By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON An unprecedented global cyber attack that infected computers in at least 150 countries beginning on Friday has unleashed a new wave of criticism of the U.S. National Security Agency. The attack was made possible by a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows software that the NSA used to build a hacking tool for its own use – only to have that tool and […]
Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity, By the end of this month, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor HR McMaster will deliver to President Trump their plans for military escalations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. President Trump would be wise to rip the plans up and send his national security team back to the drawing board – or […]
Amazon is adding two-step verification of the “Alexa” wake word to make sure Alexa-enabled devices respond when they’re supposed to. The update is part of the Alexa Voice Services (AVS) feature, which is what hardware developers use to build Alexa capabilities into third-party devices. Amazon said the verification change improves Alexa wake word accuracy and reduces false wakes caused by words that sound like “Alexa.” “With this […]
There is much going against South Korea right now, including an anaemic economy, a series of failures in the country’s shipbuilding sector, Chinese boycotts and North Korean belligerence. And yet the country’s stock market keeps hitting records. The Kospi, the Korea’s main equities benchmark, set a record high last week and is up 13 per cent in the year to date, making it one of Asia’s best-performing major markets of 2017. […]
By Michael Holden | LONDON LONDON One of Britain’s most notorious killers, “Moors murderer” Ian Brady, who murdered five children with his lover and accomplice Myra Hindley during a sadistic two-year reign of terror in the 1960s died on Monday. Brady and Hindley were jailed for life in 1966 for abducting, torturing, sexually abusing and then murdering the children before burying their young victims on the bleak […]
Food trends often centre around a single ingredient or innovative cooking technique. However, it seems the latest global food craze is not so much about the food but how it is served. Food bowls have grown in popularity in the United States and United Kingdom, and are now rolling into many of the UAE’s trendiest restaurants and cafes. Over the past five years, data collected by Technomic […]
With the holy month just around the corner, take a look at some of the city’s top iftars and suhoors to try. 1. Al Fanous Lounge: The Dubai Ballroom at JW Marriott Marquis will transform into an oriental lounge designed with lavish white, gold and jewel tones for the holy month of Ramdan. Also lavish at the lounge is the iftar buffet that will consist of over […]
A newly developed printable elastic conductor retains high conductivity even when stretched to as much as five times its original length, says a Japanese team of scientists. The new material, produced in paste-like ink form, can be printed in various patterns on textiles and rubber surfaces as stretchable wiring for wearable devices incorporating sensors, as well as give human skin-like functions to robot exteriors. The development of […]
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. plans to invest as much as $15 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund and start two new venture capital funds to build its technology holdings. The SoftBank fund will be “wrapped up” in two to three weeks with about $95 billion of commitments, according to Ibrahim Ajami, head of venture capital at Mubadala Capital, the sovereign wealth fund’s investment arm. Mubadala plans to […]
Puerto Rico’s once-influential Government Development Bank has won agreement from some of its creditors to cut its debt burden and restructure its obligations. The organisation, which for years acted as the territory’s primary fiscal agent and evolved into a lender of last resort in times of distress, will transfer its assets into a new entity and issue new bonds in a deal that will see creditors take […]
U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday as a rise in oil prices boosted energy stocks, soothing some nerves following a massive cyber attack that locked up 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries. Oil hit a three-week high after top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia said supply cuts needed to last into 2018, a step toward extending an OPEC-led deal to support prices for longer than originally […]
ABIDJAN Ivory Coast authorities will maintain a “firm line” faced with a four-day nationwide army mutiny, government spokesman Bruno Kone said on Monday, as the revolt spread, paralysing much of the West African cocoa grower. “The government has taken a firm line and it will maintain this line,” he told Reuters, adding that, while no negotiations were under way with the soldiers, “discussions were continuing” even as […]
