DUBAI // UAE leaders hailed the beginning of a new year promising progress as hundreds of thousands of Emiratis and people from around the world celebrated the arrival of 2017 in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and across the country. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid expressed pride for challenges that were overcome and achievements accomplished last year. The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai said he looked forward to the […]
Photo The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly I. Churkin, voted Saturday in favor of a resolution encouraging the new cease-fire in Syria. Credit Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto Agency BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously endorsed a resolution encouraging a new cease-fire in the war in Syria, adding international support for an agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey that has been in […]
Published January 1, 2017, 12:08 AM by Ellalyn B. De Vera Rains will mark the start of the new year in some parts of the country throughout the week, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The trough or extension of a low pressure area (LPA) is currently affecting the eastern section of Mindanao, while the northeast monsoon or amihan is affecting Northern […]
By Kim Palmer | CLEVELAND CLEVELAND Divers were set to plunge into Lake Erie on Saturday to look for the remains of six people who are presumed to have died when their small plane crashed into the frigid lake shortly after taking off from a Cleveland airport, officials said. The aircraft was carrying John Fleming, 46, president and chief executive of Ohio-based liquor distribution company Superior Beverage […]
By Lewis Krauskopf and Chuck Mikolajczak | NEW YORK NEW YORK After a late-year rally fueled by the U.S. election pushed stocks to surprising new peaks, investors are wary that the market could be primed for a spill to start 2017. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX is set to post a roughly 10 percent price gain for 2016 and around 12 percent on a total return basis, […]
In 2014, Walt Disney World Resort began construction of its ambitious project to bring the moon, Pandora, from James Cameron’s movie Avatar, to life in Disney Animal Kingdom. Fans of the epic adventure have actually been waiting since it was officially announced in 2013. Now, three years later, Disney Parks has finally unveiled a two-and-a-half minute sneak peek into the incredible alien world that awaits visitors in the summer […]
By Frank McGurty | NEW YORK NEW YORK New York City is preparing for a veritable sea of humanity to converge on Times Square on Saturday for the annual descent of the New Year’s Eve ball, a century-old tradition that will unfold this year under an unprecedented blanket of security. As many as 2 million people, surrounded by a ring of 40-ton sand trucks and some 7,000 […]
CARACAS Venezuelan authorities on Saturday released former opposition governor and presidential candidate Manuel Rosales from house arrest and freed five lesser-known anti-government activists from prison, Rosales said via Twitter. Rosales was jailed in 2015 upon his return to Venezuela from Peru, where he fled six years earlier after being charged with illicit enrichment by the government of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. He was granted house arrest […]
Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com, Yesterday, President Obama expelled 35 Russian “Operatives” from the Russian Embassy. Is there any evidence those expelled are “intelligence operatives”? Any hard evidence Russia was behind the Hillary hacks? Any credible evidence that Putin himself is to blame? The answers are No, No, and No. Yet, once again the American press is again asked to co-sign a dubious intelligence assessment. Rush […]
Damac Properties has unveiled Akoya Play, a collection of 3-bedroom villas in an international golf community set around a one-of-a-kind water park in Dubai. Located at Akoya Oxygen master development, Akoya Play went on sale in Dubai on Wednesday, the developer said. The new homes are priced at AED1,050,000 with a payment plan spanning three and a half years, Damac added in a statement. Niall McLoughlin, senior […]
Globalization, the path that the world economy has largely followed for decades, took some hefty blows in 2016. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and Britain’s decision to leave the European Union have raised questions over the future of tariff-free trade and companies’ freedom to move production to lower-cost countries. Borders are back in vogue. Economic nationalism is paying political dividends. “We […]
A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers, upset with President Obama’s decision last week to allow the passage of a United Nations resolution condemning Israel’s construction of settlements in disputed territory, made clear that they were looking past the departing administration. Continue reading the main story Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he shared Mr. Kerry’s concerns “with the lack […]
BEIRUT Lebanese daily newspaper As-Safir printed its final edition on Saturday, forced to close after 42 years because of financial problems as other news outlets in the country face similar difficulties. The front page led with an editorial entitled “The nation without As-Safir”. “The economy is not well, and nor is politics. This cannot but reflect on and impact the press,” the article said. Chief editor Talal […]
Newly formed alliance to play key role in enhancing innovative leadership and provide essential support for emirate’s efforts to maintain global competitiveness December 29, 2016 Sharjah Tatweer Forum and Sharjah eGovernment have recently signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signalling the start of a strategic new partnership aimed towards further promoting the Sharjah Leadership Program (SLP), an initiative aimed towards developing leaders who are well informed […]
TOKYO Japan has approached China and South Korea about holding a trilateral summit in Tokyo in February aimed at deepening cooperation on such issues as a free trade deal, the environment and counter-terrorism, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday. Disagreements over North Korea and historical issues have long dogged relations between the three Asian powers, though they have held several such trilateral meetings since 2008, most recently […]
The National staff ABU DHABI // The Emirates Red Crescent provided food parcels and winter clothes to a number of Syrian families living in temporary tents at the Emirati-Jordanian camp in the Mafraq Governorate. The foundation also provided medical care to refugees at the camp’s field hospital. Abdullah Al Mehrezi, director of the Emirati-Jordanian Camp, said: “the ERC visited the underprivileged and needy families at their residences […]
China, the world’s largest ivory consumer, will implement a comprehensive ban on the controversial trade by the end of 2017, in a move hailed by conservationists. The announcement by the State Council on Friday night follows through on a commitment made in September 2015 during a meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. The US enacted regulations banning the trade in July. […]
BEIRUT Syrian rebel groups said on Saturday they would consider a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey “null and void” if the Damascus government’s forces and their allies continued to violate it. Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has urged the United Nations to give its blessing to the fragile ceasefire, the third truce this year seeking to end nearly six years of war in […]
BEIRUT: Russia urged the UN Security Council on Friday to give its blessing to a fragile cease-fire in Syria, the third truce this year seeking to end the nearly six-year-old war.The Security Council met behind closed doors for an hour to consider a proposed resolution endorsing the cease-fire that Russia and Turkey announced on Thursday.A vote is possible as early as Saturday, although Security Council members recommended […]
BEIJING China’s economy is on a steady growth path as 2016 ends, supported by a housing boom and billions in government investment, but the mood of policymakers is more cautious than celebratory as they face “complexity” in the new year. Controlling risks has been a constant refrain in recent months as the focus of policymakers switches to taming asset bubbles and checking unbalanced growth stemming from efforts […]
By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim | BEIJING BEIJING China’s military has become alarmed by what it sees as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s support of Taiwan and is considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence, sources with ties to senior military officers said. Three sources said one possibility being considered was conducting war games near the self-ruled island that China considers as […]
AJMAN // People who abuse animals should be jailed and the public made more aware of why people should be kinder to pets and strays, animal welfare groups say. After several high-profile incidents this year, Fatima Al Zaabi, co-founder of Protection of Animal Rights Association in Dubai, said more education and tougher enforcement of laws would help to ensure there is no repeat of cruelty cases next […]
And there is a red, or more conservative, Israel that thought the secretary of state was delusional and insulting, divorced from the harsh reality of the only real democracy in the Middle East struggling to preserve itself in a hostile neighborhood. Continue reading the main story Just as in the United States, many Israelis cling to their own facts, retreat to their own media outlets, advance their […]
BERLIN Islamist terrorism is the biggest test facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in a New Year’s address to the nation, and she vowed to introduce laws that improve security after a deadly attack before Christmas in Berlin. Describing 2016 as a year that gave many the impression that the world had “turned upside down,” Merkel urged Germans to forsake populism and said Germany had […]
