A historic change in party rules has handed Shinzo Abe the possibility of becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in more than half a century. The revision, which would allow Mr Abe to stay in power until 2021, marks a stunning turnaround for a country long known for its revolving door of prime ministers to becoming one of the most stable governments among the group of seven leading […]
A fiber optic undersea link connecting Angola’s capital Luanda to the Brazilian city of Fortaleza is reported to be about 50 percent complete, with operations set to begin later this year. With more than 6,200 kilometers in length, SACS (South Atlantic Cable System) system will be the first fiber optic cable to connect Africa to the Americas via the South Atlantic sea. According to Angola Cables, the […]
Award-winning British artist and designer Zoe Bradley is not your average couturier. She rarely meets her clients for fittings of their gowns, her pieces are commonly only worn once, and some have been “thrown away” after use. This is because Bradley works exclusively in paper. Such is her pedigree that her clients for one-off commissions have included the likes of enigmatic Icelandic pop singer Björk and late […]
The Switch, Nintendo’s newest video game system, merges home gaming comfort and portability to create a unique, eye-catching platform. The nifty Joy-Con motion controllers foster the same casual-friendly gameplay that made the Wii a hit, while Switch’s tablet-style design and side-grip controller slots improve Nintendo’s Wii U vision. When you consider Nintendo’s dominance over the portable console market, it’s easy to imagine Switch following suit […]
Earlier this week, Japanese TV audiences glimpsed a potentially revolutionary contraption from the Matsue College of Technology that rapidly separates closed shijimi clamshells into those with a live mollusc inside and those without. Cut to footage of a human sorter, expertly performing the same function at a rate of just 90 kgs of shijimi per day and whose job this machine seems destined to replace. In other […]
By Minami Funakoshi | TOKYO TOKYO U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to visit Japan, South Korea and China this month to discuss North Korea on his first trip to the region since he took up his post, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Tillerson’s trip would come as the United States and China try to put relations on an even keel after a rocky start […]
BEIJING Ri Jong Chol, a suspect in the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader, said in Beijing that he was a victim of a conspiracy by Malaysian authorities attempting to damage the honour of North Korea. Ri, a North Korean, accused Malaysia of using coercion to try to extract a confession from him, he told reporters outside the North Korea embassy in Beijing on […]
While equity market euphoria at the prospect of President Donald Trump’s spendthrift, deregulatory agenda remains undimmed, bond investors are sending a very different message. US equity gauges have continued to climb this year, propelled by hopes of deregulation, tax cuts, government spending and more business-friendly policies. This week all four of the biggest stock indices achieved yet another “Grand Slam” of fresh records in the wake of […]
March 3, 2017 by: Jamie Chisholm, Global Markets Commentator Friday 08:35 GMT Overview Stock markets are retreating as Wall Street equity futures dip further from this week’s record high as investors cash in some of their bullish bets on stronger growth following the election of US president Donald Trump. The pullback comes amid heightened expectations that the improving economic scenario will encourage the Federal Reserve to increase […]
SYDNEY The dollar clung to broad gains on Friday as the risk of an imminent U.S. interest rate hike slugged sovereign bonds and commodities, even managing to sour Wall Street’s party as the reality of rising borrowing costs began to sink in. Spread betters pointed to opening losses for European stocks and E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.3 percent. Asian markets were mostly lower, […]
Core inflation has returned to Japan for the first time since 2015, with consumer prices excluding fresh food rising by 0.1 per cent in January over the same month a year earlier. The return to positive territory was driven by energy — petrol prices jumped 9.2 per cent year-on-year after big drops in 2016 — but the rise will be welcome news for the Bank of Japan. […]
ABU DHABI // A robot arm developed to help stroke patients regain movement may be sent to war zones to protect the lives of bomb disposal crews. Students from UAE University designed the 3D-printed device to help rehabilitation after motion loss and are looking at a wider range of uses. “The idea started with a rehabilitation robot for people who had a stroke and lost their motion,” […]
By Kanupriya Kapoor | JAKARTA JAKARTA Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has embraced the “selfie”, taking part in a number of light-hearted self-shot pictures and videos during his tour of Asia that contrast with the pomp and formality of most of the octogenarian monarch’s trips abroad. In the first days of a lengthy regional tour, the king has appeared with top-ranking officials in Indonesia and Malaysia in pictures […]
A research group at Tohoku University and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed a molecular robot consisting of biomolecules, such as DNA and protein. The molecular robot was developed by integrating molecular machines into an artificial cell membrane. It can start and stop its shape-changing function in response to a specific DNA signal. This is the first time that a molecular robotic system has […]
Jeff Sessions, the US attorney-general, failed to disclose during his confirmation hearings that he twice met the Russian ambassador while acting as a close adviser to Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign. Mr Sessions met Sergey Kislyak on September 8 in the then senator’s private office in the US Capitol building, after having spoken with him briefly two months earlier at an event sponsored by the […]
In The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State, journalist Graeme Wood aligns himself with the Orientalist tradition of Bernard Lewis, who warned liberal students against projecting secular frameworks on contemporary Muslim politics. Lewis believed religion, not secular grievance, was the prime motivator of this politics. This may or may not be true. In any case, the argument has limited explanatory power. It doesn’t explain […]
Photo King Salman of Saudi Arabia, center, arriving at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Credit Achmad Ibrahim/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — You could call it bling diplomacy. As part of a monthlong tour in Asia to promote economic ties, King Salman of Saudi Arabia arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday to great fanfare, accompanied, the news media said, by a retinue with a […]
TOKYO Already rare among Group of Seven leaders for the stability of his reign, Shinzo Abe will have a shot at becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister after his party changes a rule allowing him to serve a third consecutive three-year term. That would give Abe, whose resignation in 2007 after an earlier stint started a spate of revolving-door premiers, a chance to achieve his goal of revising […]
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday landed at a military airbase in the capital of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, to kick off the longest leg of a month-long trip across Asia. The visit is the first by a Saudi monarch in nearly five decades and will see the two nations sign a pact to combat terrorism, according to the Saudi envoy to Indonesia. Secular Indonesia […]
The Bank of Japan published detailed schedules of planned asset purchases for the first time on Tuesday as it seeks to prove its commitment to a zero per cent cap on 10-year government bond yields. Japan’s central bank said it will buy a minimum of ¥1.375tn and a maximum of ¥2.175tn of government bonds during March, giving a series of dates and estimated sizes for its planned […]
For 2017, Toyota has added its most fuel-efficient Prius ever: a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid called Prius Prime that can travel up to 640 miles on a full electric charge and a single tank of fuel. With its federal government fuel ratings of 54 miles per gallon on gasoline power and 133 mpg-equivalent on electricity plus gasoline, the new Prius Prime is the most fuel-efficient plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid […]
Dubai, UAE, 01 March 2017 Konica Minolta Business Solutions Middle East will be taking part at the Gulf Print and Pack 2017 running from 26th to 29th March at Dubai World Trade Centre. Konica Minolta will be showcasing and unveiling new developments at the Gulf Print and Pack 2017. As a leading global service provider in the field of IT- and document processes as well as digital […]
TOKYO Asian shares rose on Thursday as investors were encouraged by President Donald Trump’s measured tone in his first speech to Congress, which sent Wall Street stocks sharply higher, while growing bets on a U.S. rate hike this month buoyed the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, led by rebound in Australian shares . Japan’s Nikkei .N225 rose 1.3 percent […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for March 2, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Al Ain Cultural event As […]
