As the world’s oil traders descend on London this week, the hot subject will be how to keep North Sea Brent, the benchmark for the global oil price, fit for purpose. S&P Global Platts , the oil pricing agency, is trying to execute the biggest overhaul of North Sea oil trading in a decade, with plans to rejig how prices in the region are set ahead of […]
For President Trump, the designation debate is an election promise made good. He has made no bones about taking an approach to the Middle East that is narrowly focused on counterterrorism, and that plays to domestic supporters who view all Islamist movements — or even all Muslims — as potentially hostile. Continue reading the main story In much of the Middle East, though, the rapid pace and […]
An Abu Dhabi transport official has announced that drivers can challenge a parking ticket within 15 days of receiving it. The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) at the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) in Abu Dhabi said challenges to any parking tickets issued and be lodged with the Parking Division Grievance Committee (part of Mawaqif), providing the driver does so within at a period of 15 […]
Newly appointed New South Wales Minister for Finance, Services and Property Victor Dominello has said he plans to bring his data-driven expertise to his new portfolio, rewarding government agencies with an “innovation bonus” if they move away from a silo-ridden approach to IT and service delivery. Speaking at the Gartner 2017 APAC Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney on Monday, Dominello said he had his eye on […]
By Alexandra Ulmer and Alexandra Valencia | QUITO QUITO Leftist government candidate Lenin Moreno was within striking distance of winning the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election on Monday, as the Andean country’s electoral body counted ballots late into the night. In a nail-biter vote with eight candidates, Moreno was close to the threshold needed to avoid an April runoff and continue a decade-long period of leftist […]
By Andy Sullivan and Sarah N. Lynch | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s next pick for national security adviser will have autonomy over staffing and key decisions, the White House said on Sunday as it scrambles to fill the post following the turbulent departure of Michael Flynn. Trump fired Flynn, a retired U.S. Army general, on Monday after it was revealed that he discussed U.S. sanctions against […]
The EU’s Brexit negotiators expect to spend until Christmas solely discussing Britain’s divorce from the bloc, denying London any trade talks until progress is made on a €60bn exit bill and the rights of expatriate citizens. A narrow divorce-first approach favoured by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, would represent a big setback for Britain’s aim for a fast-track EU trade deal, completed by the end of […]
Two months after an unexpected, landslide loss in the December 4 constitutional referendum which cost him his job as Italy’s prime minister, on Sunday Matteo Renzi quit as leader of Italy’s ruling party, in the process triggering a re-election fight against minority dissidents that threatens the stability of the center-left government, Bloomberg reports. Renzi told a national assembly of the ruling PD that he had handed in […]
The FCC reckons that activating the FM chip on devices such as the iPhone is justifiable on public safety grounds alone. Image: Apple Nearly all smartphones sold today in the US, including the iPhone, have an FM chip inside their LTE modems. However, carriers and phone makers keep it switched off, probably for business reasons. Ajit Pai, who was appointed to chair US comms watchdog the FCC […]
Theresa May has ordered her top officials to examine Kraft Heinz’s proposed takeover of Unilever to see if it raises concerns for the wider British economy and merits government intervention. The $143bn takeover approach is a big test for Mrs May’s industrial policy: last year she criticised Kraft’s 2010 takeover of the British chocolate maker Cadbury — the US company reneged on a promise to retain factories […]
By Jon Herskovitz | AUSTIN, Texas AUSTIN, Texas A state lawmaker filed a resolution this week urging people to think before they text and stop using an emoji of the Chilean flag, which resembles the Lone Star State flag, as a symbol of Texas pride. State Representative Tom Oliverson described the resolution as a light-hearted but serious civics lesson for the social media age. More than a […]
By Michelle Price / ReutersHONG KONG — Hong Kong is beefing up its anti-money laundering and corporate disclosure laws in a move that some financial crime specialists say could lead to the exodus of billions of dollars in assets from the territory as people seek to avoid increased scrutiny. The Chinese territory’s government has been rattled by last year’s Panama Papers scandal, which showed that Hong Kong […]
