Tax compliance gets easier for companies, but new data highlights post-filing challenges across the world JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 1, 2016/ Economies around the world continue to make progress in simplifying and reducing the burden of tax compliance on business, according to the latest edition of Paying Taxes 2017, a report by the World Bank Group and PwC (www.PWC.com ). Released today, the report finds that the Total […]
There is no association between a mother having flu anytime during her pregnancy and an increased risk of giving birth to a child with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This was the finding of a recent study that analyzed more than 196,000 children born between 2000 and 2010. The research, published in the online journal JAMA Pediatrics, Nov. 28, was conducted by Ousseny Zerbo, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente […]
It’s one thing reaching an age when your friends and contemporaries start dying and you begin to wonder when it will be your turn. It’s quite another to find yourself pronounced the world’s oldest person. In May, that honour fell to Emma Morano, an Italian woman born in 1899, when the former holder of the title passed away. On May 12, Susannah Mushatt Jones, born in Alabama […]
Pursglove would soon learn, however, that navigating this offshore archipelago is not easy. In any given year, trillions of dollars sit safely in the offshore financial world, effectively stateless, protected by legions of well-compensated defenders and a tangle of laws deliberately designed to impede creditors and tax collectors. Even the United States government finds it challenging: A special Internal Revenue Service division known as the “wealth squad,” […]
ABU DHABI // Ninety-seven children born to Emirati mothers and foreign fathers were granted citizenship under the orders of President Sheikh Khalifa. The General Directorate of Naturalisation in Abu Dhabi presented the naturalised citizens with their documents during a ceremony on Tuesday, reported Wam, UAE’s state agency. Brigadier Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, Head of Naturalisation Department, who headed the ceremony, said: “This wise and humanitarian decision embodies […]
A Cellebrite engineer explains the technology used to unlock smartphones and pull data It only takes a few seconds for an employee of one of the world’s leading hacking companies to take a locked smartphone and pull the data from it. Israeli firm Cellebrite’s technology provides a glimpse of a world of possibilities accessible to security agencies globally that worry privacy advocates. The company has contracts […]
DUBAI // Lights are being hammered in and a trampoline and bungee wall installed as workmen put the finishing touches to a new theatre and stage show. The new venue is part of the soon-to-open Motiongate Dubai theme park, which will be hosting a show based on the last two instalments of the dance-film franchise Step Up. About 3,000 performers have been auditioned in casting calls around […]
India’s millions of Bollywood-mad movie goers will soon start a trip to the cinema with a mandatory dose of patriotism. The country’s Supreme Court said in an order Wednesday that all movie theaters should play the national anthem with an image of the Indian tricolor on the screen before the start of any feature film. All those present in the hall “are obliged to stand up to […]
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro keeps surfacing in benchmark listings, and its latest appearance on AnTuTu reveals more details about its specifications. With leaks popping up at a faster pace, the Galaxy C7 Pro unveiling could be just around the corner. Just last week, the purported Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro surfaced on the Geekbench benchmarking site, which listed a few core specs for the smartphone such as […]
Credit: Concordia University In the age of WikiLeaks, Russian hacks and increased government surveillance, many computer users are feeling increasingly worried about how best to protect their personal information—even if they aren’t guarding state secrets. Luckily, there’s a solution: Hypnoguard, powerful new software developed by Concordia University researchers to safeguard data even when computer is in sleep mode. Sweet dreams are made of this “Protecting […]
5774 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 14, 2016 Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016 (Reuters/Tiksa Negeri). Fighting the Worst Kleptocracies Worse than kleptocracies are violent kleptocracies, as defined in a new report by advocacy group The Enough Project. In these, leaders run the state as […]
5791 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 21, 2016 Brazil’s President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a group picture during BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Benaulim, in the western state of Goa, India, October 16, 2016 (Reuters/Danish Siddiqui). BRICS Fund InfrastructureAs commodity prices have […]
