As a last wish, a 14-year-old UK teen convinced the high court to be cryogenically frozen, hoping that one day she will be brought back to life. The girl suffered from terminal cancer, and she explained in court that she wanted to have a chance at living longer. The court ruled that the girl’s mother should be the one to decide on what to do about her […]
Already, many Israelis and Palestinians are buzzing about the prospect. Where would the embassy go? Would it straddle the line between West Jerusalem, which is predominantly Jewish, and East Jerusalem, which is predominantly Arab? Would it touch off street protests in Palestinian cities or a backlash among Arab allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia? Continue reading the main story “Jerusalem is a symbolic, emotional and real issue,” […]
Friday 17:00 GMT. Wall Street slipped as the dollar climbed to a new 13-year high and US government bond yields hit multi-month peaks on Friday on expectations that president-elect Donald Trump’s policies will boost the economy and deliver tighter monetary policy. After a mixed Asia-Pacific session, which included Japanese equities entering a bull market, the pan-European Stoxx 600 slide 0.3 per cent. Investors have been eyeing the […]
A number of children suffer from a quite odd syndrome, which consists of the impossibility to get their hair combed. The German term for this phenomenon is “Struwwelpeter syndrome,” which translates to “uncombable hair syndrome.” A new research conducted by scientists from the Universities of Bonn and Toulouse have spotted the gene mutations that are responsible for this condition. As part of the study, representatives of the […]
Photo The view from Elias Muhanna’s grandparents’ balcony, in Roumieh, Lebanon, in 2010. Credit The Muhanna Family When I was a child, I spent most summers at my grandparents’ home in the Lebanese mountain village of Roumieh, overlooking Beirut and the Mediterranean coast. From the swing on the veranda, an expanse of umbrella pines and terracotta-roofed villages tumbled steeply toward the sea. In the evenings, my grandfather […]
U.S. stocks looked set to open little changed on Friday, with all three major indexes near record highs, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sent a strong signal that interest rates would be increased next month. The Fed could raise rates “relatively soon”, Yellen said in a congressional testimony on Thursday, adding that she would serve out her term. Traders are pricing in an 83 […]
Just over a year ago I conducted a social experiment as a taxi driver behind the wheel of a Careem taxi. Careem is a Dubai-based transportation company, founded in 2012, that allows customers to request a taxi via a smartphone app either immediately or for a later time. In a country where it is a battle to stand on the street under the summer sun for half […]
President Barack Obama will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders in Berlin on Friday, addressing a range of economic and security issues and their concerns about his successor Donald Trump. Syria, international terrorism, climate change and the threats posed by Russia will feature high on the agenda at the meeting, the final engagement of Mr Obama’s farewell trip to Europe. The leaders were also […]
Qualcomm officially unveiled its new Snapdragon 835 processor built on Samsung’s 10nm process, not only boosting performance but also reducing the time it takes to charge a device. The next-generation SoC for mobile devices is the latest and greatest in Qualcomm’s extensive lineup of more than 200 designs, and follows the powerful Snapdragon 820 and 821 processors powering the latest Android flagships. Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 On Samsung […]
“I need that moment when I think, ‘This sucks,’” is how he put it. When he first started running, Engle did it as a form of penance — “I was feeling badly about myself and wanted to punish myself,” he said. Then, as he realized he was good at running long distances, ultramarathons — and other, even more extreme events — became a way to test his […]
Friday 06:00 GMT. The US dollar continues to push higher and sovereign bonds remain under pressure, while major equities benchmarks are on track to finish the week on a positive note. European bourses are expected to open firmer, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 5 points to 6,800 and Germany’s Dax to gain 30 points to 10,716. US index futures suggest the S&P 500 […]
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production. On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: “I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. […]
