LONDON // Doctors have declared that infertility caused by treatment for inherited blood disorders affecting thousands of Gulf Arabs may at last be wiped out. In a medical breakthrough, Emirati Moaza Al Matrooshi, a 24-year-old from Dubai who was born with the fatal blood condition thalassaemia, this week became the first patient to give birth to a healthy baby after herself being cured of the disease. Thanks […]
November 30, 2016 by: Joe Leahy in São Paulo Brazil’s economy recorded its seventh straight quarterly contraction between July and September, disappointing hopes the new government of president Michel Temer could engineer a quick turnround in the fortunes of Latin America’s biggest economy. The news on the economy, with gross domestic product contracting at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent during the third quarter, came after […]
By Diane Bartz and Sarah N. Lynch | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Two years after high generic drug prices became a public controversy, legal cases are starting to land. Twenty states filed a lawsuit Thursday against Mylan NV (MYL.O), Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA.TA) and four other generic drug makers, saying they conspired over steak dinners and “girls nights out” on pricing of two common generic drugs, according to a copy […]
Users will soon deem switching to Periscope unnecessary for livestreaming purposes, with the recent introduction of a new in-app feature that will let Twitter users stream live video directly from the Twitter app. Make no mistake; it’s still Periscope’s handiwork, only now more streamlined. Go Live On Twitter Starting Wednesday, Dec. 14, any Twitter user can now start their own broadcast by tapping the “Live” button housed inside […]
Photo On the campus of New York University Abu Dhabi. The failure of Georgetown and N.Y.U. to call out the suppression of critical speech suggests the complicity that gulf money buys. Credit Andrew Holbrooke/Corbis WASHINGTON — Cyberespionage may be the new normal, but you wouldn’t think that an American graduate student would be a target for state-level spyware and surveillance. Apparently, though, I am. On May 19, […]
By Timothy Mclaughlin | CHICAGO CHICAGO Residents of the U.S. East Coast on Thursday felt a blast of arctic air that earlier swept across the Midwest, with a large swath of the country now under a wind-chill advisory and Boston facing possible record-low temperatures on Friday. The arctic air began blowing south from Canada into the Midwest earlier this week, prompting authorities to warn of the risk […]
The US dollar marched higher on Thursday, reaching its strongest level against the euro for more than a decade, after the US Federal Reserve signalled a more aggressive outlook for interest rate policy. Europe’s single currency was among the hardest hit, falling through the $1.04 level to trade at its lowest level since early 2003. Driving the dollar’s strength is a growing divergence between benchmark interest rates […]
A new technique devised by MIT researchers can take data sets with huge numbers of variables and find approximations of them with far fewer variables. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology One way to handle big data is to shrink it. If you can identify a small subset of your data set that preserves its salient mathematical relationships, you may be able to perform useful analyses on it […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently studying Martian mountains for ancient environmental changes, has zeroed in on wet environments and their evolution over billions of years. The new data indicate that past environment in Mars was supportive of microbial life though the exact time frame is up for debate. This was mooted by NASA and Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. “There […]
SANTIAGO A prominent Chilean business leader presented the country’s economy minister with an inflatable doll on stage at an event late on Tuesday, sparking a social media storm and criticism by President Michelle Bachelet. Exporters’ association Asexma traditionally gives humorous gifts to VIPs attending its annual dinner, but the inflated sex toy – which was handed to economy minister Luis Cespedes with the comment that it could […]
Last week, the Library of Congress (LOC), the nation’s largest library, announced a partnership with the Digital Public Library of America, the nation’s largest digital library. The first fruits of that collaboration—5,000 maps from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and panoramic map collections—are available immediately, with many more to come. However, you don’t have to be an historian or cartographer to appreciate why this partnership is a […]
By Howard Schneider and Lindsay Dunsmuir | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and signaled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as central bankers adapted to the incoming Trump administration’s promises of tax cuts, spending and deregulation. The increase in the federal funds rate to a range of between 0.50 percent and 0.75 percent was widely expected. But the prospect of […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 14, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Yoga class Take part in the popular Flow in the Dark yoga class at Bodytree Studio. Enjoy a night of yoga, music and creative expression led by Angela. The lights will be […]
Photo Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors signing autographs before a game in Memphis last week. The N.B.A. is in the midst of a highly prosperous stretch. Credit Brandon Dill/Associated Press At a time of enormous popularity and prosperity for the N.B.A., the league and the players’ union reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a seven-year collective bargaining agreement that ensures labor peace through the […]
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Ron Bousso | COPENHAGEN/LONDON COPENHAGEN/LONDON Talks between shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and DONG Energy (DENERG.CO) to merge their oil and gas business have stalled after the two Danish firms could not agree on a price, industry and banking sources said on Wednesday. The breakdown in talks aimed at creating a joint company worth more than $10 billion may open the door for […]
· Acquisition to be funded by a Placing of up to 9.99% of the issued share capital of the Company and through new debt facilities 14 December 2016 UAE – NMC Health plc. (NMC), the leading integrated healthcare provider operating across the United Arab Emirates, is pleased to announce the proposed acquisition of Al Zahra Hospital in Sharjah from Gulf Medical Projects Company (“GMPC”) for AED 2,058 million […]
Photo Paraag Marathe, the San Francisco 49ers’ chief strategy officer and executive vice president for football operations, at his home in Los Altos, Calif. His sister died of anorexia. Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Paraag Marathe’s structured, analytical mind has served him well in the offices of Silicon Valley and the National Football League. He figured that he could lean on […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia’s federal court rejected on Wednesday jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s final bid to set aside his sodomy conviction and five-year jail term. A panel of judges ruled there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal. He will now have to serve out the remaining 16 months of his prison term. (Reporting by […]
HONG KONG HSBC has launched a $290 million lending facility aimed at technology start-ups and other new industries in China’s Pearl River Delta region, intensifying the battle for a slice of a business that is growing despite a slowing economy. Showered with money from private investors over the last few years, the promising technology start-ups in China, the world’s second-largest economy, have shunned traditional lenders, seeking to […]
In a massive (in a literal sense, printing at 25 pages and over 8,000 words as there is little new information revealed in the piece itself) expose issued by the NYT tited “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.” and meant to piggyback on the WaPo’s recent reporting and solidify the left-leaning media’s case that Hillary lost the election, the New York Times try to […]
By Matt Spetalnick and Timothy Gardner | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will make his case directly to President-elect Donald Trump not to derail the recent U.S.-Cuba detente, the White House said on Tuesday, insisting that “turning back the clock” would be damaging to American interests and the Cuban people. Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the outgoing administration hopes to persuade the incoming Trump […]
By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump named the head of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Rex Tillerson, as his choice for U.S. secretary of state on Tuesday and won backing from some Republican foreign policy figures ahead of a possible Senate fight over the oilman’s ties to Russia. The Exxon CEO potentially faces difficulties getting confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate. Some lawmakers worry about his […]
ABU DHABI // The Arab world is entering a new era, involving reform and changes in its mindset, according to the former Egyptian foreign minister and secretary general of the Arab League. In an interview with The National, Amr Moussa said the region’s young citizens, who make up about 70 per cent of the population, are better educated and have aspirations for the future. “They reject what […]
The Abu Dhabi government has signed an agreement with a US-based research firm to study the feasibility of a Hyperloop transport system between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) announced in a statement on Monday that it had inked a deal with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (Hyperloop TT) – one of several companies working to bring the technology first conceived by […]