Tesla has started taking orders for its innovative new solar roof, tile-sized solar panels that the company unveiled back in October last year. Coming from the makers of supercar-speed electric vehicles and reusable rockets, they’re not your ordinary solar panel: they’re aesthetically pleasing and won’t require ripping off existing tiles inside the home for installation. The Solar Roof, Tesla’s first post-SolarCity acquisition offering, is expected to sell […]
A committee of the Philippine parliament on Monday found an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was “insufficient in substance,” rejecting it and effectively putting an end to the case. The complaint, filed in March, alleged that Duterte had adopted a state policy of extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs, leading to the death of more than 8,000 people in the first eight months of his […]
Hours before Germany formally declared war on France in WWI, Marcel Proust penned a letter to his financial advisor that anticipated the horrors to come. “In the terrible days we are going through, you have other things to do besides writing letters and bothering with my petty interests, which I assure you seem wholly unimportant when I think that millions of men are going to be massacred […]
Italy’s Atlantia has launched a bid to buy its Spanish rival Abertis in a deal that values the target at €16.3bn and would create one of the world’s largest toll road and infrastructure companies. Atlantia announced its bid on Monday even though it did not have the full backing of the Abertis cornerstone shareholder Criteria, the Barcelona-based holding of the powerful Caixa foundation. The offer is structured […]
German stocks hit a new high on Monday morning, as higher commodity prices boost stocks across Europe. The Dax climbed as much as 0.48 per cent to 12831, with energy group RWE the biggest gainer despite reporting an 18 per cent drop in first quarter profits. German stocks have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of renewed investor desire for European assets, after Emmanuel Macron’s victory in […]
Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation, With Moon Jae-In’s victory in South Korea, the period of tension on the Korean Peninsula is likely to end. With the rise to power of the new president, South Korea can expect a sharp decline in hostilities with North Korea as well as a resumption of dialogue with China. An expected and highly anticipated victory was confirmed in South Korea on […]
The Samsung Galaxy J3 is a decent budget phone, complete with a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, a decent Exynos 3475 chip, and 1.5 GB of RAM. Its slightly better successor, the 2017 edition of the J3, is now up for sale via AT&T, launching quietly without much fanfare. The Galaxy J3 (2017) now sells for a no-contract price of $179.99, but if you’d rather opt for […]
A report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has revealed that only 53 percent of people it surveyed were able to nominate an organisation to report the misuse of their information to. The OAIC said that when asked, only 47 percent admitted awareness of a Privacy Commissioner — either federal or state level — but a mere 7 percent said they would report misuse […]
Oil jumped after the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia said that an OPEC-led agreement to cut output should be extended until March 2018. Saudi energy minister Khalid Al Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak discussed oil output policy in Beijing after which they made a joint statement. Mr Falih said the next round of cuts will be on the same terms as the first […]
SYDNEY U.S. buyout firm TPG Capital Management on Monday raised its cash bid for Fairfax Media Ltd (FXJ.AX), offering A$2.76 billion ($2.04 billion) for the struggling Australian publisher and sending its shares to a six-year high. The fresh offer from TPG [TPG.UL] and partner Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP) would allow shareholders to cash out completely rather than leaving them with scrip in a piecemeal collection […]
TOKYO Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) has sought international arbitration to stop partner Toshiba Corp (6502.T) from selling its chips arm without its consent, potentially derailing a much-needed capital injection for the Japanese conglomerate. California-based Western Digital is a long-standing joint venture partner and runs Toshiba’s main semiconductor plant in Japan. It has sought to bid for the Toshiba chips business, but is not seen as the front-runner, […]
Model-of-the-moment Winnie Harlow will walk the runway during Arab Fashion Week at The Meydan Hotel in Dubai this week. The 22-year-old Canadian, who has the depigmenting skin condition vitiligo, is one of many famous figures taking part in the event, which runs from tomorrow until Saturday. “Cardi B, the American influencer and hip-hop artist, will be flying in,” says Jacob Abrian, chief executive of the Arab Fashion […]
