East really does meet West in Zhang Yimou’s latest film, The Great Wall. An epic blockbuster in the grand tradition of the Hollywood monster movie, it plunders ancient Chinese mythology for a story set during the 11th century. The idea? That the country’s most famous landmark – the 21,196 km-long fortification that runs from Dangong to Lop Lake – was built to defend its inhabitants from ravenous beasts […]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is embarking on a tour of the US following Donald Trump’s election as president, in an attempt to understand how the country has been divided by the impact of globalisation and technology. The chief executive of the world’s largest social network has made it a personal challenge to have visited people in every state in the US by the end of the year, […]
After seven years of stock markets climbing ever upwards, investors found a new reason to buy in November: the shock election of Donald Trump. One oft-repeated anecdote is how the billionaire investor Carl Icahn left Mr Trump’s victory party to buy US stocks. A few days later Stanley Druckenmiller, who earlier in the year told a conference for fellow hedge fund managers to “get out of the […]
Osterhout Design Group recently raised $58 million with a plan to expand its smart glasses and augmented reality footprint from government and enterprise customers to consumers. At the Consumer Electronics Show, ODG made good on its expansion plans as it unveiled its R-8 and R-9 smart glasses. At CES 2017, ODG highlighted how its new smart glasses are designed to complement existing devices, provide augmented reality experiences […]
By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Republican-led U.S. Congress had a rough start to its first session of the Donald Trump era on Tuesday when a public outcry that included a dressing-down from the president-elect prompted the House of Representatives to backtrack on its plans to defang an ethics watchdog. It was supposed to have been a ceremonious beginning in which lawmakers set […]
Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has approved the organisational procedures for the General Authority of Sports in order to promote athleticism in the Kingdom. The newly approved measures also aim to organize and develop the sports sector, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel Al-Turaifi told the Saudi Press Agency following a Cabinet session headed by King Salman in Riyadh. Al-Turaifi said the authority would work […]
ABU DHABI // Jail terms and heavy fines for people convicted of animal abuse are a welcome sign of the Government’s commitment to animal welfare, activists said. Individuals who are found guilty of abusing or the illegal hunting, buying or selling of animals face a heavier fine of Dh200,000 (up from Dh5,000) and a one-year prison term under Federal Law 18, which was issued late last year. […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for January 3, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Yoga class Sign up to take part in the prana flow masterclass led by Rob Hess at Bodytree Studio. Open your mind and connect to your inner fire on this journey through […]
Megyn Kelly is to leave Fox News for rival NBC, ending months of speculation over the future of one of the biggest stars in television news. As part of a multiyear deal, Ms Kelly will anchor a new weekday daytime show, a Sunday night news show, and contribute to breaking news and special events coverage, NBC said. The company did not disclose her new salary, although 21st […]
For a long time, no visitors were allowed in his hospital room; the burn unit was a sterile environment. But on the morning Miller’s arm was going to be amputated, just below the elbow, a dozen friends and family members packed into a 10-foot-long corridor between the burn unit and the elevator, just to catch a glimpse of him as he was rolled to surgery. “They all […]
Last year ZDNet’s Jason Perlow was impressed with the $199 Honor 5X and now we see Huawei bringing the Honor 6X to the US with some important upgrades while keeping the price low at just $249.99. Huawei announced the Honor 6X in China on 18 October 2016 and today made the US release announcement at CES in Las Vegas. The Honor 6X packs in a lot of […]
The government of Oman has approached banks for an international bond issue with tranches of five and 10 years as the country plugs a budget deficit caused by lower oil prices, banking sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The sultanate has asked international lenders to submit proposals for a U.S. dollar debt transaction likely to be around $1 billion or more. Banks are expected to […]
WASHINGTON Republican U.S. Senator Mike Enzi introduced on Tuesday a resolution allowing for the repeal of President Barack Obama’s signature health insurance programme, which provides coverage to millions of Americans, Enzi’s office said in a statement. The move by the Senate’s budget committee chairman on the first day of the new Congress set in motion the Republican majority’s promise to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known […]
By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson | FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON Ford Motor Co (F.N) said Tuesday it will cancel a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and will invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after President-elect Donald Trump had harshly criticized the Mexico investment plan. The second largest U.S. automaker said it would build new electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles at the Flat […]
On this week’s episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf speaks with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman about his latest book, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. At an event hosted at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Rothkopf interviews Friedman about his research for and conclusions in his recent work, and together they make the case for […]
South Korean prosecutors are seeking to extradite from Denmark the daughter of Park Geun-hye’s “shaman adviser” for questioning over the corruption scandal that led last month to the president’s impeachment by parliament. Chung Yoo-ra, the 20-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, was arrested on Sunday in the northern Danish city of Aalborg for staying there illegally. South Korea had asked Interpol to search for her. Ms Choi is […]
|By Matein Khalid|“Few individuals alter the course of history. Fewer still change the map of the world. Hardly anyone creates a nation state. Mohammed Ali Jinnah did all three”. Dr. Stanley Wolpert’s words still give me goose pimples two decades after I first read his book. Mr. Jinnah founded Pakistan and was also my ancestral kinsman. I too was born in Karachi, the city by the sea, […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized a congressional move to weaken a nonpartisan ethics watchdog, giving lawmakers greater control over an independent body charged with investigating their behavior. “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it … may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax […]
To understand how Donald Trump will change America, don’t listen to his speeches, says Vox Editor-in-Chief Ezra Klein. Instead, look at the president-elect’s policies, he said. “This idea that Donald Trump exists in some state of quantum unknowability is going to end the day that he raises his hand and takes the oath of office,” Klein said. “So we need to change ourselves to give people coverage […]
Florence Foster Jenkins was a real-life American socialite who billed herself as being a great opera star – but is seemingly the only person who does not realise she is a horrible singer. Nonetheless, she never let small details like the lack of tone and having no descernable musical talent stop her from performing, and became a prominent cult figure in the New York musical scene of […]
Britain’s ambassador to the EU has unexpectedly and abruptly resigned, just a few months before the UK is expected to start formal Brexit negotiations in which he would have played a crucial role. Sir Ivan Rogers told staff on Tuesday that he would be stepping down from his post early, leaving officials in shock at the loss of one of Britain’s most experienced EU negotiators. He did […]
A plan to significantly boost the 4G coverage in Brazil will be the bedrock of the new national broadband plan, to be launched by the government at the end of the first quarter of 2017. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), boosting 4G is essential since the sheer size of the country and areas of low demographic density […]
Expats living in India are the third-highest paid in the world, according to a survey from HSBC. The average salary of foreigners living in India was $145,057, the poll of almost 27,000 expats in 100 countries showed. Highest paid were foreign workers in Switzerland who got an average salary of $188,275, followed by Hong Kong at $169,756. Like Switzerland and Hong Kong, India has a financial hub […]
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a new imaging technique that could revolutionize how eye health and disease are assessed. The group is first to be able to make out individual cells at the back of the eye that are implicated in vision loss in diseases like glaucoma. They hope their new technique could prevent vision loss via earlier diagnosis and treatment for […]
