The battle for eastern Aleppo will be over soon, but tens of thousands of Syrians there will find little peace. The victory for the government of President Bashar al-Assad will open another violent, disorienting chapter in their lives, and a dangerous one for the opposition. Soon, civilians and rebel fighters alike will either be punished or have to flee the city and join the many thousands of […]
We launched The Review’s Crossroads podcast about a year ago and our best episodes of 2016 reflect the unique stories that shaped the year. We travel from modern-day UAE to 1960s Turkey, from 1990-era Grozny to Aleppo through music, books, news and history. For example, we hear about the hidden history of Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, where people lived until the 1990s. In Turkey, a record collector […]
By Laila Bassam | ALEPPO, Syria ALEPPO, Syria The Syrian army and its allies have taken full control over all the Aleppo districts abandoned by rebels during their retreat in the city, a Syrian military source said on Tuesday. Rebel defences collapsed on Monday, leading to a broad army advance across more than half of the remaining insurgent pocket in Aleppo and a retreat of opposition fighters […]
Bahrain LNG, the developer of the Gulf state’s receiving and regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG), has closed a $741 million syndicated loan for the platform’s construction, according to a company statement on Monday. “The project is being developed to supplement local gas production in Bahrain and ensure capacity to meet peak seasonal gas demand and industrial growth,” the statement said. While the Gulf region is […]
BEIJING Chinese soldiers laid wreaths on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 1937 massacre of civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing by Japanese troops. The televised event at the Nanjing Massacre memorial recalls an incident in which China says Japanese soldiers killed 300,000 people in the city that was then its capital. A postwar Allied tribunal put the toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese […]
Bubbly home prices in London’s most exclusive neighborhoods continue to deflate and have just recorded their largest December decline since the “great recession” in 2010. According to Bloomberg, asking prices in London dropped 4.3% in December with inner London down 6%. Meanwhile, the most exclusive neighborhoods, like Kensinton and Chelsea, have recorded even sharper declines at nearly 10% as home buyers have migrated to cheaper areas of […]
By the late 1970s, a decade after horrific riots, the Pistons had fallen on hard competitive times, along with the city, and out they went to a charmless football dome in distant Pontiac, Mich., and later to the basketball-specific Palace of Auburn Hills. A team in a sport played increasingly by young black men fled the city while hockey’s white-as-ice Red Wings stored their gloves and sticks […]
Legendary crooner Tom Jones will headline the opening night of next year’s Dubai Jazz Festival. The announcement comes after the British star was forced to pull out of a planned show at Abu Dhabi’s du Arena in April, following the sudden loss of his wife of 59 years, Melinda Rose Woodward, to cancer. Jones will see in a landmark 15th anniversary of the three-night festival, when he […]
By Kanupriya Kapoor | JAKARTA JAKARTA A tearful governor of Jakarta denied on Tuesday he had intended to insult the Koran at the start of his blasphemy trial in the Indonesian capital, which is seen as a test of religious freedom in the world largest Muslim-majority nation. Around 100 Muslim protesters calling for the jailing of Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, chanted “God is […]
12 December 2016 The Roads and Transport Authority – Majdi Abu Zaid: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has recently announced the formal operation of a solar-powered abra, considered the first of its kind in the Middle East. The introduction of this sophisticated abra, which is being deployed at Al Mamzar, follows several trial runs to verify the possibility of changing speed. The scheme is part of Dubai […]
A Lufthansa flight headed to Germany from Texas was diverted to a New York City airport on Monday night after a bomb threat was called in to the airline’s headquarters, officials said. Flight 441 to Frankfurt from Houston landed safely and was taken to a remote area of John F. Kennedy International Airport around 8:30 p.m. local time, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman […]
Photo Kayla Harrison plans to take up mixed martial arts in the World Series of Fighting, and hopes “to see it go more toward the professional route.” Credit Earl Wilson/The New York Times Only one American has ever won an Olympic gold medal in judo: Kayla Harrison. And she has won two, in London in 2012 and in Rio this year. Yet despite her achievements, Harrison is […]
MEXICO CITY China and Mexico pledged on Monday to deepen ties at a meeting between their top diplomats following last month’s U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has tested Washington’s relationship with both countries. Before arriving in Mexico on Sunday, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with members of Trump’s team in New York, including his pick for national security adviser, retired Army Lieutenant General […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 13, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Heritage Festival More than 20,000 camels are expected to be part of the annual camel beauty pageant during the Al Dhafra Festival – a celebration of Bedouin heritage that touches on four […]
Dec 12, 2016 12:46 pm IST Air pollution in New Delhi spiked again last week, covering the city in a thick, toxic smog that resulted in reduced visibility, as harsh winter days approach. The Indian capital’s air quality has been at hazardous levels for much of the past week, according to measurements taken by the U.S. embassy. Real-time air quality data from India’s Central Pollution Control Board […]
SHANGHAI China will appoint “river chiefs” to prevent pollution in the nation’s waterways, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, in the latest step taken by Beijing to rein in environmental damage. With the evolution of China from an agricultural nation to an industrial one, toxic pollutants from factories have increasingly seeped into the environment, leading to health problems among the population. A detailed system for […]
Today’s news that Peter Baker is rejoining the White House beat for The New York Times was a historic one for the newspaper. With Baker’s addition, the Times now has six reporters covering 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the highest number in its 150 year-plus history, Baker told Poynter in an interview Monday. “When I started covering the White House in 1996 for The (Washington) Post, there were two […]
Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) has bought 30 percent of Falcon Cement Co, Bahrain’s largest cement producer, to help to drive economic growth in the region, the development bank said on Monday. The stake was bought from Islamic investment bank GFH Financial Group, which said it would remain a strategic shareholder in Falcon. The companies did not disclose the purchase price, but GFH has previously valued Falcon […]
You may not have considered some of the lesser-known sports in the UAE – because you weren’t aware they existed here. But, if you’re weary of your usual exercise routine, why not sample a few of the more unusual, left-of-field sports and activities to test your mettle and spark your enthusiasm? newslide Lacrosse This fast-paced, exhilarating sport was played by the indigenous people of North America as […]
“It was horrible.” For New York City commercial litigator Donald J. Tobias, those three words have been the bane of his existence. Some time earlier this year, a Google user named “Mia Arce” posted those words as a review of his boutique legal practice in Manhattan. The three-word review accompanies a one-star rating that Google users can find just by searching Mr. Tobias’s name. The lawyer says […]
Following Friday’s report by RCB’s Charlie McElligott which sought to answer “THE” question every investor is asking, namely “what could derail this rally“, today’s the cross-asset strategist has released a follow up analysis in which he warns that even though the bond battering continues – and is likely to continue for a while – the market is now being set up for a “massive mean-reversion” counter-trend rally […]
ABU DHABI // Women members of parliament have an important role in brokering peace in the Middle East and beyond, a conference heard on Monday. About 50 women who preside over parliaments met in Abu Dhabi for the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. For the first time men were invited to participate, including Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, who […]
As the first mainstream fiction film tackling the thorny issue of gun control in the United States, Miss Sloane – which opened the 13th Dubai International Film Festival on December 7 and goes on general release in the UAE on December 15 – was always likely to attract angry headlines from both sides of the debate. So while it might be surprising that no one has tackled […]
Prosecutors have declined to pursue charges against a lawyer for the city of Philadelphia suspected of helping to vandalize a grocery store with anti-Trump graffiti. The assistant city solicitor investigated in connection with the Nov. 25 incident agreed to perform community service and will keep his job, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer: Duncan Lloyd, 32, was identified in surveillance footage that captured Lloyd and a second man walking […]
