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  Sharjah / Emirates Business The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced the 7th edition of the Sharjah Light Festival, to be held for a period of 10 days (February 2-11) in 13 different locations spanning the entire Emirate of Sharjah. The chosen locations are set to be illuminated with breath-taking light shows and musical performances that shed ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Mashreq, the UAE’s market leader in innovation, has been conferred EFMA’s ‘Innovation of the Month’ award for its latest innovation Mashreq Bot, an Artificial Intelligence agent or chat-bot – programmed to enable an intelligent conversation with users. The UAE’s First chat-bot allows customers to review Mashreq products, perform card-less cash transactions, low ticket local transfers ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business As part of its efforts to support and promote the UAE’s Year of Giving, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced that it has expanded its activities under the national framework to its representative office in Baku. During a visit to the city’s Foreign Languages Gymnasium, representatives from the Chamber’s Azerbaijan office donated educational ...

  ASTANA / AP Syria’s government envoy and a rebel leader traded barbs as talks between the Mideast country’s warring sides got underway in Kazakhstan on Monday in the first face-to-face meeting between the Damascus government and rebel factions fighting to overthrow it. The gathering in Astana, the Kazakh capital, is also the start of a new effort to end ...

  CAIRO / AP The Egyptian army says extremists have killed five soldiers in the restive Sinai Peninsula, the latest casualties in a yearslong struggle to control the area’s northeast. In a statement released early Monday by the military spokesman, the army expressed its condolences to the soldiers’ families and described the attackers as “enemies of the nation.” Military officials, ...

  JERUSALEM / AP The mayor of Jerusalem says the Trump administration is “serious” and committed to moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Nir Barkat says that from conversations he’s had with those in the new US administration, he knows “they are serious about their intentions.” He also told Army Radio on Monday that “an embassy cannot ...

  SANAA / AP A top military official says forces allied with the internationally-recognized government of Yemen have seized control of a strategic Red Sea port, after waging an assault against Shiite rebels. Brig. Gen. Ahmed Seif al-Yafai said in press remarks on Monday that his forces have entered the city of Mokha, where dozens of families were seen fleeing ...

  ADEL / AP A vast storm system that kicked up apparent tornadoes, shredded mobile homes and left other destruction scattered around the Southeast has claimed at least 19 lives during its two-day assault on the region. Authorities said on Monday at least 15 deaths occurred in south Georgia alone, including seven from an apparent winter twister that tore through ...

  SEOUL / AP Fans of a traditional bull-taming ritual in southern India went on a rampage on Monday, attacking a police station with stones and setting dozens of police vehicles on fire on Monday in anger at being forcibly evicted from the beach where they been protesting for the past week in support of the sport. Jallikattu involves releasing ...

  VIENNA / AP Four people have died over the weekend in Austria while skiing, snow-shoeing or sledding — an unusually high toll linked to winter sports in the country. The Austria Press Agency says that two Czech nationals snow-shoeing in Salzburg’s alpine region died Sunday after being buried in an avalanche while two others managed to free themselves. State ...