Despite another turbulent few days in British politics, the pound is ending the week on a firmer footing. Sterling brushed off the latest bout of Brexit nerves and further worries about a break-up of the UK, closing near $1.24 on Friday. Its revival was aided by a dovish Federal Reserve and a hawkish Bank of England. However, there are still plenty of currency-watchers who see further trouble […]
Are you sick and tired of opening a new web page and being greeted by a loud, obnoxious advertisement? I sure am. Pop-up and pop-under ads were bad enough, but now it seems like I can hardly go to a site without having a video start up with a blaring voice braying about a great diet, deal, or the like. I’m looking at you, Facebook. It’s easy […]
By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department is developing plans to temporarily reassign immigration judges from around the country to 12 cities to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants who have been charged with crimes, according to two administration officials. How many judges will be reassigned and when they will be sent is still under review, according to the officials, but the Justice […]
16 March 2017 The Arab Strategy Forum (ASF) has predicted six political and economic ‘Grey Swan’ events that have a high likelihood of occurring in 2017, said Director of the Forum, Suha Al Aleeli. The forum’s latest report, Al Aleeli added, establishes a scientific account of six unexpected events that could take place this year. The author outlines consequences of these events and their potential regional and […]
As the launch date of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is coming closer, rumors, speculations and leaks, pertaining to the device are gathering momentum. Based on the rumored speculations, Samsung is expected to beef up the device with biometric security options, including facial recognition as well as fingerprint and iris scanners. All three features are reflective of Samsung’s goal to make the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ secure […]
By John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed | MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD Iraqi forces battling Islamic State in Mosul edged into the Old City and around the al Nuri mosque on Friday trying to seal off a main road to prevent militants sending in suicide bombers to attack their positions. Troops are meeting fierce resistance as militants retreat into the Old City, where street fighting is expected in […]
The White House has assured the UK government it will not repeat allegations that President Donald Trump was placed under surveillance by GCHQ, Britain’s electronic eavesdropping agency, after London protested over the “nonsense” claims. The allegations, made on Thursday by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, triggered an angry response from Downing Street, an extraordinary high-level spat between two allies with possibly the closest intelligence-sharing relationship in […]
Photo Some of the Somali migrants who died, in the Red Sea port of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, on Friday. Credit Abduljabbar Zeyad/Reuters SANA, Yemen — More than 30 Somali migrants in a vessel off Yemen were killed on Friday in what Yemeni security officials said was an airstrike by a Saudi-led military coalition. Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration in Geneva, said that […]
Friday 13:30 GMT What you need to know ● Dollar index nudges up after hitting five-week low● Short term US bond yields inch higher● Global stocks at record as Wall St gains ground● Oil prices firmer after volatile week● Gold advances towards $1,230 an ounce——————- Hot topic Has the buck bounce run its course? The dollar index (DXY) — a measure of the greenback against a basket […]
WELLINGTON Flights from New Zealand’s Auckland Airport are returning to schedule after a runaway dog near the tarmac was shot dead by police because it was delaying planes taking off. Sixteen domestic and international flights were delayed for safety reasons at the nation’s busiest airport while the dog was on the loose for three hours, a spokeswoman for Auckland Airport, Lisa Mulitalo, told Reuters. “The dog was […]
Today, the Internet Society hosted a special Community Forum, “Youth on the Internet.” Hundreds of participants from across 6 continents joined the conversation to share their views on what the Internet means to them. A special thanks to our Next Generation Leaders who were panellists – Evelyn Namara (Uganda), Veronica Arroyo (Peru), Yuza Setiawan (Indonesia) for a vibrant discussion on topics such as how young people can […]
By Simon Lewis and Wa Lone | SITTWE, Myanmar SITTWE, Myanmar Since security forces swept into their villages in northwestern Myanmar late last year, around 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the nearby border to Bangladesh. Many now fear that the authorities in Myanmar could make their displacement permanent. At least once a year, local administrators go house-to-house in the Rohingya villages of northern Rakhine State, lining […]
Messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram had a severe security flaw that allowed hackers to hijack users’ account with just one image, security researchers reveal. Check Point Security researchers just disclosed a serious vulnerability that allowed hackers to hijack hundreds of millions of WhatsApp and Telegram accounts simply by sending a malware-laden image. The hack targeted the method in which both Telegram and WhatsApp process images and multimedia files. […]
By Dan Levine and Mica Rosenberg | HONOLULU/NEW YORK HONOLULU/NEW YORK A U.S. federal judge in Hawaii dealt another legal blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, issuing an emergency halt to his revised travel ban just hours before it was set to go into effect early on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson put out an emergency stop on Trump’s executive order, which aimed to temporarily […]
In the widely anticipated budget proposal to be released by President Trump on Thursday, the White House will call for spending cuts of 28% for the State Department and 31% for the Environmental Protection Agency, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing congressional staff who are familiar with the plan. The budget plan for fiscal 2018 will also propose a big reduction in the State Department’s […]
A computer security firm on Wednesday revealed a flaw that could let hackers break into WhatsApp or Telegram messaging accounts using the very encryption intended to protect messages. Check Point Software Technologies said that it alerted Telegram and Facebook-owned WhatsApp last week, waiting until the vulnerability was patched before making it public. Check Point did not specify how many messaging accounts were at risk, but did […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to confirm former Republican senator Dan Coats to be President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence and to approve Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster’s transfer to become his national security adviser. The vote was 85-12 to confirm Coats, who also served as ambassador to Germany under former President George W. Bush. Fifty-one votes were […]
Samsung has been in news a lot for its upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. However, the South Korean is now in the news for its Z series of phones, which will be powered by its own operating system. The company, which is all set to launch its latest flagships on March 29, is rumored to be working on a new smartphone known as Samsung Z4, successor […]
The White House will propose large spending cuts on Thursday for the state department, public broadcasting and environmental programmes as part of its preliminary budget for the 2018 fiscal year. Administration aides call it an “America First” budget — with greater spending on defence, law enforcement and veteran affairs, as well as new education programmes that emphasise school choice. The last are a pet project of Betsy […]
A Saudi soldier was killed by gunmen late on Tuesday in the Eastern city of Qatif, in an incident the interior ministry said was carried out by “terrorist elements”. The security patrol came under fire upon approaching a suspicious vehicle, the statement carried by state news agency SPA, adding that the gunmen fled the area. Eastern Province is home to much of Saudi Arabia’s oil production as […]
By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. government on Wednesday unsealed charges against two Russian spies and two criminal hackers for allegedly pilfering 500 million Yahoo user accounts in 2014, The indictments, announced at a news conference in Washington, represent the first time the U.S. government has criminally charged Russian officials for cyber offenses. The content of at least 30 million accounts were accessed as part […]
BEIRUT Two suicide bomb attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more in Damascus on Wednesday, state media reported, in the second such spate of bombings in the Syrian capital in five days. The first suicide bomber targeted the Palace of Justice, the main courthouse in central Damascus near the Old City. Justice Minister Najem al-Ahmad told reporters the initial death toll was 31, mostly […]
A grand jury in California has charged four people — including two Russian intelligence officers — in a pair of computer hacks against Yahoo that victimised hundreds of millions of consumers, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday. The men penetrated Yahoo’s email accounts, often using “spear phishing” emails, and used information they obtained to access other accounts at Yahoo and Google. Among those targeted were Russian […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Nate Silver’s “March Madness” analysis is out and, knock on hardwood, he’s not picking Hillary Clinton. I know, I know. Cheap (jump) shot. It’s that time of year when FiveThirtyEight, the ESPN-owned politics and sports data site founded by Silver, […]
