Dubai / WAM The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) hosted on Saturday members from the Emirati-Italian Friendship Association at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, led by Francesco Rutelli, Italian Minister of Culture and former Mayor of Rome. The Italian delegation was received by Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansouri, Acting Under-Secretary of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development and Sufian ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emcredit, a subsidiary of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SMK Logomotion Corporation, a global provider of mobile payment solutions, to develop and launch innovative and secure payment products and services in the UAE to benefit local consumers, banks, finance houses and telecommunication companies. Utilising Emcredit’s ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF), is marking World Biodiversity Day on May 22 by launching a ground breaking scientific research project – The Gulf Green Turtle Conservation Project – with the ultimate aim of conserving endangered marine species and critical habitats in the UAE and wider region. ...

  AKIU / AP The Group of Seven major economies showed a united front on fighting terrorist financing and tax evasion, but shied away from coordinated action on policies to revive stalling growth. An “action plan” issued after the talks by G7 finance ministers and central bank governors at a hot springs hotel in northern Japan called for increased exchanges ...

  SYDNEY / AP Britain’s possible exit from the European Union took centre stage at a G7 meeting in Japan on Saturday, as UK finance minister George Osborne warned a ‘Brexit’ could doom trade deals with EU countries. The comments came during two days of talks largely focused on how the club of rich nations can stoke the lumbering world ...

  Tokyo / AP Japan’s defence minister travelled to Okinawa to lodge a formal protest with the commander of the US military base there on Saturday after the arrest of a base employee linked to the suspicious death of a local woman. Gen Nakatani’s visit to the island comes just days before a high-profile trip to Japan by US President Barack ...

  New York / AFP Donald Trump’s inflammatory presidential campaign and the prospect of the brash-talking tycoon actually becoming commander-in-chief has left progressive Americans obsessing about one thing: moving to Canada. Stars from Cher to Lena Dunham have declared their intention to head north if the former reality star, famous for insulting Muslims and Mexicans, and under the microscope for ...

United Nations / AFP UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed former Irish President Mary Robinson and Kenyan diplomat Macharia Kamau as special envoys for El Nino and climate. The El Nino weather phenomenon, which occurs every two to seven years, affects rainfall patterns and causes both drought and flooding. Its effects can be seen in places like Sudan, where the ...

  Istanbul / AFP Global leaders and key NGOs gather in Istanbul on Monday for an unprecedented UN-backed summit aimed at transforming the world’s response to humanitarian crises, despite scepticism the talks will have little impact. With an estimated 60 million people displaced around the world and conflict and climate change posing a growing risk, there is widespread agreement among ...

Bangladesh / AFP Cyclone Roanu struck the Bangladesh coast on Saturday killing six people and forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes as the storm unleashed strong winds and heavy downpours. Authorities took more than 500,000 people into shelters as the cyclone made landfall just after noon local time (0600 GMT), packing winds as strong as 88 kilometres (54 ...