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Construction contracts worth AED 3 billion awarded for eight residential projects and all requisite infrastructure Nearly 5,000 residences currently under construction with over 2,000 homes ready for hand-over in 2017 750-acre (31 million sq ft) development is anchored by a central square, the size of 16 football fields, Vida Townsquare Dubai hotel and Reel Cinemas cineplex 29 November 2016Construction contracts worth AED 3 billion awarded […]

Higher than normal water temperatures have caused the largest die-off of corals ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef, scientists said on Tuesday. Two-thirds of the corals living in shallow waters in a 700km swath of reef in the northern region have been killed by a massive coral bleaching event over the past eight to nine months, according to the Australian Research Council of Excellence for Coral […]

By Sarah Marsh | HAVANA HAVANA Leaders of Cuba’s leftist allies and other developing countries descend on Havana on Tuesday for a mass rally commemorating Fidel Castro, the rebel who seized power in a 1959 revolution and ruled the island for half a century. Castro, who ceded control to his younger brother Raul Castro a decade ago due to poor health, died on Friday at the age […]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the timing of $3bn of impairment charges that Rio Tinto booked on a disastrous Mozambique coal deal, sources close to the company have confirmed. The Anglo-Australian miner was already facing scrutiny from US regulators when it contacted law enforcement authorities this month about a questionable payment made to a consultant operating in Guinea. The Mozambique investigation, first reported by […]

By Idrees Ali | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard vessel pointed its weapon at a U.S. military helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, two U.S. defence officials told Reuters on Monday, an action they described as “unsafe and unprofessional.” The incident is the latest in a series of similar actions by Iranian vessels this year, but the first reported since Republican Donald […]

Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for November 29, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition Visit The Galleria on Al Maryah Island and see an exhibition by photographer Mark Luscombe-Whyte, who specialises in Arab architecture, including images of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Enjoy a […]

Photo Syrians fleeing rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo moved on Sunday toward an area controlled by Kurdish fighters. Credit Rumaf, via Associated Press BEIRUT, Lebanon — Thousands of people were sent fleeing for their lives on Monday as rebel fighters lost a large stretch of territory in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo to government forces and Kurdish fighters, in what could prove to be a turning […]

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By Ulf Laessing | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Islamic State has arrested dozens of Mosul shop owners accused of raising food prices in the nearly besieged city, to tamp down discontent as a U.S.-backed offensive closes in on the group’s last major stronghold in Iraq, residents said on Monday. The arrests took place on Sunday morning in Bursa, a commercial district in the western part of the […]

Monday 12:00 GMT. Overview Stock markets in Europe are slipping back, led by losses for embattled Italian financials, on concern about potential contagion spreading from the sector into the eurozone financial system after Italy’s reform referendum. Meanwhile the dollar is cooling after its sustained run higher, with the index tracking the world’s reserve currency against six of its rivals down 0.1 per cent, although it is holding […]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, November 28, 2016/ — The Ashish J Thakkar Global Entrepreneurship Index of 85 countries ranks Singapore as the best environment for entrepreneurs Of the African nations, Namibia scores highest and comes 42nd overall – ahead of other prominent African markets, such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa The research, conducted by Mara Foundation and Opinium Research, examines the state of entrepreneurship around the […]

Monday 11:30 GMT. Overview The dollar is cooling after its sustained run higher, with the index tracking the world’s reserve currency against six of its rivals down 0.5 per cent, although it is holding the 100-point mark at 100.940. Stock markets in Europe are slipping back, led by losses for embattled Italian financials. Hot topic Oil is likely to loom large over the week before Wednesday’s Opec […]

By Nelson Acosta and Ana Isabel Martinez | HAVANA HAVANA Cubans will begin massing on Havana’s Revolution Square from Monday for a week-long commemoration of Fidel Castro, the communist guerrilla leader who led a revolution in 1959 and ruled the Caribbean island for half a century. Castro died on Friday at the age of 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power […]

By Lisa Barrington | BEIRUT BEIRUT Several thousand residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo fled shifting frontlines, residents and a monitor said on Sunday, after a rapid advance by the Syrian army and allied forces that rebels fear could split their most important urban stronghold in two. The army and its allies took control on Saturday of the large Hanano housing district, on the northeast frontline of the […]

Photo Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) being sacked by Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul during the fourth quarter. The Giants’ defense finished with seven sacks and eight tackles for a loss. Credit Gregory Shamus/Getty Images CLEVELAND — Like pushing on an open door, the Giants handled the winless Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon, with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. overcoming a thumb injury early on to catch […]

In these volatile times, gold is more important than ever. Bonner & Partners’ Bill Bonner explains in this two-part series, the importance of ‘real money’ and why you need it now… Many years ago, before the invention of modern money or capitalism, people still had wealth – although limited. And they still had ways of keeping track of it. The principle of “fair trade” seems to be […]

It is hard to believe that less than 50 years ago, life in the UAE relied entirely on the natural environment. When you look at photographer Richard Allenby-Pratt’s images of landscapes across the country, the devastation to the fine balance of a desert ecosystem caused by modern consumptive lifestyles is heartbreaking. Shots of the Hajar Mountains in Fujairah reveal great trenches carved out for cement production. On […]

A selection of films from around the world are to be showcased next week at the 13th annual Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), its organisers have announced. Held at the Madinat Theatre at Dubai’s Souk Madinat Jumeirah, the festival runs from December 7-14 and includes numerous cinema screenings and red carpet gala events.   On December 8, festival goers will experience the world premiere of ‘Befikre’, a Hindi […]

By Nelson Acosta and Ana Isabel Martinez | HAVANA HAVANA Cuba’s most prominent dissident group called off its weekly protest march for the first time in 13 years on Sunday following the death of its nemesis Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader whose passing has cast a pall over the island. Castro, a world figure who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and […]

By Simon Gardner and Ana Isabel Martinez | HAVANA HAVANA From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back. But the death of “El Comandante” has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will slam […]

By Terray Sylvester | CANNON BALL, N.D. CANNON BALL, N.D. Activists protesting plans to run an oil pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota said on Saturday they have no intention of leaving a protest camp after U.S. authorities warned it must be vacated by Dec. 5. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the federal land where the main […]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Generations of Ohio State and Michigan fans will debate the latest episode of one of college football’s most impassioned rivalries, a 30-27 Ohio State victory in two overtimes on Saturday, the Buckeyes’ fifth straight win over the Wolverines. What if Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight — who generally played well, completing 23 of 36 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns — had not fumbled […]

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday that he will “not necessarily” call a snap election next year, amid talk that he would seek an early vote as splits in the opposition have hobbled efforts to oust him over a long-running financial scandal. The multi-ethnic Southeast Asian country is due to hold an election by August 2018, and a government official has told Reuters […]

By Marc Frank and Sarah Marsh | HAVANA HAVANA Fidel Castro’s death could give his younger brother, President Raul Castro, more space to pursue economic reforms, but change will also depend on whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump decides to work with or challenge Cuba’s communist government. Raul Castro has introduced market-oriented reforms in recent years, but the pace of change has been slowed, many Cubans say, by […]

With violence escalating in Aleppo and elsewhere across war-ravaged Syria, the United Nations said Saturday that the number of children trapped in besieged areas had doubled in less than a year to half a million. A report by Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, said the children were among hundreds of thousands of civilians in 16 areas under siege across the country who had been “almost completely […]

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