BEIRUT // Syrian film, television, and theatre pioneer Rafiq Sebaie – best known to audiences as Abu Sayyah after one of his long-standing roles – has died at the age of 86. Sebaie died of natural causes on Thursday. He had undergone a series of operations since breaking his hip in a fall at his home last year, Syrian state media said. Often cast in tough-guy roles, […]
Never mind football’s alarmingly martial terminology. What Saban, who cut his coaching teeth on defense, noticed and passed along helped Alabama find solutions that led to 269 rushing yards — more than twice the average Washington had allowed in games this season. Continue reading the main story “It’s good for the offense,” Bobby Williams, a special assistant who has held several coaching jobs on Saban’s staffs, said […]
The 16-member SEA-ME-WE 5 Consortium, in which Dubai-based telco du is a stakeholder, has announced the completion of a 20,000km subsea cable infrastructure on schedule. The project is in line with the UAE National Vision 2021 and the National Agenda of sustainable environment and infrastructure, news agency WAM reported. It added the investments from du were instrumental in bringing SEA-ME-WE 5 to the UAE. South East Asia–Middle […]
Not even schools are safe from cybercrminals and ransomware. Image: iStock Cybercriminals are pretending to be government officials as part of a ransomware scheme which is targeting schools and demanding payments of up to £8,000 to unencrypt the locked files. Action Fraud, the UK’s fraud and cybercrime centre, and the City of London police, have issued a warning over the activity, which begins with criminals contacting the […]
ANKARA The Turkish military and Syrian rebels killed 32 Islamic State militants in the latest clashes in northern Syria on Thursday, Turkey’s armed forces said in a statement on Friday. In a round-up of its military operations over the last 24 hours in support of rebels in northern Syria, the army said Turkish warplanes destroyed 21 Islamic State targets in the areas of al-Bab and Bzagah, including […]
06 January 2017 MARC has affirmed its AAA(fg) rating on KMCOB Capital Berhad’s (KMCOB) guaranteed serial bonds of up to RM320.0 million with a stable outlook. The rating and outlook reflect the unconditional and irrevocable financial guarantee provided by Danajamin Nasional Berhad (Danajamin), which carries MARC’s insurer financial strength rating of AAA and counterparty credit ratings of AAA/MARC-1. As at end-December 2016, KMCOB has an outstanding amount […]
Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa will be presenting the police’s accomplishments on its intensive anti-drug campaign under “Oplan Double Barrel Alpha” to President Rodrigo Duterte in a meeting in Malacañang on Friday afternoon. Scheduled at 3 p.m. Friday, Dela Rosa, along with top police commanders, heads of PNP national support units […]
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, 05 January 2017 The Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air, today began its official 14-day countdown to the highly anticipated launch of the airline’s first flight to Bandaranaike International Airport, in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, which will commence on 19th January 2017 with 5 flights per week. In advance of the route launch Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Maher Salman […]
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump targeted Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Thursday, threatening to impose a hefty fee on the world’s largest automaker if it builds its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a plant in Mexico. “Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or […]
By Stephen Kalin and Isabel Coles | ERBIL, Iraq ERBIL, Iraq Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days, Iraq’s joint operations commander told Reuters. Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said […]
BAGHDAD Two car bombs in Baghdad killed at least 14 people on Thursday, police and medics said, part of a surge in violence across the capital at a time U.S.-backed forces try to drive Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the first blast which went off in Baghdad’s eastern al-Obeidi area during the morning rush, killing six and wounding 15. […]
January 5, 2017 by: David J Lynch in Washington and Jessica Dye in New York Senator John McCain joined three top US intelligence officials on Thursday in blaming Russia for election-related cyber attacks which the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee called an “unprecedented attack on our democracy”. At an extraordinary Senate hearing called to hear the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in November’s presidential […]
Increased number of visitors and hotel occupancy seen during Hajj and Umrah season January 05, 2017 Elaf Group, a SEDCO holding company, and a leading provider of travel, tourism and hospitality services, has recently seen growth spikes in the tourism sector of Saudi Arabia during the Umrah season and the recent celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) birthday. This was evident in the increase of occupancy rate in […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Embedded plentifully during the presidential campaign, the press may now leave most consumers in the cold. I’d been talking to Merrill Brown, director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair, New Jersey State University, about Megyn Kelly’s big […]
It’s fair to say that HappyFresh, one of a number of startups working to make the business of on-demand grocery shopping viable in Southeast Asia, didn’t have a great 2016. The two-year-old company pulled out of two countries to “focus on sustainability and profitability” and raised an ominous ‘undisclosed’ Series B round having previously closed a $12 million Series A a year prior. Now TechCrunch has learnt that it has also […]
CAIRO: A report alleging human rights violations in Yemen by Houthi rebels has recorded 949 cases of damaged public property and 2,673 instances of private property damage, the Saudi Embassy here reported on Tuesday.The damage varied between complete and partial by bombardment from Houthi militants and loyalists of deposed President Abdullah Saleh against civilian homes and government and private facilities, according to a statement released on Tuesday […]
UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is seeking to enter more “strategic” partnerships to develop new business streams as part of its new five-year business plan and 2030 strategy, according to a news report. The state-owned company announced new strategy in November last year, revealing plans to scale up its oil production target by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.5 million bpd in 2018 and […]
04 January 2017 BBK has recently announced new appointments in its Executive Management as part of a re-organization plan recently approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors and the Central Bank of Bahrain. The new structure aims to foster the Bank’s three years strategy (2016-2018), in addition to achieving the future vision and expectations of the Bank’s shareholders and stakeholders. The new organization included the following appointments: […]
SINGAPORE Nearly 300 tonnes of oil spilled into the narrow strait separating Singapore and Malaysia after a collision between two container vessels, the Singapore Marine Port Authority (MPA) said on Wednesday. There were no reports of injuries and 12 anti-pollution craft had been sent to clean up the mid-sized oil spill, the MPA said in a statement. reut.rs/2j7am36 “Traffic in the East Johor Straits and Singapore’s port […]
Manama, 3rd January 2017 Amlak, the real estate investment arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Social Insurance Organization (SIO), held a press conference to announce the latest projects undertaken by the company. “Amlak has taken steady steps towards prosperity by developing its growing portfolio. We are excited to announce our upcoming projects which will include a residential project and a number of multi-purpose projects, in addition […]
Banks and commodity companies set the pace as the FTSE 100 extended its run into record territory on Tuesday, taking the gains for the blue-chip index to 13 per cent since the UK voted for Brexit. Sentiment towards the FTSE 100 has brightened on optimism over bank earnings as bond yields rise, and on the support a stronger oil price is giving the commodities sector. “The FTSE […]
PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to [email protected]. Western Economist Fingers Russia as “Panama Papers” Source (Gerry) The hackers who released the huge cache of files known as the Panama Papers […]
By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL The gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday. The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and […]
BEIJING The Chinese capital was on the second-highest orange smog alert in the depth of winter on Tuesday as city officials said the air quality was improving overall, citing data for the whole of last year. Over the new year holiday, hundreds of flights were canceled and highways closed across northern China as average concentrations of small breathable particles known as PM2.5 soared above 500 micrograms per […]
