ABU DHABI // Exercise should be the first line of defence in the fight against depression after research published in the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology hailed its benefits in releasing ‘feel good’ brain chemicals. Doctors advocate physical activity as the best remedy in many cases, but the simple solution is often overlooked in favour of medication that can be expensive and carry side effects. Restrictions […]
BEIRUT // Syrian film, television, and theatre pioneer Rafiq Sebaie – best known to audiences as Abu Sayyah after one of his long-standing roles – has died at the age of 86. Sebaie died of natural causes on Thursday. He had undergone a series of operations since breaking his hip in a fall at his home last year, Syrian state media said. Often cast in tough-guy roles, […]
This story is a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and the Center for Public Integrity. Six years ago, federal health officials were confident they could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually by auditing private Medicare Advantage insurance plans that allegedly overcharged the government for medical services. An initial round of audits found that Medicare had potentially overpaid five of the health plans $128 million in […]
MOSCOW: Russia announced on Friday that it is withdrawing its aircraft carrier and some other Russian warships from the waters off Syria as the first step in a drawdown of its forces in the war-torn Mideast country.According to Russian General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier and accompanying ships are to be the first to leave.Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the state news […]
By Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed | NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD Elite Iraqi troops bridged a river under the cover of darkness to seize a district of Mosul in an unprecedented night raid early on Friday, part of a new phase in the battle to capture the city from Islamic State after weeks of slowed momentum. Since last week, Iraqi forces have launched […]
By Pedro Fonseca | RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO At last 33 inmates have been killed in a new prison riot in the Amazon region of Brazil, officials said on Friday, just five days after 56 inmates were slaughtered in the country’s worst prison massacre in more than two decades. Few details were available about the latest uprising early on Friday in Roraima state’s largest penitentiary, […]
BAGHDAD Elite Iraqi troops advanced against Islamic State militants in eastern Mosul in their first night-time raid in the city, a spokesman said on Friday, in a U.S.-backed operation which officials say is gaining momentum. Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces pushed across a tributary of the Tigris river shortly after midnight and drove back Islamic State fighters in the Muthanna district, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan said. “We used […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN The Syrian army and its allies pressed ahead on Friday with a two-week-long offensive to seize a strategic valley where a key spring provides supplies to four million people in the capital, Damascus, residents and rebels said. Aerial bombing and shelling from the army as well as Hezbollah fighters stationed in the mountains that overlook the valley on the northwestern edge […]
The United States on Thursday officially listed a son of Osama bin Laden as a “global terrorist,” and warned that the younger man, who has called for attacks around the world, poses a risk to American national security. The son, Hamza bin Laden, who has pledged to take up Osama bin Laden’s violent mantle and avenge his death, is “actively engaged in terrorism,” the State Department said, […]
By Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Senate Democrats on Thursday demanded an ethics probe into Tom Price, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. health secretary, following a report that the fierce Obamacare critic traded in healthcare company stocks while pushing legislation in Congress that could affect those shares. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and others made their comments as congressional Republicans moved ahead with […]
By Stephen Kalin and Isabel Coles | ERBIL, Iraq ERBIL, Iraq Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days, Iraq’s joint operations commander told Reuters. Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said […]
LONDON: Pro-government Iraqi paramilitaries accused of war crimes are using arms from at least 16 countries, including the US and Iran, according to an Amnesty International report released on Thursday.The predominantly Shia militias were formed in 2014 to support the Iraqi government in its fight against the Daesh group and have since committed war crimes, Amnesty said.The Sunni Arab community has been targeted by paramilitaries, which have […]
Submitted by Darius Shahtahmasebi via TheAntiMedia.org, Lithuania has confirmed the presence of U.S. special forces inside its territory, stating the deployment’s purpose is to train local forces and act as a deterrent against Russian aggression. Supposedly, Vladimir Putin has been deploying nuke-ready missiles in the Russian province of Kaliningrad, an area that borders Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania. This move has prompted the neighboring Baltic states to become “highly concerned” about […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Embedded plentifully during the presidential campaign, the press may now leave most consumers in the cold. I’d been talking to Merrill Brown, director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair, New Jersey State University, about Megyn Kelly’s big […]
ADEN At least three soldiers were killed in clashes with al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen in an operation launched by the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi, security sources said. They said at least 10 other soldiers were wounded when troops were ambushed east of the coastal city of Shuqra on Tuesday. Intense clashes were continuing on Wednesday. The sources said that Hadi forces, […]
A glitch found in Overwatch has stirred gamers into frenzy, as it has rendered the 3v3 mode on the Ecopoint: Antarctica map unplayable. The glitch, which utilizes Mei’s Ice Wall skill, allows players to access otherwise inaccessible areas, from where they can attack their opponents through the walls but could not be hit back. Mei Ice Wall Glitch In Overwatch On 3v3 matches in Ecopoint: Antarctica, players who […]
Thick fog and reduced visibility on the roads has once again plagued the morning commute for motorists across the country today. As drivers stepped out of their front doors, many would have been hit with the dread of fighting through another morning of murky weather to make it into work as dense fog made for difficult road conditions. Despite the weather conditions, no traffic collisions were reported […]
East really does meet West in Zhang Yimou’s latest film, The Great Wall. An epic blockbuster in the grand tradition of the Hollywood monster movie, it plunders ancient Chinese mythology for a story set during the 11th century. The idea? That the country’s most famous landmark – the 21,196 km-long fortification that runs from Dangong to Lop Lake – was built to defend its inhabitants from ravenous beasts […]
By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Republican-led U.S. Congress had a rough start to its first session of the Donald Trump era on Tuesday when a public outcry that included a dressing-down from the president-elect prompted the House of Representatives to backtrack on its plans to defang an ethics watchdog. It was supposed to have been a ceremonious beginning in which lawmakers set […]
BEIRUT Air strikes on a building in northern Syria used by an insurgent group formerly known as the Nusra Front had killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The British-based Observatory said it was unclear whether the strikes had been carried out by aircraft belonging to Russia or to the U.S.-led coalition. Tuesday is the fifth […]
BERLIN Germany’s chief prosecutor has charged a 28-year-old German citizen with murder, belonging to a terrorist group and committing war crimes for his role in the execution of six detainees by Islamic State militants in Syria in 2015. The man, identified as Harry S. in court documents, has been in custody since returning to Germany in July 2015, shortly after prosecutors said he took part in the […]
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a new imaging technique that could revolutionize how eye health and disease are assessed. The group is first to be able to make out individual cells at the back of the eye that are implicated in vision loss in diseases like glaucoma. They hope their new technique could prevent vision loss via earlier diagnosis and treatment for […]
By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL The gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday. The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and […]
Seven months after the leak of 11.5 million documents from a law firm in an incident that has come to be known as the “Panama Papers”, the world is right to ask what has been done since to fight global tax evasion and promote financial transparency. As president of Panama, and in particular through my interactions with the international community, it is clear that the affair shined […]
