Moscow / AFP Nineteen people died when a helicopter carrying oil and gas field workers crashed in a remote area of Siberia in bad weather, Russian investigators said on Saturday. The Mi-8 helicopter carrying 22 people including three crew crashed on Friday night in the far-northern Yamalo-Nenetsky region some 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) northeast of Moscow, investigators said. Photos ...

  Moscow / AFP Moscow on Saturday escalated a row over its attempts to send observers to the US presidential polls, accusing Washington of adopting an “anti-Russian” stance. Moscow has said that it is trying to send its own observers to various US states to monitor the November 8 vote, but has been refused accreditation so far. Deputy foreign minister ...

  Santiago / AFP Chilean President Michelle Bachelet faces a test of strength on Sunday in municipal elections that will serve as a political barometer with just over a year to go in her term. The local polls are the last vote before general elections in 2017 that will decide the Socialist leader’s successor, at a time when the left in ...

  Kabul / AFP An Afghan Taliban delegation arrived in Pakistan, militant sources said on Saturday, raising speculation over efforts to revive peace negotiations days after reports of secret talks with Afghan officials in Qatar. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the delegation from the militants’ political office in Qatar had arrived in Pakistan, but ruled out any chance of peace ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi Executive Council approved an AED104mn project to construct an road network in Al Ain city, at a meeting chaired by Saeed Eid Al Gafli. The project will include the construction of stormwater drainage and sewerage systems as well as drinking water pipelines and the provision of lighting and other ...

  Amman / EMIRATES BUSINESS Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, completed a key step in the development of the largest solar power plant in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) for a 200-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) plant was signed on Saturday by Mohamed Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, and Abdul Fattah Daradkeh, Chief ...

  Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS Azizi Developments, a leading UAE-based real estate developer with global reach into international markets, has won ‘Developer of the Year’ award by the Construction Innovation Awards Middle East 2016 which took place on October 19, at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina and it was a glorious affair. The ceremony was presented ...

  DUBAI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Mohammed Bin Rashid Fund (MBRF) in Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, announced the launch of a receivable finance facility through ‘Invoice/LPO Finance’ to help entrepreneurs launch their business projects without worrying about operating expenses or funds required to ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) wrapped up its recent participation at the 2nd UAE – India Economic Forum 2016 (UIEF), which took place on October 19-20 at Madinat Jumeirah’s Mina A’Salam. Shurooq’s participation at UIEF, headlining as a platinum sponsor for its 2nd edition, resulted with a richer economic outlook on investments between ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Paraguay and the Dominican Republic see tremendous opportunity to strengthen bilateral ties with Dubai and the UAE, especially in key sectors such as food, logistics and tourism. According to His Excellency Angel Barchini, Ambassador of Paraguay in Qatar and non-resident Ambassador to the UAE and GCC countries, Paraguay exports $40 million (AED 147 million) worth of ...