New Expanded Joint Venture Will Combine National Geographic Channels with National Geographic’s Other Digital, Media & Publishing, Travel and Licensing Assets

WASHINGTON & NEW YORK - Wednesday, September 9th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

Transaction Substantially Increases Society Endowment to Nearly $1 Billion and Significantly Expands Program Resources

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox announced today that they have reached an agreement to expand their highly successful 18-year partnership through which they have owned and operated the properties in National Geographic Channels, a joint venture of domestic and international cable television channels which together reach more than 500 million households globally.

The National Geographic Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on its mission of science, exploration and education. Consideration for the transaction is valued at $725 million. A ... Read more »

NEW VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SOLUTION OVER SATELLITE WILL BE PRESENTED AT IBC 2015

MUNICH & LUXEMBOURG - Wednesday, September 9th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SES Platform Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES S.A. (NYSE Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), is presenting a live showcase of LIQUID VOD, a new solution for video-on-demand services (VoD) via satellite, at IBC 2015.

LIQUID VOD is an innovative way to distribute video content over satellite, delivering a real VoD user experience. The IBC live showcase demonstrates how satellite distribution can provide an instantaneous and enriched video experience on demand. This solution bridges the lack of broadband internet connectivity in underserved areas and delivers content to an ever-increasing number of users without incremental distribution cost. It is designed to deliver premium content based on available encryption systems and supports all major business models (SVoD, TVoD).

“If there is one ... Read more »

SHANGHAI - Thursday, September 10th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AGCO (NYSE:AGCO), a world-leading manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Alibaba Group in Shanghai to start an “Internet-plus-Agriculture” crossover program.

AGCO Senior Vice President, General Manager of Asia Pacific, Gary Collar and Fred Yang, Vice President, Managing Director of AGCO China, attended the signing ceremony, along with Frank Yu, Senior Director of Alibaba Group’s Rural Taobao business division. Rural Taobao is responsible for promoting rural e-commerce by removing bottlenecks in logistics and information flow between urban and rural areas.

According to the MOU, AGCO products will be featured on Rural Taobao’s online platform (cun.taobao.com), which is dedicated to offering agricultural resources and consumer goods to rural villagers in China. At the same time, both parties a ... Read more »

Falcone Becomes Second Italian MONOPOLY World Champion, Wins $20,580 USD MONOPOLY Fortune

MACAO, China - Wednesday, September 9th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After ten hours of property space purchases, paying rent, and passing GO, Nicolò Falcone of Venice, Italy defeated 27 fellow competitive MONOPOLY players to win the 2015 MONOPOLY World Championship and take home the grand prize of $20,580, the equivalent of the “bank” in a standard MONOPOLY game. The 2015 World Championship gathered players from several nations around the world, including France, Peru, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States, and Mexico to The Venetian® Macao, China.

The intense final game pitted Falcone against Tsutomu Doita of Japan, Brian Valentine of the United States, and reigning MONOPOLY World Champion, Bjørn Halvard Knappskog of Norway. After several masterful plays by the table, including a multi-player trade that secured each player his own p ... Read more »

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Friday, September 4th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

Participants attending the Quality and Excellence Conference called for following in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi Police and endorsing their unique experience in the field of quality and excellence.  They also called for promoting this experience globally as an ideal model of organizational excellence.

Additionally, the participants lauded the Abu Dhabi Police’s achievements in their journey towards excellence, and praised their efforts to reinforce and spread the culture of quality and excellence. Moreover, they said that such conferences should be organized annually, in addition to similar seminars and events. The attendees also underlined the importance of innovation and creativity as an essential foundation for achieving sustainable excellence, citing the UAE's creative initiatives to promote and support innovation.

The Conference tackled a number of experiences and be ... Read more »

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Saturday, September 5th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

The Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior recently held a meeting chaired by Major General Dr. Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior. During the meeting, which was convened in cooperation with partners from educational and community authorities, the Committee discussed the initiatives and proposals to be implemented during the new academic year.

The attendees stressed the importance of following-up on the latest developments and elaborating policies to protect children against risks, as well as enhancing communication and partnerships between the Higher Committee and the various community organizations.

Major General Al Nuaimi emphasized that the UAE is one of the leading countries in providing pr ... Read more »

More than 95,000 Attendees, 2,000 Exhibitors Expected for the 2016 Event

LONDON - Wednesday, September 9th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The GSMA today outlined the first details of the 2016 GSMA Mobile World Congress, including confirmed keynote speakers, exhibitors and sponsors, as well as programmes and activities taking place at the annual mobile industry event. Under the theme ‘Mobile is Everything’, Mobile World Congress will be held 22-25 February 2016 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, with events also taking place at Fira Montjuïc. The GSMA expects that more than 95,000 attendees from across the mobile industry and adjacent industry sectors will gather for the 2016 event.

“The 2016 edition of Mobile World Congress marks the 30th anniversary of the event and over the past three decades, we’ve experienced the dramatic growth and development of the industry,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. &ldq ... Read more »

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Monday, September 7th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

A number of the Ministry’s officials and senior officers continued to pay tribute to the martyrs for their ultimate and most noble sacrifice. The officials and senior officers have expressed their sincerest condolences to the families of the martyrs, expressing their pride and their utmost respect for the brave souls; praying to God Almighty to shower them with his mercy and to accept them among his faithful servants.   UAE officials noted that the fallen soldiers’ martyrdom has reinforced out will to further fight in support of truth and justice. It embodies the cohesion and solidarity among citizens of a united country at its best. The sacrifices of the proverbial UAE soldiers should be a lesson for us in loyalty and courage; values that we must inculcate in the youth as a role model to emulate. We offer our sincerest condolences and sympathy to the Emirati people on the loss o ... Read more »

ELENILTO shall produce annually 5 million tons of phosphate, fertilizers and phosphoric acid with total revenues of 28 billion dollars during project life time

LONDON - Tuesday, September 8th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Elenilto, controlled by the Israeli billionaire Jacob Engel, has been recently awarded by the government of Togo, West Africa, in an international tender, to develop the phosphate mining and fertilizers plant project in Togo. Elenilto, which leads and controls the consortium, is cooperating in this project with Wengfu as its strategic partner. Wengfu is one of the top leading international phosphate and fertilizers groups with vast experience in the phosphate chemical industry in China and greatly favorable influence in the industry globally.

Currently a number of global financial institutions are interested in financing the project. Discussions in purpose to assemble the financial consortium to support and provide the required financ ... Read more »

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Friday, September 4th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

Participants in the Ministry of Interior’s Council “the Impact of Drugs on Youth”, which was hosted by Al Bateen Council in Abu Dhabi, called for concerted efforts among institutions and the various segments of society as well as to reinforce their role to address and combat the scourge of drugs; starting with the family as it is the first line of defense against this societal nuisance.

The council, which was moderated by media figure Issa Al Mail, from Abu Dhabi Media, is part of the awareness-raising councils organized by the Respect Culture Bureau in cooperation with the Security Media Department at the General Secretariat of the Office of H.H Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. The council was attended by His Excellency Jaber Mohammed Ghanem Al Suwaidi, the General Director of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi; Colonel Eid Mohammed bin Thani, Director Genera ... Read more »