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SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has announced the opening of registration for the 40th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) Awards and will be accepting entries until the end of August. The SBA will honour local, regional, and global excellence in literature in five distinctive awards, including the Sharjah Translation Award ‘Turjuman’, Best Emirati Book, ...

Bloomberg Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants fight for control of a crucial northern city and make deeper territorial inroads with the US set to withdraw all troops by September. The insurgents are battling to take control of strategic cities in the country’s north, including its regional hub Mazar-e-Sharif, after ...

Bloomberg The UK remains Europe’s most attractive destination for financial services investment but its lead has narrowed, according to a survey by the consultants EY. The UK attracted 56 financial services projects in 2020, still the highest in Europe yet down 43 projects from 2019, marking the largest year-on-year decline in a decade. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in financial services ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is working towards having the US lift its national-security tariffs on metal imports by the end of the year, EU Ambassador to Washington Stavros Lambrinidis said. “We’re going to be sitting down in the next five months until the end of the year — we’re going to try to address the fundamental issue of overcapacity ...

Bloomberg Italy introduced a five-day quarantine and mandatory testing for travellers from the UK, a restriction that will weaken an economic rebound reliant on summer tourism. The UK is one of the biggest sources of travellers to Italy during normal times, though its role has been diminished as a rise in coronavirus cases slowed its travel reopening. Britons will now ...

Bloomberg Google’s parent firm plans to close its seven-story hub devoted to helping startups in London’s Shoreditch district and replace it with virtual services following the shift to home-working. The move comes after the pandemic showed Alphabet Inc that it could serve young firms across the country without the need for a physical space, according to a statement. Google was ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) signed a cooperation agreement with the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) to finance the development projects supported by the “Mother of the Nation” programme in the Comoros. As part of the funding, ADFD has provided AED35 million to the UAE government’s grant to the Comoros to support development projects within the ...

Dubai / WAM Food aid operations of the “100 Million Meals” campaign have been completed in two refugee camps in Jordan, providing over 4.7 million meals in cooperation with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The massive distribution comes a month after the 100 Million Meals campaign concluded, securing 216 million meals, double its target, to vulnerable communities in 30 ...

Sharjah / WAM The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) discussed ways to strengthen economic cooperation, develop trade relations and mutual investment between the Emirate of Sharjah and the Republic of Kazakhstan, during the visit of a high-level delegation from the country at its headquarters, on Monday. The two sides discussed strengthening cooperation in many areas, and promising investment ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has hosted a halal certification webinar in cooperation with the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BeICCI), where they explored the role of the halal certification system in increasing the supply of food products to Islamic markets, product conformity assessment, as well as facilitating the movement of goods ...