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House Republicans Move To Eliminate Net Neutrality

A new proposal by House Republicans would effectively put an end to net neutrality while slashing funding for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The legislation would reduce the agency’s funding by more than 17 percent, likely leaving the agency crippled and incapable of enforcing its regulations. The proposal would also explicitly prohibit the agency from making any rules regarding either cable set-top boxes or Net neutrality. “The […]

Al Ghadeer residents spit feathers over decision to remove ducks from community lakes

ABU DHABI // Hundreds of residents are rallying around their feathered friends after managers said ducks would be removed from their community’s lakes because their droppings were a health hazard. The residents at isolated Al Ghadeer, on the border between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have signed an online petition after receiving an email which said the 30 ducks would be moved because their excrement could spread disease […]

Apple rehires prominent security pro as encryption fight boils

A 3D printed Apple logo is seen in front of a displayed cyber code in this illustration taken February 26, 2016. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which has resisted pressure from U.S. law enforcement to unlock encrypted iPhones, this month rehired a top expert in practical cryptography to bring more powerful security features to a wide range of consumer products. Jon Callas, who co-founded several […]

Books of The Times: Review: ‘The Morning They Came for Us’ Reports on the Hell of Syria

Books of The Times By MICHIKO KAKUTANI The title of Janine di Giovanni’s devastating new book, “The Morning They Came for Us,” refers to those terrible moments in ordinary Syrians’ lives when the war in their country becomes personal. Those moments when there is a knock on the door and the police or intelligence services take a family member away. Those moments when a government-delivered barrel bomb […]

U.S. Drone Strike Targets Taliban Leader

By HELENE COOPER May 21, 2016 WASHINGTON — An American drone strike targeted the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, United States officials said on Saturday, in the most significant American incursion inside Pakistan since Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, the Qaeda leader, in 2011. In a statement issued on Saturday, Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said the […]

Special Report – Cyber thieves exploit banks' faith in SWIFT transfer network

The SWIFT logo is pictured in this photo illustration taken April 26, 2016. Reuters/Carlo Allegri/Illustration/File Photo LONDON/CHICAGO Shortly after 7 p.m. on January 12, 2015, a message from a secure computer terminal at Banco del Austro (BDA) in Ecuador instructed San Francisco-based Wells Fargo to transfer money to bank accounts in Hong Kong. Wells Fargo complied. Over 10 days, Wells approved a total of at least 12 […]

Alibaba’s Ma cancels speech after row with anti-counterfeiting group

Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma attends the opening ceremony of the second annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China, December 16, 2015. Reuters/Aly Song/Files SHANGHAI Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s chief Jack Ma has cancelled a speech at an anti-counterfeiting conference in the United States after the trade group behind it suspended the e-commerce giant’s recently gained membership. Alibaba has been dogged for […]

Libya says it wants warplanes to fight Daesh

Tripoli: Libya’s new unity government said Tuesday it wants warplanes and helicopters to fight terrorists as it hailed international support for lifting a longstanding embargo on weapons sales. International backing to lift the embargo, in place since 2011, is “fundamental to the creation of a strong army… capable of fighting the jihadist Islamic State group and other extremist groups”, Deputy Prime Minister Mussa Al Kony said. On […]

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube face hate speech complaints in France

  PARIS Three French anti-racism associations said on Sunday they would file legal complaints against social networks Facebook (FB.O), Twitter (TWTR.N) and Google’s Youtube (GOOGL.O) for failing to remove “hateful” content posted on their platforms.   French law requires websites to take down racist, homophobic or anti-semitic material and tell authorities about it.   But French Jewish students union UEJF and anti-racism and anti-homophobia campaigners SOS Racisme […]

Bullish case for Habib Bank

|By Matein Khalid| Habib Bank Ltd is one of the Pakistan’s oldest, biggest retail/corporate banks, privatized last year with a 51% controlling stake held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. Its recent price fall from 240 to 172 rupees (PKR, not INR!) is a compelling opportunity to own an undervalued, well managed proxy for consumption and credit offtake in a 190 million population country now […]

U.S. to Increase Military Presence in Syria, Obama Says

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR April 25, 2016 HANOVER, Germany — The United States will significantly increase the number of military personnel, including Special Forces, in Syria to fight the Islamic State, President Obama said on Monday as he concluded a six-day trip to the Middle East, Britain and Germany. Mr. Obama, whose comments came in a speech in which he pressed for European unity, said that he would add 250 […]

UAE fire code will put onus on everyone

DUBAI // “Passing the buck” on fire safety will be halted by the updated Fire and Life Safety Code to be released next month. A new section on responsibility puts the onus on consultants and developers as well as residents – owners and tenants – to keep a building safe from fire. In another key provision, the main consultant, manufacturer or supplier of fire safety material, plus […]

In Effort to Defeat ISIS, U.S. and Iran Impede One Another

By TIM ARANGO April 25, 2016 BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces, backed by American airstrikes and advised by American officers, have been making strides in Anbar Province, slowly taking back territory from the Islamic State. But in Falluja, a city in Sunni-dominated Anbar that has been in the hands of the Islamic State longer than any other in Iraq or Syria, civilians are starving as the Iraqi Army and militias […]

