Author: Editorial team

BEIJING, 16th April, 2026 (WAM) — China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, 0.5 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday, Xinhua News Agency reported. The country’s GDP reached 33.4 trillion yuan (about US$4.87 trillion) during this period, the NBS data showed. In the first quarter, “the growth of production and supply accelerated, market demand continued to improve, employment was generally stable, market prices picked up moderately, and high-quality development advanced with new and positive momentum,”…

WASHINGTON, 13th April, 2026 (WAM) — SpaceX launched a massive cargo ship packed with over 5 tonnes of gear for astronauts on the International Space Station early Saturday, then aced a rocket landing minutes after the Florida liftoff. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soared into a blue sky over Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:41 a.m. EDT (1141 GMT) on Saturday, sending Northrop Grumman’s “Cygnus XL” resupply freighter toward the International Space Station (ISS). The mission, called NG-24, is Northrop Grumman’s 24th resupply flight to the ISS for NASA. “And liftoff! Science and supplies soaring to the…

ABU DHABI, 15th April, 2026 (WAM) — His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, attended a wedding reception hosted by Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim on the occasion of the marriage of his son Abdul Jalil to the daughter of Abdulla Ahmed Yusuf Alkhater. The reception was held at Erth Abu Dhabi Hotel. His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed extended his congratulations and best wishes to the groom and his family, wishing them a happy and prosperous married life. The wedding ceremony featured a number of heritage segments,…

Amazon entered into a deal to acquire Globalstar for around 11.6 billion as it looks to bolster its Amazon Leo satellite business with direct-to-device (D2D) services. Amazon stated it will take control of Globalstar’s existing satellite operations, infrastructure and assets, including MSS spectrum licences and global authorisations. It pointed to numerous benefits of the tie-up, including Amazon Leo being able to beef up its connectivity offering for consumer, enterprise and government customers, utilising Globalstar’s existing fleet and its new satellites to operate alongside its broadband system. Beginning in 2028, Amazon Leo said it will deploy its own next-generation D2D satellite…

With the UAE’s iconic Burj Al Arab shutting down for approximately 1.5 years for restoration works, there is much discussion on what the hotel will look like after it undergoes the change. The hotel, known for its opulent ‘seven-star’ status, is expected to reopen in October 2027, according to estimates. Situated on a man-made island located 280 meters from the Jumeirah Beach coast, connected to the mainland by a private, curved bridge, the Burj Al Arab building rises 321m in height. Built in 1999, the hotel is widely credited with putting Dubai on the global luxury travel map Here is…

BEIJING, 15th April, 2026 (WAM) — A delegation from the General Women’s Union (GWU) took part in the “UAE-China Business Promotion Conference” hosted by the UAE Embassy in Beijing, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Held under the theme “From Vision to Value”, the event brought together senior officials, business leaders and investors from the UAE and China to boost economic and trade ties and explore cooperation in priority sectors including investment, finance, energy and sustaianblity, industry, agriculture and food security, logistics and technology, aviation and trade, in addition to the retail, technology, research and innovation sectors. The…

WASHINGTON, 13th April, 2026 (WAM) — Khalifa University of Science and Technology reaffirmed its global leadership in translational research, innovation, and technology transfer in line with advancing the UAE’s national innovation agenda and economic diversification goals, at the QS Global Skills Week 2026, a premier international platform focused on the future of skills, employability, and higher education transformation, held in Washington DC. As an invited panel member of a strategic roundtable session titled ‘Skills for Translational Research and Technology Transfer: Aligning University Output with Industry Needs’, Professor Ebrahim Al Hajri, President, Khalifa University, emphasised that translational research and technology commercialisation…

ABU DHABI, 15th April, 2026 (WAM) — The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the shooting incident at a school in central Türkiye, which resulted in a number of deaths and injuries. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) reiterated the UAE’s strong condemnation of such criminal acts and its firm rejection of all forms of violence and extremism aimed at undermining security and stability. The Ministry expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, and to the government and people of the Republic of Türkiye, as well as its wishes for a speedy…

Satellite startup Orbital has laid out plans to launch its first test mission in 2027, which they hope will provide a foundation for operating AI data centres in low Earth orbit (LEO). The company’s first satellite, Orbital 1, is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in April next year. Its aim is to validate sustained GPU operation in orbit, test radiation hardening and eventually run AI workloads commercially. Orbital noted it has secured funding from start-up accelerator a16z Speedrun to support the initial test and was in the process of making an application to the US Federal Communications…

The UAE has strongly condemned a shooting incident that took place at a school in Turkey on Wednesday, April 15, and resulted in several deaths and injuries. A 14-year-old armed with five guns opened fire at a Turkish school on Wednesday, killing nine people, wounding 13, and sparking scenes of mayhem as students jumped out of windows to escape. The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras province was Turkey’s second such incident in as many days, shocking a country where school shootings are a rare occurrence. Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci confirmed nine deaths, with 13 wounded — six in…