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The Ivanka Trump boycott appears to have backfired. One month after several brand name retailers announced they would no longer carry the 35-year-old’s clothing and accessories, Ivanka Trump’s women’s fashion line has seen record February sales. The collection said they had some of the highest performing weeks since the brand was launched last month. “Since the beginning of February, they were some of the best performing weeks […]

VIENNA The U.N. nuclear agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors on Wednesday backed the agency’s chief, Yukiya Amano, for a third term as director general after he ran unopposed on a platform of continuity in dealing with issues like Iran’s nuclear programme. Amano, a 69-year-old career diplomat from Japan, has headed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2009, including the years leading up to Iran’s nuclear agreement […]

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday as investors focused on Friday’s crucial nonfarm payrolls report after a better-than-expected private hiring report strengthened chances of a rate increase next week. Financial stocks rose after the ADP National Employment report showed that the U.S. private sector added 298,000 jobs last month, blowing past economists’ average estimate of 190,000. The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY rose […]

A new study suggests it was the power of the eyes and not the limbs that first led our aquatic ancestors to make the leap from water to land. The researchers discovered that eyes nearly tripled in size before — not after — the water-to-land transition. Crocodile-like animals saw easy meals on land and then evolved limbs that enabled them to get there, the researchers argue. Source

Researchers have identified 24 compounds, including caffeine, that showed potential in boosting levels of a brain enzyme exhibiting protective benefits against dementia. For a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from Indiana University screened more than 1,280 compounds to identify which substances could influence production of NMNAT2. The brain enzyme’s protective effect was discovered just last year. “This work could help advance efforts to develop drugs […]

DUBAI // The UAE has cracked the top 20 list of countries with the most billionaires for the first time. The Emirates is home to 21 ultra-rich individuals, giving it a ranking of 19, according to the China-based Hurun Global Rich List 2017. “The world today has 5,000 dollar billionaires, assuming that for every one we have found we have missed at least one,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, […]

Apple says it is working fast to fix vulnerabilities in the iPhone and other products after WikiLeaks released material said to show the Central Intelligence Agency was stockpiling malware to break into devices. “While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked were already patched in the latest iOS [operating system for iPhones and iPads], we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities,” […]

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By Fatos Bytyci | PRISTINA PRISTINA Kosovo signalled on Wednesday it would turn its security force into a national army, plans opposed by its ethnic Serb minority that drew immediate criticism from NATO and the territory’s biggest foreign supporter, the United States. Nearly two decades after the Kosovo war, relations between Belgrade and Pristina remain strained and Serbia continues to regard Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, […]

KINSHASA Three mass graves have been discovered in central Democratic Republic of Congo, where hundreds have been killed since July in clashes between security forces and a local militia, the top U.N. rights official said on Wednesday. At least 400 people have died and 200,000 have been displaced since the fighting broke out with the Kamuina Nsapu militia. Police killed its leader, Kamuina Nsapu, last August, causing […]

By Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON When the bosses of some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies headed to Washington in January to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, it had all the makings of a potentially hostile meeting. Just weeks before, Trump had sent drug stock prices plummeting after accusing the companies of “getting away with murder” by charging too much for medicines. But […]

MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi forces saw off a nighttime Islamic State counter-attack near Mosul’s main government building hours after recapturing it, a military official said on Wednesday, as troops sought to push the militants further back. The Islamic State fighters had used several car bombs in the assault, Major General Ali Kadhem al-Lami of the Federal Police’s Fifth Division told a Reuters correspondent near the site. “Today we’re […]

US-based Hyperloop One on Tuesday put the cost of traffic congestion between Dubai and Abu Dhabi at almost $800 million in lost working hours. Nearly 4,000 vehicles travel on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway every day as majority of the people, who work in the UAE capital, reside in Dubai which offers cheaper housing options. “Reducing this commute to 12 minutes opens a whole new realm of options,” […]