Submitted by Kelli Sladick via Tenth Amendment Center, During the last eight years, the Obama administration failed to live up to its promise reverse the Bush era’s mass surveillance of American citizens. In fact, it was expanded and justified. If you were silent, the sweeping power controlled by the president may not be on your radar for the right reasons. While there is a deep fear resonating, […]
5811 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 28, 2016 Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer’s CEO Frederico Curado (R) salutes workers next to an new Embraer E190-E2 during its unveil in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, February 25, 2016. Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA is in early talks with Iran, with a focus on commercial aviation, following the end of international sanctions, Chief Executive Curado told journalists on Thursday (Reuters/Nacho […]
Privacy is the pull, but that’s hardly the only draw to a private island. There’s something about the prospect of having a world within the world to yourself – and the people you choose to have along with you there – that takes you back to the intense childhood fun of creating a secret hideaway. A den, a clubhouse, a place that feels like it belongs outside […]
5825 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil November 4, 2016 DATE IMPORTED:November 02, 2016Protestors call for the removal of President Jacob Zuma outside court in Pretoria, South Africa, November 2, 2016 (Reuters/Mike Hutchings). Report May Bring Down South Africa’s President New allegations may finally bring down teflon president Jacob Zuma. Despite his earlier legal protests, South Africa’s public protector’s office released a report suggesting that a wealthy family close […]
5836 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil November 11, 2016 A man displays a new 2000 Indian rupee banknote after withdrawing from a bank (Reuters/Mukesh Gupta). France’s Anticorruption ReformsAfter years of criticism for failing to prosecute foreign bribery, France adopted a new anticorruption law that will force companies doing business on its soil to take more aggressive preventative measures, and also gives the government stronger tools to fight […]
Video ‘The Priority: Saving Lives’ A chartered plane carrying 81 people, including a soccer team from Brazil, crashed on the outskirts of Medellin, Colombia, killing most on board. By YARA BISHARA on Publish Date November 29, 2016. Photo by Luis Benavides/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » A chartered plane carrying 81 people, including members of a Brazilian soccer team that had made a stunning climb up […]
Select eye-catching cushions to give your space an easy, affordable upgrade. newslide 1 Go bananas Look for fun, ornamental pieces when accessorising your spare room. This cushion with shiny gold bananas from H&M Home offers a fun mix of frivolity and flair. • Banana cushion, Dh39, H&M Home, Abu Dhabi Mall and Deira City Centre, Dubai newslide 2 Crocodile rock Add a touch of glam-rock to your […]
5863 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil November 18, 2016 A police officer from the SWAT team stands guard during an anti-drugs operation in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila in the Philippines, November 12, 2016 (Reuters/Erik De Castro). Philippines’ Duterte Tries to Take Down Critic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte brooks no dissent. His latest backlash is against one of his most outspoken critics, Senator Leila de Lima. After she opened […]
Government Communications Headquarters, the UK signals intelligence agency, in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. (UK Ministry of Defence). Alex Grigsby is the assistant director for the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Two weeks ago, with much fanfare, the United Kingdom released a new strategy that sets out UK government’s approach to improving the country’s cybersecurity over the next five years. It follows the UK’s previous […]
4224 28 by Adam Segal November 18, 2016 A man is silhouetted against a video screen with an Facebook logo as he poses with an Samsung S4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, August 14, 2013. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters) Here is a quick round-up of this week’s technology headlines and related stories you may have missed: 1. Disinformation. Disinformation everywhere. Since Donald Trump’s […]
People have a general idea of how much a rocket-propelled grenade costs. What about a cyber weapon? (Baz Ratner/Reuters), Max Smeets is a D.Phil candidate and research affiliate of the Cyber Studies Programme at the University of Oxford. His work analyzes the proliferation of cyber weapons. Can a non-state actor take down critical infrastructure with a cyberattack? If it is not possible today, will it be possible […]
By Maher Chmaytelli and Ulf Laessing | BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq A full siege is developing in Mosul as poor families struggle to feed themselves after prices rose sharply following the U.S.-backed offensive on the Islamic State-held city in northern Iraq, humanitarian workers said on Tuesday. Some of the poorest families are finding it hard to feed themselves while others are hoarding and hiding food as they […]
