Etihad Airways and Lufthansa have signed a codeshare agreement that could herald further partnership growth between the two national carriers. In what is seen as the potential start of a growing relationship between the two airlines, Etihad and Lufthansa have agreed to codeshare on the UAE carrier’s twice-daily flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt, and its twice daily services between Abu Dhabi and […]
By Peter Nicholls | BIRMINGHAM, England BIRMINGHAM, England Hundreds of rioting prisoners took control of at least two wings of an English jail on Friday, authorities said, in the latest and most serious disturbance at a British prison this year. The trouble erupted at HMP Birmingham in central England, which can hold 1,450 male prisoners, shortly after 0900 GMT, forcing staff to withdraw, according to G4S (GFS.L), […]
From left, Richard Baraniuk, Tan Nguyen and Ankit Patel. Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University Neuroscience and artificial intelligence experts from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have taken inspiration from the human brain in creating a new “deep learning” method that enables computers to learn about the visual world largely on their own, much as human babies do. In tests, the group’s “deep rendering mixture model” largely […]
Real estate investment made easy as 1,2,3; lucrative rental yields await investors Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 15 December 2016 DAMAC Properties, one of the leading luxury real estate developers in the region, today announced the launch of MOD, a collection of townhouses in the heart of international golf community AKOYA Oxygen. The homes in this community, with a contemporary expression of luxury, are priced to be […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the United States on Saturday to prepare for repeal of an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises, declaring “bye-bye America”, and we don’t need your money. But Duterte suggested relations could improve under a President Donald Trump. “I like your mouth, it’s like mine, yes Mr President. We are similar and people with the same feathers flock together.” […]
In 2009, my TV cable bill went over $100 a month, and I decided enough was enough. I cut my cable. It wasn’t easy then. The internet streaming devices were primitive, and my choices were few. Today, Netflix is more popular than conventional TV, more teenagers watch YouTube than the networks, and rival streaming services Amazon Video, Hulu, and Sling TV are growing by leaps and bounds. […]
By Laila Bassam, Lisa Barrington and John Davison | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The evacuation of the last opposition-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo was suspended on Friday after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be brought out of two Shi’ite villages being besieged by rebel fighters. The second day of the operation to take fighters and civilians out of Aleppo’s rebel enclave […]
WASHINGTON A Chinese Navy warship has seized an underwater drone deployed by an American oceanographic vessel in international waters in the South China Sea, triggering a formal demarche from the United States and a demand for its return, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Friday. The incident — the first of its kind in recent memory — took place on Dec. 15 northwest of Subic Bay […]
Wells Fargo & Co reported another decline in monthly consumer account openings, indicating that the bank is having trouble rebuilding its reputation after a sales scandal. The bank agreed in September to pay regulators $185 million to settle charges that its staff opened as many as 2 million accounts without customers’ knowledge. Wells Fargo said on Friday consumer checking account openings fell 9 percent in November from […]
General Motors seems determined not to get sidelined by the recent flurry of announcements in the self-driving car category such as those issued by Waymo and Uber. GM’s Chairman and CEO Mary Barra presided a rare press conference last Dec. 15 to declare that GM’s autonomous vehicle called Chevrolet Bolt is now prowling the streets of southeast Michigan. Fleet of self-driving Bolts have already been unleashed in San Francisco […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE has appointed its first Ambassador to a Baltic nation. Hanan Al Alili will become Ambassador to Latvia when the UAE Embassy opens in the capital, Riga, next month. Inara Murniece, Latvia’s speaker of parliament, was in Abu Dhabi for the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament when the announcement was made. “It is important to have women in key positions in […]
Last year, I left work in the UAE to study Arabic full-time in Oman. After almost two decades in the Arabian Gulf, I decided it was time. When I first arrived from Canada at the age 13, Arabic wasn’t offered to me at school. I was told I was too old to learn the language and I should focus on GCSE French. I didn’t mind. I only […]
