“I pity every person who has not been to Aleppo,” says Marlene Matar, a Lebanese author and cooking instructor whose magnificent recipe book, The Aleppo Cookbook, has just been published in English. Mater compares the city’s rich tradition of culinary excellence to that of Paris – “in Aleppo, wherever you eat, you eat well” – and writes with wonder of the 13 kilometre-long Souq Al Madina, where she […]
LONDON Euro zone stocks opened 2017 by climbing to their highest in more than a year on Monday after data showed manufacturers in the currency bloc ramped up activity at the fastest pace in more than five years. With all of Asia’s major markets closed for the New Year holiday – along with Britain and Switzerland in Europe – trade was thin, which could cause some volatility. […]
Having drawn the ire of the mainstream press for his extensive use of Twitter in announcing major developments and policy shifts, President-elect Donald Trump will not end the “onslaught” of posts on Twitter that fed his unconventional campaign, even after taking on the formalized duties of the Oval Office later this month, as Bloomberg notes following an announcement by incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer who […]
LONDON Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin – a web-based “cryptocurrency” that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system – jumped 2.5 […]
newslide Stan Lee’s still working at 94 Legendary writer Stan Lee is showing no signs of slowing down despite having just turned 94. “I plan to keep creating characters with my company, Pow! Entertainment,” Lee says. “We just launched a new animated series called Stan Lee’s Cosmic Crusaders, a new digital graphic novel God Woke, and our TV show Lucky Man is going into its second season.” […]
The mega-extravaganza of the tech world in Las Vegas is showcasing an array of new devices that get smarts from computer chips, sensors and artificial intelligence, but go further by opening doors to augmented or virtual realities. The Consumer Electronics Show, which begins with a series of media events Tuesday will offer trade professionals a look at new robotics, connected cars and a dizzying assortment of gizmos […]
Chinese companies invested a record $45.6bn in the US in 2016 despite a US presidential campaign heavy on China bashing, but Donald Trump’s imminent arrival in Washington is among factors making the feat unlikely to be matched this year, according to a new report. The surge in Chinese foreign direct investment into the US documented by Rhodium Group, a research firm, led the annual flow of corporate […]
Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via Strategic-Culture.org, The two previous articles have focused on the various geopolitical theories, their translations into modern concepts, and practical actions that the United States has taken in recent decades to aspire to global dominance. This segment will describe how Iran, China and Russia have over the years adopted a variety of economic and military actions to repel the continual assault on their sovereignty by the […]
Donald Trump’s Indonesian business partner, a billionaire developer and media mogul, has announced he might run for president in Indonesia’s 2019 elections. “If there is no one I can believe who can fix the problems of the country, I may try to run for president,” Hary Tanoesoedibjo told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Not for myself, for the country,” he said, adding that the nation of about 260 […]
Chinese residents hoping to cash out of the renminbi will face a great wall of paperwork on Tuesday in a key test of confidence for the currency as the annual quota for individuals’ foreign exchange purchases resets. With individuals in China allowed to purchase up to $50,000 worth of foreign exchange each calendar year, observers will be watching closely for any signs of a rush to use […]
BEIJING Heavy smog that blanketed northern China at the weekend cleared somewhat on Monday, with flights in Beijing back to normal, but it was likely only to be a brief respite with more choking smog expected to return to the wintry north within 24 hours. Weather forecasts on Monday showed the smog would return to Beijing and nearby Tianjin city from Tuesday. It was expected to persist […]
After December’s No vote in the Italian referendum, the rise of Donald Trump and the British vote to leave the EU, it appears that the political landscape of the developed world is being redesigned by the victims of globalisation and technological change. Anger towards political elites is pervasive. Yet a few rage-free zones remain, of which Japan is the most conspicuous. How come this country, whose economy […]
BEIJING A court in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui has handed out sentences of up to 20 years in jail for 67 people involved in a mafia-style gang that engaged in gambling, extortion and violence, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. The leader of the gang, 37-year-old Xing Zhaogang, was released from jail in 2012 after serving time for violent assault, but then returned to […]
BEIJING Heavy smog in northern China on Sunday caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and highways to shut, disrupting the first day of the new year holiday. Large parts of the north were hit by hazardous smog in mid-December, leading authorities to order hundreds of factories to close and to restrict motorists to cut emissions. The latest bout of air pollution began on Friday and is […]
There’s a way to turn off CRISPR-Cas9 and researchers uncovered it by going over the same bacteria and viruses that led to the gene-editing system’s development in the first place. In a study published in the journal Cell, researchers detailed identifying anti-CRISPR proteins produced by bacterial viruses, coming up with a technique that will benefit CRISPR by making clinical and research applications of the gene-editing system safer and […]
Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com, Yesterday, President Obama expelled 35 Russian “Operatives” from the Russian Embassy. Is there any evidence those expelled are “intelligence operatives”? Any hard evidence Russia was behind the Hillary hacks? Any credible evidence that Putin himself is to blame? The answers are No, No, and No. Yet, once again the American press is again asked to co-sign a dubious intelligence assessment. Rush […]
It was certainly a year of ups and downs for Apple, which took steps to shore up many of its products outside the core iOS portable offerings. The Apple Watch got a new user interface, but the smartwatch category drags. Apple TV got a new content navigation app (but not an integrated Apple television service). The redesigned MacBook, of course, got a wee strip of touchy goodness. […]
SHANGHAI A Shanghai court ordered two Chinese firms to pay Walt Disney Co and Pixar more than 1.35 million yuan ($194,440) compensation for copying parts of their hit movies “Cars” and “Cars 2”, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The ruling is the latest in a slew of intellectual property wins for large foreign firms, who have complained about widespread copyright infringement in China. Disney […]
SHANGHAI One of China’s top coal-producing provinces has vowed to slash its level of fine particle pollution by one-fifth by 2020, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, citing the provincial government. China has adopted various measures from policing barbeques to halting industrial production in efforts to ease the yearly winter haze that hit the country earlier this month leaving cities veiled in foul-smelling smog. China’s […]
TOKYO Japan has approached China and South Korea about holding a trilateral summit in Tokyo in February aimed at deepening cooperation on such issues as a free trade deal, the environment and counter-terrorism, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday. Disagreements over North Korea and historical issues have long dogged relations between the three Asian powers, though they have held several such trilateral meetings since 2008, most recently […]
China, the world’s largest ivory consumer, will implement a comprehensive ban on the controversial trade by the end of 2017, in a move hailed by conservationists. The announcement by the State Council on Friday night follows through on a commitment made in September 2015 during a meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. The US enacted regulations banning the trade in July. […]
BEIJING China’s economy is on a steady growth path as 2016 ends, supported by a housing boom and billions in government investment, but the mood of policymakers is more cautious than celebratory as they face “complexity” in the new year. Controlling risks has been a constant refrain in recent months as the focus of policymakers switches to taming asset bubbles and checking unbalanced growth stemming from efforts […]
By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim | BEIJING BEIJING China’s military has become alarmed by what it sees as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s support of Taiwan and is considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence, sources with ties to senior military officers said. Three sources said one possibility being considered was conducting war games near the self-ruled island that China considers as […]
TAIPEI Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday that Taiwan will be “calm” when facing issues to do with China, but uncertainties next year will test the self-ruled island and its national security team, even as she recommitted to maintaining peace. China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a […]
