Abu Dhabi // The prime minister of Libya’s UN-backed government and the country’s most powerful military commander met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for direct talks on ending Libya’s conflict. The meeting came after months of international pressure and a failed attempt at negotiations in Cairo in February. The rival figures met face to face “thanks to international and Arab mediation”, according to Libya’s Lana news agency. […]
TAIPEI Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen called on China to change its thinking and extend goodwill in its relationship with the self-ruled island, according to an interview published on Wednesday by a newspaper considered close to her main opposition. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own, cut official communication channels with Taipei soon after Tsai took power in May last year to pressure her and her party into […]
BRASILIA Brazilian authorities on Tuesday lowered the toll of people injured in a recent bloody clash between farmers and an indigenous tribe over land, and said no one had their hands cut off as reported earlier by a rights group. The government of Maranhao state, where the violence occurred on Sunday, said seven people were taken to hospital and only three remain hospitalized, including a man who […]
After being diagnosed with desmoplastic melanoma in 2016, Holly Rowe has partnered with the Melanoma Research Foundation to create an awareness campaign on skin cancer. May is the Melanoma Awareness Month, and various organizations inform people on the issue of skin cancer. Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that is especially dangerous, as it can spread quickly. The disease develops from the cells in our skin that […]
May 2, 2017, Doha The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has noted an increase in number of complaints regarding scam calls through its 103 hotline, media reports and social media comments. CRA would like to urge consumers to not share any personal information that could compromise their privacy if they receive a call from unknown persons. Significant numbers of consumers reported receiving calls (through apps like WhatsApp and […]
If you stand close to one of Marwan Sahmarani’s paintings and examine a small section, you find yourself being pulled into a swirling mass of colour and texture, a seemingly abstract formation of thickly-applied oil paints. It is testament to the Lebanese artist’s mastery of the medium that, as his viewers take in each work as a whole, its stories reveal themselves easily. In his latest show, […]
New Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has big shoes to fill after his two predecessors were forced to resign in disgrace after being exposed for, among other things, intentionally rigging their party’s national primary process and sharing debate questions with chosen candidates days before debates were held. And, at least with his rhetoric, Perez seems up for the task. In speaking with a group of immigrants […]
By Brenda Goh and Andrew R.C. Marshall | KHON PI LONG, Thailand KHON PI LONG, Thailand China’s plan to blast open more of the Mekong River for bigger cargo ships could founder on a remote outcrop of half-submerged rocks that Thai protesters have vowed to protect against Beijing’s economic expansion in Southeast Asia. Dynamiting the Pi Long rapids and other sections of the Mekong between Thailand and […]
ABU DHABI // Two major development projects will bring thousands of homes and jobs to an underdeveloped area on the outskirts of the capital. The Dh4 billion Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City is 90 per cent complete and will open soon, while construction is under way on a Dh2.5bn Emirati housing neighbourhood near Abu Dhabi International Airport. The first of the homes will be ready by 2019. The […]
By Alexandra Ulmer and Eyanir Chinea | CARACAS CARACAS Venezuela’s opposition blocked streets in Caracas on Tuesday to denounce a decision by leftist President Nicolas Maduro to create a “constituent assembly,” a move critics said was a veiled attempt to cling to power by avoiding elections. After a month of near-daily protests by opponents demanding early general elections, the unpopular leader announced on Monday he planned to […]
Credit: Microsoft Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a Surface laptop and streamlined operating software in a move aimed at regaining ground in classrooms, where Google Chromebooks have taken hold. Surface Laptop powered by a Windows 10 S operating system were shown off at an education-focused Microsoft event in New York City, and will hit the market next month in an array of countries with the hardware starting at […]
By Brian Ellsworth | CARACAS CARACAS Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shocked many of his countrymen on Monday by calling for a constitutional assembly in a move similar to one his predecessor and mentor Hugo Chavez used almost 20 years ago. But there is a key difference: while Chavez enjoyed broad popularity following his 1998 election, Maduro faces slim odds at the ballot box and critics say he […]
