Author: gulf-daily.com

Facebook Inc. and its family of apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, were inaccessible for hours on Monday, taking out a vital communications platform used by billions and showcasing just how dependent the world has become on a company that is under intense scrutiny. Facebook’s entire network of services suddenly went offline, the worst outage for Facebook since a 2019 incident took its site offline for more than 24 hours, as the downtime hit hardest on the small businesses and creators who rely on these services for their income.Facebook Inc. issued an explanation for the outage on Monday evening, saying that…

Al Seer Marine, a marine company in the Middle East region that is engaged across multiple marine sectors, has announced the formation of a joint venture with BGN International, one of the leading energy, trading, storage, and transportation companies, to acquire a portfolio of Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs) for the transport of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).In addition, the joint venture has agreed to award Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in Korea with an order to build two new VLGCs, both sized at 86,000 cubic metres capacity. The new-build VLGCs are due for delivery in the first and second quarters of…

Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, represented the UAE in the 108th meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council, which was held today at the HQ of the Arab League Secretariat-General in Cairo. During the meeting, Al Marri highlighted the UAE’s keenness, upon the directives of its leadership, to achieving the development goals of Arab countries in line with the Council’s recommendations.He called for greater efforts to increase intra-Arab trade, underlining the UAE’s support for all relevant regional efforts, made within the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) and the Arab Customs Union.In 2020, trade between…

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, has sent a written message to Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, on the prospects of consolidating the bilateral relations between the two friendly nations. The message was handed over by Dr Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Advisor to UAE President, at his meeting with Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India.Gargash, who is currently on an official visit to New Delhi, conveyed during the meeting the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His…

Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) has welcomed two new weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. The inaugural flight, operated by Iraqi Airways using Boeing 737-800 aircraft, landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport on Saturday, 7th August at 17:00 Local Time (LT), according to Abu Dhabi Airports. Iraqi Airways will start by operating one flight per week and will then increase its number of flights to two per week.Outbound flights will depart from Abu Dhabi International Airport on Saturdays and Tuesdays at 18:00 Local Time (LT), landing in Baghdad at 19:15 LT. Return flights will depart…

India is expanding its strategic petroleum reserves programme, the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rameswar Teli, told the lower House of Parliament, the Lok Sabha. In the second phase of its petroleum reserves programme, approvals were given this month for establishing two additional commercial-cum-strategic storage facilities with a total capacity of 6.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) in underground storage structures. The approvals were announced by the Minister today in reply to questions from Lok Sabha members.In the first phase of India’s strategic petroleum reserves programme, an agreement to store oil from Abu Dhabi at strategic petroleum reserves…

Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, chaired the country’s delegation that participated in the international conference entitled, “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities,” held in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.The conference was attended by over 600 participants from more than 40 countries, including Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan, along with ministers of foreign affairs and representatives of Central and South-Asian governments and other countries, as well as heads of influential regional and international organizations, global financial companies and leading research centers.In his speech at the conference, Al Mazrouei conveyed the greetings of President His…

The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has signed an agreement to promote and protect mutual investments with Hungary. The agreement, which was signed at the ministry’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, aims to enhance economic cooperation, provide an optimal investment environment, and secure a comprehensive balance between rights and obligations between investors and the host country, thus stimulating business initiatives for sustainable economic development.The agreement was signed by Younis Haji Al Khoori, Under-Secretary of Ministry of Finance; and Osama Naffa, Hungarian Ambassador to the UAE, in the presence of senior officials from MoF. The agreement protects both nations’…

Al Ain International Airport (AAN), owned and operated by Abu Dhabi Airports, has welcomed two new weekly flights between Al Ain and Cairo, Egypt. The inaugural flight, operated by Nile Air, landed at Al Ain International Airport. Outbound flights will depart from Cairo International Airport on Mondays and Fridays at 15:40 LT and land at Al Ain International Airport at 21:15 LT. Return flights will depart from Al Ain International Airport on Mondays and Fridays at 22:15 LT, landing in Cairo International Airport the following day at 00:05 LT.Francois Bourienne, Chief Commercial Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “We are…

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a US$75 million loan agreement with Bangladesh to improve connectivity and accessibility between the rural southwest regions and the capital Dhaka. The OPEC Fund loan will co-finance the construction of the Nalua-Baherchar Bridge (1.3km) over the Pandab-Paira River and build access roads. This project will improve connectivity between Dhaka and the southwest districts of Barisal and Patukhali, where agriculture and fishing are key economic activities. As travelers currently cross the river by ferry, the project will reduce travel time and costs while also allowing agricultural produce to reach marketplaces faster. The government…