ROME A total of around 20 migrants are feared to have died trying to cross the Mediterranean on Saturday, the United Nations refugee agency said, citing testimony from survivors arriving in Italy. Seven men were found dead during Saturday’s rescues, but survivors brought to Trapani in Sicily indicated a further 13 had been lost at sea, UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said. “When they saw the rescuers coming […]
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 […]
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 […]
Capabilities of MicroScan Presented to HCPs in a regional roadshow across Kuwait and Abu Dhabi 15 May 2017 Kuwait City – Beckman Coulter, a worldwide leader in developing clinical diagnostic products and solutions, has introduced the workflow efficiency boosting MicroScan range of solutions to healthcare providers (HCPs) and members of the medical community in Kuwait. MicroScan products offer choice in panel formats, setup and speed. Its unique […]
A new level of optical isolation necessary to advance on-chip optical signal processing has now been demonstrated by researchers. The technique involving light-sound interaction can be implemented in nearly any photonic foundry process and can significantly impact optical computing and communication systems. (via WSJ)
BEIRUT Heavy shelling by Islamic State militants killed at least seven people in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Sunday night, a war monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based organisation that monitors the war, said the militants continued to shell the city’s government-held districts on Monday. Islamic State holds most of Deir al-Zor province, apart from an enclave in the […]
ABIDJAN Heavy gunfire erupted on Monday in Ivory Coast’s two largest cities – Abidjan and Bouake – witnesses said, as the military pressed an operation aimed at ending a four-day nationwide army mutiny over bonus payments. Loyalist troops began advancing towards Bouake, the epicentre of the revolt, on Sunday and sporadic gunfire was heard overnight there as well as at military camps in Abidjan. Shooting in both […]
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 […]
DUBAI // An Asian man has died and others are being treated for their injuries after a bus carrying 10 passengers crashed near Al Quoz industrial civil driving education centre. Dubai Police sent out a message on Twitter just after 7.30am to warn motorists about the collision. Other passengers involved in the incident have been treated by paramedics at the scene and transferred to Rashid Hospital. The […]
Oil prices jumped after the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia said they backed extending an Opec-led agreement to cut output until March 2018. Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak met on Monday in Beijing and discussed oil output policy. Russia is the world’s biggest oil producer, while Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter. The two ministers said in a joint […]
A group of researchers believes that contrary to a common model sunspots form near the Sun’s surface. (via WSJ)
15 May 2017 The legal departments at Pepsi-Cola International, Total Marketing Middle East and Qatar Financial Centre Authority were among the big winners at the Middle East Legal Awards, which took place at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, on Thursday (11 May). The trio were named Legal Department of the Year in the large team, small team and government, department, agency or public body categories respectively. The award for […]
While equity volatility has collapsed to record lows (amid the biggest increase in net VIX shorts in 9 months), positioning across bond, FX, money market, and commodity markets has been shifting massively in recent weeks. As US Macro data has crashed to its weakest and most negative in 12 months… US equity complacency has hit record lows… As Speculators add to VIX shorts by the […]
ATHENS One person died and two others were injured when a fire fanned by an early heatwave tore through a forested area in a town near Athens on Sunday, the fire brigade said. TV pictures showed plumes of smoke rising above the town of Agioi Theodoroi, some 65 km (40 miles) west of Athens, as the fire burned through large areas of woodland. Rescuers recovered a body […]
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has called on China to rebalance an increasingly skewed trade relationship between Africa and the rising superpower, arguing that Beijing must do more to tackle a widening trade deficit. Africa’s trade balance with China has moved decisively into deficit due to a fall in the price of many African commodities, such as oil, copper, iron ore and cocoa. In 2015, the most […]
Having single-handedly hounded Home Capital Group – the company which we predicted in 2015 would be “ground zero” for any potential Canadian financial crisis, and has emerged as the Canada’s equivalent to the infamous New Century which in 2007 presaged the upcoming global financial crisis – into near oblivion, noted chicken-farmer and short-seller, Marc Cohodes, over the weekend revealed the full details behind his latest short thesis: […]
Dubai master developer Nakheel has signed a construction contract worth nearly AED1.5 billion for The Palm Gateway, a new three-tower residential, retail and beach club complex at the foot of the world-famous Palm Jumeirah. Nakheel said in a statement that it has appointed Shapoorji Pallonji Mideast to carry out the work, which will begin by the end of June and take two and a half years to […]
Where will self-driving cars go once they drop you off? In big cities, parking can be expensive and take forever to find. But TechCrunch Disrupt NY hackathon team Val.ai built a way for autonomous vehicles to participate in auctions for nearby parking spaces. When a self-driving car needs to park itself, it can submit real-time bids for local spots occupied by others. If a currently parked car […]
The Federal Reserve is actively considering a profound change in US monetary policy, in effect the reversal of quantitative easing (QE). In its March meeting, the FOMC discussed its strategy for the future run down of its balance sheet, and said that further debate would take place in upcoming meetings. The FOMC has already concluded that “a change in the Committee’s reinvestment policy would likely be appropriate […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN More than 1,500 rebels and their family members left the devastated district of Qaboun on the edge of the Syrian capital Damascus after more than two months of aerial strikes and artillery shelling, rebels and state media said on Sunday. The rebels had agreed overnight to a secret evacuation deal after being cornered in a small pocket of Qaboun, which lies […]
Emmanuel Macron’s election as president of France received few more rapturous welcomes than that given by Sylvie Goulard, a liberal French politician in the European Parliament and ally of the 39-year-old new head of state. “Finally! Finally, Europe and France reconciled!” Ms Goulard enthused. “What a symbol — a young president, focused on the future, entering the Louvre of the kings of France to the sound of […]
Three former employees of Donald Trump claim to have personally witnessed him recording phone calls at Trump Tower in New York, and a fourth person said a recording of him was entered into evidence in a lawsuit – the Wall St. Journal reports. Mr. Trump sometimes taped phone conversations with associates and others from his Trump Tower office in New York, according to three people who say […]
By Ayesha Rascoe and Michael Martina | WASHINGTON/BEIJING WASHINGTON/BEIJING The United States and China have agreed to take action by mid-July to increase access for U.S. financial firms and expand trade in beef and chicken among other steps as part of Washington’s drive to cut its trade deficit with Beijing. The deals are the first results of 100 days of trade talks that began last month, when […]
(This version of the story corrects paragraph 10 to show quote was by Interim CFO Bob Blowes, not Robert Morton as previously stated) By Matt Scuffham TORONTO Home Capital Group Inc (HCG.TO) confirmed on Friday it is considering asset disposals to enable it to refinance more quickly and pay off an emergency loan provided by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. Shares in Canada’s biggest non-bank lender […]
