Vienna / WAM The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Suleiman J Al-Herbish, and the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Dr Sahar Nasr, have signed a US$40 million loan agreement to support small enterprises amongst marginalized groups in the country. The OFID loan will finance a second phase of the Social Development Fund (SFD) lending program. SFD ...

  Emirates Business Etihad Airways on Tuesday officially opened its new First and Business Class Lounge within the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Building on a growing global reputation for product innovation and development, the lounge reflects a commitment to delivering exceptional hospitality experiences for First and Business Class guests departing on Etihad Airways’ daily ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) closed 43 commercial establishments in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the first half of this year as they violated regulations of practicing commercial activity as per Law No. 02 of 2009 establishing ADDED, and Resolution No. 25 on regulating commercial activities and issuing commercial licenses. Mohamed Munif ...

  DUBAI/ WAM As part of its sustained drive to improve social security and enhance the role in sustainable development of endowments and waqf, an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational, or charitable cause, the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, AMAF, handed over a cheque for AED400,000 to Dubai Police. The humanitarian initiative has dedicated a sum of ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM In an effort to jumpstart its Glass recycling initiative the Emirates Environmental Group is delighted to share with the community that its Glass collection campaign is back in full force after a gap of 10 months. Recycling is a value that EEG has been sharing with the community for over two decades. Having multiple benefits of ...

  Sagamihara / AFP A former employee went on knife rampage at a Japanese centre for the disabled on Tuesday, leaving 19 people dead and 25 injured in the country’s worst mass killing for decades. The 26-year-old man, who was fired and hospitalised earlier this year after making a threat to kill hundreds of disabled people, later turned himself in ...

  Moscow /AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia on August 9 for his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin since Moscow and Ankara mended ties damaged by the downing of a Russian jet last year, Turkish officials said on Tuesday. “The ambassador has informed us that our dear president (Erdogan) has confirmed that he will be in ...

  Vientiane / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday talks with Russia about cooperation in Syria were “making progress”, adding he hopes next month to announce new steps aimed at ending the fighting. Russia and the United States support opposing sides in Syria’s five-year war, which has left 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee ...

  Ansbach / AFP Democratic power players Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders offered contrasting heartfelt and hard-headed endorsements of Hillary Clinton, imploring a riven and feisty party convention to unite against Donald Trump. As polls showed Trump ahead of Clinton in the race to the White House, the first lady wowed the Philadelphia crowd as she impeached Trump’s character and hailed ...

  Sydney / AFP The Australian government ordered an inquiry on Tuesday after graphic evidence emerged of prison guards assaulting teenage boys, with one shown hooded and shackled in scenes likened to Guantanamo Bay. National broadcaster ABC showed footage of offenders, many indigenous, being stripped naked, tear-gassed and held in solitary confinement for weeks at a youth detention centre in ...