Apple has acknowledged a recurring defect in its two-year-old iPhone 6 Plus, offering customers a cut-price touchscreen repair after months of mounting complaints. The supersized smartphone, launched in September 2014, has a tendency to develop what has been dubbed “touch disease” when dropped or pressured, rendering its touchscreen unresponsive or causing a flickering black line at the top of the display. The term was coined by iFixit, […]
Members of Donald Trump’s administration will have to agree to a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign governments, his transition team said on Thursday, as the president-elect seeks to reassure voters that he is sticking to his promise to rid Washington of cronyism and corruption. Mr Trump ran on a campaign to “drain the swamp”, but his transition team has sputtered in recent days, flip-flopping on whether it will […]
Photo Nusra Front fighters in Idlib Province, Syria, in 2015. In what analysts say is a calculated move to hide ties to Al Qaeda, the Nusra Front recently rebranded itself and changed its name to Jabhat Fath al-Sham, or the Levant Conquest Front. Credit Ammar Abdullah/Reuters American officials accuse him of being part of the “inner leadership circle” of Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, most widely known as […]
Amid all the attempts to guess what Donald Trump’s election means for Europe’s trade, security and populist politicians, one conclusion stands out: his administration may be good news for the European Central Bank. The reason is not any particular act by the president-elect; rather, it is the reaction of markets, which could help the European economy and give the central bank more room to act. Foreign exchange […]
JPMorgan has agreed to pay $264m to settle a US probe into its employment of well-connected Chinese “princelings” to win business. The settlement, expected to be announced on Thursday, would be the first to arise from a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry launched in 2013 to determine whether bank hiring practices breached the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 1977 law bans companies from paying bribes to […]
Janet Yellen, the Fed chair, is signalling that the US central bank is reluctant to delay its next increase in short-term interest rates “for too long”. Ms Yellen is due to say on Thursday morning that as the Fed sees the case for a rise in rates continuing to strengthen, it “must remain forward-looking in setting monetary policy”. “Were the [monetary policy committee] to delay increases in […]
Thanks to NASA’s Spitzer and Swift space telescopes joining forces to study a microlensing event, astronomers had a rare achievement of locating an elusive brown dwarf planet. The debut collaboration made the microlensing event a useful occasion. During the phenomenon, a distant star looks brighter thanks to the gravitational pull of a cosmic object in the foreground, which, in turn, makes highlighting of low-mass bodies that orbit big stars […]
Swiss International enters Riyadh with Swiss International Royal Hotel and Swiss Spirit Hotel & Suites Metropolitan Baar (CH)/ Ras Al Khaimah (UAE)/ Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), November 17, 2016 – Gearing up to boost its presence in Saudi Arabia, Swiss International proudly announces the arrival of its first 2 hotels in Riyadh. The chain will be entering the capital city with Swiss International Royal Hotel and Swiss Spirit […]
Astronomers have identified the roundest object measured in the universe. The object, a distant star located about 5,000 light years away from planet Earth, is more than twice the size of the sun but is significantly more round. Stars And Planets Not Perfectly Spherical Stars and planets are not perfect spheres. These celestial object flatten out in the middle when they rotate because of centrifugal force. The […]
CAIRO — An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a police officer to life in prison on Wednesday for fatally shooting a man who refused to give him a free cup of tea. It was an unusual move by a court in a country where the police are generally allowed to act with impunity, human rights activists said. The shooting in April, in which the tea vendor was killed […]
Rio Tinto has fired Alan Davies, chief executive of its energy and minerals division, and Debra Valentine, the head of legal affairs, after reviewing a $10.5m payment made for advisory services on a giant iron project in Guinea. Last week, the FTSE 100 mining company suspended Mr Davies and announced the resignation of Ms Valentine after contacting regulators about the payment of $10.5m to François Polge de […]
Amid his display cases of gold coins and jewellery, Suresh Jain was in bullish spirits as he considered Indian households’ traditionally strong demand for the precious metal. “There is no change,” said the 55-year-old owner of BJ Jain Jewellers, in Mumbai’s Zaveri gold bazaar. “Gold is a need of the people. It is not a luxury item; it is essential.” Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is putting […]
