Macedonia’s opposition leader was left bloodied and trapped in parliament on Thursday evening after masked men stormed the building and attacked MPs in a bid to halt steps towards forming a new government. Zoran Zaev, leader of the leftwing opposition SDSM party, was pictured bleeding from the head and standing behind supporters in the corner of a parliament conference room shortly after 8pm local time. An adviser […]
A brick made of Martian soil simulant compacted under pressure. The brick was made without any additional ingredients and without baking. Credit: Jacobs School of Engineering/UC San Diego Explorers planning to settle on Mars might be able to turn the planet’s red soil into bricks without needing to use an oven or additional ingredients. Instead, they would just need to apply pressure to compact the soil—the equivalent […]
Columbia University researchers have developed a personalized algorithm that predicts the impact of particular foods on an individual’s blood sugar levels. The algorithm has been integrated into an app, Glucoracle, that will allow individuals with type 2 diabetes to keep a tighter rein on their glucose levels — the key to preventing or controlling the major complications of a disease that affects 8 percent of Americans. The […]
The frailty of the DNS system became all too evident last year, when DNS host Dyn was hit by a major Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that brought down large swaths of the internet. With the threat of DDoS attacks only expected to grow, experts urge organizations to build redundancy into their DNS services. GitHub, the online code sharing and development platform, is introducing a new […]
In ‘Minority Report,’ the protagonist uses gloves that give him the power of virtual manipulation. The light seems to allow him to control the screen as if it were a touchscreen, but he’s touching nothing but air. That technology is still science fiction, but a new study may bring it closer to reality. Researchers report that they have discovered the photodielectric effect, which could lead to laser-controlled […]
Growth in cable and internet customers and the box office strength of films, including the latest instalment in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, powered better than expected quarterly revenue and profit at Comcast. Net income at the largest US cable group, which owns the NBC TV networks and the Universal Pictures film studio, jumped 20 per cent to $2.6bn, or 53 cents a share, in the […]
A recent Saudi government and security shake-up aims to strengthen King Salman’s increasingly powerful son against a royal rival and to bolster ties with Washington, analysts and diplomats say. Royal decrees at the weekend saw a number of allies of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved into key positions and another son of the king named as ambassador to Washington. The goal, a foreign diplomat told […]
Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Researchers at MIT, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory have devised a way to wirelessly power small electronic devices that can linger in the digestive tract indefinitely after being swallowed. Such devices could be used to sense conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, or carry small reservoirs of drugs to be delivered over an extended period. Finding a safe […]
The malware code contains references to Felis and Mus — Latin for ‘cat’ and ‘mouse’. Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto A sophisticated form of Trojan malware allows its highly-skilled creators to secretly take over an infected system — and it comes with self-updating capabilities that enable it to strengthen itself, fix bugs, or change what it looks like in order evade detection. Once it has infected a system, the […]
Yoav Galant, the Israeli construction minister, also declined to confirm the strikes but told Channel 10, “Our enemies must know: We will know to use our power to protect our interests by ourselves.” Continue reading the main story Large explosions were heard miles from the airport that serves Damascus, the Syrian capital, and the glow of flames could be seen in the distance, according to residents in […]
By John Irish and Matthias Blamont | PARIS PARIS A top aide of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen raised doubts on Thursday about a French intelligence report accusing Syria’s leadership of a toxic gas attack, a position directly opposed by her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron. A declassified report published on Wednesday showed that French intelligence had concluded that government-backed forces had launched a sarin nerve gas […]
By Jeffrey Heller | JERUSALEM JERUSALEM The Palestinian Authority told Israel on Thursday it will no longer pay for the electricity Israel supplies to Gaza, Israeli officials said, a move that could lead to a complete power shutdown in the territory whose two million people already endure blackouts for much of the day. The decision was another sign of a hardening of Palestinian Authority policy towards its […]
Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa is being transformed into a fashionista in a new device that was unveiled Wednesday. The US online giant began selling its Echo Look gadget, which includes the voice-activated assistant but with a camera, allowing Alexa to offer fashion advice. According to the product listing the new gadget has “everything you love about Alexa, and now she can help you look your best.” […]
A UAE court on Wednesday sentenced an Iranian to 10 years in prison followed by deportation for attempting to ship a generator to his home country in breach of international sanctions. The appeals court in Abu Dhabi found the unnamed man guilty of “attempting to export a power generator to Iran for its nuclear programme, in breach of international sanctions,” state news agency WAM reported. It did […]
By Joseph Nasr | DORTMUND, Germany DORTMUND, Germany For all its economic success, Germany has a growing problem with inequality and poverty, and yet Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be deflecting the blame so far as the battlelines are drawn for elections in September. GRAPHIC – German income inequality tmsnrt.rs/2p3AtK4 Renowned for its highly-skilled workforce, Germany has in fact a greater proportion of working poor – people […]
By Brian Ellsworth | CARACAS CARACAS Protesters blocked a highway in Venezuela’s capital Caracas for nearly eight hours this week in an effort to show the opposition’s dedication to civil disobedience as their main tool to resist President Nicolas Maduro. But by the end of the afternoon, hooded youths had filled the highway with burning debris, looted a government storage site, torched two trucks and stolen medical […]
Lithium-oxygen fuel cells boast energy density levels comparable to fossil fuels and are thus seen as a promising candidate for future transportation-related energy needs. Several roadblocks stand in the way of realizing that vision. An engineering lab has focused on one of those roadblocks — the loss of battery power, also known as capacity fade. (via WSJ)
A Malta magistrate is investigating explosive claims of money laundering and corruption that have put New Zealand in the middle of a global cash trail from the family of Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev. President Aliyev’s daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, is alleged to have channelled more than $1.5 million to senior figures of the Malta government, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife. These include alleged payments to Panama companies […]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2017, was an intergalactic rollercoaster ride from start to finish, featuring a complete range of emotions, laser blasters, all kinds of love, a living planet, and Baby Groot. How such a crazy combination of elements works in a film is beyond comprehension, but the chaos is exactly what makes Guardians of the Galaxy […]
The remarks, in an interview that was recorded Tuesday, came at the end of Ms. Trump’s rocky 24-hour trip this week to Germany, her first official foray since taking a West Wing office last month. Continue reading the main story A spokeswoman for Ms. Trump did not respond to questions about her position on immigration — or about whether her remarks were intended to pressure her father. […]
Small Australian internet service provider (ISP) Comvergence has begun deploying the nation’s first G.fast services using the AXOS solution from broadband communications access systems and software provider Calix. The G.fast service is being provided to businesses across Sydney and Melbourne, with Calix’s AXOS E5-16F G.fast node and 801F GigaPoints being installed inside multi-tenant units. The service is currently delivering symmetrical speeds of around 300Mbps, with the capacity […]
SHANGHAI China needs to raise its military capabilities to protect its growing overseas interests, its foreign minister said following the launch of China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, but he vowed not to pursue expansionism. China launched the carrier on Wednesday amid rising tension over North Korea and regional worries about Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and its broader military modernisation programme. Speaking during a […]
Breitbart News hit a wall Tuesday in its campaign to storm the ramparts of the media establishment when one of the most influential press associations in Washington, D.C. denied its application for credentials to cover Congress because of concerns over the site’s funding, staffing, workspace and independence. The decision by the Standing Committee of Correspondents of the House and Senate Press Gallery — a body chaired by […]
Turkish policymakers surprised investors by tightening monetary conditions on Wednesday, helping to support the lira on a day of widespread weakness across emerging market currencies and prompting some to rethink their pessimism towards the country. While the Turkish central bank kept its main interest rates unchanged, it defied expectations by raising the late liquidity lending rate by 50 basis points. Describing the move as “a hawkish surprise”, […]
