Image: ZDNet [This article has been updated several times since its initial publication to incorporate changes in Windows 10. Last updated: December 16, 2016] Over the past year, I’ve read countless “privacy guides” for Windows 10. Most are well-intentioned, but they invariably take a simplistic approach to privacy: Just turn off every switch in the Privacy section of the Settings app. If you do that, you’re not […]
Dubai, 15 December 2016 At the end of October the new cryptocurrency Zcash was launched. It is positioned by its creators as a more secure alternative to Bitcoin. Soon after the launch, the price of Zcash coins skyrocketed, followed by a spike in the installation of the application used to generate Zcash on personal computers. In many of these cases, the app was disguised as something else […]
The biggest surprise in meeting the entrepreneur behind Gulf meat eateries such as B+F Burger Boutique and Slider Station is learning that he is a recent adopter of veganism. Basil Al Salem — king of the juicy steak shawarmas on offer at Nomad Kitchen and the Coca-Cola-braised short ribs served up at Slider Station — went vegan earlier this year. But this does not mean that he […]
On April 6, 2009, an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the Italian city of L’Aquila. It killed more than 300 people, injured 1,500 and wreaked enough destruction to force 65,000 to abandon their homes, “politics and corruption” having led to the “poor enforcement” of essential laws of what could have been life- and home-saving anti-earthquake construction in many buildings. This real-life […]
Shock is a matter of perspective and expectation. Imagine a time traveller stepped through the door a year ago and said the UK would vote to leave the European Union, a presidential candidate who advocated debt renegotiation would be headed for the White House, and Italy would reject the reforms of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Who would have predicted a worldwide bull market for stocks and bonds? […]
By Roberta Rampton and Julia Harte | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Friday defended the U.S. approach toward the civil war in Syria, saying he understood the desire for action to end the conflict but it would have been impossible to do “on the cheap” without a full U.S. military intervention. “Unless we were all in and willing to take over Syria, we were going to […]
Low-frequency mechanical energy harvesting could provide as much as 40 percent of the power requirements for next generation smartphones and tablets. Credit: Wang Lab/Penn State A new concept in energy harvesting could capture energy that is currently mostly wasted due to its characteristic low frequency and use it to power next-generation electronic devices. In a project funded by electronics giant Samsung, a team of Penn State materials […]
The Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Service (IAS) yesterday said it would come out by February with its decision on the administrative case filed against the 19 police officers involved in the killing of Albuera Mayor Roland Espinosa Sr. last Nov. 5. The policemen, who have since been relieved, were accompanied by their counsels in the first of two preliminary conferences held by the IAS yesterday for the […]
DUBAI // A group of adventurers travelling the world by car, motorcycle and bicycle have said the UAE’s peace and security made it a popular destination for tourists. During a stop in Dubai, four travellers made camp in Mushrif park for the 5th Dubai Traveller’s Festival. Leonhard Salwey, who left his home in Germany seven months ago to explore the world on his bicycle, thought the event […]
There’s a great scene in The Big Short, the movie of Michael Lewis’ book about the mortgage crisis, where two shiny-suited brokers brag about how many loans they’ve been producing — for big commissions — to unsuitable borrowers. “We call those loans ‘Dorothys’ ‘cause they’re magic,” grins the one in black. “No credit, no income, no problem: just tap your shoes together three times and say ‘There’s […]
It was shaping up to be a horrible week for Donald J. Tobias. Law Blog earlier this week reported on the New York City commercial litigator’s crusade to unmask an internet user who posted a three-word Google review of his boutique legal practice: “It was horrible,” it said next to a one-star rating. Mr. Tobias deemed the […] (via WSJ)
By Peter Nicholls | BIRMINGHAM, England BIRMINGHAM, England Hundreds of rioting prisoners took control of at least two wings of an English jail on Friday, authorities said, in the latest and most serious disturbance at a British prison this year. The trouble erupted at HMP Birmingham in central England, which can hold 1,450 male prisoners, shortly after 0900 GMT, forcing staff to withdraw, according to G4S (GFS.L), […]
