Most of the stories we hear about Damascus these days are tales of despair from news bulletins about bombings, water shortages or failed peace efforts. But to Syrian children’s writer and illustrator Nadine Kaadan, who spoke on Friday at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the city is always a source of inspiration. With her first book in English – The Jasmine Sneeze, about a cat who […]
President Donald Trump’s populist views, reality television stardom, and penchant for Twitter insults all but guaranteed an out-of-the-ordinary first 100 days for the billionaire political neophyte. A look at the data reveals how Mr Trump compares with previous Oval Office occupants. Bills signed into law Enacted legislation for last seven presidents in first 100 days Source: govtrack.us The White House touts that Mr Trump has accomplished more […]
Of 35 bridge collapses analyzed, floods caused 13, erosion of sediments around bridge foundations — scour — caused 16, a hurricane caused 1 and other influences (such as waterborne or hydraulic debris) caused 5. Superimposed H denotes sites where a hurricane or tropical storm occurred and may have influenced bridge collapse. Area of circles is proportional to drainage area of bridge sites. Credit: Flint, et al. The […]
BEIRUT Fighting between rebel groups in the biggest insurgent stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus entered a second day on Saturday, while government forces pressed an offensive against the besieged enclave, a war monitor said. The clashes broke out in part of the densely-populated rural area east of Damascus known as the Eastern Ghouta which has been besieged by Syrian government forces since 2013. The Syrian Observatory […]
In a curious incident that is certain to provoke questions about the proximity, not to mention fund flow, between Israel and ISIS the former Israeli Defense Minister, cited by the Times of Israel, said that Islamic State terrorists have on at least one occasion “apologized” to Israel for mistakenly attacking IDF soldiers in the occupied Golan Heights. The disclosure may also provide some insight into why after […]
Cloudera CEO Tom Reilly ringing the bell at the NYSE Friday. Cloudera closed out its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange with its share price up 20 percent to $18.10. The Apache Hadoop-based software and services distributor started trading Friday morning at $17.80 a share under the ticker symbol CLDR. On Thursday evening, Cloudera priced its shares at $15, raising around $225 million […]
MOSCOW At least 24 people were missing in south-Western Kyrgyzstan on Saturday after a landslide tore through a village, Kyrgyzstan’s Emergency Ministry said on Saturday. The landslide, caused by heavy rains, destroyed eleven houses in the village in Uzgen district of Osh region at around 0120 GMT on Saturday. The exact number of people hit by the landslide was unclear, the Emergency Ministry said. The press office […]
By Ahmad Sultan | MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan In his first public speech since signing a peace deal with the Afghan government, one of Afghanistan’s most notorious warlords on Saturday called for the Taliban to stop fighting and begin negotiations. “I invite you to join the peace caravan and stop the pointless, meaningless and unholy war,” Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said to a gathering of his followers […]
Bret Stephens made his debut in the pages of The New York Times opinion section today with a column defending climate change skepticism in the face of scientific surety, a take that didn’t sit well with many of his colleagues in the newsroom. Stephens, a 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winner who joined The Times earlier this year after critiquing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The Wall Street Journal’s opinion […]
Astronomers have modeled the two rings around Chariklo, the smallest body in the Solar System known to have rings. This is the first time an entire ring system has been simulated using realistic sizes for the ring particles. The simulation revealed that the ring particles are much smaller than predicted or that an undiscovered shepherd satellite around Chariklo is stabilizing the ring. (via WSJ)
BRUSSELS The European Union will only be able to conclude talks on Britain’s exit if it stays united, which means the bloc’s unity is in Britain’s interest, the chairman of EU summits Donald Tusk said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters before an EU summit to approve EU guidelines for negotiations with Britain, Tusk repeated the 27 countries remaining in the EU wanted a “close and strong future […]
SYDNEY Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google said it will challenge amended tax assessments issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which is trying to claw back billions of dollars from multinational corporations citing unpaid taxes. The ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multinationals operating in Australia pay. In December, it said it was pursuing seven global businesses over A$2 billion ($1.50 billion) in unpaid tax. While […]
