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  Moscow / AFP Russia’s ruling United Russia party has won a record number of seats in parliamentary polls that could pave the way for President Vladimir Putin to glide to a fourth term in 2018 elections. With more than 98.3 percent of the ballots counted, United Russia had garnered 54.2 percent of the votes for parties, giving it a ...

    Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Organisations in the oil and gas industry must adapt to an increasingly interconnected energy landscape by taking a streamlined and coordinated approach to security, urge UAE and international experts. The promise of emerging technology brings with it a growing concern of data and infrastructure protection within the industry, which has proven to be ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business Over 3,100 participants from 137 countries, including the Sharjah Libraries delegation from Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), attended the 82nd IFLA World Library and Information Congress (IFLA WLIC) — the annual flagship conference of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) — held in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Over the course of its visit, the Sharjah Libraries ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Science and arts are key pillars of development, and education should pay attention to them through the adoption of best international practices, H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has noted. “If technology contributes to push the development wheel forward, arts – including music – serve as a mirror ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The region’s premier timber trade fair, Dubai International Wood & Wood Machinery Show, is set to break records as the biggest wood and woodworking machinery trade show in the Middle East. More than 300 exhibitors from 100 countries are all set to showcase their innovative solutions at the next edition of the show, which will ...

  Nyingchi / AFP China has unveiled a sparkling new hotel as part of its drive to get tens of millions more tourists to visit Tibet, even as critics say the push is slowly eroding the local culture. With a presidential suite that costs $1,000 a night and views over the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas, the luxury Artel hotel ...

  TOKYO/ AP Eighty-eight places in Japan are going to be designated “animation spots” to encourage visitors to seek out the train stations, school campuses, rural shrines and other fairly everyday places where popular “manga” characters are depicted. Such landmarks number in the tens of thousands, given the popularity and volume of “manga” comics in Japan, but the project aims ...

Washington / AFP Two months ago, disagreements at the heart of the US Federal Reserve spilled out into the open, with policymakers squaring off over the near-term threat of inflation. And yet as the Federal Open Market Committee prepares to meet again next Tuesday and Wednesday to review interest rate policy, widespread expectations are that, for a sixth consecutive meeting, ...

  Montreal / AFP Donors pledged nearly $13 billion on Saturday in the fight to eradicate AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at an international conference. “It is my great honor to announce that for the fifth replenishment conference for the Global Fund to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, we have reached our goal ...

  Beirut / AFP Syria’s ceasefire was hanging by a thread on Sunday, after tensions escalated between Moscow and Washington over a US-led coalition air strike that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers battling extremists. The truce saw violence drop across Syria for several days after it came into force Monday, but fighting has since erupted on several fronts and besieged ...