A computer security firm on Wednesday revealed a flaw that could let hackers break into WhatsApp or Telegram messaging accounts using the very encryption intended to protect messages. Check Point Software Technologies said that it alerted Telegram and Facebook-owned WhatsApp last week, waiting until the vulnerability was patched before making it public. Check Point did not specify how many messaging accounts were at risk, but did […]
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE President Donald Trump is working with Republican leaders in the House of Representatives to make changes to their healthcare overhaul plan to ensure it has enough support to be approved by lawmakers, a White House spokesman said on Wednesday. “We’re obviously in talks with Speaker (Paul) Ryan, the entire leadership team over there … to get the best outcome based on feedback from […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to confirm former Republican senator Dan Coats to be President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence and to approve Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster’s transfer to become his national security adviser. The vote was 85-12 to confirm Coats, who also served as ambassador to Germany under former President George W. Bush. Fifty-one votes were […]
NEW YORK Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer of DoubleLine Capital, said on Wednesday he expected a short-term rally in U.S. Treasuries and that investors should “use the strength” in U.S. stocks to take profits and diversify in overseas markets. “I am surprised with the relentless nature” of equities after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Gundlach said on CNBC. Gundlach, who oversees more than $101 billion […]
Samsung has been in news a lot for its upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. However, the South Korean is now in the news for its Z series of phones, which will be powered by its own operating system. The company, which is all set to launch its latest flagships on March 29, is rumored to be working on a new smartphone known as Samsung Z4, successor […]
ABU DHABI // The introduction of value-added tax in the UAE next year, in tandem with the other five GCC countries, will boost government revenues that took a hit with falling oil prices. VAT could generate Dh12 billion in its first year and Dh20bn in its second year, said Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy. The international monetary fund (IMF) said introducing VAT at a low rate […]
By Tom Körkemeier and Shadia Nasralla | BRUSSELS/VIENNA BRUSSELS/VIENNA Turkey has blocked some military training and other work with NATO “partner countries” in an apparent escalation of a diplomatic dispute with EU states, officials and sources said on Wednesday. Turkey was not immediately available to comment, but sources said it had blocked NATO’s 2017 rolling programme of cooperation with non-EU countries, including political events, civilian projects and […]
How much does the Gulf’s traditional folk music have in common with one of America’s greatest art-forms – jazz? Far more than any musicologist might realise, argues Tarek Yamani, the trailblazing UAE-based pianist, who exposes and explores the shared rhythmic strands linking these two distinct disciplines in an ambitious new, multi-faceted project. Commissioned by the Abu Dhabi Festival, Yamani’s conceptual new album Peninsular will have its live […]
The White House will propose large spending cuts on Thursday for the state department, public broadcasting and environmental programmes as part of its preliminary budget for the 2018 fiscal year. Administration aides call it an “America First” budget — with greater spending on defence, law enforcement and veteran affairs, as well as new education programmes that emphasise school choice. The last are a pet project of Betsy […]
BEIRUT A U.N. agency published a report on Wednesday accusing Israel of imposing an “apartheid regime” of racial discrimination on the Palestinian people, and said it was the first time a U.N. body had clearly made the charge. Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman likened the report, which was published by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), to Der Sturmer – a Nazi propaganda publication […]
(Image: CNET) The Amazon Echo was the first mass-market, consumer-level device responding to voice control with general purpose functions, such as playing music. It was launched in the US in 2015. Then, in 2016, Google released its competing device, Google Home. Framingham, Mass.-based digital agency Stone Temple collected 5,000 questions to ask both Google Home and Amazon Alexa. Itverbally asked the devices each question and noted many […]
DHAKA Two police officers were injured in a raid on a house in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh, where three people identified as militants were arrested on Wednesday, police said. The suspected militants threw grenades at police after they surrounded the house and demanded that the occupants surrender, a senior police officer said. The three arrested included a woman with a child, who was wearing a suicide […]
