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BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government troops pushed deeper into the rebel-held section of Aleppo on Sunday, now controlling about half of what had been for years the rebels’ enclave in the divided northern city. Also on Sunday, airstrikes apparently carried out by the government or its ally Russia hit the towns of Maarat al-Noaman and Kafr Nabl in rebel-held Idlib Province. The strikes killed at least 20 […]

Mercedes will not punish triple world champion Lewis Hamilton for defying orders at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, the team’s non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has said. In the wake of team mate Nico Rosberg’s dramatic retirement five days after winning the title, the Austrian recognised the situation had changed. “There is no need to say anything to Lewis,” he told the Mail on Sunday. […]

Small wind farm with several turbines. Credit: sprisi /www.pixelio.de Wind energy has been remarkably successful in providing an increasing share of cheap renewable energy. But can this trend continue to supply more and more renewable energy for decades to come? A new study published by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, lowers the expectations of wind energy when used at large scales. […]

The cashless society is catching up to all of us. As SHTFPlan.com’s Mac Slavo notes, Most of Europe has shifted that way, and now India is forcing the issue. In the United States, people are being acclimated to it, and may soon find that no other option is practical in the highly-digitized online world.   Once that takes hold, the banksters, bureaucrats and hackers will have total […]

By Nichola Saminather and Wayne Cole | SINGAPORE/SYDNEY SINGAPORE/SYDNEY The euro was under the gun on Monday, skidding to a 20-month low after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following a stinging defeat on constitutional reform that could destabilise the country’s shaky banking system. The single currency, which slumped to as low as $1.0505 EUR= in early Asian trade after opening at around $1.0685, […]

Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 5, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Heritage performance Attend Hekayah the Story, a multiple-artist event under the stars in celebration of National Day, featuring poetry, prose and songs by performers from diverse backgrounds selected through a collaborative curatorial […]

Two days after Donald Trump created a diplomatic dispute with China over Taiwan, the president-elect took to Twitter on Sunday evening to criticise Beijing and defend his decision to speak with the Taiwanese president. China issued a protest on Saturday after Mr Trump spoke on the phone with Tsai Ing-wen, the first such contact with a Taiwanese leader since the US severed diplomatic ties in 1979. Although […]

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BEIRUT As Syrian government forces advanced into Aleppo’s rebel-held al-Sakhour district, Hasan al-Ali said he faced the choice of staying put and being caught by the army, or fleeing into a shrinking rebel enclave under relentless bombardment. A father of three children, he opted for the latter, though food, fuel, water and medicine are running critically low in rebel-held areas, such is his fear of the Syrian […]

Boston Dynamics has already developed a robot that can maintain its balance in uneven terrain involving a four-legged robot called BigDog. Now, the company through a third-party technology has just achieved the same feat but this time it involves a humanoid robot. IHMC Algorithm The new development is attributed to an algorithm developed by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Robotics Lab in Florida, which allows humanoid […]

Patriots Cruise Past Rams Photo Patriots receiver Chris Hogan celebrated a first-half touchdown against the Rams. Credit Maddie Meyer/Getty Images The New England Patriots may have lost some explosiveness on offense with the season-ending injury to Rob Gronkowski, but with the way the team’s defense swallowed Jared Goff whole, a missing piece on New England’s offense hardly seemed to matter as the Patriots beat the Los Angeles […]

By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi | BEIRUT/AMMAN BEIRUT/AMMAN As the Syrian government and its allies prepared to ramp up their attack on Aleppo in November, one of the rebel groups defending the opposition-held part of the city took up arms against another, seizing its stores of ammunition, fuel and food. The incident near an Aleppo frontline underlined the rebel rivalries that only worsened in the face […]

GENEVA Europe’s trade negotiator blamed China on Sunday for scuppering a global environmental trade deal by submitting impossible late demands at World Trade Organization talks aimed at scrapping import tariffs on exports worth more than $1 trillion. “China came in with their list, bringing in totally new elements of perspective, which was very late in the process,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told Reuters. The change of […]

