Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Miral Destinations, a subsidiary of Miral and promotional partner for Yas Island and Saadiyat Island Abu Dhabi, is set to showcase its latest offerings and attractions and unveil Saadiyat Island’s forthcoming ‘Elevate Your Senses’ campaign at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024. Scheduled to take place...

Washington, United States - The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting, keeping the level at a 23-year high to fight stubborn price increases. After a two-day gathering, the central bank decided unanimously to keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.25-5.50 percent, citing...

Hamas is considering a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian prisoners. Suhail al-Hindi, a senior Hamas official, told AFP the group would "deliver its response clearly within a very short period".

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- UpLink, the World Economic Forum community dedicated to supporting early-stage impact-focused entrepreneurs, has announced the launch of four initiatives aimed at accelerating the transition to a circular carbon economy, addressing the growing demand for clean energy minerals, rejuvenating vital ocean ecosystems, and leveraging quantum computing for...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has called for a "real commitment to a two-state solution that is a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian state". At the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development aimed at dialogues to tackle the most pressing geopolitical, social...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Hopes rose on Monday for a long-sought-after truce and hostage release deal after almost seven months of war in Gaza between Palestinian Hamas fighters and Israel. Washington's top diplomat said he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the offer, which his British counterpart said could see the release of...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The total assets of the global Islamic finance sector continue on a path of rapid growth, pointing to the sector's accelerated growth in the UAE last year due to the strong performance of the non-oil economy, said S&P Global Ratings, a global credit rating agency. The...

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Palestinian writer Basim Khandaqji, jailed 20 years ago in Israel, won a prestigious prize for Arabic fiction on Sunday for his novel "A Mask, the Colour of the Sky". The award of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction was announced at a ceremony in...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia is warning potential Hajj pilgrims to be cautious of fake Hajj companies that may scam people. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has advised individuals to use the Nusuk app for registration, which is available in several countries. For those countries where the app...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia could have its first Miss Universe contestant this year, organizers said this week, after a fashion model and influencer claimed she had been selected. The Miss Universe Organization "is currently undergoing a rigorous vetting process qualifying a potential candidate to be awarded the Saudi Arabia...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Global warming caused by fossil fuel emissions "most likely" exacerbated the intense rains that lashed the UAE and Oman last week, causing deaths and widespread flooding, an expert group of scientists said Thursday. Extreme rainfall in El Nino years has become 10-40 percent heavier in the...

Baltimore, United States - Baltimore Banner reporter Matti Gellman is first to leap in with questions during a recent press appearance by Maryland's state governor and celebrity chef Jose Andres at an urban farm. With her notebook wedged under her arm and a Banner-branded baseball cap on her head, Gellman is...

At just seven months pregnant, her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, reached the emergency unit in critical condition after she was fatally wounded in the head and abdomen at the weekend. An Israeli air strike hit her family's house in Rafah

Doha, Qatar – The Autonomous e-Mobility (AEMOB) Forum, a groundbreaking initiative in the realm of sustainable transportation, announced its final program and speakers lineup on Tuesday. Under the patronage of Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport, and in partnership with the Ministry of Transport (MOT) of Qatar, the forum...

Dubai, UAE -- Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, said Monday that the combined market value of the nine multinational companies (MNCs) it attracted to Dubai last year exceeds AED 304 billion (US$82.84 billion). The chamber attracted a diverse...

Tehran, Iran - Iran managed to sell an average of 1.56 million barrels per day during the first quarter of this year, primarily to China, data from Vortexa reveals. This marks the highest export level since the third quarter of 2018. The success in oil exports highlights the challenges faced...

Tokyo, Japan -- Bosses worried about turnover or wondering how long a new hire will stick around can now turn to AI for a heads-up on who might be next out the door. The artificial intelligence tool was developed by Japanese researchers to try and help managers provide targeted support to...

Oslo, Norway -- Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, posted a gain of more than $100 billion in the first quarter amid the global stock market recovery, it said Thursday. The fund -- fuelled by the Norwegian state's oil and gas revenues -- saw a return of 6.3 percent...

Directed by Tawfik Alzaidi, this Saudi film earned its place in the 'Un Certain Regard' section of the prestigious festival, marking a major moment for Saudi cinema on the global stage.

Moscow, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, discussed the latest escalation in the Middle East in a conversation on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, reported by Russian news agency TASS. On April 1, Israel carried out an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus and on...

Dubai, UAE -- One hundred and five homes priced in excess of US$10 million were sold in Dubai during the first three months of the year, up 19 percent on Q1 2023, according to the latest analysis from global property consultant, Knight Frank. The total value of luxury homes sold...

Athens, Greece -- An international summit on saving the oceans netted $10 billion in pledges, the prime minister of host country Greece said on Tuesday. The "Our Oceans" summit was launched in 2014 as the first international event of its kind to address all issues related to oceans, with some 122.3...

In light of the military escalation and developments in the Middle East region, the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council held its 44th extraordinary meeting on April 15, 2024, at the headquarters of the Qatari Embassy in Tashkent

Launched under both the Trump and Biden administrations, five major cases from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are moving forward against major US technology companies -- including two against Google that could see the company split up.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has imposed anti-dumping duties on seven products imported from 10 European and Asian countries, six of which are subject to the unified GCC law to protect the industry from the damage caused by dumped and subsidized imports, media reports said. The products included all...

London, United Kingdom -- Wall Street stocks slid on Friday despite banks beating expectations at the start of earnings season as oil and gold prices shot up amid worries about the conflict in the Middle East widening. "Geopolitical worries have triggered some risk aversion, but worries about a growth slowdown have...

