HARARE Zimbabwe has appealed for international help for victims of floods that have left 246 people dead and displaced hundreds since December when torrential rains started pounding a country emerging from severe drought. An El Nino-induced drought last year scorched crops in the southern African country, leaving more than 4 million in need of food aid, but Zimbabweans are now having to contend with floods after receiving […]
Eleven U.S. states have agreed to drop a lawsuit against an Obama administration order for transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice after the measure was revoked by President Donald Trump, a court filing showed on Thursday. In a filing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Justice Department said the states, led by Texas, had agreed to drop the lawsuit, and it was […]
Branden Spikes says he has led a charmed life. Boasting an IT career that started in Silicon Valley when the web was born, Spikes was in the midst of the “awesome craziness” that occurred as a result of the dotcom boom — not to mention “the craziness” that he said followed. “The invention of the web was happening right in my backyard at a time when I […]
ABU DHABI // Jet fighters soared across the skies and tanks rolled along the beaches to the delight of the thousands who turned out for the largest military spectacle yet seen in the UAE. Complete with paratroopers, helicopters, surveillance aircraft, fighter jets and ground combat troops, Union Fortress – an Armed Forces event that included a mock hostage rescue from a ship off Abu Dhabi Corniche – […]
Technology accelerates by leaps and bounds, which can only spell doom for most workers’ economic prospects. How long before a robot or algorithm can do your job, leading to mass “technological unemployment?” Machines are learning to master once-unthinkable tasks. Yet, even though our software can best us at Jeopardy! and our hardware has learned to run and jump, there’s still no consensus among economists that […]
The US broke its long drought of hot technology initial public offerings on Thursday as shares in Snap soared more than 40 per cent in their market debut despite questions about corporate governance and profitability at the owner of vanishing messaging service Snapchat. A pack of traders huddled around the desk of Snap’s designated market maker for more than an hour after the opening bell at the […]
A research group at Tohoku University and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed a molecular robot consisting of biomolecules, such as DNA and protein. The molecular robot was developed by integrating molecular machines into an artificial cell membrane. It can start and stop its shape-changing function in response to a specific DNA signal. This is the first time that a molecular robotic system has […]
Fact-finding mission or junket? Some lawmakers are bewildered that the groups that paid for their trips are now swept up in Turkey’s current political turmoil. “I can’t imagine what they would have wanted out of the North Dakota state Legislature,” said former North Dakota state Rep. Ben Hanson, a Democrat who went on a trip sponsored by a Gulen group in 2013 with six other lawmakers from […]
In The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State, journalist Graeme Wood aligns himself with the Orientalist tradition of Bernard Lewis, who warned liberal students against projecting secular frameworks on contemporary Muslim politics. Lewis believed religion, not secular grievance, was the prime motivator of this politics. This may or may not be true. In any case, the argument has limited explanatory power. It doesn’t explain […]
TOKYO Already rare among Group of Seven leaders for the stability of his reign, Shinzo Abe will have a shot at becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister after his party changes a rule allowing him to serve a third consecutive three-year term. That would give Abe, whose resignation in 2007 after an earlier stint started a spate of revolving-door premiers, a chance to achieve his goal of revising […]
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday landed at a military airbase in the capital of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, to kick off the longest leg of a month-long trip across Asia. The visit is the first by a Saudi monarch in nearly five decades and will see the two nations sign a pact to combat terrorism, according to the Saudi envoy to Indonesia. Secular Indonesia […]
ABU DHABI // A glitch in the municipality’s property registration system has stopped hundreds of people from moving into new homes. Long queues have formed all day at the Tawtheeq offices for more than a week, with many people having to return the next day, and some for days after. The Tawtheeq network, which registers all properties and rental contracts, has been delayed for more than a […]
When you’re deep in a video game, the last thing you want to do is leave home. If only you could take the game with you for your commute to work or your bus ride to school, or to liven up your lunch hour. Nintendo’s new Switch console tries to address that by letting you play it anywhere. You simply yank the Switch out of its docking […]
“Why use Facebook for anything,” I tweeted this week. And I mean it. I see no reason to use the ubiquitous social network. I don’t need it for marketing. I don’t need it to find old relatives. I don’t need to keep up with high school classmates or former crushes. I’m not interested in following the life of someone I’m not hanging out with. If […]
This was originally published in our weekly newsletter, Local Edition, which is a product of the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative. Subscribe here. Have you ever had a party and looked around the room at some point and thought, Wow, there are a lot of cool people here? Well, that’s how my inbox felt this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed last week by answering our first question in […]
DUBAI // Sophie Shams, 17, is one of the few Emiratis playing touch rugby. The Dubai College schoolgirl, who plays for a team outside of school, serves as an inspiration not just for UAE nationals but for girls of all nationalities. “Touch is one of the few sports that mixes talent from both sexes, forcing everyone on the pitch to constantly push themselves to higher limits,” she […]
Australia’s corporate world has been warned that executives must disclose workplace romances or risk censure and financial penalties, following a decision by QBE Insurance to slash the pay of its chief executive over an affair. This week the insurer’s board cut A$550,000 (US$420,000) from the short-term bonus awarded to John Neal because he failed to notify them in a timely manner of a relationship he was having […]
UK government The UK government has outlined plans for a post-Brexit digital strategy to move technology to the heart of the country. On Wednesday, the government announced the launch of the Digital Strategy, which promises to place “skills, infrastructure and innovation” at the forefront to support “Britain’s world-leading digital economy.” The government claims over four million free digital skills training courses will be created through the scheme. […]
Just under 70 minutes, 4,825 words, and the message was clear – the speech was about “will” and “Americans” Additionally “Obamacare” was mentioned 5 times, “Historic” was mentioned 3 times, and “massive” twice. .. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. #JointAddress — President Trump (@POTUS) March 1, 2017 President Trump got […]
ABU DHABI // Schools for children with learning difficulties are not fit for purpose as they do not have the expertise or resources required, a specialist teacher has said. Abu Dhabi Education Council schools have introduced resource centres for children with difficulties, but parents have complained that they “lump together” special needs pupils with those with learning difficulties. “This is a global misconception that children with learning […]
A critic once described Yasmina Khadra as “a writer who can understand man wherever he is.” This came after it had become public knowledge, in 2011, that Yasmina Khadra is actually the pen name of Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul. Speaking to The National from his home in France, Moulessehoul said the revelation about his true identity – a former career military man and counterterrorism officer in the […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for March 1, 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. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Abu Dhabi Exhibition talk Register […]
This piece was originally published by the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. It has been republished with permission. You can join the author for a free Webinar about building trust on Facebook at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 2. Relationships take work. You don’t get intimacy without putting in some time. You don’t ask for favors without offering the equivalent yourself. You earn trust […]
With US stock markets hitting record highs last week, the question has to be asked. Has the Trump reflation trade — long in equities, short in bonds — run its course? In the equity market it has been a crowded trade for quite some time. On the bond side, futures market data are telling us that there are exceptionally large speculative bear positions in the market. This […]
