To most, it is sacrosanct; the idea of not playing on Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and various points in between is seen as somewhere between anathema and heresy. Photo Fabian Delph of Manchester City during his team’s Premier League match at home against Sunderland on Dec. 26, 2015. Credit Jan Kruger/Getty Images The week’s popularity bears that out: Even in the Premier League, where most seats […]
Aamir Khan’s new film Dangal is a weighty biopic in more ways than one. One of Bollywood’s most acclaimed actors, he put on a staggering 27 kilograms to play the role of former wrestler Mahavir Singh – then shed it all in just five months to shoot scenes of a younger, fitter version of the character during his wrestling heyday. Dangal, which is now showing at UAE […]
Filipino beauty pageant winners Parul Shah and Maggie Wilson have emerged victorious on the fifth season of reality-TV programme The Amazing Race Asia. They beat fellow beauty queens Yvonne Lee and Chloe Chen from Malaysia, as well as married couple Eric Tai and Rona Samson, who are also from the Philippines, in the grand finale this week. It was the culmination of 10 legs of competition that […]
Social enterprise Proximity Designs’s 3D printer is making high technology accessible to Myanmar’s impoverished farmers Whizzing across a blue-lit platform with a whirr and a squeak, liquid plastic emanating from its chrome tip, the 3D printer seems a far cry from the muddy, crop-filled fields that fringe Yangon. But in an industrial park south of Myanmar’s commercial hub, the advanced technology is now being used to design […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 23, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Festive fun Visit Al Maryah Island for the Winter Wonderland, featuring cosy winter cottages hosting activities including bauble-decorating, cracker-making and gingerbread-house-decorating. A skating rink and snow park offer a wintry feel, while […]
Although students at Abu Dhabi’s Future Rehabilitation Centre achieve varying degrees of independence after they graduate, the ideal is to land a job. One such graduate to have achieved this is Eid Al Shamsi, a 21-year-old Emirati who is now working at the Ministry of Interior’s human rights department. When he was a boy, Mr Al Shamsi had initially been enrolled in a private school, where he […]
(Image: file photo) Earlier this year, we were sent a series of large, encrypted files purportedly belonging to a US police department as a result of a leak at a law firm, which was insecurely synchronizing its backup systems across the internet without a password. Among the files was a series of phone dumps created by the police department with specialist equipment, which was created by Cellebrite, […]
DUBAI // Dubai has topped the rankings as the most expensive city to see in the new year for the second year in a row. According to the annual survey of seven of the most popular cities by the currency exchange firm Travelex, celebrating New Year’s Eve in the city costs Dh2,240 per person on average. New York ranked second at Dh1,850, followed by London at Dh1,435, […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 23, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Festive fun Visit Al Maryah Island for the Winter Wonderland, featuring cosy winter cottages hosting activities including bauble-decorating, cracker-making and gingerbread-house-decorating. A skating rink and snow park offer a wintry feel, while […]
The seizure of all of Aleppo by Mr. Assad and his allies signals a turning point in the nearly six-year conflict. Continue reading the main story Mr. Assad’s army relied heavily on foreign military support from Russia, Iran and Shiite militias like Lebanon’s Hezbollah to surround the rebel-held area. Months of shelling and airstrikes that killed hundreds of people and reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble finally routed […]
If you pay attention to the narrative following every Apple product announcement, it’s loaded with disappointment and declarations that Apple has lost the innovative touch to create a “magical” experience consumers have come to expect from the company. Some of the complaints are warranted, such as those about the TouchBar on the new MacBook Pro. It’s useful, sure, but it’s nowhere near as profound as the Apple […]
FUJAIRAH // The deaths of three youngsters in accidents at their homes in Fujairah in the past two months has prompted experts to remind parents to be extra vigilant when it comes to keeping their children safe. On December 14, four-year-old Manal Al Sarsi was seriously injured after falling from a window at her family’s third-floor apartment in Merbeh. The Egyptian child died in hospital a few […]
In this Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, file photo, Devin Greene sits in the front seat of an Uber driverless car during a test drive in San Francisco. Uber has pulled its self-driving cars from California roads. The ride-sharing company said Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, California transportation regulators revoke registrations for the vehicles. The DMV confirmed that it had moved to revoke the registrations of 16 cars, saying […]
The series of scattershot remarks has further unsettled a turbulent period in American foreign policy. It underscores Mr. Trump’s challenge in fashioning a coherent approach to the problems he will inherit in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, especially working with a team that consists of retired generals and an oil executive, few of whom have experience in the daily cascade of crises that confront every White […]
Oman Air is revising its check-in luggage regulations from January 1, allowing only one 30 kilogram suitcase per person, it was announced on Wednesday. Passengers will no longer be permitted to split the 30kg into two or three pieces, an airline official told Times of Oman. The airline will, however, reduce the excess baggage charges. Under the new rules, passengers turning up for flights with excess baggage […]
