Researchers work at a laboratory at a genomics organization in Tianjin, China, April 2, 2014. Reuters/Stringer SHANGHAI/LONDON Years of pouring money into its laboratories, wooing scientists home from overseas and urging researchers to publish and patent is starting to give China a competitive edge in biotechnology, a strategic field it sees as ripe for “indigenous innovation.” The vast resources China can throw at research and development – […]
Video | U.S. General Affirms Support for Israel Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepted an award from his Israeli counterpart and emphasized the American military’s strong relationship with Israel. By HELENE COOPER June 9, 2015 TEL AVIV — The Obama administration on Tuesday ramped up efforts to ease Israel’s opposition to a possible nuclear deal with Iran, as the top American military leader […]
Chinese inventor of the e-cigarette Hon Lik poses for a photograph in central London, Britain June 9, 2015. Reuters/Stefan Wermuth LONDON Before Hon Lik invented the e-cigarette, a device now shaking up the Big Tobacco industry, he was a pharmacist in China struggling to quit a two-to-three pack a day smoking habit. Once in 2002, Hon forgot to remove a nicotine patch from his stomach before bed […]
Big Blue is looking to make its mark on the mobile device and wearables market. No, IBM isn’t pushing out a smart watch or even a smartphone. In partnership with SiCAD, a silicon design platform company, IBM just announced High Performance Services for Electronic Design Automation (EDA). IBM is billing EDA as the electronic industry’s first enterprise-class, secure cloud service that provides on-demand access to electronic design […]
Tech giant Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off Monday at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco with the headlining keynote address. Among the topics discussed during the address were new capabilities for OS X, updates coming to iOS, native apps for the Apple Watch, a streaming music service, and a new version of the watchOS operating system. At the event, Apple also introduced […]
As consumer demand for online data, streaming content and mobile services continue to grow, Apple is reportedly looking to boost its high-speed networkinfrastructure to provide more of those services in-house. Citing “people familiar with the plans,” Bloomberg on Monday reported that Apple’s new network ambitions are aimed at helping it better compete with rivals like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. While Apple already operates its own data […]
Emirates NBD generates financial report 30pc faster with MDS DUBAI, 4 days ago Emirates NBD has generated its year-end financial statements 30 per cent faster than the previous year, working with the MDS ap, an exclusive partner on the SAP Business Analytics Portfolio of products. The application allowed it to manage critical disclosures and heighten trust and transparency for investors, said a statement. Surya Subramaniam, group chief […]
Plastic caution tape marks a small construction area on the exterior of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington May 27, 2015. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON A massive breach of U.S. federal computer networks disclosed this week is the latest in a flood of attacks by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at grabbing personal data, industrial secrets and weapons plans from government and private computers. The Obama […]
Cisco appoints new MD for Mideast operations MANAMA, 3 days ago Cisco has appointed Ziad Salameh as managing director to lead its Gulf (Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain), Levant, Pakistan and Iraq region and Middle East services. Salameh’s focus will be on driving growth for Cisco as it supports Middle East countries in building a robust national broadband infrastructure, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), […]
Adams … master-planning is important for sustainable developments. Master-planning key to sustainable mixed-use projects DUBAI, 3 days ago The Middle East has a unique set of challenges and opportunities with regard to creating large, mixed-use developments, says Louise Adams, former country manager UAE at Aurecon, an engineering, planning, project management and consulting company. Adams describes the importance of investing in master-planning, some of the current opportunities and […]
Skype for Web Beta Rolled Out to U.S., U.K. Users As more and more users gravitate toward mobile versions of their favorite software, Skype is joining the crowd by opening up access to its Skype for Web beta to make it easier to connect to the service. Microsoft‘s Skype for Web debuted as a closed beta last fall, but it is now available as an open beta […]
U.S. Government Suffers Massive Cyberattack The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is reporting a cybersecurity incident that affects its systems and data. The breach may have compromised the personal information of 4 million current and former federal workers. “Within the last year, OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture, adding numerous tools and capabilities to its networks,” according to a statement on […]
