By Scott Malone | BOSTON BOSTON Searches for selfies led to many bad decisions, an outbreak of creepy clown sightings chilled even horror maestro Stephen King, and a hard-fought campaign ended with the election of former reality TV star Donald Trump as president of the United States. Along with moments of triumph and tragedy, 2016 brought stories that ranged from weird to wonderful, funny to flummoxing. New […]
To mark UN Arabic Language Day, John Dennehy finds out how Anna Zacharias, a former journalist at The National, has been getting on at Arabic language school in Oman and what expatriates can do to improve their language skills. To read Anna Zacharias’ story, click here. To subscribe to Crossroads on iTunes click here Source link
The Abu Dhabi Childhood Obesity taskforce has announced the launch and immediate implementation of a comprehensive plan to address the growing health issue in the emirate. The plan which focuses on six key categories, is a result of a cross-sector evaluation that assessed existing efforts to fight childhood obesity, challenges and opportunities, in addition to benchmarking against World Health Organisation recommendations, news agency WAM reported. The focus […]
Allergic reactions to peanuts cause around 500 hospitalizations and even some deaths in the United States each year. Food that contains trace amounts, because it was produced with factory equipment or kitchen tools that came into contact with peanuts, can prove fatal for allergic individuals who consume it unsuspectingly. Accidentally ingesting as little as a third of a single peanut — about 70 milligrams — can send […]
A schematic shows a smartphone and the diagnostic attachment for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Credit: Aydogan Ozcan/UCLA A team of UCLA researchers has developed an automated diagnostic test reader for antimicrobial resistance using a smartphone. The technology could lead to routine testing for antimicrobial susceptibility in areas with limited resources. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are posing a severe threat to global public health. In particular, they are becoming more common […]
Wellington High, Iraan’s opponent in the semifinals, contributed $3,000 toward a scholarship fund in memory of Liz Pope, 52, the president of Iraan’s booster club and the sponsor of its junior high cheerleaders. The Wellington band also stood before Iraan’s supporters and played “Amazing Grace.” Such generosity left Iraan’s cheerleaders, players, teachers and administrators enormously grateful, some overwhelmed to the point of tears. Jim Baum, Iraan’s principal, […]
Dec 15, 2016 11:35 am IST Hindus have made large gains in the amount of time they spend in school, but they still have the lowest educational attainment of any major religion worldwide, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. The researchers said they used four measures of educational attainment: no formal schooling, primary education, secondary education and post-secondary education across all major religions worldwide. It […]
By Alex Whiting ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Curbing poverty and hunger in rural areas is crucial to building lasting peace in Colombia and in turn will help the nation become a breadbasket for the world, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Thursday. Rural reforms to address unequal land distribution and boost development are key to the peace agreement signed last month by the Revolutionary Armed Forces […]
Photo On the campus of New York University Abu Dhabi. The failure of Georgetown and N.Y.U. to call out the suppression of critical speech suggests the complicity that gulf money buys. Credit Andrew Holbrooke/Corbis WASHINGTON — Cyberespionage may be the new normal, but you wouldn’t think that an American graduate student would be a target for state-level spyware and surveillance. Apparently, though, I am. On May 19, […]
By Timothy Mclaughlin | CHICAGO CHICAGO Residents of the U.S. East Coast on Thursday felt a blast of arctic air that earlier swept across the Midwest, with a large swath of the country now under a wind-chill advisory and Boston facing possible record-low temperatures on Friday. The arctic air began blowing south from Canada into the Midwest earlier this week, prompting authorities to warn of the risk […]
A drug used in treating narcolepsy could help food addicts lose their weight, reports a recent study. Some people are addicted to food not only because of lack of self-control but also because they could be physically addicted to fat and sugar. Generally, when delicious food is eaten, there is a strong release of dopamine in the reward points of the brain, indicating the feeling of pleasure. […]
By Elias Biryabarema | BIDI BIDI, Uganda BIDI BIDI, Uganda Besides bags, blankets and tales of horror, some of the thousands of refugees fleeing South Sudan’s civil war each day carry something else – the ethnic hatred the United Nations says is “fertile ground” for genocide. That hatred, fuelled by continuing reports of ethnic-based killings inside the country, is turning refugee camps on its borders into tinder-boxes […]
