MANILA The Philippines on Friday ruled out declaration of a unilateral ceasefire ahead of the resumption of peace talks with communist rebels next week, saying it was more interested in a bilateral truce both sides could stick to. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) plans to declare a unilateral ceasefire no later than Friday and had expected the government to do the same, in line with […]
By Praveen Menon and James Pearson | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Three North Koreans wanted for questioning in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of their country’s leader were believed to be returning home with the coffin of the victim on Friday after Malaysia agreed a swap deal with the reclusive state. Photographs obtained by Reuters from Japan’s Kyodo news agency show Hyon Kwang […]
By Ingrid Melander and Johnny Cotton | PARIS/MALESHERBES, France PARIS/MALESHERBES, France A 90-minute train ride from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris traces a political gulf between big-city voters and the rest, a divide that has shaken up Britain and the United States and has an outside chance of doing the same in France’s upcoming vote. The further you go, the greater the support for the […]
Transport A passenger plane has caught fire on landing at an airport near the town of Jauja in central Peru. Remarkably no injuries have been reported. All 141 people on board were evacuated safely. Witnesses said the the Boeing 737 which had taken off in Lima drove off the runway after swerving for no apparent reason. The fire may have been started when the wing scraped the […]
The welcome From the coastal road that runs most of the length of Sharjah city, it’s not difficult to spot the new Sheraton, which dominates the skyline. Access to valet parking is up a quite narrow, steep driveway. The valets whisk luggage to the room while check-in is completed. I’m then pointed in the direction of one of two main sets of lifts. The neighbourhood About as […]
China’s factories stopped losing jobs in March for the first time in nearly five years as manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace since 2012, according to an official gauge of the sector. The official purchasing managers’ index for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 51.8 in March, climbing further above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. But the biggest turnround came from a sub-index tracking […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE The dollar extended its overnight gains in early Asian trade on Friday on signs of strong U.S. economic growth, while the euro inched up after sliding overnight on data suggesting slowing growth in Europe. Stock markets in Asia were off a bit despite solid gains on Wall Street as investors awaited China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index data for March. The […]
BuzzFeed is closing its in-house, open-source innovation lab in October after two years of experimentation at the crossroads of technology and media. BuzzFeed’s Open Lab for Journalism, Technology, and the Arts, which is housed at BuzzFeed’s San Francisco bureau, will wind down in October after the current fellowship class finishes its work, BuzzFeed San Francisco Bureau Chief Mat Honan wrote in a note to employees obtained by […]
SpaceX on Thursday became the first space company to use a recycled rocket to send a payload into orbit, paving the way for a sharp drop in launch costs that is a key part of its long-term plan to carry passengers to Mars. The Los Angeles-based company sent a rocket into orbit using a main booster stage that first flew on April 6 last year. It also […]
But it was not immediately clear whether the approval of the new settlement was meant to be a provocative move to scuttle the prospect of a revival of peace talks. Mr. Netanyahu said he was following through on a pledge he made a few weeks ago to 40 settler families who were evacuated from the illegal Amona outpost in the West Bank. That outpost was removed by […]
Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye was arrested on Friday after a Seoul court issued a warrant in connection with the corruption and abuse-of-power scandal that ended her presidency, according to local media reports. Facing at least 13 charges, Ms Park is accused of letting a now-jailed confidante, Choi Soon-sil, meddle in state affairs and gain unauthorised access to classified documents, while colluding to extort massive donations […]
The Crisis in Scale Five million people is roughly equal to the population of Norway. If nearly a quarter of the United States’ population left the country, it would be as if the combined populations of California, New York and Ohio had disappeared. In addition, 6.3 million Syrians have been internally displaced by the war. Altogether, about half of all Syrians have been forced from their homes […]
By Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Trotta North Carolina Republican lawmakers said late on Wednesday they had reached a deal to repeal the state’s controversial law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identities. The compromise, reached with Democratic Governor Roy Cooper and set to go before the legislature for a vote Thursday morning, would still ban local municipalities, schools and others from regulating […]
MUNICH Two Syrian migrants who came to Germany as part of an influx of refugees in the summer of 2015 went on trial in Munich on Thursday accused of fighting in Syria as part of a militant group. More than 1 million migrants have arrived in Germany over the past two years and concerns about security and integration are widespread. Barbara Stockinger, a judge and spokeswoman for […]
LONDON Britain will tell Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft on Thursday to do more to stop extremists posting content on their platforms and using encrypted messaging services to plan attacks. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Sunday tech companies should stop offering a “secret place for terrorists to communicate”, after British parliament attacker Khalid Masood was widely reported to have sent encrypted messages moments before he killed […]
Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) have gained a notorious reputation in the North American Great Lakes. Although considered an endangered species in their native territories – Europe and the Pacific Northwest – their presence inspires terror in U.S. waters, threatening local fish populations and the fishing industry. These parasitic eel-like fish thrive at the expense of other aquatic creatures, which have come to fear their gaping jawless mouths. Equipped with razor-like […]
Elevate, one of the biggest subprime lenders in the US, is reviving plans to go public, seeking to cash in on a big lift in sentiment since the election victory of Donald Trump. Financial stocks have rallied hard since November 8, with big banks such as Bank of America rising as much as 50 per cent on hopes of fatter lending margins, lower taxes and lighter regulation. […]
By Eveline Danubrata and Agustinus Beo Da Costa | JAKARTA JAKARTA Indonesia’s government has proposed issuing a decree to govern the domestic tobacco industry, a move that could sharply raise cigarette output in the world’s fourth-most populous nation, after a bill outlining the changes was opposed by the health ministry and anti-smoking groups. The latest proposal was mooted at a meeting 10 days ago between the trade […]
A Google Maps beta had a neat feature in testing to help users remember where they parked their cars, but it’s apparently no longer in the mix. The feature was called “Save Your Parking” and, as the name itself suggested, it aimed to help users find their parking space faster in case they forgot where they left their car. The feature stirred quite some interest as it […]
For a US$2,000-a-night (Dh7,345) trip to the land of happiness, I’m a little surprised by the “assumption of risk and limitation of liability” statement my tour operator, Amanresorts, insists I sign before proceeding with my Bhutan itinerary. “I understand that I am undertaking travel to a remote geographical area in an undeveloped country where, among other things, a sense of urgency, attention to detail, standards of quality, […]
Thursday 08:35 BST What you need to know ● Stock markets mixed after Wall Street’s steady display● Shanghai Composite hits 6-week low amid liquidity concerns● Sterling holds above $1.24 as traders ponder Brexit implications● Dollar index above 100 as euro softens on ECB report● Oil prices add to Wednesday’s 2.1 per cent gain and gold dips——————- Hot topic Traders are keeping a wary eye on the action […]
In 2016, more than 4 billion records were leaked worldwide, exceeding the combined total from the two previous years, according to a report from IBM Security. In its IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2017, Big Blue explained the leaked documents comprised the usual credit cards, passwords, and personal health information, but also noted a shift in cybercriminal strategies, finding a number of significant breaches were related to […]
ABU DHABI // The amount of certain drugs seized in the UAE has almost tripled, while the number of drug-related criminals arrests has more than doubled in a year, according to the head of anti-narcotics at the Ministry of Interior. Lt Col Saeed Al Suwaidi said the production of Captagon and crystal methamphetamine in the GCC had gone through the roof in recent years because of political […]
“We recognized the nature of the fight was going to change and that we had to ensure that authorities were down to the right level and that we empowered the on-scene commander,” General Votel said. He was speaking specifically about discussions that he said began in November about how the fights in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State were reaching critical phases in Mosul and Raqqa. […]
