A recently discovered vulnerability in Android Lollipop allows an attacker to bypass the password lockscreen on a mobile device and gain full access. The flaw was discovered by a security researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, who said he has already alerted Google about his findings. The exploit requires an attacker to have physical access to the device but it will only work if the […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Amazon (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos unveiled plans on Tuesday to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site in Florida to better compete with fellow billionaires using their fortunes and tech prowess to open a new frontier in human space travel and exploration. Bezos’ space startup, Blue Origin, intends to invest more than $200 million to build the rocket-making facility adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy […]
Middle East Video Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said that President Obama wants the United States “to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year.” By DAVID E. SANGER and GARDINER HARRIS September 10, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama, under increasing pressure to demonstrate that the United States is joining European nations in the effort to resettle Syrian refugees, has told his administration to take in at […]
CHINESE RAILWAY LINES CLOSING ON INDIA By Barun Das Gupta The Indian taxpayer pays a huge amount every year for…
|By Matein Khalid| The Federal Reserve could well raise its overnight borrowing rate at the next FOMC monetary policy conclave on September 17. Though contagion from China’s 40% stock market meltdown has triggered bear markets from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and plunged Asian/emerging markets equities into ta ghastly replay of 1998’s epic meltdown (General Suharto’s overthrow, the Russian rouble default, Malaysia’s capital controls, the run on the […]
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected calls from opposition politicians for Israel to accept refugees from Syria, saying that Israel was “a very small country that lacks demographic and geographic depth.” He also said that plans to construct a fence along the eastern border with Jordan would go ahead. The Israeli news media has been dominated in recent days by the dramatic reports and […]
When it comes to Microsoft Windows 10, the momentum is huge. At least that’s the message Redmond is sending to the masses. Nick Parker (pictured), corporate vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, took the stage at the IFA 2015 consumer electronics show in Berlin today to talk about the new operating system and how much traction it’s gaining even in the early days of its release. “Our […]
UAE. With a 54% decline in the price of oil prices during the past 12 months the United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate market is now beginning to feel the effect with property transaction levels falling across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, according to the latest research from international real estate consultancy, Cluttons. Cluttons’ annual 2015 UAE Property Report reveals that the direct correlation between hydrocarbon revenues […]
Middle East A Syrian man near the Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria, in 2014. By ANNE BARNARD, HWAIDA SAAD and KENNETH ROSEN August 31, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Conflicting reports emerged Monday about the extent of damage that Islamic State militants in Syria have inflicted on the Temple of Baal, one of the most important structures in the ancient city of Palmyra. In their second attack on the world-renowned ruins in […]
TEHRAN — Iran’s judiciary sentenced two people to 10 years in prison on Sunday for spying for the United States and Israel, but their names were not released, local media reported. It was not clear if the Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian, who faces similar charges, was one of them. It is not uncommon in Iran to hand down sentences without revealing names of the convicted, especially in […]
TORONTO The chief executive of infidelity website Ashley Madison’s parent company Avid Life Media has left, just over a week after hackers leaked data about millions of its clients in a massive cyber assault. Avid Life said on Friday the departure of Noel Biderman was by “mutual agreement” and its existing senior management team would take over until a new CEO is appointed. On Aug. 18, hackers […]
By Kingsely Ohajunwa| Corruption has been a clog in the wheel of progress in Nigeria; there are too many corrupt individuals in Nigeria; the level of corruption in the civil service is gargantuan and mind-blowing; political office holders embezzle funds meant for projects, progammes and welfare of the people; Nigeria has continually been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world; the level of […]
Middle East Beirut Journal A man sifted through garbage piled in Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday. By ANNE BARNARD August 27, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Mohammad Rizk sat glumly in his sandwich shop on Wednesday, waiting for customers. The scent of roasting chicken mingled with the fumes of a trash pile just outside. The garbage heap, which seemed to have taken on a life of its own, now dominated the […]
INTERNATIONAL. Market price action dictates direction – traditional support levels were broken violently. Yesterday’s market was the most energised sell-off since 2008/2009. – The US dollar lead this crisis and will lead back up when the low is in – We have reached most of Steen Jakobsen’s technical targets and below is his primitive “expected” path from here (2015 low getting established) – We will see recession […]
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has arrested the accused mastermind of a 1996 bombing that killed 19 American airmen, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed officials. The suspect, Ahmed al-Mughassil, was identified in an American federal indictment as a senior leader of an Iranian-backed Saudi militant group that sought to kill American military personnel in the Persian Gulf. The bombing destroyed an eight-story building in […]
UAE. Business confidence in the Middle East continued to fall in the second quarter of 2015, but not as quickly as it had in the first three months of the year, according to the to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants). The slight optimism was due to a temporary reprieve in […]
In a widely watched terrorism lawsuit that drew the attention of the Obama administration, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Monday that the Palestinian Authority would have to post $10 million and an additional $1 million monthly to appeal a huge damages award for its role in six terrorist attacks in Israel that had killed and injured Americans. The bond amount was much lower than lawyers […]
|By Matein Khalid| Geopolitics is now another source of risk for the Turkish lira, government debt and Istanbul equities. The Turkish air force is bombing Daish in Syria and the secessionist Kurdish PKK party in northern Iraq. Suicide bombings have killed Turkish citizens in eastern Anatolian cities on the Syrian border. Ankara has given the US a green light to launch military airstrikes from the Incerlik air […]
By THE NEW YORK TIMES August 21, 2015 For decades Cairo was considered safe for residents and visitors. Not anymore. Nearly two years of escalating bombings in and around Cairo are gradually changing the feel of the city. Neighbors are becoming more suspicious of strangers asking questions, and commuters are getting used to changing their routes to avoid police cordons after each bombing. The New York Times asked readers on Facebook, […]
EY, a leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, has acquired Seren, an international digital consultancy based in the UK with a significant footprint in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. Seren has been working closely with governments, banks and media organisations in the Mena region to drive digital business transformation through a customer-centred approach to design, said a statement. Gerard Gallagher, Mena advisory […]
ABU DHABI // Residents of Khalifa City are eagerly awaiting the opening of a 250-bed hospital that will create 800 jobs by the end of the year. The US$200 million (Dh734.6m) NMC Royal Hospital will specialise in 25 fields and will be a first for the area, on the outskirts of the capital. “According to the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, the city is planning to grow outwards […]
The days of very easy money are drawing to a close in the rich Gulf Arab oil-exporting economies as money market rates start to rise, partly because of the damage which cheap oil is doing to government finances. Loose liquidity created by inflows of oil money pushed short-term rates in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring states to record lows last year, fuelling frenzied competition […]
RAS LAFFAN, Qatar — The temperature hovered around 100 degrees on the jetty here, where a set of pipes were connected to a giant red-hulled ship. But the moisture in the air froze on the pipes and flaked off, creating snowlike flurries on the early summer evening. The incongruous sight is common on the Qatari ship, the Al Rekayyat, which carries a frigid fuel known as liquefied […]