Russia said the evacuation of thousands of people trapped for months in the last rebel foothold of Aleppo was finished on Friday, hours after a series of blasts halted the operation. “The Syrian army operation to liberate the militant-controlled eastern districts of Aleppo is complete,” the Russian defence ministry said. “Syrian government forces are liquidating isolated pockets of resistance by radicals.” An agreement for rebels to withdraw […]
By Karolina Tagaris and Renee Maltezou | ATHENS ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seems determined to go down in history as a leader who tried to save Greece’s most vulnerable from austerity. But the crowd of pensioners in Athens on Thursday night was cynical about his promise to placate them with a one-off Christmas bonus. “We are living in misery and we won’t tolerate being fooled […]
Lately, there has been discussion of a “blurring” of Agile methodologies with design thinking. These are two philosophies with different terminologies, practiced by different groups of people, that have the same goal — to provide elegant and continuously improving technology solutions that serve users and customers. This blurring may be necessary with software release cycles now going into the hours, or even minutes for some businesses. Photo: […]
WASHINGTON The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State said on Friday it destroyed 14 tanks, an air defense artillery system and other weaponry near the Syrian city of Palmrya after Islamic State seized the city from Syrian and Russian forces this month. The strikes, which the military said in a statement took place on Thursday, followed a warning from the U.S. military that it could strike weapons it […]
Credit: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne A drone has been equipped with feathers to increase its precision during flight. The bio-inspired device can spread or close its wings while flying, making it easier to maneuver and more resistant in high winds. When they need to change direction, increase their speed or counter headwinds, birds alter the configuration of their wings. To steer, for example, they spread one […]
Authored by Carl Bildt, originally posted at Project Syndicate, In August 2015, I tweeted that if Donald Trump were to be elected President of the United States, we would have to “head for the bunkers.” A Trump presidency was considered highly unlikely back then; but here we are. And while heading for the bunkers might not be the most appropriate response (yet), where we are is undoubtedly […]
By Andrew Osborn and Nick Tattersall | MOSCOW/ISTANBUL MOSCOW/ISTANBUL President Vladimir Putin said he and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan are working to organise a new series of Syrian peace talks without the involvement of the United States or the United Nations. In a snub to Washington, Putin made clear on Friday that the initiative was the sole preserve of Moscow and Turkey and that the peace […]
BEIJING China expressed dissatisfaction on Friday after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama met President Pranab Mukherjee, saying it hoped India would recognise the Nobel Peace Prize winning monk as a separatist in religious guise. Mukherjee hosted the Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace laureates at a conference on children’s rights at the presidential palace on Sunday. Those who attended, and spoke, included Princess Charlene of […]
By Scott Malone | BOSTON BOSTON Searches for selfies led to many bad decisions, an outbreak of creepy clown sightings chilled even horror maestro Stephen King, and a hard-fought campaign ended with the election of former reality TV star Donald Trump as president of the United States. Along with moments of triumph and tragedy, 2016 brought stories that ranged from weird to wonderful, funny to flummoxing. New […]
By Andrés González | MADRID MADRID French media tycoon Vincent Bollore is bidding for a stake in Spain’s largest sports broadcasting rights firm at the same time as facing off with former Italian president Silvio Berlusconi for control of Mediaset (MS.MI). Bollore’s Vivendi (VIV.PA) is one of 10 bidders, alongside a number of Chinese and U.S. investors, hoping to land either a 30 percent or 51 percent […]
TOKYO Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up two days of talks on Friday with numerous economic deals but no big breakthrough on a territorial row that has overshadowed ties between the countries since World War Two. The following list details energy and other alliances and agreements between Japanese and Russian companies and government enterprises announced during the summit meetings: HEALTHCARE – […]
BEIJING The family of prominent Chinese legal activist Jiang Tianyong is unable to locate him despite police saying that he had been released on Dec. 1 after spending nine days in detention, his family’s lawyer said on Friday. Disbarred lawyer Jiang, 45, has spoken out about a government crackdown on legal defenders and has been involved in high-profile cases of dissidents who have angered authorities, including blind […]
