …

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced on Sunday that it has distributed the first cash dividends on behalf of one of its listed companies through distributing the dividends of the shareholders of the Union National Bank (UNB) on bank’s behalf. Thus, the Union National Bank became the first listed company in the United Arab Emirates …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Airports reported an 8.7% increase in passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), for February 2016, compared to the same month last year. A total of 1,863,942 people traveled through AUH last month, exceeding February 2015’s figure of 1,715,540. “We continue to see year on year growth in passenger numbers traveling through Abu …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) on Sunday handed over around 60 percent of a batch of communal houses, recently ordered by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for nationals. Last week, HH Sheikh Mohamed ordered the handing over of 1,463 houses …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial services group, has acted as the exclusive sell side advisor to Egon Oldendorff GmbH & Co. KG, part of the Oldendorff Group, the bank announced. Oldendorff is one of the world’s largest dry-bulk operators, ADIB acted on the full sale of its subsidiary Emirates Ship Investment Company LLC. …