A government watchdog group, Public Citizen, said on Wednesday it will ask lawmakers to investigate whether billionaire investor Carl Icahn should have been subject to lobbying disclosure laws when he advised President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. biofuels program. Icahn, an unpaid adviser to Trump on regulation, submitted a proposal to Trump last month to change the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard by shifting the burden of […]

For many, South Korea’s decision to host a missile shield to defend against its hostile northern neighbour should not be controversial. In the past month alone, North Korea has fired six ballistic missiles, with a barrage of four successful launches on Monday trumpeted by Pyongyang as being a drill targeting US bases in Japan. But in a region riven by simmering historical grievances, Seoul’s move has sparked a bitter […]

By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo | TOKYO TOKYO Rattled by North Korean military advances, influential Japanese lawmakers are pushing harder for Japan to develop the ability to strike preemptively at the missile facilities of its nuclear-armed neighbour. Japan has so far avoided taking the controversial and costly step of acquiring bombers or weapons such as cruise missiles with enough range to strike other countries, relying instead […]

07 March 2017 Dubai, UAE – The board of Dragon Oil, a subsidiary of Dubai-government owned ENOC Group, appointed industry veteran Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan as the new Chief Executive Officer. His appointment to Dragon Oil comes close on the heels of the new board of directors being appointed in January this year. The new head takes over from His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, ENOC, […]

By Rozanna Latiff and Liz Lee | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak struck a softer tone with North Korea on Wednesday, a day after accusing it of treating Malaysians as “hostages” amid a diplomatic meltdown over the murder of the estranged half-brother of the North’s leader. Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of Kim […]

SEOUL A man claiming to be the son of the slain, estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader said he was lying low with his mother and sister, in a video posted online by a group that said it helped rescue them following the murder a month ago. The governments of Netherlands, China, the United States, and a fourth unnamed country provided emergency humanitarian assistance to protect […]

Sports giant Nike has revealed the Nike Pro Hijab, a performance veil, which acts like a second skin, made from light and soft garment. The hijabs were wear tested by Nike athletes such as Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari and Nike+ Run Club Coach Manal Rostom. “I was really hesitant when I first saw it,” Lari said. “I was thrilled and a bit emotional to see Nike […]

SYDNEY Climate change was responsible for breaking more than 200 Australian weather records over the past three months, researchers said on Wednesday, a glimpse of conditions to come that will likely threaten energy security and agriculture. Much of Australia’s east coast endured its hottest summer on record, the independent Climate Council said, while torrential rain in Western Australia caused flash flooding. The sort of unseasonable conditions seen […]

SAN DIEGO Major aircraft leasing companies have offered a lukewarm response to proposals by Boeing to build a bigger version of its 737 MAX family to counter the Airbus A321neo. Boeing has begun offering the model code-named 737 MAX 10X to airlines, saying it would be the most efficient single-aisle jetliner in the business – a claim disputed by Airbus. Steven Udvar-Hazy, executive chairman of Air Lease, […]

The Chinese government has long resented accusations that, as US President Donald Trump put it in a tweet in early January, it “won’t help with North Korea”.  On Wednesday China’s foreign minister used a colourful metaphor to describe his government’s position on the crisis-prone Korean peninsula, likening Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington to “runaway trains” that Beijing was doing its best to stop.  The press conference by Wang […]

And Mr. Trump’s conveniently timed call was a not-so-subtle reminder to Israel’s attorney general that indicting Mr. Netanyahu — a step that would precipitate his resignation as a prime minister — could harm Israel’s national security at a dangerous time. Continue reading the main story Mr. Netanyahu has survived past inquiries into his personal trips and home expenses without charges, and he has steadfastly denied wrongdoing in […]

Here are the big questions set to frame a new trading week for markets. How frothy are equity and junk bond valuations looking?Another record-breaking week for equities and a red hot reception for the Snap initial public offering is not the only sign of investor optimism running wild. Junk bond spreads — the premium investors demand to hold the bonds over Treasury yields — are heading towards […]

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