TOKYO Asian shares took a breather on Friday, slipping from 1-1/2-year highs as material shares were hit by sudden falls in copper and other commodity prices while investors assessed Washington’s stance on tax and currency policies. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.5 percent, giving back part of this week’s gains, though it is likely to log its fifth straight weekly advance. […]
So much for sticking “nuclear weapons” in carriers’ dumb pipes. Shine, last year’s enfant terrible of mobile ad blocking is pivoting (again!) — in both tone of voice and business model. It’s also rebranding to, er, Rainbow. So, to keep tabs, since 2011 this Disrupt startup battlefield alum has moved from trying to sell mobile antivirus (Shine Security), to threatening network-level mobile ad blocking (Shine Technologies), to — its latest pivot — […]
Senator Leila de Lima insisted she was innocent of the drug trafficking charges that could see her jailed for life. The highest-profile critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug war was arrested on Friday on charges supporters said were meant to silence her, but she vowed to keep campaigning against killings and “repression”. In comments to journalists moments before police detained her following an […]
We may be about to witness the extinction of a very rare bird indeed: the $1m Monaco home. Savills agent Irene Luke hasn’t seen one on her books for several years. “We’re selling a parking space for €190,000,” she says, “so you’re not going to get very much for a million dollars.” Luke taps at a computer, trawling through all sorts of listings the public doesn’t have […]
By Darren Staples and Phil Noble | STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England Britain’s opposition Labour Party and the populist UK Independence Party suffered damaging defeats at separate parliamentary by-elections on Friday, raising serious questions about the long-term electoral prospects of both parties. Labour won the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat by a comfortable albeit reduced margin over the anti-European Union UKIP which had fielded its leader and had been hoping […]
Samsung Electronics will supply its NB-IoT solutions to compatriot telco KT Corporation, the companies have announced. NB-IoT, or Narrow Band-Internet of Things, is a standard set by 3GPP that allows IoT devices to be connected using low-power wireless technology. Samsung will upgrade KT’s radio station software and replace old radio stations. It will start building a virtual core (vCore) network for KT starting this month. Deployment of […]
Astronomers have found an enormous, glowing blob of gas in the distant universe, with no obvious source of power for the light it is emitting. Called an ‘enormous Lyman-alpha nebula’ (ELAN), it is the brightest and among the largest of these rare objects, only a handful of which have been observed. (via WSJ)
For a century after the incredibly influential writings of Carl von Clausewitz in the early years of the 19th-century, the study of war, specifically the study of battles, occupied a regal prominence in the field of history-writing. It was taken as a given that the study of battles was illustrative, even vaguely ennobling, and monumental, multi-volume battle-histories appeared at regular intervals, often running to many reprints and […]
That leaves many governments invested in vague hopes that such a settlement, however rickety or superficial, will somehow stop the metastasis of the Syrian crisis and ease fears of Islamic State terrorism — often conflated with concerns about ordinary Syrian refugees — that have fueled the rise of right-wing politicians. Photo Syrian refugees live in makeshift tent settlements in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Credit Diego Ibarra Sanchez for […]
US and European authorities eased enforcement of new derivatives rules on Thursday less than a week before the standards come into effect, allowing small financial institutions more time to prepare for the wide-ranging reforms. In a series of statements hours apart, supervisory watchdogs bowed to growing concerns of a potential dislocation in the swaps market and hundreds of unprepared pension funds, asset managers and credit institutions likely […]
Having worked for The Guardian team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Edward Snowden stories, Gabriel Dance knows the importance of anonymous tips. That’s why, when he rejoined The New York Times from The Marshall Project last year, Dance was taken aback by a glaring omission in the newsroom. “I was surprised to see that the times had still not set up a tip line,” […]
Our daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 24, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. newslide Abu Dhabi Dance performance Attend Trisha Brown: In Plain Site, a programme of site-specific performances free from the constrictions of the conventional […]
By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea “very easily if they want to,” […]
In this May 26, 2015 file photo, an iPhone is connected to a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with Apple CarPlay apps, displayed on the car’s MyLink screen, top, during a demonstration in Detroit. The rapidly evolving in-car infotainment and navigation systems can be bewildering for all but the most tech-savvy car buyers. The average vehicle on U.S. roads is 11 years old; that means many people last […]
An online commercial released by Nike this week showing Arab women fencing, boxing and spinning on ice-skates has stirred controversy over its attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives in the conservative region. It begins with a woman nervously peering out of her doorway and adjusting her veil before going for a run in the street, while a female voice narrates in a Saudi dialect: […]
By Brian Love and Michel Rose | PARIS PARIS France’s presidential race took a new turn on Thursday as opinion polls began to show centrist Emmanuel Macron benefiting from an alliance with a veteran politician that could help him beat the far-right’s Marine Le Pen and win power at the age of 39. Macron, a fresh-faced ex-investment banker who has never held elected office, met his new […]
Photo Iraqi forces attacked the Mosul airport in an offensive to take the western side of the city from the Islamic State on Thursday. Credit Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces have seized most of Mosul’s airport, an important milestone in the broader offensive to retake from the Islamic State the western half of the city, allied and Iraqi officials said on Thursday. […]
BISSAU Hundreds of people marched through the capital of Guinea Bissau on Thursday demanding the departure of President Jose Mario Vaz, a day after parliament rejected a programme submitted by his prime minister. Vaz appointed Prime Minister Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo in November after months of regional talks seeking an end to an 18-month political crisis that has paralysed the institutions of the poor West African nation […]
A HoloLens display visualization Microsoft “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before you,” assert modernized lyrics of The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond. The 176 year-old song is a metaphor for the state of virtual reality. Scotland represents a promised land of market leadership, Oculus and HTC, with their pricey high-end products, are taking the high road, […]
The arrival of Mike Flynn’s replacement, Gen. H.R. McMaster as Trump’s new national security advisor could mean sweeping changes of the White House foreign policy team, giving him control of Homeland Security and guarantee full access to the military and intelligence agencies. In a report by the NYT, Mr. McMaster is said to be weighing changes to an organization chart that generated consternation when it was issued […]
By John Geddie and Elisabeth O’Leary | LONDON/EDINBURGH LONDON/EDINBURGH The Scottish government is increasingly convinced it can win a new independence referendum and is thinking seriously about calling one next year as Britain exits the European Union, sources close to the Scottish government said. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay inside the EU in last June’s referendum, but Britain as a whole voted to leave and British Prime […]
A recent meme under the hashtag #OscarsWeNeed, dubbed “Outstanding Background Extra”, perfectly encapsulates what The National’s Alternative Academy Awards (aka The Other Oscars) is all about. There he was, an extra standing behind Spectre star Daniel Craig, sweeping as if his life depended on it – even as his broom never came close to the ground. As Hollywood prepares to honour the best of American and foreign […]
Many fear electronic voting machines can be hacked and tampered with. Image: iStock The hacking campaign around the US presidential election, cyberattacks against Ukrain’s power grid, and even the internet crippling Mirai botnet DDoS attack all demonstrate how cyberattacks have grown to threaten the very fabric of society itself, NATO has warned. Citing the impact of high profile incidents like these, Jamie Shea, deputy assistant secretary general […]
Three Egyptian real estate executives said on Thursday that their companies have suspended housing deals with the Saudi Arabian government amid political tensions between the two countries. Four Egyptian real estate companies had signed memorandums of understanding with the Saudi Housing Ministry during King Salman’s April visit to Cairo last year. Since then, political differences have emerged as the two Arab powers have diverged on the conflict […]
