April, 2016

• 7 April

  Probe over Malaysian fund finds billions in murky payments

  

  Malaysia / AFP A Malaysian parliamentary report released on Thursday said a state-owned fund linked to Prime Minister NajibRazak made more than $3 billion in unexplained overseas payments and called for the fund’s former CEO to be investigated. The report presented to parliament by its Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which has examined the affair, marked the first time an official ...

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• 7 April

  Zuma’s ex-wife touted as possible S African president

  

  Johannesburg / Bloomberg With South African President Jacob Zuma facing growing calls to resign over a series of corruption scandals, attention is turning to one potential contender to succeed him—his former wife. NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma, 67, is a long-standing heavyweight in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, holding several ministerial positions since the end of white-minority rule in 1994. Confirmation last ...

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• 7 April

  Turkey won’t implement deal if EU falls short: Erdogan

  Ankara / AFP Turkish President RecepTayyipErdogan on Thursday warned the European Union that Ankara would not implement a key deal on reducing the flow of migrants if Brussels failed to fulfil its side of the bargain. “There are precise conditions. If the European Union does not take the necessary steps, then Turkey will not implement the agreement,” Erdogan said in ...

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• 7 April

  Sweden charges man for preparing suicide bomb

  STOCKHOLM / AP A 20-year-old Swedish national has been charged with preparing to a make a suicide bomb, a prosecutor said on Thursday. Prosecutor EwamariHaggkvist says the suspect, who denies the charges, “could have seriously hurt Sweden.” “He told relatives he had sympathies for (the Islamic State group) and would blow himself up for them in Sweden,” Haggkvist told The ...

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• 7 April

  Iraqi forces enter center of IS-held western town

  BAGHDAD / AP Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces say they have entered the center of a strategically important western Islamic State-held town. Government forces reached the center of Hit on Wednesday. The operation to retake the small Euphrates river town — initially launched last month — was stalled by politics, heavy IS resistance and tens of thousands of trapped civilians. Iraqi ...

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• 7 April

  Belgium struggles to win back tourists

  

  Brussels / AFP Gone are the usual snap-happy crowds on Brussels’ famed Grand Place, visits to the Atomium monument have plummeted and hotel rooms are empty. Two weeks after the Belgian capital was hit by terror attacks, the country’s tourist industry is in despair. As Belgium struggles to move on from the March 22 IS suicide bombings that struck Brussels ...

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• 7 April

  Vietnam’s new prime minister swears in

  Hanoi / AFP Vietnam’s parliament approved Nguyen XuanPhuc as the communist country’s new prime minister on Thursday, handing him a five-year term and a range of tough challenges from domestic economic reforms to a simmering maritime dispute with China. Phuc, a former deputy prime minister, was the only candidate nominated for the position by party officials earlier this year and ...

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• 7 April

  Shurooq to promote Sharjah economy at AIM on April 11

  

  SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, announced that it will silver-sponsor the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2016, the global economic event which is organised annually by the UAE Ministry of Economy in Dubai. The 6th edition of AIM will be held under the theme: ‘The New World of FDI, Key Features and Best Practices’ from April 11-13 ...

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• 7 April

  Sharjah Ruler opens AQU’s cultural identity confab

  

  SHARJAH / WAM His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah and President of Al Qasimia University (AQU), on Thursday opened the first International Conference for the AQU under the theme, ‘Our Identity in our historic and heritage memory.” The conference is jointly organised by the University of Sharjah in association with Sharjah ...

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• 7 April

  Emirates celebrates 30 years of glorious service to Sri Lanka

  

  DUBAI / WAM On April 1, 1986, an Emirates Boeing 727-200 Flight EK800 departed Dubai International Airport touching down in Colombo, Emirates’ fourth global destination. Thirty years later, Emirates has logged 56 million miles, transported thousands of tonnes of cargo and continues to connect Sri Lanka to the world, with 34 flights a week to Dubai, and Singapore. With approximately ...

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