Abu Dhabi’s government-owned power utility aims to close a financing package for a 3.2 billion dirham ($872 million) solar power plant, which will be the world’s largest, in April, a senior official at the utility said on Sunday. Last week, Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) said it had selected a consortium of Japan’s Marubeni Corp and China’s JinkoSolar Holding to build and operate the 1,177 […]
Via Nicholas Eberstadt of CommentaryMagazine.com, On the morning of November 9, 2016, America’s elite—its talking and deciding classes—woke up to a country they did not know. To most privileged and well-educated Americans, especially those living in its bicoastal bastions, the election of Donald Trump had been a thing almost impossible even to imagine. What sort of country would go and elect someone like Trump as president? Certainly not […]
White House reporters are trashed with regularity by President Trump, but at least they can get a good cup of joe courtesy Tom Hanks. Hanks, the star of “You’ve Got Mail,” “Turner and Hooch,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Castaway” and “Catch Me If You Can” on Thursday sent an espresso machine to the break room for the White House press corps: The White House press corps is grateful […]
The Switch, Nintendo’s newest video game system, merges home gaming comfort and portability to create a unique, eye-catching platform. The nifty Joy-Con motion controllers foster the same casual-friendly gameplay that made the Wii a hit, while Switch’s tablet-style design and side-grip controller slots improve Nintendo’s Wii U vision. When you consider Nintendo’s dominance over the portable console market, it’s easy to imagine Switch following suit […]
Photo Syrians in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Damascus, last week. Credit Abd Doumany/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The top United Nations diplomat working to resolve the civil war in Syria reported some progress Friday after nearly 10 days of talks, saying both sides finally had agreed on what he described as a “clear agenda” for further negotiations. The diplomat, […]
The biggest issue facing the world of social media influencers is transparency. Should the person with 100,000 followers on Instagram (or 5.4 million followers as the keynote speaker, Joelle Mardinian, can boast) announce that she is being paid to promote a product? The inevitable tangents to the four hours of conversations tried to answer the question: what constitutes an influencer (or a content generator as one panellist […]
Once upon a time, it was seen as a significant concession to put wheelchair-accessible rooms in a hotel room and organise special assistance for getting off a plane. But things are changing – partly because authorities are introducing more disability-friendly regulations, but mainly because tourism operators have twigged that accessible travel is a lucrative market. And that has led to innovations such as these: Accessible skiing in […]
Ismail, a 20-year-old Emirati, has rarely ever stepped into a bank branch. “You won’t believe I haven’t visited my branch for over a year. All my transactions are done online,” he says, as he clicks an app on his phone to make a payment. “I just paid my bill and that’s how it works for me. All the services are at my fingertips and I save immense […]
In just six short months, the Dubai Opera has made a seismic contribution to the emirate’s cultural scene, living up to its early promise by staging dozens of diverse musical and stage spectacles. But inside certain cultured camps, there may be the somewhat legitimate claim that, despite the name, we have not seen a whole load of opera. The opening weekend’s fleeting Rossini and Bizet productions forgotten […]
People can now follow constriction updates at the Expo 2020 Dubai through Google Maps. With construction at Expo 2020 Dubai’s site well under way, Expo 2020 Dubai has said people can see what’s happening at the Expo2020 site through the online mapping system. With new #Google Maps satellite images, you can see what’s happening at the #Expo2020 site. See for yourself at https://t.co/cTVL5P6r9B pic.twitter.com/w2KRWIupD5 — Expo2020Dubai (@expo2020dubai) […]
The Elizabeth Tower containing Big Ben. Credit: Carl Vivianб University of Leicester A team from the University of Leicester’s Department of Engineering has, for the first time ever, vibration-mapped the famous London bell Big Ben in order to reveal why it produces its distinct harmonious tone. The group, from the Advanced Structural Dynamics Evaluation Centre (ASDEC) at the University of Leicester, measured four of Big Ben’s chimes, […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for March 3, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Abu Dhabi Yoga class Start […]
Via Michael Snyder of The End of The American Dream blog, If current trends continue, Islam is on track to become the largest religion in the entire world by the end of this century according a stunning new report that was just released by the Pew Research Center. While it is true that Christianity is still growing on a global basis, it is not growing nearly as […]
Why Georgetown? Georgetown was there long before Washington, DC was, and it still has some pretty stern objections to being regarded as just another district of the American capital. Formerly a port town, it has now become Washington’s most obviously moneyed-up area – where people come to dine and mooch around shops and galleries. Part of the appeal comes from the architecture. Many 18th- and 19th-century buildings […]
It is easy for a restaurant at Atlantis The Palm to get lost among all the hustle and bustle of the resort. Hence, why it is a shrewd move for Gordon Ramsey’s Bread Street Kitchen to be part of Dubai Restaurant Week. Diners can get a chance to appreciate some of the underrated dishes on offer. One thing about Bread Street Kitchen is the dishes have personality. […]
Uber is now in the process of getting a permit from the California DMV to resume testing its self-driving vehicles on public state roads. Uber started testing its self-driving Volvo XC90 SUVs in San Francisco last year – but the state DMV ultimately opposed the tests since Uber had not applied for its autonomous testing permit prior to beginning service. While Uber took its test fleet of XC90s […]
All branches of the Armed Forces participated, including the Quick Reaction Force of the Presidential Guard, supported by the UAE Joint Aviation Command, the Navy, the Air Force, Air Defence and the Army. Antonie Robertson / The National The event was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and sheikhs, military commanders and officials. Ryan […]
Another singer with a Filipino connection is making waves on a reality talent competition. Anatalia Villaranda, the child of Filipino immigrants, impressed the panel during the premiere episode of the 12th season of The Voice US on Monday. Performing a cover of the hit pop track Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars (who also happens to be Filipino-American), Villaranda turned the chairs of all four judges Alicia Keys, […]
The raid is a delicate issue in the Trump administration because the president authorized it five days into office, over dinner at the White House with Mr. Mattis and several other senior officials. But in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, Mr. Trump seemed to distance himself from the operation, saying that responsibility for the decision to go forward rested with his generals. “This was […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for March 2, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Al Ain Cultural event As […]
A security officer wraps the recovered bodies of a couple who were brutally murdered by separatists in Songkhla to get their pickup truck and rig it as a car bomb. (Photo by Assawin Pakkawan) A network of Buddhists in the far South has called for a relaxation of special security laws in the insurgency-plagued region following an agreement between the government and insurgent groups to create safety […]
Curled up by the fireplace in a fashionable London hotel, Jared Leto speaks slowly and thoughtfully. “I think that Alessandro does something very special,” he says of Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele. “He puts so much love, care and joy into his work that when you wear Gucci, you’re not just wearing something that’s beautiful or pretty, you’re actually – you’re feeling the same thing that he […]
Its account of the convoy attack went much further than findings of a United Nations inquiry set up by then-Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which concluded in December that the convoy had been bombed from the air but did not identify the attackers. Continue reading the main story The 31-truck convoy organized by the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had been carrying food, medicine, children’s […]
The Gemini PDA is an Android-Linux clamshell with a physical QWERTY keyboard. Image: Planet Computers There may still be a market for the PDAs, or personal digital assistants, which were largely made extinct by the iPhone’s arrival in 2007. But UK mobile startup Planet Computers will be testing just how big that market is with the Gemini PDA, an Android-Linux clamshell smartphone with a physical QWERTY keyboard. […]
