GENEVA A United Nations peace envoy said a militant attack in Syria on Saturday was a deliberate attempt to wreck peace talks in Geneva, while the warring sides traded blame and appeared no closer to actual negotiations. Suicide bombers stormed two Syrian security offices in Homs, killing dozens with gunfire and explosions including the head of military security, prompting airstrikes against the last rebel-held enclave in the […]
By Joseph Sipalan and Angie Teo | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia on Sunday declared its international airport a “safe zone” after completing a sweep of the terminal where the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was assaulted with a deadly chemical last week. Kim Jong Nam died on Feb. 13 after being smothered at the airport’s budget terminal with VX nerve agent, classified […]
25 February 2017 Fitch Ratings-London-24 February 2017: Fitch Ratings has assigned UAE based Majid Al Futtaim Holding LLC’s (MAF) proposed benchmark size subordinated perpetual hybrid notes a rating of ‘BB+(EXP)’. The proposed securities qualify for 50% equity credit. The final rating is contingent on the receipt of final documents conforming materially to the preliminary documentation reviewed. The hybrid note proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes […]
By Tom Miles and Yara Abi Nader | GENEVA GENEVA Syria’s opposition is impatient for face-to-face peace talks in Geneva, but things could fall apart if Russia does not pressure President Bashar al-Assad on holding talks and push it to abide by a ceasefire, an opposition member said on Saturday. The United Nations opened the peace talks with a symbolic ceremony on Thursday, attended by representatives of […]
HANOI The Vietnamese woman arrested as a suspect in killing the half-brother of North Korea’s leader thought she was taking part in a prank video, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. Hanoi had not previously confirmed that Doan Thi Huong was Vietnamese, saying only that it was in touch with authorities in Malaysia, where Kim Jong Nam was murdered on Feb. 13. Vietnamese embassy officials met her […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia plans to sweep one of the terminals at Kuala Lumpur international airport for toxic chemicals after Kim Jong Nam was murdered there with a nerve agent last week. The teams involved include the police forensic team, the fire department and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, the Malaysian police said in a statement on Saturday. The sweep will be conducted from 1 a.m. (1700 GMT) […]
Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar, in the JW Marriott Marquis hotel, is offering a three-course set menu with regional flavours from across the country during Dubai Restaurant Week. We start with an amuse-bouche — chilled quinoa with orange pulp and bits of coriander. The pre-starter of a fried potato patty with yogurt, tamarind sauce, pomegranate and fried potatoes to garnish is delicious. It’s spicy, sweet, crunchy and […]
By Venus Wu and Greg Torode | HONG KONG HONG KONG Developments in Hong Kong have affected confidence in a system of government intended to ensure the Chinese-ruled city’s autonomy, though its rule of law remained robust “despite challenges”, former colonial power Britain said on Friday. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 with guarantees it would retain extensive autonomy, an independent legal system and […]
In a war in which the United States has sought to minimize its own military footprint, this militia has become the American military’s ally of choice in northern Syria and its best hope of taking Raqqa in the coming months. Continue reading the main story But the budding alliance has drawn the United States deeper into the complex politics of northern Syria and prompted furious objections from […]
Sign up to receive Authers’ Note daily by email here Despite appearances to the contrary, the Trump trade may be moving into reverse as the president’s maiden State of the Union address approaches. The overall level of the stock market is, of course, at fresh records. But the pattern within it is shifting again. The end of the week saw sharp falls for almost all equity markets […]
SEOUL Plans for the first contact between North Korea and the United States after President Donald Trump took office were cancelled after the U.S. State Department denied a visa for the top envoy from Pyongyang, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The talks, between senior North Korean foreign ministry envoy Choe Son Hui and former U.S. officials, were scheduled to take place on March 1 and […]
By By Rozanna Latiff and Emily Chow, Reuters Feb 24, 2017 at 7:56 pm | Print View KUALA LUMPUR — VX nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bizarre murder in Malaysia last week, police said on Friday. Kim Jong Nam was killed on […]
As with the worlds of haute couture and prêt-à-porter in fashion, France’s small-cap companies depend vitally on the success of the main Paris bourse. Yet as the country braces itself for the presidential election, and as US and other international investors start reducing their French holdings, a flight from the small-caps to the larger, more liquid French companies might be expected. But the opposite has actually been […]
Uber is under attack once again today as the Twittersphere quickly concluded it was behind a smear campaign against a former engineer for the company, Susan Fowler Rigetti, who dropped a scathing blog post earlier this week detailing sexual harassment claims while working at Uber over the course of a year. Rigetti tweeted today people were being contacted for “personal and intimate info” about her, causing many […]
By Jonathan Landay | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON While President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States must expand its nuclear arsenal, many experts say U.S. nuclear forces are unrivalled and will remain so as they undergo a modernization programme that could cost more than $1 trillion. In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said the United States has “fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity.” He pledged […]
By John Walcott and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A proposal the Trump administration is considering to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation has stalled over warnings from defence and intelligence officials that the move could backfire, according to officials familiar with the matter. “If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the […]
The Dow was on track to break its 10-day record-setting streak on Friday, as investors turned cautious after recent comments from Trump administration suggested that pro-growth policies may take longer to be implemented. Wall Street is trading at record levels since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, spurred by his promises of tax reforms, reduced regulations and increased infrastructure spending. However, with Trump giving scant […]
Ford has spent the last few years transforming itself from a car company into a technology and transportation company. Ford still wants to sell cars, but increasingly the company focuses on how those vehicles interact with city infrastructure, other vehicles, and the passengers themselves. One of the executives leading that imitative is Don Butler, Director of Connected Vehicles and Services at Ford. I spoke with […]
Battery-operated medical devices implanted in human bodies have saved countless lives. A common implant, the cardioverter defibrillator, sends a jolt of electricity to the heart when needed, preventing a heart attack or heart failure. While patients’ lives are improved by this technology, if the device causes an infection or the battery needs to be replaced, more invasive procedures are necessary. Mehdi Kiani is seeking a better solution. […]
BEIJING China on Friday dismissed renewed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump over its role in North Korea, saying the crux of the matter was a dispute between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea “very easily if they want to”, turning up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to […]
By Rozanna Latiff and Emily Chow | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR VX nerve agent, a chemical on a U.N. list of weapons of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in last week’s bizarre murder in a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysian police said on Friday. Kim Jong Nam died on Feb. 13 after being assaulted by two […]
By A. Ananthalakshmi and Liz Lee | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR VX, the chemical used in the airport murder Kim Jong Nam, is one of the deadliest chemical weapons created by man. Just 10 milligrams of the nerve agent or a single drop enough to kill in minutes, experts say. With the texture and feel of engine oil, VX was first produced in the United Kingdom in […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian authorities will sweep the international airport and other locations for radioactive material, the police chief said on Friday, following the murder of Kim Jong Nam in which VX nerve agent, a highly toxic chemical, was used. “(We are looking to) sweep all locations that we knew the suspects went to. We will get the experts from the atomic energy department to go to the […]
Seniors taking over nine hours of sleep each night may be facing a higher risk of dementia in later years, a new study has warned. Boston University researchers found that the risk increased by nearly 2.5 times for those who saw themselves needing extra sleep per night, and the chances actually ballooned six times for those without a high school degree who, fairly recently, needed a shut-eye […]
