By Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON First lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned case for embracing diversity and welcoming all religious groups on Friday in a not-so-veiled message to her husband’s successor two weeks ahead of Inauguration Day. In what was billed as her last formal speech before President Barack Obama leaves office, the first lady said at an event honouring high school counsellors that the United […]
Dubai Opera has just celebrated its first 100 days of operation, with more than 60 shows delivered and passing the milestone of 100,000 tickets sold along the way. Whilst these achievements are ones of which everyone who works at Dubai Opera is exceptionally proud, we all recognise that we are really just starting out on the path towards our goal of regularly bringing world-class cultural, artistic and […]
By Harriet McLeod | CHARLESTON, S.C. CHARLESTON, S.C. Jurors could begin deliberating on Tuesday whether white supremacist Dylann Roof should be sentenced to death or life in prison for killing nine black people at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, a federal judge said on Friday. The same jury that found Roof, 22, guilty last month of 33 federal charges including hate crimes heard a third […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for January 7, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition See the exhibition Realism: Two Angels featuring works by Crimean husband and wife artists Andrey Dudchenko and Katerina Spirtus, who base their expression in realism, though interpreted in different ways, […]
Photo The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov has been called back to its home port, Murmansk. Credit Norway Royal Airforce, via European Pressphoto Agency MOSCOW — Russia has ordered its only aircraft carrier to return home, part of a general drawdown of forces involved in the Syria conflict, a senior general announced on Friday. The carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, was sent to the eastern Mediterranean in the […]
By Ann Saphir and Jason Lange | CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday the central bank could raise interest rates three times this year, faster than he had expected just a few months ago and in line with the majority of his colleagues. The comments from Evans, a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year, reinforced the view that the […]
By Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Barack Obama said on Friday that criticism from the left wing of his own Democratic Party helped feed into the unpopularity of Obamacare, his signature healthcare reform law. Obama has been spending part of his last two weeks in office urging supporters to speak out against plans by Republicans – who will soon control both the White House and Congress […]
WASHINGTON Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered “an influence campaign” in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election with the goal of undermining the democratic process and denigrating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a new, declassified intelligence report said on Friday. “We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” the report said. “We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to […]
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 5 January 2017 Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of news and information for professional markets and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), will co-host the 11th MENA Regulatory Summit on February 5th & 6th in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Held under the patronage of the UAE Minister of Economy, H.E Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the summit will debate key challenges that […]
Alexa made its debut as the heart of the Amazon Echo—a family of internet-connected speakers that answer questions, run apps, and let people get weather reports or order goods on Amazon Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa is emerging as one of the big winners at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, cropping up in TVs, cars, fridges—you name it—in what may signal a breakthrough moment for the smart technology. […]
A round-up of major happenings in Pakistan in the last week. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Credit: PTI Panama Papers investigation After weeks of acrimony, the first day in office for new Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was an unusually harmonious one, with all parties hailing the constitution of a new bench for the Panama Papers hearings that will resume on January 4. Nisar excluded himself from […]
ISTANBUL Turkey dismissed more than 6,000 more police, civil servants and academics in decrees issued under emergency rule on Friday, continuing a purge in the wake of a failed coup attempt last July, the Hurriyet newspaper said. The three decrees ordered the dismissal of 2,687 police officers, 1,699 officials from the justice ministry, 838 from the health ministry, 649 academics and 135 officials from the religious affairs […]
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump said he had a “constructive” meeting with members of U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday and plans to appoint a team to give him a plan to combat cyber attacks within 90 days of taking office on Jan. 20. “While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations […]
With Formula One such big business in Abu Dhabi, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the country’s first go-kart-racing school has arrived in the capital. Hosted by Al Forsan International Sports Resort, wannabe future F1 racers can learn invaluable advice to improve technical skills and increase confidence at the school. It offers a single class or a bundle of four, teaching future drivers all they need to […]
Facebook has appointed former NBC and CNN anchor Campbell Brown to oversee its sometimes-strained relationship with the news industry, as the platform faces criticism for its role in the US presidential election. Campbell Brown, who hosted her own show on CNN until 2010, wrote in a post on Facebook that she will join its news partnerships team this month, charged with helping journalists work more effectively with […]
In recent months, in delivering lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and holding audience discussions, I have asked hundreds of people across Israel a hypothetical question: Assuming that Sergeant Azaria had stuck to his original story and admitted that he knew that the man lying on the ground presented no danger to anyone, but he had nevertheless decided to put a bullet in his head, should he be […]
This is the first article in our series called Cool Tools. The idea is to spotlight tools that can make your professional life easier, save you some time, or help you get more done. In this inaugural column, we focus on the $69.95 Pro Tech Toolkit from iFixit. As the accompanying video shows, most of us have lots of plastic boxes filled with tools. When it comes […]
TOKYO U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) over its Mexican-built cars, but the biggest risk from a punitive tariff would be for its compatriot Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), the largest automaker operating in the country. Trump has criticized U.S. companies like General Motors (G.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) which manufacture abroad, accusing them of costing U.S. jobs. On Thursday he took on […]
IMDb.com is stepping up its First Amendment fight with the state of California, refusing to comply with a new law that gives actors and other entertainment figures the right to shield their ages from public view on the site. The popular film and TV database is taking an aggressive stand against the law as its lawyers […] (via WSJ)
At least nine people were shot, including three fatally, and a suspect was in custody at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on Friday, MSNBC reported, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. Broward County Sheriff’s office tweeted “multiple people” had died in the shooting and one person was in custody. “There is an ongoing incident in Terminal 2, Baggage Claim,” said a post on the airport’s Twitter […]
AMMAN/BEIRUT A senior Syrian rebel official denied a report on Friday that a ceasefire had been reached between rebels and government forces in the Wadi Barada area near Damascus, where bombardments have knocked out the capital’s main water source. The government and allied fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched an attack two weeks ago to take back Wadi Barada where a spring provides supplies to four […]
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump called the controversy over Russian hacking during the 2016 presidential campaign a “political witchhunt” on Friday in an interview hours before he was to receive a U.S. intelligence briefing on the topic. “China, relatively recently, hacked 20 million government names,” Trump told the New York Times, referring to the Office of Personnel Management breach in 2014 and 2015. “How come nobody even talks […]
Dell’s 2-in-1 Latitude 7285 Tired of having to plug a cable into your laptop to charge it? Dell’s new 2-in-1 Latitude 7285 brings wireless charging to laptops. Must read: CNET – Toss the power brick: The Latitude 7285 is Dell’s first hybrid with a wireless charging base The Latitude 7285 2-in-1 is a hybrid laptop, and one of the optional extras for the device is a wireless-charging […]
By Stephane Nitschke | BREMERHAVEN, Germany BREMERHAVEN, Germany Hundreds of U.S. tanks, trucks and other military equipment arrived by ship in Germany on Friday to be transported by rail and road to eastern Europe as part of a NATO buildup that has drawn Russia’s ire. Two shiploads arrived in the northern port of Bremerhaven and a third was due in a few days, bringing the fleets of […]
