(Image: Samsung) Read any review of Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and there’s one consistent theme that appears: The position of the fingerprint sensor is seriously flawed. Must read: Apple’s big $1,000+ iPhone gamble Let’s take a look at what the reviewers have been saying. Let’s begin with Walt Mossberg over at The Verge: In my tests, the Galaxy S8 had the least reliable, most frustrating, biometric security […]
After a surly first conversation between the two leaders in January that rattled the United States and Australia’s long-standing alliance, Pence will take a more amiable approach and try to focus on cooperation on trade, defence and more. Trump reportedly exploded and cut short the call when he was told about a deal to move some refugees from Australia to America. That left some in Australia questioning […]
MOSCOW Russia has told the United States it regrets Washington’s opposition to letting its inspectors take part in an investigation into a chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this month, the foreign ministry said on Friday. It said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the two sides agreed to consider one more time an “objective investigation into the […]
TEL AVIV U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that Syria had dispersed its warplanes in recent days and that it retained chemical weapons, an issue he said would have to be taken up diplomatically. The United States launched dozens of missiles earlier this month against a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack that killed 90 people, including 30 children. It says the […]
Art restitution lawyers are cheering a Friday decision by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that found Germany must face litigation in the United States in a case seeking to recover Nazi-confiscated art. Barring any changes to the decision on appeal, the case will mark the first time Germany has to defend itself in an […] (via WSJ)
An 18-year-old man who holds dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship was charged on Friday with making threatening calls to Jewish community centres in Florida, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. Michael Ron David Kadar is accused in a criminal complaint filed in Orlando, Florida, of making calls to the community centres from January to March involving bomb threats and active shooters, the statement said. Kadar […]
MOSCOW Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Friday that a gunman had burst into one of its regional offices in the far east of the country and opened fire, killing one of its employees and a visitor. The region where the incident happened is close to China. The FSB, the successor organisation to the Soviet KGB, said the attacker had been killed and that another person had […]
Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) said on Friday its commercial aviation after-sales business was benefiting from robust air travel, while its energy division was getting a lift from stable oil prices, sending shares to a record high. The diversified U.S. manufacturer’s shares rose as much as 3.6 percent to $128.30 in afternoon trading. Honeywell, which made an unsuccessful bid for rival United Technologies Inc (UTX.N) last year, also […]
Tens of millions of iPhone owners are ready to upgrade to 2017 iPhones, fueling the so-called iPhone “supercycle,” market research firm comScore reports. Apple has always enjoyed a loyal fan base and each new product iteration attracts many existing customers looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest. A new report from comScore now reveals that tens of millions of legacy iPhone owners are looking to upgrade […]
It was on a recent break in Bali that we found out that our teenage son is an excellent swimmer. The discovery was a source of amazement, because, whether in the sea or a pool, Calvin only floats on his back, politely declining requests to get some exercise and show us his best freestyle and butterfly strokes. At the hotel in Nusa Dua, our 15-year-old spent all […]
WASHINGTON The United States disclosed on Friday a secret military ground operation that killed an Islamic State operative seen as a close associate of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and linked to an attack on a Turkish nightclub that left 39 people dead. Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, who was believed to be from Uzbekistan, was killed during the ground assault near Mayadin, Syria, on April 6, said Colonel John Thomas, […]
Study Watch is an investigational device and is not available for sale. Alphabet’s life sciences unit Verily on Friday unveiled a wrist-worn “Study Watch” designed to gather complex health data in clinical studies. Study Watch is meant for research and will be put to work in several studies including a multi-year study to identify patterns in the progression of Parkinson’s disease, according to a blog post by […]
By Eyanir Chinea and Efrain Otero | CARACAS CARACAS Eight people were electrocuted to death during a looting incident in Caracas, a firefighter said on Friday, amid violent protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by opponents accusing him of seeking to create a dictatorship. The accident occurred when a group of looters broke into a bakery in the working class neighborhood of El Valle, according the firefighter, […]
Windows Central got their hands on an apparent Microsoft confidential document that outlines recommended minimum specifications for Windows 10 CloudBooks. Windows 10 CloudBooks are what they sound like: Devices meant to compete with Chromebooks that are running the still-unofficially announced Cloud edition of Windows 10. As I blogged previously, Microsoft is expected to take the wraps off Windows 10 Cloud and some kind of device(s) running that […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, said on Friday it had invited the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to appear at a closed hearing on May 2. Apparently ending a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over who would testify as it investigates possible links between President Donald Trump’s campaign […]
Investor sentiment is leaning towards a market-friendly outcome ahead of Sunday’s first round of voting in the French presidential election. The euro was on course for its best week in three months near $1.07, while a key proxy of election risk, the premium demanded by investors to own French government bonds over German Bunds, has narrowed sharply. “The most likely outcome is for a second round run-off […]
Tropical storm Arlene has weakened into a post-tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Friday. The post-tropical cyclone is moving towards the southwest near 23 miles per hour (37 km/h), the NHC said, adding that the cyclone is forecast to dissipate later on Friday. Post-tropical Arlene is located about 1,235 miles or 1,985 kilometers west of the Azores, the Miami-based weather […]
LONDON Oil held near $53 a barrel on Friday, but was on course for its biggest weekly drop in a month due to doubts that an OPEC-led production cut will restore balance to an oversupplied market. Brent futures LCOc1 were at $53.01 a barrel at 1107 GMT, up 2 cents from their last close and set for a 5.15 percent weekly drop, their biggest fall since the […]
As an ardent Brexiter, Simon Boyd did not support Theresa May to be prime minister. After all, she not only sat out the UK’s EU referendum contest last June but quietly voiced support for key arguments to remain in the bloc. But now Mr Boyd, the managing director of a specialty steelmaker in south-west England and regional head of a pro-Brexit business group, has the zeal of […]
CARACAS A man was killed in a protest in the Venezuelan capital on Thursday night, an official said on Friday, marking the ninth death in a wave of sometimes violent demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Melvin Guaitan died of a bullet wound in the slum of Petare, municipal mayor Carlos Ocariz said via Twitter. Local media reported looting and street clashes with security forces in poor […]
More than 100 cloud seeding missions were carried out in the UAE in the first quarter of 2017, Arabian Business can reveal. Figures obtained from the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) show that the UAE conducted 101 cloud seeding operations between January and the end of March, compared to 77 missions in the same period last year. This represents a 30 percent increase from the […]
ANKARA Turks approved by a narrow margin an April 16 referendum to change the constitution and hand President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers. The opposition and overseas observers say the vote was riddled with irregularities, including the electoral board’s decision to accept ballots that had not been officially stamped by authorities at polling stations. The following is a timeline of events on the day of the vote. 6:01 […]
Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications Everyone experiences stiff muscles from time to time, whether after a rigorous workout, in cold weather, or after falling asleep in an unusual position. People with cerebral palsy, stroke and multiple sclerosis, however, live with stiff muscles every single day, making everyday tasks such as extending an arm extremely difficult and painful for them. And since there isn’t a foolproof way […]
PARIS French artist Abraham Poincheval, who famously spent a week inside a rock and two weeks inside a bear sculpture, has succeeded in hatching chicken eggs after incubating them for some three weeks. Poincheval embarked on his latest project in late March of imitating a mother hen by incubating some 10 eggs with his own body heat inside a glass vivarium at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo contemporary […]