When you think of the UAE Army’s special forces, you might imagine specialists in desert warfare, hiding behind sand dunes in camouflage as they sneak up on the enemy while a sandstorm rages across the landscape. You probably wouldn’t think of them in minus-60°C temperatures, 2,438 metres above sea level, as they attempt to conquer the slopes of Mount Everest. But that is exactly what we see […]

By Ali Sawafta | RAMALLAH, West Bank RAMALLAH, West Bank Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas kept a strong grip on his Fatah movement in an election in which his loyalists remained dominant in its top decision-making body, final results showed on Sunday. The outcome of the voting, held on Saturday during the first congress of Abbas’s Fatah party for seven years, signalled no change in a policy of […]

New energy vehicles (NEVs) at Beijing Institute of Technology’s campus. Credit: Yu Hao Many Chinese cities are suffering from deteriorating environmental quality—particularly due to air pollution that contributes to fog and haze. Air pollutant levels now far exceed “safe” limits established by the European Union, and one of the main culprits behind it is the rapid increase in automobile ownership and usage. These rising environmental concerns are […]

Europe’s mainstream political parties have voiced their relief after Austria voted against a far-right nationalist becoming president in an election that had been seen as the first of two tests of populism on the continent on Sunday. Alexander Van der Bellen, a Green politician who ran as an independent, won 53.3 per cent of the vote while his far-right opponent, Norbert Hofer of the Freedom party, won […]

By Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday downplayed the significance of a phone conversation between Donald Trump and Taiwan’s president, describing it as a “courtesy call” that was not intended to show a shift in U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwanese leader since […]

Investors should invest in properties as prices are reasonable and the market is showing signs of recovery, according to an Omani real estate developer. Latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed sales are up 124 percent to $19.99 billion (OMR7.7 billion) in the first ten months of 2016 from $8.83 billion (OMR3.4 billion) for the same period 2015. Mortgage deals jumped by […]

Expert Panel At Telematics Middle East 2016 to Discuss Impact of the OEMs’ Changing Role in the Mobility Market and How Connected Cars will change the industry? Expert Panel At Telematics Middle East 2016 to Discuss Impact of the OEMs’ Changing Role in the Mobility Market and How Connected Cars will change the industry? Dubai, UAE – December 4, 2016  Bright Box, a global vendor of connected […]

By Jeffrey Heller | JERUSALEM JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he will discuss with Donald Trump the West’s “bad” nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. president-elect enters the White House. During the U.S. election campaign, Trump, a Republican, called last year’s nuclear pact a “disaster” and “the worst deal ever negotiated”. But the businessman-turned-politician has also said it would be hard to […]

Apple CarPlay, Image: Ford Apple in a November letter to US regulators publicly acknowledged work on autonomous vehicles for the first time, after years of reports surrounding Project Titan. Steve Kenner, Apple’s director of product integrity, sent a five page letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, urging regulators not to impose too many restrictions on self-driving as the iPhone maker begins testing the technology. “The […]

By Saif Hameed and Ulf Laessing | BAGHDAD/BARTELLA, Iraq BAGHDAD/BARTELLA, Iraq Islamic State fighters retreating in the face of a seven-week Iraqi military assault on their Mosul stronghold have hit back in the last two days, exploiting cloudy skies which hampered U.S.-led air support and highlighting the fragile army gains. In a series of counter-attacks since Friday night, the jihadist fighters struck elite Iraqi troops spearheading the […]

ATHENS Political uncertainty in Europe has created fresh momentum for a “comprehensive and permanent” solution to the Greek debt crisis before the year ends, a government spokesman said on Sunday. Euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss short-term debt relief for Greece, and Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble said it must implement reforms instead of hoping for further debt forgiveness. Greece remained optimistic for […]

newslide Director Gareth Edwards has cameo in Rogue One Director Gareth Edwards says he gave himself a cameo in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But, as with most things Star Wars, Edwards is staying mum on what exactly that entails. The reveal, he said, might have to wait for the DVD extras. Edwards is a self-proclaimed Star Wars super fan and […]

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