Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang, considered the father of the Pinyin system used to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters and who was an outspoken critic of the ruling Communist party, has died in Beijing at the age of 111. Born to a wealthy family in 1906 when a Qing Dynasty emperor was on the throne, Zhou’s life spanned China’s tumultuous and often tragic twentieth century. He witnessed […]
Image: Carnival The cruise industry is following the high-tech wave with the introduction of a new machine-learning wearable device for passengers that Carnival CEO Arnold Donald announced at CES 2017. A lot has been written about the move and it’s shaping up to be one of the most significant Internet of Things projects of 2017. We’ve covered it extensively on ZDNet and TechRepublic and here we’ve broken […]
By Hader Glang ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has insisted that no one could stop him from declaring martial law to preserve the nation if the situation in the Philippines becomes “virulent”. SunStar Philippines reported Sunday that Duterte said he was not eager about such a measure but was obligated to protect the Filipino people. “It’s my duty and I tell you now, if I […]
In line with H.H. Sheikh Khalifa’s move declaring 2017 as ‘Year of Giving’ 15 January 2017 As part of its contributions to help improve human capital skills in the country in accordance with UAE Vision 2021, Imdaad, the GCC’s leading integrated facilities management (FM) company based in Dubai, has expressed its optimism for the year 2017 and has forged a strategic partnership with Al nokhba Model School […]
Bernie Sanders is of the opinion that a repeal of Obamacare could potentially lead to a huge number of deaths each year. With the Congress considering partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Bernie Sanders tweeted on Jan, 12 that 36,000 people may die yearly as a result. As Republicans try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they should be reminded every day that 36,000 […]
In its first aquisition of calendar 2017, Microsoft announced plans to buy Montreal-based deep-learning startup Maluuba for an undisclosed amount. Maluuba has done work in natural-language understanding and reinforcement learning. Harry Shum, Microsoft executive vice president of the company’s Artificial Intelligence and Research Group, explained a potential scenario where Maluuba’s technology could help this way: “Imagine a future where, instead of frantically searching through your organization’s directory, […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would impose martial law if the drug problem became “very virulent”, just a month after dismissing as “nonsense” any suggestion he might do so. Duterte has made a brutal war on drugs a central pillar of his administration since he took office in the middle of last year. Since July, more than 6,000 people have been killed in the […]
In a “mass layoff” event reported late last week by the Department of Labor, the Clinton Foundation announced it would lay off some 22 employees at the Clinton Global Initiative, which attained notoriety during the John Podesta leaks, when the various details of the fallout between between CGI head Doug Band and Chelsea Clinton were revealed; it also emerged that long-time Bill Clinton friend Band was soliciting […]
ADEN: At least 26 Yemeni fighters died in fresh clashes and an air strike as government forces advanced against Shiite Houthi rebels near a key shipping strait, medics and officials said Saturday.A week-long assault by government forces and their allies aims to expel the Iran-backed Houthis from Dhubab region, close to the Bab Al-Mandab strait linking the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.Twelve bodies of Houthi insurgents were […]
By Jane Lanhee Lee | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, carving a careful diplomatic path on her stopovers in the United States, visited the headquarters of micro-messaging service Twitter Inc on Saturday and reactivated an old account. “Had a great visit to @Twitter HQ today. Thank you to @vijaya and team for showing us around!” read her first tweet from her old account in […]
By Lacey Johnson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. civil rights activists vowed on Saturday to defend hard-fought gains in voting rights and criminal justice during the presidency of Donald Trump, kicking off a week of protests ahead of the Republican’s inauguration. About 2,000 mostly black protesters ignored steady rain to march and rally near Washington’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as speakers urged them to fight for minority […]
Yazan Mohamad Al Nasser appointed CFO bringing more than 30 years of financial experience Experience in property and retail will benefit DIFC with expansion of the district underway 14 January 2017 Dubai, UAE – Yazan Mohamad Al Nasser has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer for the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, the body overseeing the leading financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and […]
Before Donald Trump accused them of “getting away with murder”, the mood among pharmaceutical executives was buoyant as they gathered in San Francisco for the industry’s biggest annual gathering last week. Not even the torrential rain could damp their spirits as they darted between meetings with investors and presentations in the historic Westin St Francis hotel, the venue for the JPMorgan healthcare conference. The bull case was […]
Photo President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Saturday. Legislation under debate could possibly allow him to remain in power until 2029. Credit Yasin Bulbul/Presidential Palace, via Reuters The Turkish Parliament began debating legislation on Monday that would effectively rewrite the Constitution, vastly expanding the powers of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and possibly allowing him to remain in power until 2029. Mr. Erdogan, the dominant figure […]
Finnish stock exchange-listed KONE Corporation has won an order to supply 145 elevators and escalators for the new passenger terminal building at Bahrain International Airport (BIA). The order is part of a major modernisation project at the BIA aimed at making it one of the most modern and futuristic airport buildings in the world. KONE said in a statement that it will supply 85 elevators, 40 escalators, […]
The National Mall in Washington D.C. could become a sea of bright pink the day after Donald Trump is inaugurated as U.S. president if the vision of a pair of Los Angeles women is realized. For the last two months, Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman have been calling on people around the world to make 1.17 million pink “pussyhats” for those attending the Women’s March, a rally […]
China and Vietnam have promised to settle their differences regarding territorial claims in the South China Sea and to safeguard peace in the region, the two countries said in a joint communique. Then statement came after Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Saturday. The communique, released by China’s Xinhua news agency after the talks, described the […]
SALZBURG The head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) on Saturday called for a law banning “fascistic Islam” and Muslim symbols, comparable to an existing law banning Nazi symbols, saying Islam could wipe out European society. Austria needs “a law which prohibits fascistic Islam”, Heinz Christian Strache told several thousand supporters at the party’s new year meeting in Salzburg. “Let us put an end to this policy […]
The bodies of four Emirati humanitarian workers who were killed in a terrorist attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan last week, arrived back in the UAE on Saturday on board a military aircraft. According to news agency WAM, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and a number of […]
SHANGHAI China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that its “One China” principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-U.S. relations, and urged “relevant parties” in the United States to recognise the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue. The comments, posted on the foreign ministry’s website, were a direct response to remarks by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he said […]
By Timothy Gardner | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump began a long holiday weekend that honors slain black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by blasting another African-American activist and politician who said he doesn’t see Trump as a “legitimate president”. Democratic Representative John Lewis, of Georgia, had said on a segment of “Meet the Press” released by NBC on Friday he thought hacking by Russians […]
Dubai’s biggest bank, Emirates NBD, has expanded its disability-friendly branch network to include the Hamriya, Rashidya and Al Aweer branches, in addition to the Jumeirah and Jumeirah Emirates Towers branches. The bank said in a statement that it has also implemented the distribution of Braille currency in its Jumeirah branch for customers with vision disabilities. It added that it “will remain committed” to enabling financial inclusion for […]
KHARTOUM The Obama administration’s preliminary decision to ease sanctions on Sudan came with the full approval of the incoming Trump administration and after months of secret meetings, Sudan’s foreign minister said on Saturday. The United States said on Friday it would lift a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan, unfreeze assets and remove financial sanctions as a response to Khartoum’s cooperation in fighting Islamic State and other groups. […]
PARIS Over the past two decades, planemakers Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) have traded the crown in the annual orders race, and it was usually clear who had bragging rights in the fiercely competitive $120 billion annual jet market. On Wednesday, Airbus retained the top spot when it said it had recorded a total of 731 net orders for 2016, beating Boeing’s tally of 668 for the […]
