Alex Thursby, who has been working with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, has joined National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Thursby is working as CEO for the International & Institutional Banking Division at ANZ Bank. He will join the Abu Dhabi-based bank from 1 July, 2013, according to a statement by NBAD. Thursby will succeed Michael Tomalin, who will continue to remain a non-executive director for the lender. Tomalin is retiring from the bank after working for a period of 14 years.

Abu Dhabi, March 28 - UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan has accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to pay a state visit to Britain.

Sheikh Khalifa will visit the country April 30-May 1.

The British embassy in Abu Dhabi said in statement that Britain and the UAE share a longstanding and unique history and the forthcoming visit will mark an important milestone in that history and will be testimony to the strength of the friendship at the very highest level.

Abu Dhabi, March 17 - The Abu Dhabi international airport has been named the best in the Middle East by the Airport Council International.

This was announced in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality Survey, which gauges passenger satisfaction, a key benchmark for customer service in the global airports' industry.

The awards, announced by the ACI in Montreal, Canada, showed that the Abu Dhabi airport had the biggest overall improvement in ASQ satisfaction results in the region for 2012.

Stock in Jet Airways gained more than 10 per cent to Rs 555.85 a share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and 9.93 per cent to Rs 554.10 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday, on the back of reports that Etihad Airways was in the final stage of buying a stake in the Indian carrier.

A news channel reported that Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways might buy a 10 per cent to 12 per cent stake in Jet Airways directly from promoters. The channel added that Etihad might pay up to Rs 750 per share for the stake.

Abu Dhabi, March 7 - Customs inspectors at the Abu Dhabi airport have foiled an attempt by two Asian passengers to smuggle a large quantity of cannabis seeds into the UAE.

A customs inspector said two passengers arriving on a flight from Nepal looked suspicious. The nationalities of the passengers were not known.

When they underwent inspection, two bags of cannabis seeds weighing around 260 grams were found in their luggage.

The inspectors referred the accused to the authorities for investigation and taking necessary legal action against them. (IANS)

Abu Dhabi, Mar 4 : World number one Novak Djokovic has urged the authorities to upgrade the Dubai Duty Free Men''s Open to an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in future.

Djokovic said there is not much to say except the fact that it''s elected for last nine years as the best tournament in the world in series of 500, adding it says enough about the quality of this tournament.

Abu Dhabi, Feb 24 : UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has granted a total of 1,762 residential plots and houses to citizens of Abu Dhabi.

The president signed a decree that aims at delivering the highest standards of stability and dignified living to Emirati families, at bolstering social cohesion to ensure better future for the generations to come. (IANS)

Abu Dhabi, Feb 4 : At least 22 people were killed and 24 injured Monday when a bus carrying foreign workers collided with a truck in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The accident took place in Al Ain city, Xinhua reported. The victims are said to be Bangladeshi and Pakistani cleaning workers.

The accident was caused due to the deviation of the truck from its route. There were also no brakes in the truck, it quoted state-run Emarat Al Youm newspaper as saying.(IANS)

Stock in Jet Airways gained as much as 6 per cent on Thursday after a senior Indian government source said that the carrier was the front-runner to win an investment from Gulf carrier Etihad Airways.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has long been in talks with Jet and Kingfisher Airlines, and is widely expected to name the Indian carrier in which it will pick a stake within a week.

The official source also said that national carrier Jet could initially sell 24 per cent stake to the Gulf carrier for between Rs 1,500 and 1,800 crore.

The Tourism & Culture Authority of Abu Dhabi (TCA Abu Dhabi) has planned to organise road shows across five major Indian cities in order to attract more tourists from the fast emerging south Asian nation.

The tourism authority is aiming to encourage tourists from the country that has emerged as the second largest source country in terms of hotel occupancy in United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi, Dec 25 - Comoros, the archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, has appreciated the humanitarian support by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for friendly countries.

Comoros's ambassador to the UAE, Zubair Ahmed Sufian Al-Ahdal expressed his country's gratitude to UAE for the emergency relief pprovided by its Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charitable Foundation (KZHF) for the flood victims in Comoros.

