Economy

High-profile launch of Royal Rapchee OTT platform in Dubai: Founder Dharam Gupta secures record investment of AED 50 million from UAE private business group for first-phase expansion.”

Naeem AkhtarMarch 19, 2025October 10, 202503 mins

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (March 18, 2025) – The private entertainment group, Royal Rapchee Entertainment, has officially launched its advanced OTT (Over-The-Top) streaming platform “Royal Rapchee.” The company is registered in Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) Mainland as “Royal Rapchee Visual Recorded Media Distribution LLC.” The platform is initially launching in the…

400 million under-fives regularly experience violent discipline at home

PNP DeskJune 11, 2024September 20, 202404 mins

“When children are subjected to physical or verbal abuse at home, or when they are deprived of social and emotional care from their loved ones, it can undermine their sense of self-worth and development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. The UNICEF data was released on Tuesday on the first-ever International Day of Play (IDOP)….

Gaza: conditions ‘unspeakable’ as one million people flee Rafah: UNRWA

PNP DeskJune 3, 2024September 20, 202404 mins

The city of Rafah on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt had been home to well over a million forcibly displaced by nearly eight months of daily bombardment by the Israeli military, in response to Hamas-led terror attack in southern Israel on 7 October. “Thousands of families now shelter in damaged and destroyed facilities in Khan…

Record 75.9 million internally displaced in 2023, UN report reveals

PNP DeskMay 14, 2024September 20, 202403 mins

The year also saw nearly 47 million new internal displacements, highlighting the urgent need for protection and prevention efforts, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), which supplied data for the report. “As the planet grapples with conflicts and disasters, the staggering numbers of 47 million new internal displacements tells a harrowing tale,”…

$2.8 billion appeal for three million people in Gaza, West Bank

PNP DeskApril 17, 2024September 19, 202409 mins

The development came amid reports of ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip including Gaza City in the north, Rafah in southern Gaza and central Gaza, where more than dozen people were believed to have died in an apparent missile attack on a refugee camp on Tuesday. Video images reportedly from Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir…

Geneva conference pledges $630 million in life-saving help for Ethiopia

PNP DeskApril 16, 2024September 19, 202404 mins

The UN-backed $3.24 billion humanitarian response plan for 2024 is only five per cent funded. Organised by the UN along with the Governments of Ethiopia and the United Kingdom, the conference aims to hear commitments that will enhance life-saving aid to approximately 15.5 million people in 2024. An immediate funding of $1 billion is required…

World News in Brief: Looming famine threat for Sudan, 3.3 million in need near Ukraine frontline, Haiti update, there’s a place for all in outer space

PNP DeskApril 12, 2024September 19, 202409 mins

After nearly a year of brutal civil war between rival militaries, food production has been hit and communities face acute shortages of other essential resources such as water and fuel. More than eight million people are believed to have been uprooted from their homes with tens of thousands killed or wounded. The World Health Organization…

World News in Brief: $12 million for Haiti, Ukraine airstrikes condemned, support mine action

PNP DeskApril 4, 2024September 19, 202404 mins

“These funds will enable aid partners to reach the hardest hit,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Thursday in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Port-au-Prince has been terrorised by armed gangs, and last month, they tightened their grip following a weekend jailbreak which allowed thousands of criminals to…

Amid a funding crisis, UNRWA’s work in Lebanon could end by March

$414 million appeal for Palestine refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan

PNP DeskApril 3, 2024September 19, 202407 mins

UNRWA on Tuesday launched a $414.4 million appeal for Palestine refugees in Syria and those who have fled the country for neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan due to the conflict. Continue the support The funding will be used to keep cash and in-kind food assistance running, along with healthcare, education, and technical and vocational training. “We…

World News in Brief: Karabakh exodus continues, indigenous rights, UN steps up bid to curb food waste

With 783 million people going hungry, a fifth of all food goes to waste

PNP DeskMarch 27, 2024September 19, 202405 mins

The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2024 highlights that latest data from 2022 shows 1.05 billion tonnes of food went to waste. Some 19 per cent of food available to consumers was lost overall at retail, food service, and household levels. That is in addition to around 13 per cent of food lost in the…