Solar cells based on perovskites reach high efficiencies: they convert more than 20 percent of the incident light directly into usable power. On their search for underlying physical mechanisms, researchers have now detected strips of nanostructures with alternating directions of polarization in the perovskite layers. These structures might serve as transport paths for charge carriers. (via WSJ)
WASHINGTON The United States on Tuesday criticized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s intent to create a new super-body known as a “constituent assembly,” saying it was an attempt to cling to power. “We have deep concerns about the motivation for this constituent assembly which overrides the will of the Venezuelan people and further erodes Venezuelan democracy,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, the deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western […]
The number of people applying for credit cards in the UAE soared by 65 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, new research shows. Data from consumer website compareit4me.com also shows that residents applied for multiple products to get approvals – they made an average of 3.25 card applications each in the first three months of the year, compared to an average of 2.07 applications each […]
While Windows and new Surface hardware were the headliners of today’s Microsoft Education event in New York City, Microsoft also revealed some new Office applications and services. As has been rumored for the last few months, Microsoft is rolling out full-featured versions of a number of its Office desktop applications, which the company has packaged up using its Desktop Bridge (codenamed “Centennial”) to make them available for […]
By Andreas Rinke and Denis Pinchuk | SOCHI, Russia SOCHI, Russia German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a rare visit to Russia, said that Berlin and Moscow had to keep talking despite their disagreements, but those same differences overshadowed her talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. At a news conference following a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, diverging positions were aired over […]
When yoga teacher Jo Phee asks her students to lie down for the Bananasana, a stretch for the oblique stomach muscles, they don’t just hold the pose for a few breaths. The aim is to hold it for about five minutes. It is all part of yin yoga – a restorative modern form of the exercise that has only grown in popularity globally in the past few […]
May 2, 2017 by: Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Iran’s hardliners are committed to the nuclear deal with world powers even as they use the accord to attack President Hassan Rouhani ahead of elections this month, a senior hardline politician said. The agreement was a “done deal” and there would be no attempts to sabotage it, said Alireza Zakani, a senior figure in the hardliners’ camp and a […]
(Corrects professor’s name in paragraph 7) SANAA Famine and disease haunt the living, but not even the dead are spared the calamities of Yemen’s two-year-old civil war. Ancient mummies are withering away in a major museum for lack of electricity and preservative chemicals from abroad – a sign that the conflict is harming not only the country’s present and future but also its rich past. The dozen […]
By Wa Lone and Simon Lewis | YANGON YANGON Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has declined an invitation to meet U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington this week alongside top diplomats from Southeast Asia, citing other commitments, Myanmar officials said on Tuesday. Nobel laureate Suu Kyi – who serves as Myanmar’s foreign minister while also being de facto head of its civilian government – […]
By Laila Kearney | NEW YORK NEW YORK New York is bracing for President Donald Trump’s first trip back to his hometown since taking office in January in a Thursday visit that is expected to draw protests and snarl traffic in the United States’ most populous city. The trip could mark a repeat of the chaotic 2-1/2 months between the real estate developer’s Nov. 8 election and […]
Brussels is rushing out proposals to impose EU control on the City of London’s lucrative euro-clearing market, forcing UK operators to either relocate or be policed by European authorities. In a provocative regulatory salvo fired as Brexit talks begin, the European Commission is preparing to issue legislative proposals in June that would heavily restrict London’s ability to host one of its flagship financial businesses. The commission’s power […]
Spider silks, ounce for ounce, can be stronger than steel, and much more tough and flexible. They tend not to provoke the human immune system and some even inhibit bacteria and fungi, making them potentially ideal for surgery and medical device applications. Exploitation of silks has been slow, due to challenges with identifying and characterizing their genes, but researchers have now made a major advance with the […]