In Ottessa Moshfegh’s short story, Bettering Myself, a divorced, alcoholic teacher comes across an encyclopedia of worms in the old library of her school. She reads about all the different kinds: “Worms with two heads and worms with teeth like diamonds and worms as large as house cats, worms that sang like crickets …”. The descriptions of those slightly grotesque, unusual worms, could serve as a useful […]
By Laila Bassam, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Tom Perry | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT An attempt to evacuate people in need of medical attention from rebel-held eastern Aleppo stalled on Thursday when fighters loyal to the Syrian government fired on the convoy, wounding three, the head of the ambulance service said. The vehicles had intended to leave under a deal to evacuate people from rebel areas following rapid […]
The time people spend playing Pokémon GO does not count as a workout, according to new research. The team analyzed the effort and the movement of players, reaching the conclusion that the physical activity done while hunting Pokémon does not add much to the overall movement requirements for an adult. According to the World Health Organization, people need to do a lot more exercising than what playing Pokémon GO involves. […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 14, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Yoga class Take part in the popular Flow in the Dark yoga class at Bodytree Studio. Enjoy a night of yoga, music and creative expression led by Angela. The lights will be […]
Photo Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors signing autographs before a game in Memphis last week. The N.B.A. is in the midst of a highly prosperous stretch. Credit Brandon Dill/Associated Press At a time of enormous popularity and prosperity for the N.B.A., the league and the players’ union reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a seven-year collective bargaining agreement that ensures labor peace through the […]
Submitted by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org, According to the DEA, the problem with cannabis in the United States isn’t that it’s still designated a dangerous drug with no medicinal value in spite of volumes of emerging scientific research indicating otherwise. The problem is actually that the media has made it difficult for government agents to arrest people for selling and consuming it. The DEA also blames the […]
Photo Paraag Marathe, the San Francisco 49ers’ chief strategy officer and executive vice president for football operations, at his home in Los Altos, Calif. His sister died of anorexia. Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Paraag Marathe’s structured, analytical mind has served him well in the offices of Silicon Valley and the National Football League. He figured that he could lean on […]
The former minister of mines and geology for the African Republic of Guinea was arrested on Tuesday in New York and charged with taking $8.5m in bribes in exchange for assigning lucrative investment rights to a Chinese-owned conglomerate. Mahmoud Thiam, an American citizen, was arrested at his home in Manhattan and was expected to appear in court later in the day. Mr Thiam, a former UBS banker, […]
By Eric M. Johnson A 20-year-old British tourist who prosecutors say caused a security scare at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Las Vegas by trying to wrestle a gun from a police officer was sentenced on Tuesday to a year and a day in prison. Michael Sandford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Mahan in Las Vegas after pleading guilty in September under a plea […]
ABU DHABI // Security and economic and cultural integration will help the Arab world build a prosperous future, experts from the region said on Tuesday. They were speaking on the second day of the Fikr 15 conference, which is aimed at finding solutions to the risks, challenges and threats facing Middle East unity and identity. “The threats that face the security of the Arab world are external […]
DUBAI Many disasters loom over one of the poorest countries in the Middle East as it suffers through nearly two years of war, among them a colossal pile of waste outside Yemen’s capital leeching toxic waste into its diminishing water supply. Hardly a paragon of waste management before the war, Sanaa was at least able to separate out the most dangerous materials from the 10-million-ton hill thanks […]
BEIJING Chinese soldiers laid wreaths on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 1937 massacre of civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing by Japanese troops. The televised event at the Nanjing Massacre memorial recalls an incident in which China says Japanese soldiers killed 300,000 people in the city that was then its capital. A postwar Allied tribunal put the toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese […]