The remarks were made during a meeting with Mohammed Mohammed Haji Al Khouri, director-general of KZHF, the charitable foundation. (IANS)

The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) predicts cloudy weather and rainfall in few more days, though parts of the United Arab Emirates saw sunny skies on Tuesday. Residents welcomed rainfall wholeheartedly and felt reprieve from scorching heat that grappled the region since the beginning of April.

The met department predicts temperature between 20 and 35 degrees Celsius besides moderate to heavy rainfall in some areas. Many regions saw dust and sand making life tough for residents as visibility level dropped by 3000 meters in Al Zafrah in the morning.

Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and Abu Dhabi government officials held a meeting at Emirates Palace discussing a wide range of issues concerning to education and its expansion in the country.

WAM, Emirates News Agency said that collaboration in the country is a bit difficult task due to variety of factors such as rigid laws, social disturbance and restrictions on women in the Emirati society.

The forthcoming Arabian Travel Market beginning in Dubai from early May is expected to highlight the initiatives of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) for propelling growth of the tourism sector. The event will see more than 45 Abu Dhabi tourism delegates witness the launch of more than 80 products first time in the region.

Mubarak Al Nuaimi, International Promotions Manager, ADTA, said, "The product line-up reflects the destination's expanded offering and includes transports suppliers, hotel operators, major attractions, hospitality management companies, travel agents, tour operators, an international sports resort, MSC Cruises as well as desert, island, beach and golf resorts."

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services group, has come up with a new competition dubbed as 'Design your Product', primarily for the youth of the nation.

10 card designs and 10 product names will be short-listed among the youth and the winners will get a special certificate entitled 'Founder of the ADIB product for Youth,' and fabulous prizes. Young people would also be asked to provide their feedback.

The 2011 International Public Relations Association Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC) Conference stated at The Yas Hotel, Abu Dhabi today with participation of a large number of delegates belonging to regional and global media.

Tim Sebastian, former BBC journalist and founder of the internationally renowned Doha Debates delivered the keynote address of the conference titled "Reputation Management: Emerging Trends, Changing Dynamics."

The Nation Towers' Skybridge, which is the highest of its kind in the world, has been launched in the United Arab Emirates. The sky bridge, having height of 202.5 meter, adds yet another feather in the cap of nation. The sky scraper would provide great view of the city and attract a large number of tourists.

The 202.5 meters bridge was completed on April 10 by joining the two towers at the 50th and 54th floors. The tower beats the Petronas Towers in Malaysia which is now 30 meter smaller in height than the sky bridge. It would offer a 50-storey luxury hotel, office blocks and several shops giving impetus to the Abu Dhabi’s economy.

Full proof security arrangements were made for the ambitious President's Cup final between Al Jazira and Al Wahda football clubs. Police and the security agencies in the city did not want to take any chance and thus also deployed private security guards in the vicinity of the stadium.

Col Rashid al Ali, head of the security committee for the final match of the President's Cup, said that security cover around the private security guards had been made and separate routes for parking places were put in place for the convenience of visitors.

Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) is looking for the possibility of hiking stake in plastics maker Borealis. The Chief Executive of Borealis Mark Garrett said that IPIC could buy shares through an initial public offering (IPO).

IPIC owns 64 per cent stakes in Borealis while remaining 36 per cent are owned by OMV. Borealis is also working out plans to increase its geographical presence in the world especially across the fertilizers and polyolefins sector in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

His Excellency, Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Borealis' Supervisory Board and Managing Director of IPIC said that global outreach is not only meant for business growth but it should carry the people’s interests and ambitions.

Abdullah Al Kindi, Operations Director at the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said on Monday that issue and renew of residency visas will be linked with national ID cards in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah. He said that this new service of 2011 will at first include these two emirates and other emirates where most of the expatriate community resides like Abu Dhabi and Dubai will be included under the new service in the forthcoming months.

Al Kindi , talking to Khaleej Times on the marginal issues of the ‘ID World Abu Dhabi said that for obtaining residency visas, it will be important for persons after completing the preventive health examinations, to register themselves for the EIDA ID cards.