An Omani appeals court on Monday cancelled an order to close down a newspaper that had reported on alleged corruption within the judiciary. The privately-owned Azamn newspaper covered a series of corruption cases in 2014 in which several company executives were convicted. The Court of First Instance said in September the paper had undermined the prestige of the state and disturbed public order, ordering it be closed […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 28, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Dubai Art exhibition See the exhibition As If Anything Here Belonged To You, in which artist Cecilia Fattorini presents works about our impact on the world, sourcing her subject matter from the rhythms and […]
Dec. 27, 2016 6:57 p.m. ET The conviction rate for blasphemy in Indonesia is 100%, and that’s bad news for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. The talented Jakarta Governor faces up to five years in prison after a court decided Tuesday that prosecutors have a credible case against him for making lighthearted comments about the Quran. A conviction will deprive Jakarta of an able administrator and reformer, but the […]
By Nate Raymond | NEW YORK NEW YORK Three Chinese citizens have been criminally charged in the United States with trading on confidential corporate information obtained by hacking into networks and servers of law firms working on mergers, U.S. prosecutors said on Tuesday. Iat Hong of Macau, Bo Zheng of Changsha, China, and Chin Hung of Macau were charged in an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court […]
A Kingdom of Oil From the beginning, the social contract between commoners and royals constituted a trade-off: a share of the country’s wealth in exchange for absolute rule by the Saud monarchs. A Life magazine correspondent visiting in 1943 described how, as King Abdulaziz waited on a roadside while a flat tire was fixed on his Packard, he gave a shepherd passing on camelback several gold pieces. […]
WASHINGTON In a new legal development on the controversy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails, an appeals court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling and said two U.S. government agencies should have done more to recover the emails. The ruling from Judge Stephen Williams, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, revives one of a number of legal challenges […]
India’s Parsis are one of the most successful minority and migrant groups in the world. They make up less than 0.005% of India’s population but three out of the country’s top 10 billionaires. They fled Iran and settled in India in the 10th century and have since played an outsized role in the evolution of India’s economy as pioneers of trade and industry. For centuries, prominent Parsis […]
I am retiring from the Poynter Institute on New Year’s Eve. As my wife and I watch the ball in Times Square slide down to 2017, our fervent smooch will not just mark a new beginning. It will be the first celebration of almost 40 years well-spent. When my retirement was announced — along with the news that I would continue to work on some important projects […]
Submitted by Alice Salles via TheAntiMedia.org, The end of the year is approaching, and data concerning government abuses of power has begun pouring in. According to Facebook’s Global Government Requests Report, government’s requests for Facebook account data rose 27 percent in the first half of 2016. Facebook’s official announcement explained that requests for user data went from 46,710 in the last half of 2015 to 59,229 in […]
DUBAI // A Pakistani man was attacked with a baseball bat by a man he had fought with three years ago, a court heard on Tuesday. “I was in Al Mamzar on October 2 last year when a man I had a fight with about three years ago arrived with a number of men and they assaulted me with their fists and then with a baseball bat,” […]
By Anuradha Nagaraj CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Housemaids, brick makers, labourers, textile workers, fleeing migrants and children risking their lives in mica mines. These were the faces of modern day slavery in 2016 when the world saw a renewed resolve to combat all forms of human bondage. An estimated 45.8 million people globally live in some form of slavery, either trafficked into forced labour, sold […]
In 2016 it was all about Panamagate. But by retaining Konrad Mizzi in his executive and Keith Schembri besides him in Castille, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stubbornly failed to recognise the extent of the public outrage at these revelations Jurgen Balzan 27 December 2016, 7:20am Joseph Muscat stood by his men and by his own admission, he evidently considers himself unable to complete the energy plans without […]
George Michael, the British pop superstar who reached early fame with WHAM! and went on to a solo career lined with controversies and chart-topping hits that blended soul and dance music with social commentary, has died, his publicist said Sunday. He was 53. Michael passed away at his home in Goring, England. According to a statement to Billboard magazine, manager Michael Lippman said he died of “heart […]
By Ju-min Park | SEOUL SEOUL A South Korean ruling party faction announced on Tuesday it would form a new party, and a prominent member of the defectors said they wanted outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the front-runner in some presidential polls, to join them. The 29 lawmakers from President Park Geun-hye’s conservative Saenuri Party were among those who supported a parliamentary motion to impeach Park over […]
The prime minister defended his retaliation. “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek,” he said. “This is a responsible, measured and vigorous response, the natural response of a healthy people that is making it clear to the nations of the world that what was done at the U.N. is unacceptable to us.” Continue reading the main story The Security […]
JAKARTA An Indonesian court will proceed with a controversial blasphemy case against Jakarta’s Christian governor, who is accused of insulting the Koran, a judge said on Tuesday. A panel of judges rejected a call by lawyers defending Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to strike down the case because it had violated the ethnic Chinese politician’s human rights and breached procedures. “The exception by the defendant will be considered […]
The NBA has teamed up with NextVR to provide basketball fans with a whole new way of watching the games of their favorite teams. Through virtual reality, fans can watch NBA games as if they are in the stands, and sometimes, even courtside. NBA Enters Virtual Reality “I mean, the players are like, there. I should be touching them but I’m not,” said CBS News correspondent Dana […]
The Sunday Times of Malta’s cartoonist Steve Bonello picked this effort as his favourite cartoon of the year. “The Panama Papers had not been published by that date (March 13), but it was what all of Malta was talking about, with the government pedalling hard to shift the focus on its three years of achievements,” Mr Bonello said in explaining his choice. It is indeed a remarkable […]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, speaks to members of Abu Dhabi Media’s management and board during a Sea Palace barza in the capital on Monday, including Dr Ali bin Tamim, centre left, who Sheikh Mohammed recently appointed director-general of Abu Dhabi Media. Hamad Al Kaabi / Crown Prince Court – Abu Dhabi The National
By Humeyra Pamuk | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkish authorities have arrested the cafeteria manager of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper for insulting the president after he said he would not serve tea to Tayyip Erdogan, one of the manager’s lawyers told Reuters on Monday. Senol Buran, who runs the cafeteria at the Istanbul office of Cumhuriyet, was taken into custody after police raided his home late on Saturday, lawyer […]
In January of 2016, the Bundesbank announced that three years after commencing the transfer of some of its offshore-held gold from vaults located at the Banque de France in Paris and the NY Fed in New York, it had repatriated a total of 366.3 tonnes, bringing the German central bank’s gold reserves held in Frankfurt to 1,402 tonnes, or 41.5% of Germany’s total gold of 3,381 tonnes, […]
One may assume the life of a member of a Royal Family is easy, right? After all, members receive the “royal treatment” all year long. But the truth is royal families are just like all our families. Their lives can include controversy, scandal and some drama. And this year was no different. Whether it was relationship rumours, links to the Panama Papers scandal, tax fraud trials or […]
Saudi Arabia will resist plans to introduce a tax on expat remittances for now, according to Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri, secretary general of the Financial Committee at the Royal Court. Saudi Arabia’s Shura council has discussed plans to impose a 2 to 6 percent tax on expat workers’ remittances, following a proposal submitted by former Shura council member Husam Al Angari. He proposed an initial tax of 6 percent […]
SEOUL The detained friend of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the centre of a corruption scandal engulfing Park’s administration, said she was sorry on Monday when questioned by a special parliamentary committee, an opposition MP said. Choi Soon-sil, whom Park has said she turned to at difficult times, denied key allegations against her, including colluding with Park to pressure big businesses into paying money to […]
