ABU DHABI // Dealing with Iran, the conflict in Yemen and finding a viable outcome to the Syrian crisis are the main challenges the United States will face in the Middle East this year, according to a report by an American think-tank. The 2017 Global Forecast by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies found that the US will also have to work on rebuilding its partnerships […]
After December’s No vote in the Italian referendum, the rise of Donald Trump and the British vote to leave the EU, it appears that the political landscape of the developed world is being redesigned by the victims of globalisation and technological change. Anger towards political elites is pervasive. Yet a few rage-free zones remain, of which Japan is the most conspicuous. How come this country, whose economy […]
DUBAI // Cleaning crews were out in force to pick up litter from the country’s parks, roads and beaches in a huge operation in the early hours of New Year’s Day. After residents and tourists rang in 2017, Dubai Municipality workers dressed in orange overalls were gathering up plastic bottles, food trays, cans and leftover bunting and confetti in large bags. Work to scrub and clean the […]
A 2017 state budget plan released by Oman’s government on Sunday projected a smaller deficit but maintained tight curbs on spending because of low oil prices, which are hurting state revenues. Government spending this year is projected to total 11.7 billion rials ($30.4 billion) and revenues 8.7 billion rials, which would result in a deficit of 3 billion rials. That compares with the government’s original 2016 budget […]
Towards the end of October 2016, several Indian banks announced they would be recalling millions of debit cards in the wake of a data breach that affected the backend of software that powered an ATM network there. It was a situation that could have been better mitigated; a government-sponsored organization tasked with sharing information about data breaches completely missed the warning signs that a breach was taking […]
Authored by Eric Zuesse via Strategic-Culture.org, I’m a former lifelong Democrat, stating here a clear and incontestable fact: Barack Obama is a failed President. It’s true not just because of the sad realities such as that «Top Ex-White House Economist Admits 94 % Of All New Jobs Under Obama Were Part-Time» — or, as the economists Alan Krueger and Lawrence Katz wrote in the original of that study: «94 percent of the […]
BEIJING Heavy smog in northern China on Sunday caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and highways to shut, disrupting the first day of the new year holiday. Large parts of the north were hit by hazardous smog in mid-December, leading authorities to order hundreds of factories to close and to restrict motorists to cut emissions. The latest bout of air pollution began on Friday and is […]
Sherlock Holmes looks terrible. Tired, dishevelled and haunted, he shakes as his brother Mycroft says: “The roads we walk have demons beneath. And yours have been waiting a very long time.” Meanwhile, supposedly-dead arch-villain Moriarty repeats: “Did you miss me?” over and over again. And this is just the trailer for Sherlock season 4, which begins tonight on BBC First, available on OSN. With Sherlock boasting all […]
The women cowered behind a flimsy bedroom door. One of them dialed 911. Another clutched a stubby kitchen knife. Continue reading the main story Since leaving the corps in 2012, Siatta had been unable to switch off the habits of war. He was hypervigilant and struggled to relax. He watched people, sizing them up and scanning for threats. In the varying situations of everyday life, he constantly […]
Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com, In the wake of the near collapse of the Dallas police and fire pension fund, a Dallas News editorial says Former Police, Fire Pension Managers Should Face Criminal Investigation. Mayor Mike Rawlings is right to ask for a state criminal investigation into shady practices by the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System’s prior management. The fund is on the verge […]
The Central Bank of Oman will be forced to follow the US Fed’s tightening cycle over the coming months, despite low inflation and rising liquidity pressures at home, according to BMI Research. It said in a research noted that combined with low commodity prices, the strength of the US dollar, and weaker economic activity, Oman will adopt a more hawkish monetary policy to lead to average consumer […]
New Year’s Eve 2016 is a gig tailor made for Coldplay. The uplifting vibe inherent to nearly all of the British group’s oeuvre was sorely needed in what was a tumultuous year, both internationally and in the region. Back in the capital five years after their New Year’s Eve show on the Corniche, the Chris Martin led four-piece provided the closure fans craved. Coldplay also quickly dispelled […]
