DUBAI// Schools are likely to face higher operating costs, lower profit margins and a scramble for the best teachers, according to education experts. An extra 175,000 school places are expected to be created in the UAE by 2020, 90 per cent of which will be in the private sector. The findings from the PwC Middle East published Understanding the GCC Education Sector, Country Profile: UAE report, states […]
KABUL The number of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan, already at the highest level in years, may increase this year if Pakistan maintains its forceful policies, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. Last year, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees left Pakistan, a 12-year-high that the rights group called the “world’s largest unlawful mass forced return of refugees in recent times”. Aid workers and Afghan officials worry […]
The cost to upgrade the US electrical grid so it could cope with peak demands may be on the order of $180 billion, said the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences As the planet warms due to climate change and hot days become more common, the US electrical grid could be unable to meet peak energy needs by century’s end, researchers warned Monday. […]
It’s old news by now that way more than half of digital traffic comes through the side doors of social media and search rather than a reader selecting from a home page menu. That’s OK, the theory goes, because at least readers are exposed to the content and will take note of the source. But that brand-building effect may be much weaker than supposed, a new Pew […]
By Jamie McGeever | LONDON LONDON World stocks and bond yields rose on Monday, lifted by a re-emergence of so-called “Trump trades” as investors bet that the U.S. president’s tax reform plans will boost economic growth and corporate profits. Following on from Friday’s record high closes on Wall Street, Asian stocks rallied to 1-1/2-year peaks and European stocks rose for the fifth consecutive session on Monday, their […]
Health regulators have given their approval for the drug deflazacort for patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Available Overseas For $1,200 The steroid treatment has long been available outside United States but it was only last week that it received the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare and incurable disease that most often affects boys and typically leads to […]
By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s economy grew for a fourth straight quarter in the final three months of last year as a weaker yen supported exports, but tepid private consumption and the risks of rising U.S. protectionism cast doubts over a sustainable recovery. Data on Monday showed the world’s third-largest economy grew an annualized 1.0 percent in October-December, roughly in line with […]
Researchers from North Carolina State University, Boston University and George Mason University have developed a Bitcoin-compatible system that could make it significantly more difficult for observers to identify or track the parties involved in any given Bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin was initially conceived as a way for people to exchange money anonymously. But then it was discovered that anyone could track all Bitcoin transactions and often identify the […]
A bench led by Justice Dipak Misra was asked to direct the CBI to lodge FIRs and conduct probe into the alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (PTI) The Supreme Court today will hear the plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Panama papers expose case, in which many Indian industrialists and celebrities have been […]
“Throughout the entire length of the battle for Aleppo, there have been multiple claims of violations of human rights and multiple denials,” said Eliot Higgins, a senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council. Continue reading the main story “What we have been able to present now is a wealth of evidence confirming the targeting of civilian structures, namely hospitals, which in certain […]
New research makes it possible to predict how volume for a given protein will change between the folded and unfolded state. Computations accurately predict how a protein will react to increased pressure, shed light on the inner-workings of life in the ocean depths, and may also offer insights into alien life. (via WSJ)
The UK is set to import its first ever cargo of liquefied natural gas from Peru as a pricing dispute forces shipments to Europe, with growing supplies of the supercooled fuel carving out new export routes. Peru LNG loaded a vessel this week that has its destination listed as the UK, according to data on Lima-based Perupetro’s website. It is carrying about 61,146 metric tonnes of LNG. […]
Shown above are seawater battery pack (left) and seawater battery kit (right) developed by Professor Youngsik Kim’s reserach team at UNIST. Credit: UNIST Researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea will be working to develop a new battery, using abundant and readily available seawater. UNIST will be working with public organizations in the energy sector to develop a new type of […]
Dubai-UAE: 12 February, 2017 Governments can counter extremism, a willful deviation from general norms of conduct, through a series of steps according to Arie Kruglanski, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Maryland. His comments came during a fullhouse breakout session entitled ‘Inside the Most Dangerous Minds: Insights for Government’ on Day One of the World Government Summit (WGS) 2017 in Dubai. Kruglanski said: “As the […]
Last month, Verizon chief financial officer Matt Ellis said the company didn’t feel like it needed an unlimited plan to compete with AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, but “we continually monitor the market and we will see where we head in the future.” The future appears to be today as Verizon on Sunday outlined plans for an unlimited plan dubbed Verizon Unlimited. Verizon Unlimited provides video streaming, mobile […]
Wikimedia Commons The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been called a “toothless dragon” in the past when it comes to medical device security, but one security expert believes the FDA is only one of many impotent agencies that need to get their act together. The security of our medical devices, including pacemakers, embedded cardiac devices, and insulin pumps have come under scrutiny as of late. […]
Parents, beware: accidental poisoning from pet medicines is likely to happen among children when less attention is given to storing these seemingly harmless veterinary medications. The warning in your disinfectant and pesticide packaging to “Keep Out Of Reach Of Children,” must be applied to pet medicines, too. Some 74.1 million households in the United States own at least one pet. There were at least 78 million dogs living in […]
Here are the big questions facing investors ahead of a new trading week. How long does a reprieve for French bonds last? After a burst of selling early last week, French debt was granted a reprieve with the 10-year benchmark yield easing back below 1.10 per cent. In turn, the divergence over 10-year Bund yields also pulled back from a four-year plus high. Traders remain nervous after […]
Simply putting on a uniform, similar to one the police might wear, automatically affects how we perceive others, creating a bias towards those considered to be of a low social status, new research from a team of cognitive neuroscientists suggests. Source
It is time to disabuse our minds of the old notion that West Nile virus (WNV) epidemics spread in “most ideal temperatures of transmission”. A new study suggests otherwise — West Nile virus transmission is higher during drought. The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Feb. 8, found out that drought is the key driver in the increased intensity of the WNV epidemics in the […]
Do you think camels are only useful for crossing the sand dunes – or as photo opportunities for tourists? Think again. Camels have always offered much more to Arab society than simply a means of transport. They also provided their owners with meat, milk, clothes and more besides – and many of these other uses for “Bedu’s best friend” are increasingly coming back into fashion. With the […]
Photo Residents walked through the destruction in eastern Aleppo last month, after it was brought back under the control of government forces. Credit Hassan Ammar/Associated Press President Bashar al-Assad of Syria suggested in an interview published Friday that he could foresee cooperation with the Trump administration and might even countenance the deployment of American soldiers in the country one day. The remarks by Mr. Assad appeared to […]
PNC Menon is a busy man — it takes several months to lock an interview into his diary. But on the day of our meeting in Dubai, the Indian-born real estate developer exudes characteristic warmth and courtesy, refusing to allow Arabian Business to leave without a bowl of Middle Eastern halva and repeatedly asking whether we have enough milk in our tea. A long-term UAE resident and […]
If you’ve been dreaming for years about having your own R2-D2 or BB-8, get ready. Just don’t expect your new robot companion to do too much, because you might be disappointed. A new generation of personal robots and devices is in the works and several are slated to head to homes beginning later this year. Among the more notable is Kuri, a robot developed by Redwood City, […]
