Newsrooms around the world are experimenting with virtual reality more and more, but mass adoption of the medium has been slowed by the lack of quality content and an industry-wide inability to make money from it. That’s the gist of a new report, released this evening by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, that tracks adoption of and experimentation with virtual reality at major legacy […]
DUBAI // Public transport users welcomed news that more buses ran on time but said action could be taken to improve transport services. Most public bus services were on time and more people chose to book taxis by telephone, the Roads and Transport Authority said yesterday. Bus drivers’ compliance with timetables rose to 74 per cent last year from 69 per cent in 2015. The number of […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for April 25, 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 Art exhibition Visit […]
Photo Steven Mnuchin, left, the secretary of the Treasury, announced sanctions on Monday in response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria. “The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons by any actor,” he said. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday imposed sanctions on 271 employees of […]
MEXICO CITY An unknown amount of stolen radioactive material has prompted an alert in nine Mexican states, the head of national emergency services said on Monday. The alert and search for the stolen material covers the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacan San Luis Potosi, Durango and Zacatecas, according to a post on Luis Felipe Puente’s Twitter account. Puente encouraged people with information about the […]
SANTIAGO A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Chile, on Monday, near the capital Santiago, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake, which Reuters witnesses said shook buildings in the capital, was centred 20 miles (32 km) west of the coastal city of Valparaiso at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km) below the seabed. The USGS initially assessed the temblor as a magnitude […]
24 April 2017 Dubai – Dubai master developer Nakheel today broke ground on a new, 375-room hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall, with a total project value of AED240 million. The ground-breaking ceremony – Nakheel’s second in a week – was led by Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah and comes a month after the company handed a construction contract worth AED184.5 million to Dubai-based Parkway International Contracting LLC to […]
Dubai Mall, one of the world’s biggest shopping centres, was plunged into darkness on Monday evening after experiencing a power cut for nearly two hours. According to photos posted on social media, hundreds of shoppers were forced to wander the mall in the dark. Lights went out and escalators stopped working at about 7.15pm local time. At just before 9.15pm, Dubai Media, which initially announced the power […]
Photo A rebel-held neighborhood in Daraa, Syria, after air strikes on Sunday. Members of a United Nations commission investigating war crimes in Syria have not been allowed to visit the country. Credit Mohamad Abazeed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The chairman of a United Nations commission investigating possible war crimes in Syria has met that country’s ambassador only once, he said. It happened during a chance encounter in […]
Enviroserve UAE has signed an agreement with Dubai Wholesale City for the construction of a 228,000 sq ft electronics and specialised waste recycling plant at Dubai Industrial Park. Backed by the Swiss Government Export Finance Agency, the AED120 million project represents one of the largest foreign direct investments in the field of environmental management in the UAE, a statement said. It added that the facility will serve […]
InterContinental Hotels Group announces new signings as well as openings across its MEA brand portfolio at the UAE’s Arabian Travel Market and Arabian Hotel Investment Conference 24 April 2017 Dubai, United Arab Emirates – InterContinental Hotels Group® (IHG), one of the world’s leading global hotel companies, announced four new hotel signings as well as six new hotel openings across the GCC in 2017 at the Arabian Travel […]
Zika — caused due to disease carrying mosquitoes — is expected to rear its ugly head once again in Texas. Places with plenty of mosquito growth are the worst impacted when it comes to the disease’s outbreak. In 2016, Texas was the worst hit state in the country. Numerous Zika cases occurred in the Rio-Grande Valley and health officials are worried that with the approaching monsoons, the virus […]
Ai Weiwei has been described as many things: artist, activist, dissident and filmmaker. To him it is all part of his work. “I don’t care what they call me. I never wanted to be called anything,” he says. His humility and quiet voice drew in the audience during a recent appearance at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. It was a retrospective evening, a discussion of […]
Aluminium Bahrain, also known as Alba, has announced that it has secured commitments of about $700 million from Export Credit Agency (ECA) supported facilities to finance its Line 6 Expansion Project. Expected to start metal production in early 2019, Line 6 will boost the annual production by 540,000 metric tonnes upon its full ramp-up, the company said in a statement. It said the new line will bring […]
DUBAI // Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus has become the first in Academic City to offer the world’s most widely used English proficiency test. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) measures the language ability of people who want to study or work where English is used as the language of communication. Heriot-Watt University in the emirate is now a registered testing centre for the qualification. The university […]
Risk is definitely on this morning as European shares soar, led by French stocks and a new record high in Germany’s Dax, after a “French relief rally” in which the first round of the country’s presidential elections prompted investors to bet that establishment candidate Emmanuel Macron will win a runoff vote next month, and who is seen as a 61% to 39% favorite to defeat Le Pen […]
Investigators said Levashov was believed to have been “carrying out this type of (hacking) activity for more than 10 years, earning huge profits” US authorities moved Monday to take down a global computer botnet behind the massive theft of personal data and unwanted spam emails, as Spain arrested the notorious Russian hacker who operated it. US authorities say the Russian, Piotr or Peter Levashov, had operated the […]
Dubai’s transport authority has revealed details of a major expansion of the city’s public bus network. The Public Transport Agency of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) opened 11 new bus routes including 10 metro feeder services, and improved 13 other routes starting from last Saturday. “The move is intended to bring more happiness to public transport users in general and bus riders in particular. It also […]
Apple is finally adding transit options to its Maps app for the city of Paris. Starting today, you can use Apple Maps to calculate itineraries using public transportation. You’ll find subway, RER and bus lines, and even Transilien lines. Just like in Google Maps, you can look around the map with a new subway layer or you can calculate an itinerary from A to B. If you […]
Blizzard recently released a new patch for StarCraft that made the iconic real-time strategy game, along with its expansion StarCraft: Brood War, free for all PC and Mac gamers. The move adds StarCraft to the list of free classic PC games that can be downloaded without any strings attached. These games may be old, but they are still very much well worth your time. ‘StarCraft’ The original StarCraft continues to […]
DUBAI // High-flying careers could be putting pilots and cabin crew at an increased risk of osteoporosis after new research found a link between sleep deprivation and bone loss in young adults. A University of Colorado study found sleep-deprived younger men (aged 20-27) have reduced levels of a bone formation marker in blood when compared to older males. Researchers claimed the continuous limitation on good sleep and […]
The UAE has a Minister of Happiness. It also has a happiness rating, and for three years running has been the highest-ranked Arab country on the global Happiness Index, an annual list compiled by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, under the General Secretariat of the United Nations. It also ranks 21st globally. A recent YouGov survey revealed that more than three-quarters of new arrivals in the UAE […]
Kuwait’s appeals court ruled Sunday that a government decision to raise petrol prices was in line with the constitution, overturning a decision by a lower court. It said the decision to raise prices was within the cabinet’s powers. Ali al-Ali, one of several lawyers who filed the suit against the government, said on Twitter the group intends to challenge the latest ruling in Kuwait’s supreme court, whose […]
By Mohammed Al-Ramahi | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Toy shops are thriving in eastern Mosul, with Iraqi children once again able to buy dolls, teddy bears or action figures after Islamic State was driven out of the area. The militant group banned toys with faces or eyes during the three years they controlled Iraq’s second largest city, including any anthropomorphic animals, which they deemed a form of […]
