When you think of the UAE Army’s special forces, you might imagine specialists in desert warfare, hiding behind sand dunes in camouflage as they sneak up on the enemy while a sandstorm rages across the landscape. You probably wouldn’t think of them in minus-60°C temperatures, 2,438 metres above sea level, as they attempt to conquer the slopes of Mount Everest. But that is exactly what we see […]
Bizarrely enough, it’s difficult to determine what constitutes a “small business” in the United States. The US Small Business Administration has a table of standards [PDF] that ranges from about 250 to over a thousand employees. On the other hand, the Affordable Care Act kicks in certain requirements for businesses with over 50 employees. So, what exactly is small? When I researched my book, How To Save […]
A gym membership can cost about Dh800 per month but the price of motivation to work out can cost triple that for some fitness fanatics, who feel that if they do not look the part – in the trendiest, branded activewear – they aren’t training right. What was once a niche market, targeted at serious athletes and serviced by big sports brands such as Nike and Reebok, […]
One of CES’ major trends over the last few years has been the connected car — the concept of adding Internet connectivity and networking to our vehicles. Stealing the spotlight this year was Nvidia, which launched the Drive PX 2 — an in-car artificial intelligence system. PX 2 is designed for automakers exploring autonomous driving and includes 360-degree situational awareness, deep learning and the processing power of […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 4, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Yoga class Sign up for a Yoga Dance Body Rhythm class with Yvette Campbell at Bodytree Studio. This yoga-inspired dance class is set to the percussive rhythms and is a fun full-body […]
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has announced that it has repaid in full a $500 million Islamic bond or sukuk from its own resources. The bank said in a statement carried by news agency WAM that the repayment reflected “its strong liquidity position amid difficult market conditions”. The sukuk matured on November 30. The five-year sukuk, which were listed on the London Stock Exchange, were more than […]
DUBAI // Thousands of fans from home and abroad gathered at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai yesterday to cheer on their national teams in a rugby extravaganza. Music, dance, fancy dress, friendly banter and an electric atmosphere were the order of the day for the Dubai Sevens. Spectators became an intrinsic part of the entertainment as fans dressed as sailors, nuns, Superman and more whistled and applauded […]
The latest “8-point filler” or “vampire” facelift might seem like the perfect quick fix to the drooping and wrinkling that comes with age. But when it comes to finding the right doctor to help slow the march of time, aesthetically speaking, those who offer handy marketing tools with catchy names and one-size-fits-all approaches are not the best way to go, says Dr David Alessi. “Most people who […]
Submitted by Robert Parry via Strategic-Culture.org, Under the cover of battling “fake news,” the mainstream U.S. news media and officialdom are taking aim at journalistic skepticism when it is directed at the pronouncements of the U.S. government and its allies. One might have hoped that the alarm about “fake news” would remind major U.S. news outlets, such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, about […]
Google has launched a new series of Dubai’s iconic sites on Street View, a feature by Google Maps that allows users to view and navigate 360-degree imagery of major locations across the world. As the United Arab Emirates gears to celebrate its 45th National Day on December 2, Google Maps’ one billion daily users can now explore some of Dubai’s world-renowned landmarks such as the city’s picturesque […]
Dining in the dark Eating without looking first hit the culinary scene in 1999 when a blind man in Switzerland opened Blindekuh in Zurich, the world’s first restaurant where diners ate their meals in the dark. Usually, eating is an act that involves all the senses. When you lose one of the most important ones – sight – the others are heightened, leading to an extraordinary dining […]
Günter Grass died last year, just months before the German publication of his final book. Of All That Ends was neither a late novel nor another overdue confession but, fittingly, a series of absorbing meditations on growing old, looking back and preparing to move on. Grass’s swansong now appears in English (superbly translated by Breon Mitchell), enabling a wider audience to marvel at a unique talent reflecting […]
