UNITED NATIONS — President Obama called upon a conclave of world leaders on Tuesday to fight violent extremism with not only weapons, but also ideas, jobs and good governance, a strategy he has long advocated. There are few signs that it is succeeding. Military pressure, Mr. Obama said at a United Nations summit meeting, will be insufficient to vanquish groups like the Islamic State, also known as […]
SANA, Yemen — Warplanes with the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition bombed a wedding party on Yemen’s Red Sea coast on Monday, killing at least 70 civilians, according to two local officials and a relative of one of the victims. The aerial attack, in Wahija, south of the port city of Mokha, appeared to be among the deadliest involving civilians since the start of Yemen’s war this past […]
Google Inc (GOOGL.O) unveiled its new Nexus phones on Tuesday in its latest attempt to take a bite out of Apple’s dominant share of the smartphone market. The launch of the phones, the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X, comes a day after Apple Inc (AAPL.O) reported record first-weekend sales of its new iPhones. The Nexus 5X 16 GB model will be priced at $379, while the […]
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia faced mounting international pressure on Tuesday to halt its bombing campaign in Yemen the day after airstrikes killed dozens of people at a village wedding on the Red Sea coast. The attack occurred Monday morning in the village of Wahija, south of the city of Mokha, and appeared to be one of the deadliest involving civilians since the military campaign began in March. […]
A collapsible bucket can be used for lots of things. First thought: fill it with ice & beers. Or maybe bail out the sinking canoe, wash-up after the hike; you’ll think of something. This very packable silicone bucket holds 2 gallons and folds down to less than 2-inches tall and has a stainless steel handle. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is […]
The world’s first purpose-built centre for paediatric research on rare diseases was named after the founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed, on Monday. The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children was facilitated by a gift of £60 million (Dh335 million) by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the wife of the late Sheikh Zayed who is also Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman […]
Computer screens display the Facebook sign-in screen in this photo illustration taken in Golden, Colorado July 28, 2015. Reuters/Rick Wilking Facebook Inc (FB.O) restored access to its social media website for most users on Monday afternoon, after its second outage in less than a week. According to Currentlydown.com, Facebook was down for about 42 minutes between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET. (bit.ly/1LhwMao) “We are currently restoring […]
DUBAI // Luxury is what comes to mind when a person walks through Mall of the Emirates’ new extension, which includes several brands new to the region and the Middle East’s first and only IMAX with a laser screen. Mall owner, the Majid Al Futtaim group, unveiled the Dh1 billion Evolution 2015 on Monday after 18 months and 15 million man hours going into building two domes, […]
SHARJAH // Young and old turned out in their hundreds to cast their ballots in Sharjah. Walking with the aid of a cane and his son, Abdullah Suhail, 85, was voting for the first time. “Our family have chosen to support a candidate and I came here to do so,” he said. From near the border with Oman, Heira Al Katbi and her daughter Fatima came to […]
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C30) carrying ASTROSTAT, India’s first observatory satellite, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, September 28, 2015. Reuters/Stringer NEW DELHI India launched its first space research observatory and several U.S. satellites on Monday, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to expand his country’s influence in the competitive, $300 billion global space industry. The observatory, named ASTROSAT, […]
INTERNATIONAL. The low level of insurance penetration seen in many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, combined with the robust, albeit deteriorating, profitability achieved by the leading primary insurers, has made the region a target for international and domestic reinsurers. A new special report by A.M. Best examines how insurance markets in the MENA region have grown significantly over the past decade. MENA insurance premiums surpassed […]
INTERNATIONAL. What started as a civil war in Syria nearly five years ago has now evolved into an international crisis unmatched by any other since World War II. The global community now has a solemn obligation to end this humanitarian disaster, but it cannot do so unless all the powers affected by the conflict set aside their differences in order to end the suffering of millions of […]
Middle East By THOMAS ERDBRINK September 27, 2015 President Hassan Rouhani of Iran is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. Thomas Erdbrink, the Tehran bureau chief for The New York Times, looks at what message Mr. Rouhani has for international leaders and how it might be received. What’s different from the last time President Rouhani spoke to the General Assembly? Mr. Rouhani, Iran’s leader since […]
Middle East Secretary of State John Kerry with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, on Sunday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON September 27, 2015 The Iraqi military announced Sunday that it had agreed to share intelligence about the Islamic State with Russia, the Syrian government and Iran, an agreement that caught the Obama administration off guard. The Iraqi military said in a statement that the new agreement was necessary because […]
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, September 25, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not only speak to Silicon Valley’s biggest executives during his two-day visit to the U.S. tech hub but will also take questions from some of Facebook Inc’s 1.5 billion […]
Middle East Secretary of State John Kerry, left, with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the United Nations on Saturday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON September 26, 2015 UNITED NATIONS — Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Saturday to draw Iran into the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict as he began a week of diplomacy over the brutal fighting there. “I view this week as […]
SHARJAH // A lack of jobs is leading some Khor Fakkan residents to call for more Emiratisation, while others are concerned about health insurance and retirement allowances. Many who have graduated from universities cannot find a job and are calling for prospective Federal National Council (FNC) members to intervene. Jamila Rashed, 26, graduated in 2010 and was still looking for employment. “I applied to the public and […]
WASHINGTON — Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters. Among those who have entered or tried to enter the conflict in Iraq or Syria […]
UNITED NATIONS — Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, promoted access to the Internet as “an enabler of human rights” and a “force for peace” on Saturday, as he announced that his company would help the United Nations bring Internet connections to refugee camps. “It’s not all altruism,” Mr. Zuckerberg said later, in an implicit acknowledgment that drawing new users to his service is also good for […]
AMMAN, Jordan — Mohammad Smarat sat gazing at the few plants sprouting outside the entrance of the white stone hospital here, recalling how he had collapsed in a sea of green fields after getting shot. He had been helping farmers pick tomatoes near his home in Dara’a, Syria, when a stray bullet shattered his left hip joint. Though he had obeyed his father’s orders not to join […]
ABU DHABI // A sunken fishing boat near Mina Zayed poses an environmental hazard to marine life and a threat to safety, fishermen say. The 15-metre dhow sank last year, three years after it was abandoned in port. It is not the only vessel causing problems, fishermen said. They said up to 50 of 200 dhows at Mina Zayed were not in use and were obstructing other […]
DUBAI // You are an employer who catches a staff member stealing a chocolate bar from another worker’s desk. Who are you going to call? It may be time you dealt with it internally rather than calling the police, judges say. A series of minor offences have gone through the Dubai Criminal Court recently and judges have voiced their concerns about cases that cost far more than […]
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, September 25, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Narendra Modi has documented his push to bring U.S. investments and jobs back to India on his Facebook and Twitter pages since landing in the United States this week, posting photos with […]
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama announced on Friday that he had reached a “common understanding” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on curbing economic cyber espionage, but threatened to impose U.S. sanctions on Chinese hackers who persist with cyber crimes. The two leaders also unveiled a deal to build on a landmark emissions agreement struck last year, outlining new steps they will take to deliver on pledges they made […]