Middle East employment freeze looms as economic confidence plummets among the world's hirers

UAE. The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey from ACCA and IMA, released today, found that more half of firms are either cutting or freezing employment, while only 14% are increasing investment in staff. Responding to the findings, Faye Chua, ACCA head of business focus said: “Take North America out of the equation and the economic picture painted by this survey isn’t a pretty one. Emerging markets are […]

Angry Dubai worker destroys bowling centre over visa refusal, court hears

DUBAI // A man wrecked the bowling centre where he worked, smashing windows, televisions and setting chairs on fire, when his employer refused to change his visa status, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday. The 27-year-old Egyptian was working at Dubai Bowling Centre but only had a visit visa. When the manager refused to offer him a residency visa after a few months, he allegedly started tearing […]

U.S. drops New York fight with Apple after gaining access to iPhone

Details are pictured on the backside of an Apple Iphone 6 on a table in a restaurant in Hanau, Germany, April 10, 2016. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach NEW YORK The U.S. Justice Department on Friday dropped its effort to force Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to help unlock an iPhone in a drug case in New York after someone provided authorities the passcode to access the device. In a letter filed […]

Trump threat to stop buying Saudi oil

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told the New York Times he would consider stopping U.S. oil purchases from Saudi Arabia unless the Saudi government provide troops to fight Islamic State. Trump’s comment on Friday was included in a lengthy foreign policy interview published by the newspaper on Saturday and came in response to a question about whether, if elected president, he would halt oil purchases from U.S. allies […]

9-11 & alliance of Iran, Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda

|By Alaa Alghamdi| Judicial rulings have shown that the calamitous and tragic events of September 11 were borne out of a relationship between Iran and Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Will the coming days reveal a similar relationship with Daesh too? Hezbollah is widely known for its support of terrorism, for inciting sectarian strife in the Arab countries, and for the cooperation of its members with drug dealers in Europe, North and South America, Africa, as a means to finance multiple activities, ease the burden on the Iranian treasury offering them substantial financial support, in […]

Amazon Drops Device Encryption on Fire OS 5

With little fanfare, Amazon has removed the option for device encryption for tablets, phones and other products running its Fire OS 5 operating system. The decision has been met with widespread confusion and criticism, especially as Amazon yesterday filed an amicus brief in support of Apple’s decision not to give the FBI access to the data on the iPhone of one of the San Bernadino, Calif. terrorists. […]

Twitter suspends over 125,000 accounts for 'promoting terrorist acts'

A 3D printed Twitter logo is seen in this illustration picture made in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, February 3, 2016. Reuters/Dado Ruvic WASHINGTON Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) has shut down more than 125,000 terrorism-related accounts since the middle of 2015, most of them linked to the Islamic State group, the company said in a blog post on Friday. Twitter has said it only takes down accounts when they […]

Citi sees Oilmageddon coming

Markets are currently in a well-oiled “death spiral,” according to Citigroup Inc. analysts led by Jonathan Stubbs. “It appears that four inter-linked phenomena are driving a negative feedback loop in the global economy and across financial markets,” the analysts write, citing the resilient U.S. dollar, lower commodities prices, weaker trade and capital flows, and declining emerging market growth. “It seems reasonable to assume that another year of extreme moves in […]

Your smartphone can help cure cancer

Did you know you can donate your phone’s unused processing power to solve science’s biggest questions? Whether you want to help cure cancer, better understand climate change or find aliens, there’s an app for you. When you’re not using your Android phone, you can use these apps to donate its computing power to scientists looking into the big questions… for free. If just 1,000 people use the […]

Airstrike at Yemen Cement Factory Said to Kill at Least 15

By SHUAIB ALMOSAWA and KAREEM FAHIM February 3, 2016 SANA, Yemen — An airstrike by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia hit a cement factory north of Sana, Yemen’s capital, on Wednesday evening, killing at least 15 people, including civilian workers in nearby businesses, according to local security and medical officials. The bombing of the factory, in Amran Province, came days after Saudi officials pledged to form a high-level committee […]

BJP’S ALLIANCE PLAN TO GRAB POWER IN TAMIL NADU

CAN JAYA OUTSMART BOTH BJP-LED NDA AND DMK?

By S. Sethuraman

Political parties in Tamil Nadu, ahead of the May elections to the Assembly, want to usher in a “change” in the state’s governance, and BJP is trying hard to bring NDA rule through an alliance by reportedly offering bulk of the seats to contest for the influential state parties, DMDK and PMK, and thus break the hold of “corrupt” regimes of AIADMK and DMK over the last five decades.

Whether the BJP dream fructifies or not, it could cut into the assumed strength of both the ruling AIADMK, which still remains confident of a renewed mandate for ‘Amma’s’ welfare schemes, and of a resurgent DMK which, however, faces difficulty in forging a stronger alliance, with only a divided and demoralised Congress willing to go with it at present..

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