The Lifetime Achievement Award handed to Samuel L Jackson during the opening ceremony of this year’s Dubai International Film Festival on Wednesday honours an improbably prolific 40-year career during which the actor has become as ubiquitous as popcorn. Above all else, moviemaking is a business, and on Jackson’s website, you can find a startling fact to explain the true meaning of the citation: “In recognition of his […]
China’s Fujian Grand Chip Investment said it had dropped its offer for Aixtron, the German chip equipment maker, six days after President Barack Obama blocked the deal on national security grounds. Fujian’s takeover vehicle Grand Chip Investment said its offer had lapsed because it had failed to gain regulatory approval from the US Committee on Foreign Investment. Aixtron’s shares fell more than 4 per cent to €3.73 […]
HAMBURG U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday left a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to head to Paris for further meetings on Syria on Saturday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters. Kerry told reporters after a second bilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Hamburg that he was “hopeful” about reaching an accord with Moscow that would […]
FRANKFURT China’s Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund has dropped its takeover bid for German chip equipment maker Aixtron after U.S. President Barack Obama blocked the deal. Fujian’s takeover vehicle Grand Chip Investment said on Thursday its offer had lapsed as it had failed to obtain U.S. regulatory approval for the purchase, which had been a condition of the deal. Investors who had already accepted its takeover offer […]
By Ginger Gibson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The chances that the federal government could hand off the U.S. air traffic control system to private management are increasing, say advocates who report they are getting supportive feedback from President-elect Donald Trump and his team. U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, who chairs the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, has met with Trump and incoming Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to make his […]
COPENHAGEN Security forces should shoot at the boats of migrants trying to reach the European Union illegally, a member of parliament for the Danish government’s main political ally, the Danish People’s Party, suggested on national television. “The only efficient way is to turn the boats and say: ‘You cannot sail within this national border and if you do, you will either be shot at or be turned […]
The UK’s National Grid has agreed to sell a 61 per cent stake in its gas distribution network to a consortium of global investors, a deal that will plug the 11m homes the network serves into investors such as China’s sovereign wealth fund and Australian investment bank Macquarie. The terms of the transaction imply an enterprise value for the division of around £13.8bn including debt. The investment […]
Sony Researchers have discovered backdoors in Sony IPELA Engine IP cameras which could affect as many as 80 models. Cybersecurity firm SEC Consult said on Wednesday that the security flaw allows attackers to remotely execute code, hijack vulnerable cameras, disrupt device functionality, and spy on users. In addition, the backdoor grants attackers the opportunity to add compromised Sony IP cameras to botnets as slave nodes, in the […]
Britain plans to deepen security cooperation with Gulf Arab countries and work with them to counter Iranian actions in the region, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. Addressing a meeting on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Summit in Bahrain, May said Britain would invest more than 3 billion pounds in defence spending in the region over the next decade. “Gulf security is our security,” May […]
A Turkish cyberattack group is luring individuals to join a DDoS platform to compete for points through games which can be redeemed for hacking tools. The platform, dubbed Surface Defense, asks hackers to attack political websites using a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) tool called Balyoz, translated as Sledgehammer. In order to participate, users recruited from hacking forums must download the Surface Defense collaboration software and register. The platform […]
‘Mashreq Bot’ is designed to simulate a conversation with customers using Artificial Intelligence on Digital Platforms Dubai, UAE – 8th December 2016 Mashreq, the UAE’s leading financial institution, has introduced its latest innovation – UAE’s First ‘Mashreq Bot’; an Artificial Intelligence agent – or chat-bot – programed to simulate an intelligent conversation with users. Customers can use the chat-bot to display Mashreq products and perform card-less cash […]
Donald Trump is planning to hand responsibility for immigration and the US-Mexico border to John Kelly, a retired general who led US military operations in Latin America. The president-elect has chosen the former Marine general to be secretary of homeland security, head of the department that oversees immigration policy, US media reported on Wednesday. The job would give Mr Kelly, 66, a pivotal role in implementing border […]
By Richard Cowan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked a fossil fuel industry defender as his top environmental official, another retired general as homeland security chief and Iowa’s governor as U.S. ambassador to China in choices at odds with some of his recent pronouncements. Trump, continuing to build his Cabinet as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20, said Oklahoma Attorney General Scott […]
By Hamid Shalizi and Josh Smith | KABUL KABUL Afghan and American officials are increasingly worried that any deepening of ties between Russia and Taliban militants fighting to topple the government in Kabul could complicate an already precarious security situation. Russian officials have denied they provide aid to the insurgents, who are contesting large swathes of territory and inflicting heavy casualties, and say their limited contacts are […]
At the end of last month it was reported that names and telephone numbers of suspects in terrorism probes carried out by the EU police agency, Europol, had been posted online by accident. The Hague-based agency, which coordinates police efforts across the EU confirmed that an ex-staff member had taken the data home in contravention of security protocols. The concerned former staff member, who is an experienced […]
News stories are released on weekdays. 2 hours ago Vatican confirms ban on homosexual candidates for priesthood The Vatican has confirmed that homosexual men should not be ordained to the priesthood. In a new instruction for the training of seminarians, entitled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, the Congregation for the Clergy says that the Church “cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those […]
By Dominique Patton and Steve Holland | BEIJING/NEW YORK BEIJING/NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world’s second largest economy with tough talk on trade and a telephone call with the leader of Taiwan. The appointment may help to ease trade tensions between the two countries, the […]
PARIS American and British spies have since 2005 been working on intercepting phone calls and data transfers made from aircraft, France’s Le Monde newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing documents from former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. According to the report, also carried by the investigative website The Intercept, Air France (AIRF.PA) was targeted early on in the projects undertaken by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) […]
By Lisa Barrington and Tom Perry | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels in besieged eastern Aleppo called on Wednesday for an immediate five-day ceasefire and the evacuation of civilians and wounded, but gave no indication they were ready to withdraw as demanded by Damascus and Moscow. The Syrian army and allied forces have made rapid gains against insurgents in the past two weeks and look closer than ever […]
By Lewis Krauskopf and Bill Berkrot | NEW YORK NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday took aim at drugmakers, promising in a magazine interview that “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” and shares of U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies fell. In a cover story for Time magazine, which named him its Person of the Year, Trump said that “I don’t like what has happened with […]
DUBAI: Britain will help Gulf states “push back” against aggressive regional actions by Iran, Prime Minister Theresa May told the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain on Wednesday in a televised address.“We must… continue to confront state actors whose influence fuels instability in the region,” May told Gulf leaders at their annual summit.“So I want to assure you that I am clear-eyed about the threat that Iran […]
ISTANBUL Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday called for the immediate extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece and sought asylum following a coup attempt in July. A Greek court earlier this week had ruled that three of the eight could be extradited while the Appeals Court had ruled that three other Turkish soldiers should not be returned home. Speaking to state-run broadcaster TRT […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he felt like a saint as the incoming U.S. president wanted to repair damaged bilateral relations between the two oldest security allies in this region. Duterte spoke on the phone with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump last Friday to congratulate him and renew close ties and friendship strained by Washington’s criticism on the rising death toll by Manila’s war on […]
BEIRUT The Lebanese army on Wednesday said it had arrested four people in connection with the fatal shooting of a soldier and the wounding of a second on Sunday at a military installation in northern Lebanon. Four people were arrested in dawn raids in Beqaa Safrin, the town where the attack took place, and weapons used in the shooting were seized, an army statement carried by the […]