Emerging from an Hermès store in Shanghai with a shiny new watch costing “tens of thousands” of renminbi, Zhao Feifei is emblematic of a younger generation of Chinese consumers driving a rebound in sales of European luxury brands. “I’m earning more than before so I’m more willing to spend,” says Ms Zhao, who works in an internet finance company. The 30-year-old is one of the many customers […]
By Michelle Nichols and Lesley Wroughton | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned on Friday that failure to curb North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs could lead to ‘catastrophic consequences,’ while China and Russia rebuked Washington’s threat of military force. The showdown in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on North Korea highlighted the diplomatic challenges of resolving tensions over […]
Hotels in Saudi Arabia suffered during the first quarter of 2017 with occupancy, rates and revenues all showing double-digit decreases, according to new figures. Data released by hospitality analysts STR revealed that hotel occupancy across the Gulf kingdom averaged 58.3 percent in Q1, down 10.4 percent on the year-earlier period. STR also said that average daily rates (ADR) in Saudi Arabia slumped by 12 percent to SR578.09 […]
Sadara’s 26-plant chemical complex makes strong headway towards full operation with completion of plastics envelope JUBAIL, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2017 – Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced today the startup of its fourth and final polyethylene unit, the High Pressure Low Density Polyethylene (HP-LDPE) Train. This marks a significant milestone for the company as it continues to bring its world-scale manufacturing facilities on stream. The HP-LDPE Train […]
By John Irish | CHATELLERAULT, France CHATELLERAULT, France French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron launched a scathing attack on Friday against politicians who have failed to endorse him against far-right rival Marine Le Pen, saying they were making France “morally weak” and pandering to extremists. Having been caught on the hop by Le Pen since the start of the second round campaign this week, and with just over […]
From the Slope of Hope: Earlier this week, my son asked me a sincere question: “How come Marissa Mayer got $200 million by screwing up Yahoo?” It was a good question, and one I had trouble answering at first, because I’d like him to think that there’s some level of fairness, meritocracy, and sensibility to this world of ours. In Mayer’s case, however, there is none. Her entire massive fortune is […]
By Nobuhiro Kubo | SASEBO SASEBO As tension spikes on the Korean peninsula, a French amphibious assault carrier sailed into Japan’s naval base of Sasebo on Saturday ahead of drills that risk upsetting China, which faces U.S. pressure to rein in North Korea’s arms programmes. The Mistral will lead exercises next month near Guam, along with forces from Japan, the United States and Britain, practicing amphibious landings […]
By Matt Robinson | BELGRADE BELGRADE Nationalists in Macedonia are “playing with fire” in refusing to relinquish power and the European Union should consider halting its accession process in order to break a dangerous deadlock, said the former envoy who helped avert civil war in the Balkan country. A long-running political crisis in the former Yugoslav republic turned violent on Thursday when supporters of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE […]
By Jeffrey Dastin | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Amazon.com Inc’s ventures far beyond online retail, from cloud computing to movie making, are raising questions among corporate strategy experts about its focus. The Seattle-based company wowed Wall Street again this week with a 23 percent jump in sales, pushing its shares to an all-time high. But there are concerns that if blockbuster growth stops, investors may come to […]
That it fell to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to score the match-winning goal away to arch-rivals Real Madrid on Sunday was of little surprise to his legions of devotees, who already view the diminutive Argentinian as something of an immortal giant on the football field, and even to casual fans. El Clasico – the lyrical Spanish name for matches played between the two powerhouses of the country’s domestic […]
Donald Trump plans to end or renegotiate any trade deal that does not increase US economic growth, reduce the US trade deficit or contribute to higher US wages, according to a leaked draft of an executive order obtained by the Financial Times. The draft of the order Mr Trump had been planning to sign on Saturday before his high-profile U-turn this week calls for US officials to […]
Ras Al Khaimah has reaffirmed its position as the region’s fastest growing tourism destination for international travellers following increased year-on-year visitor numbers during the first quarter of 2017. New figures reported by Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) revealed that overall visitor arrivals to the emirate in Q1 grew by 8.3 percent year-on-year. With domestic tourism still the single largest contributor to Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism […]
