Abu Dhabi hosted the 46th Session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers on March 1 to 2. The meeting coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the OIC. Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, gave the opening speech alongside Dr. Yousef Al Otheimen, Secretary General of the OIC. Topics discussed included counter-extremism, counter-terrorism, economic development and stability in the Muslim world.

India was named guest of honor for this meeting and was represented by Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. Due to recent tensions, Pakistan decided to boycott the meeting in protest over India’s invite, after its request to revoke India’s invitation were not met. Minister Swaraj stated that the OIC must ask “the States who provide shelter and funding to the terrorist, to dismantle the infrastructures of terrorist camp and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisation based in their country.”

The UAE has fallen from 43rd to 46th on the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index. The UAE has high levels of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. NYU Abu Dhabi Public Health Research Center is working on a long-term study to better understand how lifestyle and diet choices in the UAE contribute to these health conditions.

Dr. Raghib Ali, Director of the Center, speaking to The National said “Although there’s excellent healthcare cover and state-of-the-art facilities – in terms of screening programmes for things like diabetes and heart disease – there needs to be more emphasis on that and also on programmes around smoking and improving physical activity.”

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has returned from visits to South Korea and Singapore. During his trip he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Singaporean President Halima Yacob.

The Crown Prince visited the Samsung Semiconductor Research Center in South Korea and GlobalFoundries semiconductor plant in Singapore. During the trip, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed a contract with South Korean SK Engineering and Construction to build a crude oil storage facility in Fujairah capable of storing 42 million barrels.