ABU DHABI // Tickets have sold out for the band Coldplay’s New Year’s Eve concert within hours of going on sale, organisers said. Flash Entertainment said on Wednesday that all ticket categories for the December 31 show in Abu Dhabi sold out within hours, making it the fastest selling event in the company’s history. The British band’s show at du Arena on Yas Island is part of […]
By Drazen Jorgic | ISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD U.S. president-elect Donald Trump offered to help solve Pakistan’s problems and praised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a “terrific guy” in the first call between the two men, the Pakistani leader’s office said. Historical allies in the region, Islamabad and Washington have seen relations sour in recent years over U.S. accusations that Pakistan shelters Islamist militants, a charge denied by the […]
Fitbit is in advanced talks to acquire Pebble, the smartwatch pioneer and darling of crowdfunding site Kickstarter, according to several people close to the negotiations. The deal, which is in its closing stages but has not been completed, would bring intellectual property and new expertise in wearable devices to Fitbit at a time when the fitness-tracker maker is looking to expand its product range. Pebble has raised […]
BRASILIA Prosecutors investigating Brazil’s biggest-ever graft scandal threatened to resign en masse on Wednesday if a move to gut an anti-corruption bill won approval from legislators as the nation mourns an air disaster. The lower chamber of Congress passed the bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning by 450 votes to 1, with changes that would help shield lawmakers from prosecution and weaken the authority of […]
30 November 2016 As Saudi Arabia looks to diversify its economy to retain global competitiveness, the 5th Annual Human Asset Management conference 2017 will bring together global HR leaders to address issues pertaining to local talent management and development. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia approved its National Transformation Program and Saudi Vision 2030, making great headway in enhancing the Kingdom’s global competitiveness. Over the past four decades, […]
To our complete shock, the Government Accountability Office has released a report blasting the Education Department’s understanding of basic mathematics and accounting concepts after finding the department drastically underestimated the costs of Obama’s student loan forgiveness programs. The 100-page report entitled “Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Improve Its Income Driven Repayment Plan Budget Estimates” found that taxpayers could be on the hook for $137BN of student […]
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman underlined the kingdom’s intention to invest heavily in speeding up its diversification away from oil exports with the inauguration on Tuesday of a $35 billion mining and minerals processing complex. Riyadh has tried to reduce the economy’s reliance on oil for decades, but the challenge has become particularly urgent in the past couple of years as low prices have pushed state finances deep […]
PITTSBURGH // You probably don’t know his name, but you’ve almost certainly devoured his creation: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun. Michael James “Jim” Delligatti, the McDonald’s franchisee who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago and saw it become perhaps the best-known burger in the world, died on Monday at home in Pittsburgh. Delligatti, who according […]
Image: AWS Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy has said his company will continue to focus on getting new products and services to market at speed, despite that resulting in lengthy delays for the majority of its 14 regions. “It’s always a trade-off when you’re launching these services,” Jassy told ZDNet. “Do you want to wait until you have the services available in our 14 regions […]
Nestlé said it had found a process to naturally reduce sugar content by as much as 40 per cent in what the maker of Kit Kats claims is a first for the industry, as pressure to produce healthier drinks and snacks ratchets up amid an obesity epidemic. The world’s largest food and drinks company said on Wednesday that it was securing a patent for its innovation and […]
As the world’s largest importer of arms, India has long relied on foreign-built equipment to run its military. Its navy is no exception. It runs submarines designed in Russia, Germany and France, and flies planes from Russia, the U.S. and U.K. While it has long made ships at home, it is now looking to indigenous manufacturers for equipment like missiles and fighter jets. The goal to Make […]
By Paritosh Bansal and Serajul Quadir | DHAKA DHAKA Before Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury orchestrated Bangladesh’s worst militant attack, he sought and won approval for it from Islamic State. A Canadian of Bangladeshi origin, he was told by his contact in the militant group, Abu Terek Mohammad Tajuddin Kausar, to target foreigners, according to a senior police official who has seen communications between the two men. Chowdhury, located […]