Geneva, Switzerland -- The World Trade Organization said Wednesday that global trade should rebound this year from an unexpected slump in 2023, but warned that regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainty risked darkening the picture. In its annual trade forecast, the WTO disclosed that world trade volumes unexpectedly declined...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The prestigious Red Sea Fund has thrown open its doors to filmmakers across Arab and African origins, inviting submissions for its Production Cycle. With the launch of Cycle 2 for the year 2024, the Fund is geared up to support feature-length narrative, documentary, and animation projects....

TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran and Iraq will launch the first maritime passenger transport line within the next two months, an official at Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) said. The chief executive of the organization noted that an expert-level meeting was held by the Iraqi side with a focus on...

STRASBOURG, FRANCE – Europe's top rights court will on Tuesday issue unprecedented verdicts in three separate cases on the responsibility of states in the face of global warming, rulings that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies. The European Court of Human Rights, part of the 46-member Council of...

Rome, Italy -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, raising its forecast for world cereal production in 2023/24 to 2.841 billion tons, reflecting expectations of greater outputs of maize, rice and wheat. Global cereal utilization in 2023/24...

DUBAI, UAE – Executive Vice President, Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC)  Mahir Julfar said that the DWTC's performance in 2023 was outstanding, welcoming 2.47 million participants - a 25 percent surge in visitor numbers compared to 2022. ‘’This achievement was propelled by the successful staging of 301 Meetings, Incentives, Conferences,...

Moscow, Russia - A NASA astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut and Belarus's first ever space traveler on Saturday returned to Earth safely after a fortnight aboard the International Space Station, Russia's Roscosmos agency reported. "Today, at 10:17am Moscow time (0717 GMT), the descent vehicle of Sozuz MS-24 manned spacecraft landed near the...

United Nations - Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has escalated into a "betrayal of humanity", the United Nations' humanitarian chief said on Saturday. In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Martin Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for...

AMMAN, JORDAN – Jordanian industrialists have emphasized the imperative of strategic planning to bolster export diversification, underlining key measures such as facilitating connectivity to global supply chains through e-commerce, and ramping up promotion and marketing efforts for domestic products.They also called for expanding outreach to foreign markets, fostering collaboration between...

US-based World Central Kitchen -- founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres -- said a "targeted attack" by Israeli forces on Monday had killed seven aid workers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later admitted that his military had "unintentionally" killed the group -- who had helped feed communities affected by...

Dubai, UAE--Dubai received 3.67 million overnight visitors in January-February 2024, with an increase of over 18 percent year-on-year (YoY), figures released by Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) showed. According to the DET's Tourism Performance Report for January-February 2024, Dubai recorded 1.77 million international visitors in January, and 1.9...

Moscow, Russia - The Kremlin on Friday blasted as "unacceptable" French President Emmanuel Macron's claims that Russia was trying to undermine the Paris Olympics through a disinformation campaign. Macron had said Thursday that Moscow was trying to promote the narrative that France was unable to host the Games and that the...

Brussels, Belgium - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday Washington wanted to see "results" showing more aid was reaching Gazans after Israel announced it would open routes into the territory. Israel announced on Friday that it would allow "temporary" aid deliveries into famine-threatened northern Gaza, hours after the...

Kuwait City, Kuwait - Opposition lawmakers maintained a majority in Kuwait's parliament, results showed Friday, after the Gulf state's third parliamentary vote in as many years held just months into the new emir's reign. Opposition candidates won 29 seats in the 50-member assembly, according to results carried by the official KUNA...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is collaborating with Dustour Marine Wooden Boats Trading Establishment to establish a new state-of-the-art project to support the Emirate’s coastal development in line with urban, social, recreational and economic expansion plans. The Musataha agreement was signed during the Abu Dhabi Department...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) announced the establishment of 54 working groups within the Advocacy Hub initiative. These working groups are part of the efforts to support the growth and prosperity of the private sector by providing an ideal platform for businesses...

Washington, United States--The father of US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, one of seven aid workers killed in an Israeli strike earlier this week, said Thursday his son was hesitant to go to Gaza but had felt a need to help. Flickinger, 33, was among a group of World Central Kitchen staff who...

Dubai, UAE - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to halt its coordination of humanitarian aid with Israel following the death of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers in Gaza, i24NEWS reported. According to reports, the Emirati foreign ministry has expressed its outrage to the Israeli ambassador Amir Hayek...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi Ministry of Interior has announced a significant measure aimed at reducing the burden of accumulated traffic fines for violators. The initiative will see a 50% reduction in fines incurred prior to April 18, 2024. Implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--A unique national capacity-building fellowship model offering outstanding Emirati graduates the opportunity to gain experience in a cutting-edge academic research environment was established through an agreement with Dolphin Energy to sponsor NYUAD’s Kawader Research Assistantship Programme. Maryam Al-Memari, a Research Assistant at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), has been...

Brussels, Belgium - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged the United States to stick together with Europe as the Western military alliance turned 75 on Thursday menaced by an aggressive Russia and the specter of Donald Trump's return to power. The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated NATO as it...

Tehran, Iran - Iran has repatriated the bodies of seven Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike on the country's consular annex in Damascus, which Tehran blamed on Israel, local media reported. The Guards, including two generals, were killed in the air strike on Monday which levelled the Iranian embassy's...

LOS ANGELES, US – The booming use of electric vehicles in parts of California is reducing CO2 emissions in those areas, a study showed on Thursday, bolstering a key pillar of the state's drive towards net zero. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, say a network of sensors set up...

Paris, France -- Israel's almost six-months-old war in Gaza since the October 7 attack has revived calls for Palestinians to be given a state of their own. Spain's left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced plans to soon recognize a Palestinian state, breaking with other Western powers which have long argued...