Biometrics experts set out to investigate what extent facial aging affects the performance of automatic facial recognition systems. They found that 99 percent of the face images can still be recognized up to six years later. (via WSJ)
By Ayman al-Warfalli | BENGHAZI, Libya BENGHAZI, Libya East Libyan forces carried out air strikes around major oil ports on Saturday as they sought to regain control of the area from a rival faction, a military spokesman said. The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and allied forces retreated on Friday from Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, two of Libya’s largest export terminals, as a faction known as […]
DUBAI // It was the first time for thousands to see rock legends Guns N’ Roses live but for many, the experience was marred by hours spent entering and leaving the venue. Some fans reported delays of two hours because access to the Autism Rocks Arena from the Al Ain Road was clogged. Others walked up to seven kilometres along the motorway after abandoning gridlocked taxis. Fans […]
Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of tapping his phones before the November presidential election and compared the situation to the Watergate scandal that forced Richard Nixon to resign. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Mr Trump tweeted. In an early morning tweet storm, Mr Trump claimed without providing evidence that Mr Obama […]
Bahrain said on Saturday it had uncovered a 54-member Iranian-linked militant group suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces, including organising a prison break in January, and seized automatic weapons. It was one of the biggest security operations against suspected militants Bahrain blames for an increase in armed attacks on security forces in the Western-allied kingdom, where the US Fifth Fleet is based. Tensions have been […]
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. So what have you heard more often: “Fox & Friends” shilling for President Trump or sophisticated people confiding their real reason for reading The New Yorker is the cartoons? Ah, if only Bob Mankoff had long ago negotiated some piece […]
Plot twists, accusations and 25,000 pages of evidence — a snapshot of the case that will determine Nawaz Sharif’s fate. Panama Papers leaked; Sharif family under spotlight — Feica/Dawn. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) makes 11.5 million secret documents available to the public for the very first time. The documents, coming from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, contain confidential attorney-client information for more than 214,488 […]
04 March 2017 MARC has affirmed its ratings of A and BBB on special purpose vehicle RCE Advance Sdn Bhd’s (RCEA) outstanding RM5 million Class B and RM10 million Class C notes under the RM420 million Fixed Rate Medium-Term Notes (MTN) Programme respectively. The outlook on the ratings is stable. There is currently no outstanding Class A notes under the programme upon the repayment of RM5 million on November 15, 2016. The rating […]
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him in October during the late stages of the presidential election campaign, but offered no evidence to support the allegation. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!,” Trump said in a […]
A photo of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton glancing at a newspaper headline about U.S. Vice President Mike Pence using private email has gone viral on social media, with thousands of people commenting on it. Pence and others involved in the Republican presidential campaign last year criticized Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as U.S. Secretary of State. Clinton was on an airplane […]
AMMAN Jordan executed 15 people on Saturday including 10 convicted on terrorism charges ranging from an attack a decade ago on Western tourists to the slaying of a writer, a judicial source and the government spokesman Mohammad al Momani said on Saturday. Al Momani said those executed included one man who was convicted of an attack last year on an intelligence compound that killed five security personnel. […]
By Minami Funakoshi | TOKYO TOKYO U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to visit Japan, South Korea and China this month to discuss North Korea on his first trip to the region since he took up his post, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Tillerson’s trip would come as the United States and China try to put relations on an even keel after a rocky start […]
Photo Syrians in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Damascus, last week. Credit Abd Doumany/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The top United Nations diplomat working to resolve the civil war in Syria reported some progress Friday after nearly 10 days of talks, saying both sides finally had agreed on what he described as a “clear agenda” for further negotiations. The diplomat, […]
Microsoft is continuing to stamp out lots of bugs with its latest round of Windows 10 Creators Update test builds for Fast Ring Insiders. On March 3, Microsoft released Windows 10 Build 15048 for PCs and 15047 for phones. This is Microsoft’s second new Windows 10 Creators Update Fast Ring build for PC testers this week; the first, Build 15046, was on Feb. 28. The list of […]
By Benjamin Kang Lim and Philip Wen | BEIJING BEIJING China’s sweeping overhaul of its anti-corruption architecture could enable President Xi Jinping to justify retaining his key ally and top graft buster Wang Qishan beyond retirement age, sources with ties to the leadership say. Breaking the unwritten retirement rule could also set a precedent for Xi, 63, to defy current expectations that he will step down as […]
(Image: file photo) The clock is ticking for a controversial surveillance provision, which is is set to expire at midnight at the end of the year. But the Trump administration has signaled that it will support its clean reauthorization. Passing a clean version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, is “necessary to protect the security of the nation,” according to a White House official speaking […]
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, three sources familiar with the matter said. Current and former officials said that in a departure from past practice, access to a classified computer system at the White House has been tightened by political appointees to prevent […]
Ismail, a 20-year-old Emirati, has rarely ever stepped into a bank branch. “You won’t believe I haven’t visited my branch for over a year. All my transactions are done online,” he says, as he clicks an app on his phone to make a payment. “I just paid my bill and that’s how it works for me. All the services are at my fingertips and I save immense […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia on Saturday rejected claims it may have violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations on North Korea, after a Reuters report this week said North Korea-linked firms were running an arms network in the country. “Malaysia categorically rejects any such insinuation,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement said Malaysia has provided required responses to queries raised by the United Nations […]
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ri Jong Chol arrived in Beijing early on Saturday The North Korean suspect questioned in connection with the death of Kim Jong-nam has said he was the victim of a conspiracy by the Malaysian authorities. Ri Jong Chol said his detention was a “plot” to “damage the honour of the republic”, Reuters news agency reports. He made the comments outside the North […]
Image: Cobalt This week Cobalt came out of stealth mode and introduced a mobile security robot. Just like a real security guard, the robot’s main job is to patrol a building to watch for any unusual activity and report anything suspicious to the appropriate authorities. “A fleet of Cobalt robots is comparable to an extremely competent guard with superhuman capabilities and omnipresent situational awareness across an entire […]
By Tulay Karadeniz | ANKARA ANKARA Turkish leaders condemned Germany on Friday for cancelling rallies of Turkish residents due to be addressed by Ankara’s ministers and accused Berlin of giving “shelter” to Turkey’s enemies. As the diplomatic spat between the two countries became increasingly angry, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said a German journalist being held in Turkey was a “German agent” and a member of an armed […]
WASHINGTON U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Friday said there was “no comparison whatsoever” between his use of a private email account for state business while he was governor of Indiana and the email woes of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time in government became a major point of criticism against her as the Democratic nominee during […]
By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials. Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on […]