Self-driving cars are rolling out much faster than expected, from Uber testing autonomous taxis in San Francisco to Google spinning off its self-driving car division into Waymo and partnering with Fiat-Chrysler. To Fiat, this likely looked like the fastest and best way to get up to speed, considering that rivals like Ford, Honda, and Toyota have a head start. It wasn’t always like […]
US drone delivery service Flirtey announced that it has started delivering convenience store items to customers’ homes on December 20, 2016 US drone delivery service Flirtey on Monday announced that its self-piloting flying machines have whisked flu medicine, hot food and more from 7-Eleven convenience stores to customers’ homes. The Nevada-based company boasted of being the first drone service to complete regular commercial deliveries to residences in […]
Photo A Turkish honor guard with the coffin of Andrey Karlov, the assassinated Russian ambassador to Turkey, at a ceremony Tuesday at an Ankara airport. Credit Emrah Gurel/Associated Press For the moment, the most important thing to say about Monday’s dramatic assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey by a lone gunman is that it has not ruptured relations between the two countries. It might have, given past […]
A merger of German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) is likely to take months to complete, partly due to financing issues blamed on a deep industry downturn, sources familiar with the deal say. Hapag-Lloyd signed a binding agreement with UASC in July to form the world’s fifth-largest line, valued at about 7 to 8 billion euros ($7.2-$8.3 billion), by the end of […]
Photo The funeral on Monday of a high-ranking security officer killed in an assault in Karak, Jordan. Credit Muhammad Hamed/Reuters AMMAN, Jordan — The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a terrorist attack in the southern Jordanian city of Karak that killed 10 people, including the head of the military’s special forces, according to an organization that monitors militant groups. As the authorities continued their investigation […]
Via Dana Lyons’ Tumblr, A popular bond fund is hitting a key price level that may finally produce a long-awaited bounce. We talk often of the inexorable Trump Rally in stocks since the presidential election. That good fortune hasn’t befallen all other asset classes, however. For instance, the post-election reaction in the bond market has been nothing short of a blood-letting. Yields on the 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond […]
Top government leaders of Vietnam and Cambodia have expressed wishes to cement and develop bilateral ties in the spirit of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, all-faceted and long-lasting cooperation”. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc During talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on December 20, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen said his visit […]
It’s that time of the year again when all manner of weird, wacky and wonderful gifts appear in the UAE’s malls to temp Christmas shoppers. From remote control cars, to pine scented candles and fur covered flip-flops, there’s something for young and old, shy and bold this season. Flick through our slideshow to see more. newslide Bags of fun Kids familiar with The Gruffalo character will relish […]
Photo Petra Kvitova, shown serving in the 2016 French Open, is a two-time Wimbledon champion. Credit Michel Euler/Associated Press Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon tennis champion, was attacked by a man with a knife on Tuesday morning in her apartment in Prostejov, Czech Republic. “In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand,” Kvitova wrote in a statement posted to her Facebook […]
A unit of UAE-based KEF Holdings has launched a $100 million manufacturing park, spanning one million sq ft, to cater to the infrastructure needs in India and GCC markets. With 10 manufacturing lines featuring the latest technology, KEF Infra One in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu in India, promises significant cost and time savings in building hospitals, homes, schools, hotels and specialised infrastructure. Faizal E Kottikollon, founder and chairman, […]
It started off as one of those typical conversations you have when you’re in a foreign country and the taxi driver recognizes you to be a foreigner. “Where are you from?,” he asks, soon after I get into the bright yellow taxi cab, to which I reply “Sri Lanka.”“Beautiful country,” he responds.“Have you been there?” I ask him politely.“No, but my friend went there for a holiday. He […]
With so many toys on the market it can be hard to know which one to buy, especially in the pre-Christmas shopping rush. A Disney figurine might draw gasps of delight, but will it be forgotten after a few weeks? And what about that state-of-the-art, remote-controlled car? Will the lights break off and become a choking hazard for younger siblings? With so much to consider, it’s worth […]
It’s a hot July day in Bethlehem, and white-robed pilgrims from Nigeria stand in the courtyard entrance to the ancient church, singing and beating drums. They’ve travelled more than 3,500 kilometres to enter the church’s low wooden door, pass through a nave under restoration and down one of the staircases in the sprawling church, to the grotto. There, they will kneel in prayer and devotion at the […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 20, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition No White Walls continues at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, where you can see works created by professional artists in the UAE as part of an initiative to develop the art […]
aNewDomain — Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil chief who Donald Trump has tapped to be the next US secretary of state, was the director of a Bahamas-based US-Russian oil firm, according to leaked documents in the Panama Papers. Tillerson ended the association with the Exxon subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas, in 2001, Exxon rep Scott Silvestri said Monday, a day after the Guardian and reporters at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported the news. […]