Umno-PAS political cooperation difficult but necessary for Islamic unity, say political observers Umno President Datuk Seri Najib Razak speaks during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Umno General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur December 1, 2016. — Bernama picKUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 ― Umno-PAS political cooperation may be difficult to achieve but cooperation in the interest of Muslims and Islam, especially social welfare is expected to continue, said […]
Businesses operating in GCC countries should brace themselves for further government action to raise non-oil revenues, according to a new ICAEW report. The accountancy and finance body said that given the weak outlook for oil prices, imposing tax measures, along with subsidy reforms, spending cuts, and a freeze on public sector recruitment and pay, will help to close the fiscal gap. Its Economic Insight: Middle East Q4 […]
Photo Residents whose home was destroyed by a fire in the Jewish settlement of Halamish in the West Bank. Credit Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images NATAF, Israel — When Rama’s Kitchen, an earthy and much-loved restaurant in the small Israeli village of Nataf, was burned last week by one of the wildfires that raged in the area, the last civilians who stayed to fight the blaze […]
First, write out the numbers one to 100 in 10 rows. Cross out the one. Then circle the two, and cross out all of the multiples of two. Circle the three, and do likewise. Follow those instructions, and you’ve just completed the first three steps of an algorithm, and an incredibly ancient one. Twenty-three centuries ago, Eratosthenes was sat in the great library of Alexandria, using this […]
The Middle East is one of the largest importers of French dairy products in the world, according to the latest research from the country’s official cheese board, the Centre National Interprofessionnel de l’Economie Laitière (CNIEL). The research puts the Middle East ahead of China ($354 million), North America ($270 million), Switzerland ($137 million) and Australia ($30 million). Of the $8 billion of French dairy produce exported around […]
This week was full of Big Data news, including new releases, a brand new product, a new acquisition and an update to one of the major Hadoop distros. Let’s get a survey of what was announced and then see if we can’t draw a conclusion or two. A big driver for much of the news was this week’s Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference, providing an opportunity for […]
Photo Friends and family of the former N.F.L. player Joe McKnight gathered at the site of his fatal shooting in Terrytown, La., on Thursday. Credit Michael Democker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune, via Associated Press The man held in the fatal shooting of the former N.F.L. standout Joe McKnight in Louisiana admitted to investigators that he had pulled the trigger, the authorities said, but he was allowed to walk free […]
Authored by Steve H. Hanke of the Johns Hopkins University. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Hanke. During the past year, the Chinese yuan (CNY) has shed a bit more than 7 percent of its value against the greenback. That’s only one aspect of the CNY’s weakness. Another concerns the quality of the CNY. As Jerry Jordan pointed out recently at the Cato Institute’s 34th Annual Monetary Conference, a […]
Credit: Yale University On the wall of Aaron Dollar’s office is a poster for R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), the 1920 Czech play that gave us the word “robot.” The story ends with the nominal robots seizing control of the factory of their origin and then wiping out nearly all of humanity. Dollar, fortunately, has something more cheerful in mind for the future of human-robot relations. He sees […]
When Dala Farouki Kakos was a child, her parents invested in three Syrian chests, with matching mirrors, in the traditional sadaf style – on the understanding that they would be passed on to Kakos and her two siblings once they were grown up and had homes of their own. Beautifully embellished with mother of pearl, Kakos’s set has accompanied her on her travels around the world, and […]
Pérez made it clear that Benítez was safe as long as he picked what the president felt was his strongest team: an adventurous lineup that included the Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez. Such a selection ran against Benítez’s cautious instincts. He would have preferred the more defensively minded Brazilian Casemiro as a bulwark against Barcelona’s formidable attack, but eventually Benítez relented. Continue reading the main story Rodríguez started; […]
Been on a safari? Swum with dolphins? Tracked bears in the wild? It’s time for something different, then. Luckily, there are plenty of new experiences being launched around the world. Swimming with humpbacks Ningaloo Reef, Australia The Ningaloo Reef has been one of the world’s best spots for swimming with whale sharks for a few years now, but this year, operators have been licensed to run swimming […]
