MOSCOW / AP Thousands of people crowded into Moscow’s Pushkin Square on Sunday for an unsanctioned protest against the Russian government, part of a wave of demonstrations taking place throughout the country. Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who is leading the opposition to President Vladimir Putin, was arrested while walking from a nearby subway station to the demonstration, according ...

  Baghdad / AP An airstrike targeting IS militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the US military, American officials said. US officials did not confirm the reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, US officials had said ...

  BEIRUT / AP The IS group ordered residents to evacuate the Syrian city of Raqqa on Sunday following reports that a dam contested by US-backed forces upstream on the Euphrates River could collapse, activists reported. The militants said coalition airstrikes had weakened the Tabqa Dam, some 40 kilometers west of Raqqa, and that the water level behind the dam ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE is committed to further strengthening trade and economic relations with Mexico and maximising the potentials of their partnership, said Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, during a meeting with Francisca Escobar, Mexico’s Ambassador to the UAE. The meeting held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Dubai discussed ways to enhance cooperation in ...

  Sharjah / WAM Air Arabia announced Trabzon as its latest Turkish destination to enter its route network, starting June 23. The new seasonal non-stop service provides passengers with the chance to discover Turkey’s historic port city, in addition to its already existing services to Istanbul. The flight will operate three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, departing Sharjah International ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, has said the United Arab Emirates is keen to join global environmental conservation and preservation efforts to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gases. In a statement marking Earth Hour, a global event observed worldwide to encourage individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off ...

  Dubai / WAM The Mohammed Bin Rashid Fund (MBRF) announced a new competition as part of the ‘Careers UAE’ fair with a total prize money of AED1 million on offer for future UAE entrepreneurs. The competition named “START”, was launched under Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development, DED, in Dubai, and aims to assist unemployed Emiratis ...

  Sharjah / WAM The free afternoon parking from 1pm to 5pm in the Emirate of Sharjah will be cancelled effective April 1, the Sharjah City Municipality announced. “The new paid parking times will be from 8.00 am till 10.00 pm every day except for Fridays and public holidays,” said Salim Al Suwaidi, Assistant Director-General for Customer Service at Sharjah Municipality. ...

  Bloomberg Venezuela, Iraq and Oman added their support for a possible extension of global oil-production cuts beyond June as mom entum builds among OPEC members and other crude producers to prolong the strategy to re-balance the market and prop up prices. Oil minsters for the three countries commented on Sunday, a day after Algeria’s Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa called ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s biggest oil terminal is loading its first tanker since fighting between armed groups earlier this month halted shipments from two ports in the country with Africa’s largest crude reserves. The Suezmax vessel Demetrios, which can carry as much as one million barrels, is loading at the port of Es Sider for export to China, according to a ...