Sultan al-Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., will preside over the next round of climate talks in Dubai.The United Arab Emirates has named a veteran technocrat who both leads Abu Dhabi’s state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts to preside over the upcoming United Nations climate negotiations in Dubai. Emirati authorities on Thursday nominated Sultan al-Jaber, a confidant of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. His firm pumps some 4 million barrels of crude a day and hopes to expand to 5…
Author: National Tone
The bill, backed by ruling party lawmakers allied with President Nayib Bukele, aims to attract national and foreign investors.El Salvador, which became the first country in the world to recognise Bitcoin as a legal tender two years ago, has approved a law that would regulate the issuance of other digital assets by both the state and private entities. The bill, backed by ruling party lawmakers allied with President Nayib Bukele, aims to attract national and foreign investors while creating new financing opportunities for citizens, companies and the government. The 47-article law received 62 votes in favour out of 84 seats…
Mumbai, India – In the hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a shock announcement making 86 percent of India’s currency notes invalid on November 8, 2016, Mujammil Khan’s life changed at a pace he could not keep up with. Overnight, Khan’s livelihood as an autorickshaw driver in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj district dried up as people had no money to pay him, leaving him struggling to feed his wife and four children, the youngest being only four. So, Khan, 39, did what everyone in the country did in the aftermath of the decision – queue up outside banks and ATMs…
Wednesday marks a long-awaited milestone for Syrian refugee Hassan Al Kontar. After years of uncertainty – including seven months spent stranded in a Malaysia airport – Al Kontar has finally become a Canadian citizen. “Today is kind of a declaration of winning after all these years,” Kontar told Al Jazeera during a phone call just before the citizenship ceremony. “Today I am stateless no more.” Now 41 years old, Al Kontar first gained the world’s attention in 2018 when he started to chronicle his ordeal in the airport on social media. Having fled the war in Syria, Al Kontar found…
Since the chaotic withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan in 2021, President Joe Biden and his top aides have repeatedly expressed a sense of achievement that Washington is not at war for the first time in decades. But not far from US shores, nestled in a Cuban harbour, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility is still operating as a remnant of the so-called “war on terror” that started after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Wednesday marked the 21st anniversary of the prison, known as Gitmo – an occasion that prompted renewed calls for closing the centre. Detainees have detailed abuse…
Bangkok/Yangon – Beijing’s apparent failure to pick up on an invitation for China’s Premier Li Keqiang to attend a regional meeting in Myanmar has been interpreted as a subtle snub to Naypyidaw’s military rulers by one of their most powerful patrons. China’s non-response to an invitation for a planned Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) summit comes amid increasing international isolation of the military regime in Myanmar and its inability to reduce armed opposition to its rule domestically and secure legitimacy internationally. Established and led by China to promote “regional peace, stability and prosperity”, the LMC is made up of the five Southeast…
Move makes Valery Gerasimov directly accountable for the fate of the campaign as Sergey Surovikin, nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’, is effectively demoted.Russia ordered its top general to take charge of its invasion of Ukraine in the biggest shake-up yet of its military command structure after months of battlefield defeats. Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as overall commander of forces for what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. The move not only made Gerasimov directly accountable for the fate of the campaign but also in…
Study of 1,000 clothing factories found some fashion firms ‘engaged in unfair practices’, including H&M, Lidl and GAP.Major international fashion brands, including Zara, H&M and GAP, are exploiting Bangladesh garment industry workers, with some of them involved in unfair practices and paying the suppliers below the cost of production, according to a study published on Wednesday. The study that surveyed 1,000 Bangladeshi factories making garments for global brands and retailers during the COVID pandemic found that many were paid the same price despite the global pandemic and rising costs. More than half of the clothing factories experienced at least one…
Naomi Osaka is pregnant and plans to return to competition in 2024, the tennis star announced Wednesday. The former world No. 1 posted what she called “a little life update for 2023” on social media, including a picture of an ultrasound. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; The 25-year-old Osaka has been dating Cordae, a rapper, for years. “I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom,’” Osaka wrote. Osaka hasn’t played a…
Brazil’s new government is preparing for more protests by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, just days after rioters stormed key government offices in the capital in what has been denounced as an “anti-democratic” attack. The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bolstered security measures nationwide on Wednesday as flyers appeared on pro-Bolsonaro social media feeds calling for mass demonstrations in Brazilian cities to “retake power”. “We have measures for this Wednesday to reinforce security throughout the country since pamphlets of new demonstrations have been circulated,” Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, said late on Tuesday after a…