In an isolated area of Ecuador’s Amazon, the face of Lenín Moreno, the anointed successor of fiery leftist President Rafael Correa in Sunday’s presidential election, is plastered on billboards proclaiming “the future is unstoppable”. That future worries Mercedes Cabrera, a peasant leader in the village of Santiago de Panantza. She says she was snatched from her bed by state security forces and branded a terrorist after a policeman […]
UMM AL QUWAIN// After moving to a port built and fashioned to promote their industry, fishermen are worried about a lack of basic amenities there, including water and electricity. Damage to vessels has been reported by fishermen in the two weeks since they moved from Al Khor to Al Naqaa Port in Al Meydan. Hussein Al Hajri, president of Umm Al Quwain Co-operative Society for Fishermen, said […]
DUBAI // Robots from around the world have been submitted to the UAE Awards for Good to encourage youth to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics in ways they have not considered before. Forty drones and robots were selected from more than 1,300 submissions for a chance to win US$1 million. Although not in the running for the prize, Saif Al Hammadi, 16, was inspired by the […]
Why would lobbyists donate to Trump’s transition team, which served as the official “government-in-waiting” that worked to craft the new administration’s policies and identify potential presidential appointees? “Money buys access and influence,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the public interest group Public Citizen, adding that he’s disappointed by the actions of a candidate who pledged to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. “Trump isn’t carrying through […]
By Tulay Karadeniz | ANKARA ANKARA Turkey’s military said on Friday it was close to taking the northern Syrian city of al-Bab from Islamic State, a victory that would deepen Turkish influence in an area where it has created a de facto buffer zone. Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold 30 km (20 miles) from the border, has been a key target in an offensive launched by Turkey […]
Image: Relax VR The early promise of virtual reality (VR) was vast: We would be transported to new worlds and live in alternate realities. While scientists and programmers have been investigating the possibilities of VR since the 1960s, it’s only in the last few years that the technology started to gain mainstream traction, with VR applications spanning from education to real estate. Australian startup Relax VR is […]
Video Haley Says U.S. Backs Two-State Solution Nikki R. Haley, United States ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday that the administration supports a two-state solution in the Middle East. By UNTV. Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » UNITED NATIONS — Twenty-four hours after President Trump swatted away at a broad international consensus on how to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, […]
Before anyone at Apple officially utters a word about the iPhone 8 it seems that we already know a lot about Apple’s upcoming $1,000+ smartphone. But Apple could still drop some surprises on us. Must read: OLED iPhone 8 may finally have the feature that owners have been craving #1: New iOS user interface We’re so focused on the hardware that we’ve not stopped to think about […]
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. Imagine the reporters who must cover daily a bombastic New Yorker who has inherited a fortune, exudes a sense of entitlement, disdains much of the press, trafficks in half-truths, has overseen properties in huge disrepair, routinely overrules underlings, disdains public […]
The Xen Project has requested feedback from the community in thrashing out new disclosure guidelines which may only reveal the most serious vulnerabilities affecting the hypervisor. The Xen Project is a group which brings together developers from the open-source community for the purpose of the Xen Project hypervisor, microkernel-based software which allows users to utilize vitualization technologies. As with any software, bugs and vulnerabilities will emerge during […]
Photo President Trump and Prim Minister Netanyahu entering the White House on Wednesday. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times President Trump came forward with a nonsensical statement on Wednesday as he dangerously backed away from the two-state solution, which has been central to America’s Mideast policy for more than 20 years and remains the only just answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “So, I’m looking at two-state and […]
BERLIN No country can solve the world’s problems on its own and governments can achieve more for their nations if they work together closely, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. Germany holds the presidency of the G20 leading economies this year, a platform Merkel wants to use to safeguard multilateral cooperation after U.S. President Donald Trump questioned international alliances and obligations and insisted on putting “America […]
