The United States said on Tuesday it had received an underwater drone “unlawfully seized” by a Chinese vessel last week and called on China to refrain from further efforts to impede its lawful activities in the South China Sea. China had earlier announced it had returned the drone after “friendly” talks between the two countries. The USS Mustin received the vehicle for the United States in international […]
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell in October by 176,000 barrels per day from the month before, despite high production, but its refined products shipments rose as the kingdom expands its refining power, official data showed on Monday. The world’s top exporter shipped 7.636 million barrels per day in October, down from 7.812 million bpd in September, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). […]
The mysterious sound heard in Mariana Trench that has baffled scientists is likely a new baleen whale call that no one has heard before. The sound, which lasts up to 3.5 seconds, was recorded on several occasions from Autumn 2014 to Spring 2015 deep in the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, one of the largest marine protected areas worldwide. Mysterious Sound Does Not Resemble Any Human Or Geologic […]
By Michelle Nichols | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action is taken, renewing his plea for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the world’s newest country. “If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities,” Ban told the 15-member […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 20, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition No White Walls continues at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, where you can see works created by professional artists in the UAE as part of an initiative to develop the art […]
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy on hold and turned optimistic on the growth outlook as a slide in the yen sharply improves the outlook for Japan in 2017. Japan’s economy is “likely to turn to a moderate expansion” with rising domestic demand, large-scale fiscal stimulus and growing exports, the central bank said. Its comments highlight the dramatic turnround from September — when despairing analysts said the […]
SHANGHAI/BEIJING Heavy smog engulfed large parts of northern China for a fourth straight day on Tuesday, with the environment ministry warning that some firms in the region were continuing to flout emergency restrictions and dozens of flights out of Beijing cancelled. Some power plants and chemical producers in the region had not scaled back operations in line with regulations, and drivers in Beijing had also been flouting […]
aNewDomain — Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil chief who Donald Trump has tapped to be the next US secretary of state, was the director of a Bahamas-based US-Russian oil firm, according to leaked documents in the Panama Papers. Tillerson ended the association with the Exxon subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas, in 2001, Exxon rep Scott Silvestri said Monday, a day after the Guardian and reporters at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported the news. […]
Tunis – December 20, 2016 The Tunis Bay Project Company, a project of Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group B.S.C., held a ceremony in the Tunisian capital recently to mark the nearing completion of infrastructure works on the first and second phases of the Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH). The ceremony was held under patronage and presence of Tunisia’s Prime Minister, Youssif Chahed, a number of other ministers, parliament members and diplomats. The event coincided […]
By Paul Carrel | BERLIN BERLIN The Berlin evening air was cool, the mulled wine warm and festive spirits high. Then, suddenly, chaos: A truck ploughed into the Christmas market, making no obvious attempt to stop, and smashing revellers in its path. “It happened so fast there was nothing we could do to stop it,” said Mike Fox, a tourist from Birmingham, England, who had just enjoyed […]
While it may look like a pine wreath dotted with crimson berries, this holiday-themed image is in fact one of the world’s first color electron micrographs. (via WSJ)
By Tim Cocks and Aaron Ross | KINSHASA KINSHASA Gunfire could be heard in several districts of Kinshasa early on Tuesday as demonstrators demanded that President Joseph Kabila step down after his mandate expired at midnight, and measures to curb dissent fanned fears of more violence. Reuters witnesses in various parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city heard repeated gunshots, and one saw youths burning […]
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 if Snopes, PolitiFact and The Associated Press fact-checked our holiday cards and letters — or many of our daily declarations — for the truth. Facebook, of course, just announced it would team with PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, the Associated Press, ABC […]
SYDNEY Investigators searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have recommended extending the search by an additional 25,000 sq km (9,650 sq miles), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Tuesday. The current 120,000 sq km (46,330 sq miles) search area in the Indian Ocean is due to be exhausted by January, with no sign of the missing jet. Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with […]
Christine Lagarde was found guilty of negligence in public office by a special Paris court on Monday in a ruling that will cast a cloud over her position as managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Within hours, however, the former French finance minister won the support of her board, clearing the way for her to continue on at the head of the fund. The board’s decision came […]
Video Bana al-Abed Escapes Aleppo Bana al-Abed, a 7-year-old Syrian girl whose Twitter account made her a face of the suffering in Syria, has been evacuated from eastern Aleppo along with thousands of other displaced citizens. By MEGAN SPECIA and YARA BISHARA on Publish Date December 19, 2016. Photo by Twitter/AlabedBana. Watch in Times Video » Bana al-Abed, a 7-year-old Syrian girl who became the face of […]
WASHINGTON A 38-year-old Chinese man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he stole numerous sensitive military program documents from United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) and transported them to China, the U.S. Justice Department said. Yu Long pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in the theft of trade secrets to benefit a foreign government and one count of unlawful export and attempted export of defence […]
By Roberta Rampton and Eric M. Johnson | WASHINGTON/SEATTLE WASHINGTON/SEATTLE At least five Democrats who had been committed to back Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Electoral College cast ballots for other people on Monday, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in well over a century. The 538 electors were voting across the country to confirm Republican Donald Trump as the next president. The event is normally […]
(Image: file photo) Cloud storage giant Box won’t say how many times it has turned over customer data to the government. The company’s policy stands out from the cloud storage crowd, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Dropbox, which along with other every internet and phone company in the Fortune 500 provide a biannual transparency report detailing the number of government requests and secret orders they receive. A […]
By Michael Nienaber | BERLIN BERLIN A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday evening, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others, police said, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest attacks in Germany in decades. Police said on Twitter that they had taken one suspect into custody and that another passenger from the truck had died as […]
SEATTLE Boeing Co’s (BA.N) commercial airplanes unit said on Monday it would cut more jobs in 2017 after slashing the workforce by 8 percent in 2016 as it battles to sell planes. The job cuts come as Boeing and rival Airbus (AIR.PA) face slowing demand for new aircraft, particularly twin-aisle jetliners such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330. Boeing said last week that it would cut […]
ABU DHABI // Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE said he aims to help deepen bilateral defence and economic ties, particularly through the major new trade route traversing Pakistan to China, the Asian power that is set to become the GCC’s largest trade partner. “We really want to make this relationship more diversified, and deepen and expand it,” said Moazzam Ahmad Khan, who began his tenure as Islamabad’s […]
By Michael Shields and Arnd Wiegmann | ZURICH ZURICH Three people were wounded in a shooting near an Islamic centre in central Zurich on Monday, police said. Swiss media said a suspect was on the run after the incident near the main train station in Switzerland’s financial capital. It was not immediately clear whether the Islamic centre or any of the other businesses registered buildings nearby, were […]
In 1600, actor William Kemp was challenged to morris dance his way from London to Norwich. He accepted the bet and completed his journey – a distance of about 100 miles – in nine days (spread out over a few weeks). So was born the phrase “nine-day wonder”, to describe someone or something that suddenly gains fame, only to quickly fade from the spotlight. Fame no longer […]