Three-dimensional chip stacks could be used in computers in the future. Integrated microscale flow batteries could both power and cool them. Credit: IBM Research Zurich Researchers at ETH Zurich and IBM Research Zurich have built a tiny redox flow battery. This means that future computer chip stacks—in which individual chips are stacked like pancakes to save space and energy—could be supplied with electrical power and cooled at […]
A retired Navy admiral charged along with eight military officers with corruption in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case hosted and paid for a lavish sex party in the MacArthur Suite of the Manila Hotel in the Philippines – and used “historical memorabilia” in the room during sex acts, according to a 78-page federal indictment. Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, while on a port visit on USS Blue Ridge […]
Platform empowers SMEs to launch customizable online stores within 24 hours Chanbar.com leverages Facebook Messenger to place merchants in direct contact with customers Promoting inclusive, sustainable growth and jobs for the Iraqi community Advertisement Baghdad, Iraq – 15 March, 2017 Iraq Wallet, the country’s leading mobile wallet and digital payment company, announces it has expanded its ‘ZainCash’ service by introducing and launching chanbar.com, a multi-channel, cloud-based e-commerce […]
While it may not be the very definition of irony, we do find the fact that the Atlanta Fed has just cut its Q1 GDP forecast from 1.2% to 0.9%, a number which if confirmed would be the lowest quarterly print in year, just two hours before the Fed’s rate hike quite humorous. As a reminder, the number was as high as 3.4% one and a half […]
By John Davison | MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq Outside a mosque on the edge of Mosul airport’s ripped up runway, Iraqis made homeless by war sit on suitcases, taking a brief rest before beginning their onward journey, on foot or in buses. Men push wheelchairs carrying elderly relatives or carts loaded with small children over dusty and uneven ground, part of an exodus of people […]
By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. government on Wednesday unsealed charges against two Russian spies and two criminal hackers for allegedly pilfering 500 million Yahoo user accounts in 2014, The indictments, announced at a news conference in Washington, represent the first time the U.S. government has criminally charged Russian officials for cyber offenses. The content of at least 30 million accounts were accessed as part […]
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is expected to debut later this year with impressive specs and features on board, including a dual rear camera setup. The rumor mill has been mostly focusing on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus flagships set to debut later this month, and a slew of leaks, rumors, and reports tried to paint a picture of what to expect. When it comes to […]
BEIRUT Two suicide bomb attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more in Damascus on Wednesday, state media reported, in the second such spate of bombings in the Syrian capital in five days. The first suicide bomber targeted the Palace of Justice, the main courthouse in central Damascus near the Old City. Justice Minister Najem al-Ahmad told reporters the initial death toll was 31, mostly […]
A grand jury in California has charged four people — including two Russian intelligence officers — in a pair of computer hacks against Yahoo that victimised hundreds of millions of consumers, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday. The men penetrated Yahoo’s email accounts, often using “spear phishing” emails, and used information they obtained to access other accounts at Yahoo and Google. Among those targeted were Russian […]
With the oil market showing signs of losing faith in a price rebound, Opec is now asking itself: what more can it do? Production cuts agreed late last year between some of the world’s biggest producers inside and outside the cartel, are losing their sway given the near 10 per cent drop in the Brent benchmark over the past week. Brimming global storage tanks and a resurgent […]
GENEVA Negotiations to end the war in Syria must speed up, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told Reuters on Wednesday, on the sixth anniversary of the start of the conflict. “There is no way that we should be accepting the fact that the sixth anniversary becomes the seventh,” he said. “It’s becoming one of the longest and most cruel wars of recent years. That’s why there […]
By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY VATICAN CITY Managers who close businesses, shut factories or restructure firms without fully considering the impact on workers and their families are committing a “very grave sin”, Pope Francis said on Wednesday. Addressing tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square for his weekly audience, Francis strayed from his text after mentioning he was worried about how families might be […]
