DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 30, 2026--
PPG (NYSE: PPG) today announced that it has partnered with Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) to carry out a tree-planting initiative, supporting its broader vision of building a greener and more sustainable city. The initiative reinforces PPG’s commitment to environmental stewardship, sustainability education and community engagement, which includes an investment of $5 million in environmental sustainability education by 2030.
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More than 80 PPG employees and their family members volunteered to plant 500 native and climate-resilient trees – primarily Ghaf and Neem – in an area of JAFZA where PPG’s Aerospace Application Support Center is located. The area is surrounded by busy roads and industrial infrastructure, making the initiative particularly impactful in improving air quality, increasing shaded green spaces and enhancing local biodiversity.
“At PPG, our commitment to environmental sustainability is rooted in action,” said Olga Kolevatova, PPG general manager, Middle East, Egypt and Caspian region. “By partnering with JAFZA and engaging our employees and their families in this tree-planting initiative, we contribute directly to the communities where we operate and support Dubai’s sustainability ambitions. Together, we are helping to create healthier, greener spaces for future generations.”
The tree-planting activity, the first by a private company in the zone, was delivered in close coordination with JAFZA, which will oversee post-planting irrigation and ongoing maintenance to ensure the long-term success of the trees. The event was inaugurated by Hamad Al Sayegh, vice president, Customer Care, JAFZA.
“This initiative reflects the power of private-sector collaboration, with PPG’s leadership in launching the first tree-planting program by a private company in the Free Zone setting a strong example and contributing meaningfully to our efforts to create greener, more sustainable industrial zones across Dubai,” said Al Sayegh.
“Planting trees in a highly industrial and high-traffic area highlights our dedication to making a meaningful environmental impact and reinforces our responsibility to the communities that host our operations,” said Jean-Francois Lemaire, PPG director, Middle East, Sub-Indian continent, Central Asia and Türkiye, Aerospace Coatings.
Click here to see a video of the project.
PPG’s global community engagement efforts and the PPG Foundation aim to bring color and brightness to PPG communities around the world. We invested more than $18.4 million in 2024, supporting hundreds of organizations across more than 30 countries. By investing in educational opportunities, we help grow tomorrow’s STEM innovators and a skilled workforce in fields related to coatings and manufacturing. Plus, we empower PPG employees to multiply their impact for causes that are important to them by supporting their volunteer efforts and charitable giving. Learn more at communities.ppg.com.
PPG: WE PROTECT AND BEAUTIFY THE WORLD®
At PPG (NYSE:PPG), we work every day to develop and deliver the paints, coatings and specialty products that our customers have trusted for more than 140 years. Through dedication and creativity, we solve our customers’ biggest challenges, collaborating closely to find the right path forward. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, we operate and innovate in more than 50 countries and reported net sales of $15.9 billion in 2025. We serve customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com.
The PPG Logo and We protect and beautify the world are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
Hamad Al Sayegh, vice president, Customer Care, JAFZA (center) with PPG leaders Olga Kolevatova and Jean-Francois Lemaire at the inauguration of a tree-planting event in Dubai.
Senate leaders were scrambling to save a bipartisan spending deal and avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday. Democrats have demanded new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
Democrats struck a rare deal with President Donald Trump Thursday to separate funding for the Homeland Security Department from a broad government spending bill and fund it for two weeks while Congress debates curbs on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
The deal came as irate Democrats had vowed to vote against the entire spending bill and trigger a shutdown in the wake of the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Thursday there were “snags on both sides” as he and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tried to work through any objections that could delay passage past the Friday deadline.
The latest:
The Department of Homeland Security says that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now heading the investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti.
The Department said earlier this week that Homeland Security Investigations, which is a unit within the department, would be heading the investigation.
But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during an interview with Fox News on Thursday that the FBI was in the lead. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department said Friday in an email that HSI will support them.
Separately, Customs and Border Protection is doing its own internal investigation.
Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about when the change was made or why.
“Don Lemon is an accomplished journalist whose urgent work is protected by the First Amendment,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on social media.
“There is zero basis to arrest him. He should be freed immediately.”
He said “The Trump Justice Department is illegitimate. They will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution.”
The retiring North Carolina senator has been among a group of Senate Republicans who have rushed to the defense of current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after it was revealed earlier this month that the Justice Department had opened an inquiry into him.
After Trump said Friday that he would nominate former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to serve as the next chair of the Fed, Tillis made clear the inquiry would stand in the way of any confirmation.
“I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” Tillis wrote.
Tillis, a swing vote on the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the Federal Reserve and approves central bank nominees, said in his post that Warsh is a “qualified nominee,” but stressed that “protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.”
Tillis’s opposition could complicate the confirmation process for Warsh and Senate GOP leaders. Asked late Thursday whether Warsh could be confirmed without Tillis’s support, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “probably not.”
Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested after he entered a Minnesota church and recorded anti-immigration enforcement protesters who disrupted a service in an incident that increased tensions between residents and the Trump administration, his lawyer said Friday.
It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Lemon was facing in the Jan. 18 protest. The arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge the journalist.
Trump says he’ll nominate former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to be the next Fed chair.
Friday’s pick is likely to result in sharp changes to the powerful agency that could bring it closer to the White House and reduce its longtime independence from day-to-day politics.
Warsh would replace Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. Trump chose Powell to lead the Fed in 2017 but recently has assailed him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Warsh’s appointment requires Senate confirmation.
Warsh was on the Fed’s board from 2006 to 2011. He’s a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Trump has signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that puts pressure on Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government had at least temporarily stopped oil shipments to Cuba.
She says it was a “sovereign decision” not made under pressure from the U.S. Trump has squeezed Mexico to distance itself from the Cuban government. In the wake of the U.S. military operation to oust former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump has said the Cuban government is ready to fall.
Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president’s tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.
The suit, filed in a Florida federal court, includes the president’s sons Eric Trump and, Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs.
Melania Trump is capping her first year back as first lady with the global release of a documentary she produced about the 20 days leading up to her husband’s return to the White House.
A private person, Melania Trump remains a bit of a mystery to the public in her husband’s second term. “Melania” premiered Thursday at the Kennedy Center before it is released on Friday in more than 1,500 theaters in the U.S. and around the world.
President Donald Trump arrives for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie "Melania" at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