Real estate investment made easy as 1,2,3; lucrative rental yields await investors Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 15 December 2016 DAMAC Properties, one of the leading luxury real estate developers in the region, today announced the launch of MOD, a collection of townhouses in the heart of international golf community AKOYA Oxygen. The homes in this community, with a contemporary expression of luxury, are priced to be […]
By Laila Bassam, Lisa Barrington and John Davison | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The evacuation of the last opposition-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo was suspended on Friday after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be brought out of two Shi’ite villages being besieged by rebel fighters. The second day of the operation to take fighters and civilians out of Aleppo’s rebel enclave […]
General Motors seems determined not to get sidelined by the recent flurry of announcements in the self-driving car category such as those issued by Waymo and Uber. GM’s Chairman and CEO Mary Barra presided a rare press conference last Dec. 15 to declare that GM’s autonomous vehicle called Chevrolet Bolt is now prowling the streets of southeast Michigan. Fleet of self-driving Bolts have already been unleashed in San Francisco […]
Russia said the evacuation of thousands of people trapped for months in the last rebel foothold of Aleppo was finished on Friday, hours after a series of blasts halted the operation. “The Syrian army operation to liberate the militant-controlled eastern districts of Aleppo is complete,” the Russian defence ministry said. “Syrian government forces are liquidating isolated pockets of resistance by radicals.” An agreement for rebels to withdraw […]
The hard-right views of David M. Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer who is President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice as the next ambassador to Israel, have drawn polarized responses in Israel and the United States. Mr. Friedman, who has represented Mr. Trump in matters involving Atlantic City casinos, has no diplomatic experience. He has long espoused hard-right, pro-Israel views that are often at odds with decades of United States […]
WASHINGTON The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State said on Friday it destroyed 14 tanks, an air defense artillery system and other weaponry near the Syrian city of Palmrya after Islamic State seized the city from Syrian and Russian forces this month. The strikes, which the military said in a statement took place on Thursday, followed a warning from the U.S. military that it could strike weapons it […]
15 December 2016 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — As a strategic step towards the development of the small-to-medium-sized enterprises (or “SMEs”) in Saudi Arabia, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, and Catalyst Group inked an Engagement Agreement to commence ITFC’s KSA SME Program to boost the SME Trade development. Through this partnership, ITFC will be piloting a SME Trade […]
Makkah is facing an acute shortage of affordable housing, especially as the area around the Holy Mosque is being redeveloped to service religious tourists, according to a new report. Real estate consultants JLL said as with other major cities in Saudi, Makkah needs to address the growing issue against the need for seasonal accommodation and extreme land values. It said the Markazia – the area around the […]
By Andrew Osborn and Nick Tattersall | MOSCOW/ISTANBUL MOSCOW/ISTANBUL President Vladimir Putin said he and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan are working to organise a new series of Syrian peace talks without the involvement of the United States or the United Nations. In a snub to Washington, Putin made clear on Friday that the initiative was the sole preserve of Moscow and Turkey and that the peace […]
By Scott Malone | BOSTON BOSTON Searches for selfies led to many bad decisions, an outbreak of creepy clown sightings chilled even horror maestro Stephen King, and a hard-fought campaign ended with the election of former reality TV star Donald Trump as president of the United States. Along with moments of triumph and tragedy, 2016 brought stories that ranged from weird to wonderful, funny to flummoxing. New […]
An obscure clash involving a 28-year-old tattoo artist, the Osaka police and an ambiguous century-old medical law has spiralled into a landmark constitutional battle to save an entire industry from oblivion. The showdown in Japan follows the decision of the Osaka police to hit the local tattooing industry with the physicians’ law — a legal framework laid down in the 19th century that technically means only a […]
Photo A member of the Syrian government forces watched the evacuation operation of rebel fighters and civilians from Aleppo on Friday. Credit George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BEIRUT, Lebanon — The process of evacuating residents from the last rebel-held section of Aleppo broke down on Friday, a day after Syrian government buses and ambulances began taking residents out of the besieged area. The reason for halting […]
