Brig. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, another special forces commander, said he had known from the beginning that no one would rise up. Iraqi officials had hoped that keeping civilians in their homes while counting on residents to rise up would also avert the type of destruction in Mosul that was seen in Ramadi, another Islamic State-held city, which was liberated at the beginning of the year but was […]
• What were the Chechen Wars? Chechnya is a southern republic of Russia and has long been a restive region. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country became quasi-independent after a series of wars with Russia. But after another assault, Russia declared victory in 2007. The war gave then-prime minister Vladimir Putin high approval ratings and he was elected president that year. • […]
So Brexit was not a historical accident after all. The Trump victory seals it. A complacent, mainly urban liberal class, has been undone by a revolt. Nationalists are in charge of Washington and London now. These “strongmen” and “strongwomen” will control borders, restrict the movement of labour and subject cross-border M&A to ever tighter public scrutiny tests. Security will come first. The twin freedoms of capital and […]
Photographs capture mere fractions of seconds, but a series of them taken by an Egyptian journalist has cost him more than three years of his life. Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, has been in Tora Prison in Cairo for more than 1,100 days. He has been detained without trial since he was arrested while photographing the deadly antigovernment protests that roiled Egypt in the summer of […]
Pokémon Sun and Moon players have been up and about in catching those shiny Pokémon, and some have even been clocking in hours just to get a shiny version of the starters Rowlet, Litten or Popplio. On that note, capturing a shiny Pokémon is no easy feat, as the odds of encountering one is said to be one out of 4,096. That means you’ll probably spend a lot of time […]
Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) next month. Jackson is long-celebrated as one of cinema’s most talented and intuitive actors with over four decades in the industry and featuring in more than 100 films. “Jackson has crafted a diverse and successful career in Hollywood and beyond and earned multiple […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for November 24, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition Attend the opening of the exhibition Realism: Two Angels, which showcases works by Crimean artists husband-and-wife Katerina Spirtus and Andrey Dudchenko. The artists base their expression in realism, though interpreted […]
With a number of iconic infrastructure projects in the pipeline for the GCC, innovation remains the focus for the region’s infrastructure and heavy industry Dubai, UAE, 23 November 2016 As the GCC gears up for multi-billion dollar infrastructure initiatives such as Dubai Expo 2020 and the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, the region’s infrastructure and heavy machinery industry has turned its focus towards exciting new sustainable […]
Photo High-school-football games showcase so much more than just athletics. Credit Jonno Rattman for The New York Times Kenny Byrd broke one tackle, then another, and soon he had nothing in front of him but end zone. The crowd roared with delight; the marching band lifted its horns and belted out a celebratory rendition of “Shut Up and Dance.” Cowbells clanged. Behind me, the superintendent of schools […]
Scientists from the University of Central Florida (UCF) may just have created one of the Holy Grails in mobile technology. The team has announced that they have developed a supercapacitor battery prototype that could charge in seconds but power devices for several days. The UCF battery technology is not exactly that novel as it builds on the traditional supercapacitor concept in its promise to revolutionize the way we […]
Mexico can expect a windfall of as much as $2.9bn next month from its annual oil hedging programme, but that will be dwarfed by an expected bonanza from the central bank that could pour close to $20bn into government coffers in April, analysts say. For a government facing bitter spending cuts, an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, sharply lower growth prospects next year and the threat of a […]
Impala Asset Management, the $2.2bn hedge fund run by George Soros’s former chief investment officer, is benefiting from bets that an overhaul of America’s infrastructure and sustained demand from China will buoy appetite for commodities. Robert Bishop, who founded Impala in 2004, said they decided infrastructure would be a win whoever won the US election, but doubly so in the case of Donald Trump, a real estate […]
U.S. crude oil stocks fell last week after three straight weeks of builds as imports dropped and refineries hiked output, while gasoline inventories rose sharply amid weak demand, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday. Crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell 1.3 million barrels in the week to Nov. 18, compared with expectations for an increase of 671,000 barrels. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for crude […]
As night fell on June 15, volunteers at the Birstall Wellbeing Centre in West Yorkshire were preparing for their usual Wednesday group session. The centre offers Reiki healing, palm readings and holistic massage. Rebecca Walker, who opened the centre eight years ago, is haunted by that night in June. At about 6.30pm, a man in his 50s walked through the door. He was thin, on the short […]
The facility is Hempel’s second largest decorative factory in the world, and the largest in the Middle East Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – 23 November 2016 Hempel Paints, a global supplier of marine, protective and decorative coatings, announced plans to move its entire production in Saudi Arabia to its new plant in Jeddah’s Second Industrial City as part of a strategy aimed at meeting the needs of its […]
A woman says low-flying aircraft mean that barrel bombs are again about to fall on eastern Aleppo. Terrible seconds elapse as she anticipates an explosion that will topple a wall or an entire building on her. She imagines death, but then opens her eyes to realize that she still lives. A teacher, Wissam Zarqa, says his senses sometimes play tricks on him. His ears hear a warplane […]
ABU DHABI // Education is essential for the future of young Emirati men and women and the whole nation, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak told the Arab Knowledge Forum in Dubai this week. The UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development said the UAE is moving in the right direction thanks to “wonderful examples of young Emiratis”. “We must provide an education that empowers our youth to embrace […]
TEHRAN: More than 1,000 combatants sent from Iran to fight in support of President Bashar Assad in Syria have been killed in the conflict, the head of Iran’s veterans’ affairs office said Tuesday.“The number of martyrs from our country defending the shrines has now passed 1,000,” Tasnim news agency quoted Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahalati, the head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Affairs, as saying.Iran has […]
When Amna Al Hashemi was contemplating which dishes to add to the menu of her new restaurant, Mitts and Trays in Dubai’s City Walk Phase 2, she sat down, closed her eyes and tried to think of the dishes that evoked her happiest memories. If these dishes stirred up good memories for her, she surmised, then they’d do the same for her customers. Madras chicken curry was […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE is focused on tourism as one of the main pillars of the post-oil economy, Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has said. Under the directives of the country’s leadership, the Emirates has developed an economic system based on diversity, innovation and sustainability that achieved an 8.7 per cent GDP growth worth Dh134 billion during 2015, said the minister in an interview with […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for November 23, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Comedy show Attend Comedy at the Greek and have some fun with the Yalla Laughs crew, featuring top local and regional comedians including Marwan Al Hashimi, Jon Boulton, Christian Plouvier, Akshay Ahuja, […]
Fitch Ratings-London-22 November 2016 Fitch Ratings has affirmed The Commercial Bank Q.S.C’s (CBQ) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook. At the same time the agency has downgraded CBQ’s Viability Rating (VR) to ‘bbb-‘ from ‘bbb’. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary. The downgrade of the VR reflects the deterioration in CBQ’s asset quality […]
This kind of manipulation of the law is unfolding at a keen moment of weakness for the press, which has already been buffeted by falling revenue and mounting public disaffection. Only 40 percent of the public — the lowest rate since at least the 1990s — trusts the media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly,” according to a Gallup survey conducted in September 2015. This […]
Donald Trump on Monday posted a video describing plans for his first 100 days as US president. “On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy,” he said. The US president-elect plans to open more federal lands and waters to oil and gas leasing, streamline permits for new energy projects and rescind executive actions of President Barack Obama. Deregulation forms the core of his […]
