Global Outlook

 China has accused the United States of overreacting after the White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure employees had removed the Chinese-owned video app TikTok on federal devices. The order follows similar moves by the European Union and Canada in recent weeks. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry Mao Ning accused the US of abusing state power in order to suppress foreign firms during a news briefing on Tuesday. She highlighted the importance of providing foreign companies in the US with an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment. In recent months, a growing number of Western officials have expressed concerns over the app - owned by Chinese firm ByteDance. TikTok has been subjected to numerous allegations that it harvests users' data and hands it to the Asian government, with some intelligence agencies raising warnings against confidential information getting exposed when the app is downloaded to government-issued devices. However, TikTok...

The brutal murder of Hong Kong model and influencer Abby Choi Tin-fung has drawn worldwide media attention, with her former in-laws remanded in custody without bail on Monday on charges of murder and perverting the course of justice. Almost a week after Choi was reported missing, police continue to search for the model's last missing remains. A skull and a number of ribs believed to belong to the socialite were discovered by the force on Sunday inside a large soup pot from a village house in Lung Mei Tsuen of Tai Po District. A source earlier mentioned that the murder was believed to be connected to a financial dispute between the victim and her former in-laws - including her jobless ex-husband - over a property worth millions of dollars. A police investigation found that Choi, who later married the son of a popular chain restaurant founder, had planned to sell the property in Ho Man Tin's exclusive Kadoorie Hill neighborhood, which she had bought under the name of her former ...

 Ten Syrian survivors of the February 6 destructive earthquake have arrived in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to receive crucial medical treatment. Emirates Crescent, the humanitarian arm of the UAE government, pledged to help earthquake survivors. Reportedly, the earthquake survivors were transported on a special evacuation flight that included doctors, anesthesiologists, technicians and paramedics. Emirates Crescent in partnership with the Syrian Ministry of Health carried out the mission. Hamdan Al Mazrouei, chairman of the board of directors of ERC, said that they made arrangements to receive the first batch of earthquake survivors and their families. The UAE would provide hospital beds and accommodation to earthquake survivors. The UAE would also treat injured children who required special care. The UAE has been providing support to earthquake survivors under the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence's Operation Gallant Knight/2.  The UAE also announced bui...

 Air Arabia, a low-cost airline with its head office in the A1 Building Sharjah Freight Center at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced the launch of its new direct route connecting Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, with Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state. The new flights between Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and Abu Dhabi International Airport are set to operate three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, according to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).  Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement on Thursday that the new flights would leave Abu Dhabi at 2.25 pm (local time) and reach Kolkata at 8.20 pm (local time) on all three days starting from March 15, 2023. The return flight is set to leave Kolkata at 9.05 pm (local time) and reach Abu Dhabi at 1.05 am (local time). The new airline is reportedly set to operate an Airbus A320 aircraft on the route. Air Arabi...

 A Chinese woman, surnamed Tian, created headlines in recent days after claiming her employer let go of her after it could not find a uniform in her size while a plus-size male colleague was allowed to keep working. According to Feidian Video, the woman from Jilin province has alleged body discrimination after being laid off from her job at a dental hospital at the end of her three-month probation period. An unidentified staff member at the hospital could be heard responding to Tian's questions in a recording taken by the woman and later posted online. When Tian asked if she was fired for being "too fat to fit into the work uniform," the staff member could be heard replying that it was only partly the reason and alleged that she had been often late to work. The dental hospital had found a new uniform manufacturer after the regular one couldn't work on a uniform in Tian's size, the staff member further mentioned, adding the new manufacturer was also unable to make ...

 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to explore all partnership opportunities with India, the UAE's climate envoy and designated president of the COP28 (Conference of the Parties 28) summit, Sultan al-Jaber, said on Wednesday. During the World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi, Sultan al-Jaber highlighted the importance of a partnership between India and the UAE. Al-Jaber said that the UAE would explore all partnership opportunities with India to help in its low-carbon plans of adding 500 gigawatts of clean energy in the next seven years. He reportedly said, "As one of the largest investors in renewables, the UAE will explore all opportunities for partnership with India." Al-Jaber said that the UAE has the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. As President-Designate of  COP28, Al-Jaber wants to limit the impact of climate change. The president-designate of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) said that the goal of limiting global temperature rise ...

 In a noteworthy move and a significant push towards State head Narendra Modi's Aatmnirbhar Bharat vision, MEIL bunch organization iComm on Tuesday turned into the principal Indian privately owned business to sign an Exchange of Innovation concurrence with UAE's Caracal to fabricate guns for the nearby market. Sources near advancement told Times Cut that iCOMM will locally produce CARACAL's finished line of little arms for the Indian market, fueling the 'Make in India' drive. Among the arms to be fabricated are the CARACAL EF gun, current CMP 9 submachine weapon, Vehicle 814, Vehicle 816 and Vehicle 817 strategic rifles, Vehicle 817 DMR strategic sharpshooter rifle, CSR 50 enemy of material marksman rifle, CSR 338 and CSR 308 manual action expert sharpshooter rifles and the CSA 338 self-loader expert sharpshooter rifle, authorities informed. The marking occurred at the continuous IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, one of the biggest tri-administration safeguard shows on t...

 The IDEX event is being held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from February 20 to February 24. The participation of the Cyber Security Council (CSC) in IDEX is the highlight of the event. His Excellency Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan, the Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security, the Minister of Advanced Technology in Armenia, and a delegation from the United Nations, a delegation from the International Telecommunication Union, and a number of delegations of defense ministers attended the IDEX. 2023.  Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, the activities of the International Defense Exhibition “IDEX 2023” and the Maritime Defense Exhibition “NAVDEX 2023” were launched on Monday. The activities of the Cyber Security Council started on Monday at the IDEX exhibition at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). It has been organized by ADNEC in cooperation with the Ministry of Defe...

The search and rescue teams of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) helped Turkey after the destructive earthquake wreaked havoc in the country.  The Emirati rescue team helped the Turkish authorities in rescuing people. The Emirati team rescued 10 people and recovered 26 bodies from Turkey. The team rescued a Syrian family of four from the rubble in Turkey. They found many people alive from under collapsed buildings in Turkey. The UAE sent a rescue team, comprising 92 rescuers, to Kahramanmaras to carry out search and rescue operations.  The team found earthquake survivors in Kahramanmaras. After fourteen consecutive days of work, they left Turkey. Recently, the Turkish Emergency and Disaster Organisation announced the end of search and rescue operations in the country. The Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence of the UAE launched Operation Gallant Knight/2 to help earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. The UAE sent aid to affected areas in Turkey and Syria for 11...

 On February 18, 2022, the historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE was signed in front of a virtual summit that was also attended by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), in collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the Indian Consulate General in Dubai, and Dubai Chambers, hosted a Special Business Event on Friday to celebrate the signing of CEPA. More than 200 eminent companies from the UAE and India attended the event. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade, addressed the audience and discussed the enormous prospects and benefits provided by CEPA. In his remarks, Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir said that businesses from both India and the UAE have already begun to take advantage of the duty waivers and improved market access provided by the CEPA. The first bilateral trade agreement sig...