ABU DHABI // Women members of parliament have an important role in brokering peace in the Middle East and beyond, a conference heard on Monday. About 50 women who preside over parliaments met in Abu Dhabi for the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. For the first time men were invited to participate, including Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, who […]
LONDON Hundreds of thousands of commuters in south London and southern England along with travellers to Gatwick Airport were facing travel misery on Tuesday as a strike by train drivers was set to bring rail services to a standstill. Drivers working for Southern Rail, which runs trains from central London to Gatwick and Brighton on the south coast, will walk out for 48 hours over a long-running […]
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 are already among the most hotly anticipated smartphones of 2017 and foldable screens could make them worth the wait. Following the disastrous Galaxy Note 7 release this year, which ended up with two recalls and a kill switch to permanently disable it, Samsung has some serious catching up to do and it needs to come up with something big for […]
For the last 28 years, I have written a prediction column for the new year. I study our research and look for trends that provide hints of what might impact the tech industry in the near future. In 2017, be on the lookout for augmented reality products (more so than VR), the further development of autonomous vehicles and smart cities, and the impact of the […]
More than two million people lived in Mosul when it fell to the Islamic State on June 10, 2014. It was a conservative city where most women already covered their hair with a scarf and their arms with long sleeves. But as in other places where the militants imposed their creed, the new rules took enforced modesty to such an extreme that it riled families in Mosul, […]
The murky moral maze of the Middle East’s burgeoning home-help industry comes under the spotlight in A Maid for Each, a stark documentary that had its regional premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival on December 10. Most of this sobering film takes place inside the cramped confines of a small, but thriving, agency in Beirut, Lebanon, that matches well-off families with incoming immigrant workers. The cameras […]
Oil prices surged above $57 a barrel for the first time since July 2015 on Monday, rallying as much as 6.5 per cent after the Opec cartel clinched a long-sought supply pact with Russia and other big crude exporters. Russia led a loose coalition oil producers from outside Opec, including Oman, Mexico and Kazakhstan, in an agreement signed this weekend to reduce supply by 558,000 barrels a […]
In Australia, over 137,390 animals once called pets are received annually by the RSPCA [PDF] alone, with rescue homes and animal shelters receiving surrendered animals faster than they can re-home those already in care. With few options other than euthanasia for those animals unable to be placed, self-taught coder John Bishop decided he needed to do something and launched Pet Rescue in 2003, an online service connecting […]
Samsung recently confirmed that an update that will prevent Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from charging will soon be released in the United States. The update, which was said to be rolled out starting Dec. 19, will look to bring in all the units of the recalled device that still remain held by customers. The Release Dates Of Carriers For The Final Galaxy Note 7 Update Earlier reports […]
ALEPPO, Syria The Syrian military operation to recapture rebel-held east Aleppo is in its final stages after the army took Sheikh Saeed and other districts, Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the Aleppo security committee, said on Monday. “The battle in east Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don’t have much time. They either have to surrender or die,” he told a group of reporters in the […]
Photo Credit Angie Wang More than 25 years ago, at the height of the effort to pass hate speech codes on college campuses, I wrote a monograph about how to do it without censorship. It began with a quotation from a student who had been bullied because he was Asian-American: “I wish they had hit me.” If he had been beaten, he said, the damage would have […]
From July 1 2017, users of fixed-line broadband capable of 25Mbps or more are set to be hit with a AU$7 monthly charge, to be contributed to a Regional Broadband Scheme, under draft legislation released by the government on Monday. Citing a net cost of AU$9.8 billion to NBN over the next 30 years due to running non-profitable fixed wireless and satellite services, while still needing to […]
The Chinese government has warned Donald Trump that the two countries will have “nothing to discuss” if the US president-elect’s incoming administration decides to discard the four-decade old “One China” policy. “Adherence to the One China policy is the political bedrock for development of [bilateral] relations,” Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday. “If compromised, there will be nothing to discuss on co-operation in major fields.” […]
The recent deal to keep Carrier jobs in the United States is not at all unusual. It only received so much press because Trump made it a campaign issue and saw an opportunity to record a big early PR victory before he even took office. Government and corporations cooperate, negotiate deals, scratch each others backs, kickback ill-gotten gains, and function as a career advancement funnel for corrupt […]
Owners of some of the latest Android flagship devices and a number of handsets will now be able to unlock their bootloaders thanks to the efforts of the TeamWin Recovery Project. North American variants of the ZTE Axon 7 and the OnePlus 3T as well as the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, LeEco Le 2, BQ Aquaris U Plus, Aquaris U Lite and Aquaris U already have their […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds Each day, the investing public hears news of the latest developments in exchange traded index funds (ETFs). But rare is the mention of traditional index funds, which I call Tifs, although the acronym has yet to gain acceptance. In 1976, I created the first Tif. It was named First Index Investment Trust (now […]
By Howard Schneider | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve inaugurates the Trump era this week with a near-certain interest rate increase and new economic forecasts providing a first glimpse into whether the U.S. election has reshaped the central bank’s growth and inflation outlook. Fed fund futures show a 97 percent probability that the Fed will lift rates by a quarter of a percentage point at the end […]
Photo: Bullit Marquez, AP FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, protesters burn a mock American flag during a protest against the planned joint US-Philippines military exercise in central Philippines in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won’t be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and […]
Boeing officials, already dismayed by Mr. Trump’s attack last week over the costs of a new Air Force One, acknowledged that the Iran jet deal still faced contingencies — a polite way of saying they were deeply worried about whether Mr. Trump and the Republican-led Congress would support it. Continue reading the main story Beyond that deal, Boeing and other companies that export jet engines, high-tech products […]
First it was the Fed, then the ECB (which last week tapered when it reduced the monthly amount of bond purchases under its QE program). Now attention shifts to the Bank of Japan, because as the WSJ writes, one of central banking’s most aggressive easers – Kuroda’s Bank of Japan – may soon have to think about tightening for the first time since 2007. While it has […]
The first global crude supply pact in 15 years has underlined the growing energy alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as the depth of the two-year oil slump forces co-operation between once unlikely partners. Russia led the main oil producers from outside the Opec cartel, including Mexico and Kazakhstan, in a deal signed this weekend to reduce supply by 568,000 barrels a day — with Moscow, the […]
It was a wild second half, made even wilder as the Eagles resorted to sideline tryouts for a new longsnapper after a series of injuries. Brent Celek, a tight end, was sent out for one attempt but his snap was fumbled by Donnie Jones resulting in a turnover on downs that Washington converted into a touchdown. Trey Burton, also a tight end, then got a shot and […]
By Caren Bohan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump questioned whether the United States had to be bound by its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of “one China” and brushed aside Beijing’s concerns about his decision to accept a phone call from Taiwan’s president. “I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a ‘one China’ […]
During the gradual rapprochement between the US and Muammer Gaddafi’s Libya in February 2007, Rex Tillerson visited the country and met its leader in his traditional tent. As chief executive of ExxonMobil, the world’s largest listed oil company, Mr Tillerson had an interest in opening up access to Libya’s vast reserves, but his visit was also a milestone in the progress towards normal relations with the US. […]