BANGKOK Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn called for unity in his first New Year address since taking over from his late father, who was widely seen as a unifying force during decades of turbulence. Any appearance by the new king is closely watched and the pre-recorded address was only the second time he has spoken to the public since taking the throne on Dec. 1 after the death […]
It wasn’t that long ago that there were a few sure things in this world: — ESPN would continue to print money thanks to fees from its 100 million-person subscriber base. — The NFL would continue to generate massive TV ratings thanks to an insatiable demand for all things football. — The Cubs would continue their century-plus run of futility thanks to a curse from a goat, […]
Welcomes naming of new SC bench KARACHI: Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan has welcomed the constitution of a new bench by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to resume the hearing in the case of Panama Papers, saying that he would accept the decision by the new bench. Speaking at a press conference here at the Insaf House on Saturday, the PTI chief appealed to the […]
Image: Microsoft Many of us want to lose weight, get more exercise, sleep better and so on, but those things are long-term goals with no instant fixes. That’s where a fitness tracker comes in. A wrist band keeps a record so that you can see if you’re improving, and it encourages you to try harder when you’re not. Wear it all the time and it’s a constant […]
Dubai-UAE: 29 December, 2016 As the New Year approaches, it brings with it new expectations, new aspirations and new resolutions. Along with shedding a few kilos, picking up a new skill or travelling to a faraway land, it’s also time to get a handle on your finances. Here are a few questions for your bank as a first step in this direction. Ask all the usual questions, […]
2016 was jampacked with so many discoveries and technological advancements, and it looks like the tech world has no plans of slowing down in 2017. From augmented and virtual realities to artificial intelligence and new versions of wearable devices, 2017 has it all in store for you. Augmented, Virtual And Mixed Reality The year 2016 saw the intregration of this technology into the market. The boom of the […]
It has been a bad year for numbers. At the start of 2016, Howard Wainer, a much revered Princeton-educated statistician, eulogised that “prediction models combined with exit polls let us go to sleep early with little doubt about election outcomes”. By the end of a year in which data — in the shape of facts, polls and forecasts — struggled to deal with an uncertain world, Mr […]
A Pentagon subcontractor’s systems were not secured properly. (Image: file photo) A Pentagon subcontractor has exposed reams of highly sensitive details belonging to active military healthcare professionals online, some of which hold top-secret security clearances. Potomac Healthcare Solutions, a subcontractor brought on board to supply healthcare professionals to the US government and military organizations through its Washington, DC.-based contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, was the source of the […]
In 2014, Walt Disney World Resort began construction of its ambitious project to bring the moon, Pandora, from James Cameron’s movie Avatar, to life in Disney Animal Kingdom. Fans of the epic adventure have actually been waiting since it was officially announced in 2013. Now, three years later, Disney Parks has finally unveiled a two-and-a-half minute sneak peek into the incredible alien world that awaits visitors in the summer […]
Microsoft’s ongoing move to reposition itself as a cloud-first/mobile-first vendor continued in 2016. But readers of “All About Microsoft” here on ZDNet remained most interested in Windows 10’s rollout and futures this past year. Credit: ZDNet While it’s Microsoft’s commercial cloud story that many investors and analysts are watching most closely, Microsoft’s moves as the Windows company are what had — and will likely continue to have […]
It was certainly a year of ups and downs for Apple, which took steps to shore up many of its products outside the core iOS portable offerings. The Apple Watch got a new user interface, but the smartwatch category drags. Apple TV got a new content navigation app (but not an integrated Apple television service). The redesigned MacBook, of course, got a wee strip of touchy goodness. […]
Facebook, one of the world’s most popular social networks, has more than 2 billion users and it knows more about them than they realize. It’s not much of a surprise that Facebook wants to know as much about its users as possible, as any bit of extra info can help it serve better targeted ads. For a good while now, Facebook has been as much a social […]