TORONTO If getting charged with impaired driving is not enough, police in a small Canadian town are hoping adding Nickelback music to the punishment will be enough to keep drunk partiers away from the wheel. In a Facebook post over the weekend, Kensington police in the province of Prince Edward Island asked holiday partiers to plan ahead and drink responsibly. Kensington has a population of less than […]
BAKU Azerbaijan’s parliament on Wednesday made online defamation of the president a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. With almost all traditional media strictly controlled by the government, social media networks have become outlets for people to voice criticism in a country where the economy has suffered from the global slump in oil prices and a depreciating currency. Azerbaijan criminalised defamation over the internet three years ago, meaning […]
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jessica Resnick-Ault | NEW YORK NEW YORK Oil’s blistering rally of up to 10 percent to $50 a barrel on Wednesday should continue into next week, analysts and fund managers said, after the world’s top producers announced a historic deal to rein in output. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached its first deal to cut oil output since 2008 – […]
DUBAI // Lights are being hammered in and a trampoline and bungee wall installed as workmen put the finishing touches to a new theatre and stage show. The new venue is part of the soon-to-open Motiongate Dubai theme park, which will be hosting a show based on the last two instalments of the dance-film franchise Step Up. About 3,000 performers have been auditioned in casting calls around […]
30 November 2016 Until recently, Averda was known to the Omani waste management market as the operator of the Al Multaqa and Liwa Medical Waste Treatment Plants, collecting and treating in excess of 4000 tons of hazardous medical waste per year. Now Averda has expanded its waste management services in Oman with two new contract wins for waste collection and landfilling services in Al Dhakhiliya and Dhofar […]
By Angus McDowall and Tom Perry | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels on Wednesday vowed to fight on in east Aleppo in the face of sudden government advances that have cut the area held by the opposition by a third in recent days and brought insurgents in the city to the brink of a catastrophic defeat. Gains by the Syrian army and its allies since last week have […]
Steven Mnuchin made his fortune by swooping in to buy IndyMac, one of the biggest casualties of the mortgage crisis, then selling it for more than twice what he paid five years later. But to Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a housing advocacy group, it sticks in the craw to see him nominated by Donald Trump to serve as the 77th US Treasury […]
Salvatore Ferragamo is often mistaken for his iconic fashion designer grandfather and founder of the Salvatore Ferragamo fashion brand, who became known after his shoes because a must-have in Hollywood for actresses such as Katherine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Eighty-nine years later, Ferragamo’s grandson is nowhere near the fashion house. Instead, he heads the family’s $680m hospitality estate in Tuscany, Il Borro. The 700 hectares historic hillside […]
All you need: Blink’s two-camera outfit with a sync module, set-up guide and an Android or iOS device with app loaded. Photo: Jack Schofield Most people who really need security cameras should already have installed them. However, there are still plenty of people like me, who aren’t willing to make that much of an effort, or pay a monthly fee. Now there is at least one system […]
Photo Khalid al-Falih, center, the Saudi energy minister, at the OPEC meeting in Vienna on Wednesday. Credit Christian Bruna/European Pressphoto Agency VIENNA — After years of trying fruitlessly to prop up energy markets, OPEC on Wednesday finally reached a consensus on production cuts, sending oil prices soaring. The problem is, the euphoria may not last. With prices still at less than half the levels of two years […]
OPEC clinched a deal to curtail oil supply, confounding skeptics as the need to clear a record global crude glut — and prove the group’s credibility — brought its first cuts in eight years. Crude rose as much as 8.8 percent in London. OPEC will reduce output to 32.5 million barrels a day, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters in Vienna Wednesday. The breakthrough deal showed […]
In this Wednesday, June 22, 2016, file photo, a driver uses her mobile phone while sitting in traffic in Sacramento, Calif. The government wants smartphone makers to lock out most apps when the phone is being used by someone driving a car. The voluntary guidelines unveiled Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, are designed to reduce crashes caused by drivers distracted by phones. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) The government […]