Customer Hajime Shimada uses his newly purchased Apple Watch in front of Dover Street Market Ginza in Tokyo April 24, 2015. Reuters/Issei Kato NEW YORK When Maximo Cavazzani, creator of the popular mobile game Trivia Crack, learned about Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) plan for a new smart watch, it seemed like a logical step to adapt his game for the new product. But the little watch had some […]
UAE. The Global Economic Conditions Survey for the first quarter of 2015, carried out by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants) also shows that while lower oil prices have helped oil-importing nations such as the USA and Europe, they have undermined performance in many net oil-exporting regions such as Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Confidence has dipped in […]
QATAR. Risk, governance, globalization and technology are among the many risks currently facing companies. Internal Audit plays a critical role in addressing these issues while contending with the challenge of complying with the updated Committee of Sponsoring Organizations’ (COSO) Internal Control-Integrated Framework, which is a widely used framework around the world, in which internal control is broadly defined as a process, effected by an entity’s board of […]
The logo of Alibaba Group is seen inside the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province early November 11, 2014. Reuters/Aly Song/Files BEIJING/SHANGHAI Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will invest in financial media outlet China Business Network in a deal set to be announced on Thursday, Chinese media reported on Wednesday. The investment in China Business Network, part of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), will be worth […]
An employee answers phone calls at the switchboard of the Google office in Zurich August 18, 2009. Reuters/Christian Hartmann Google Inc (GOOGL.O) said 21 percent of tech hires last year were women, boosting overall number of women in technical roles by 1 percent, as part of efforts to increase diversity. The company recently began disclosing the makeup of its workforce after admitting that it was “wrong, and […]
Intel Corp (INTC.O) agreed to buy Altera Corp (ALTR.O) for $16.7 billion as the world’s biggest chipmaker seeks to make up for slowing demand from the PC industry by expanding its line-up of higher-margin chips used in data centres. By combining with Altera, Intel will be able to bundle its processing chips with the smaller company’s programmable chips, which are used, among other things, to speed up […]
|By Fiona Maharg-Bravo |Big Oil is too confident about crude prices. After a 40 percent rally from January’s six-year low, the momentum has been on the upside. But the current prices – $65 a barrel for Brent and $60 for WTI – look more like a ceiling than a floor. That is not what many insiders seem to think. Some oil service companies expect mid-$70s Brent by […]
The word ‘password’ is pictured on a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski/Files WASHINGTON At 3:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, the National Security Agency and telecommunications companies will begin mothballing a once-secret system that collected Americans’ bulk telephone records, shutting down computers and sealing off warehouses of digital data. If the U.S. Congress fails to act, key provisions of […]
INTERNATIONAL. Happy passengers are the ultimate goal of airlines and airports and new research from global IT provider SITA proves that technology can help. In a ground-breaking survey, SITA investigated the connection between a passenger’s use of technology and their emotions to discover how passengers around the world feel at every point of the journey. The results reveal that airline passengers are happiest and most excited when […]
UAE. Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, achieved its strongest financial results to date in 2014, posting a net profit of US$ 73 million on total revenues of US$ 7.6 billion, up 52.1 per cent and 26.7 per cent respectively over the previous year. 2014 PEFORMANCE SUMMARY OF ETIHAD AIRWAYS *The above results represent the standalone airline business within the newly formed Etihad […]
Intel Corp (INTC.O) has resumed talks to buy programmable-chip maker Altera Corp (ALTR.O) and is close to a $16 billion deal, people familiar with the matter said on Friday, paving way for the third mega semiconductor-chip deal this year. The price for Altera could be as much as $54 per share, according to one of the people. This would be a 15 percent premium over the stock’s […]
Given the lukewarm response received so far to wearable technology, it makes sense that Google would want to expand the definition of the term. So the company has introduced Project Soli, an attempt by its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division to harness the power of hand and finger manipulation to make it easier to interact with ever-smaller devices and screens. The idea behind the technology, introduced […]
