DUBAI // Social media has changed the face of diplomacy and governments must adapt to their loss of control over information, a US state department official says. Richard Buangan, managing director for international media engagement, said times had changed with the public’s growing access to information and news worldwide. “In diplomacy and media, a conversation can be the most powerful tool we have,” Mr Buangan said. “Conversations […]
Director Shubhashish Bhutiani’s critically-acclaimed film Hotel Salvation is a bittersweet comedy-drama about of a dying father’s cross-country trip with his son to a kind of sacred hospice in India where the elderly can have their sins absolved in their final days. It had its regional premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival in December, but if you missed it there is another chance to catch it, courtesy […]
Korea expert Robert Kelly says the ‘real concern’ for the Philippines is being on the flight path of North Korea’s missile tests MANILA, Philippines – Remember the dad whose children barged in during his live video interview with the BBC? The man now known as the “BBC dad” is Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. Kelly, an expert on Korea, […]
When she joined The Outline from Gizmodo Media Group a few weeks ago, Executive Editor Katie Drummond expressed a desire to start breaking more news at the five-month old digital media startup. Today, she’s hiring a scoopy cybersecurity reporter from her former employer to make good on that pledge. William Turton, the 19-year-old who’s been covering tech and gaming since he was 14, is joining The Outline […]
Government agencies want their own backdoor into communications. Image: iStockphoto More details of how the UK’s new surveillance law will operate have been revealed, in details about the use of encryption. Under draft regulations to support the new Investigatory Powers Act, the government will be able to issue ‘technical capability notices’ to companies with more than 10,000 UK users to make it easier for police, spy agencies […]
FRANKFURT Shareholder adviser Ivox Glass Lewis has called on Linde (LING.DE) investors to vote against signing off on the actions of its management and supervisory board due to problems in the handling of a planned merger with peer Praxair (PX.N). The all-share merger of equals would reunite a global industrial gases company that split in World War One and would create a market leader to rival Air […]
The U.S. job market saw a strong rebound in April, driving the unemployment rate to the lowest level in a decade. The economy saw 211,000 jobs added in April, according to new government data released on Friday, May 5. The job market boost dropped the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. The latest stats should calm some fears about the state of the […]
Traditional medicine in the Middle East, which is studied at the Zayed Center for Herbal Research, can be broken down into four categories: the Prophet, Physicians, Arabs and Elders, says professor Maha Barakat, the director general of Health Authority – Abu Dhabi. The Medicine of the Prophet (Teb Al Nabawi) This concerns Quranic references to healing, in addition to what the Prophet Mohammed practised to treat ailments. […]
Islamabad: The three-member bench of the Supreme Court overseeing the implementation of the apex court’s verdict in the Panama papers case on Friday named the five members who will probe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family business dealings abroad. File image of Nawaz Sharif. AP The officials included in the inquiry team are Brigadier Nauman Saeed from the Inter-Services Intelligence, Aamer Aziz from the State Bank […]
This post is a fictionalised thought experiment. YOU and YOU ALONE are in charge of what happens in this story. There are trade-offs, choices, and consequences. YOU must use all of your B.S.D. talents and much of your intelligence. Good luck. So… You’re the head of a trading desk, and you’ve felt a bit frustrated of late. Your desk trades government securities issued by the world’s largest […]
CAIRO: The head of Egypt’s Al-Azhar university, one of the world’s leading Islamic seats of learning, has been replaced after labelling a controversial Muslim reformer an apostate, the institution said.The development came as Al-Azhar is pressured by critics who say the venerable Sunni Muslim authority has not done enough to counter Islamist extremism.Ahmed Hosni Taha, the acting university president, had been forced to apologize on Thursday after […]
Whirlpool’s acquisition of Yummly could mean access to more recipes on smart appliances, such as this Jenn-Air double wall oven. Chris Monroe/CNET Whirlpool has bought the recipe website and app Yummly for an undisclosed sum, a move the company said will further strengthen the development of its smart kitchen products, the appliance manufacturer announced this week. The move gives Whirlpool access to more than one million recipes […]
The campaign team of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron says it has been the victim of a “massive and co-ordinated” hacking operation ahead of Sunday’s election. Around nine gigabytes of data were posted online to Pastebin, a document-sharing site that allows anonymous posting. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for releasing the files. The documents, posted on Friday night, appeared to contain details of emails […]
The balance of power within Hamas, which Israel, the United States and much of the West defines as a terrorist organization, has been shifting to Gaza, according to experts. The group seized control of the Palestinian coastal enclave in 2007 after beating its main rival, Fatah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, in parliamentary elections a year earlier. Continue reading the main story In […]
Saudi women no longer need a man’s consent to carry out certain activities, local media reported on Friday, but activists said the royal order does not go far enough. Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive. Under the guardianship system a male family member, normally the father, husband or brother, must […]
Gold is once again losing its sparkle, poised for its biggest weekly decline since November. The precious metal is down 3.2 per cent over the week to $1,227.87 a troy ounce, after touching its lowest level in 7 weeks on Thursday. Gold is now set for its third consecutive week of declines. Diminishing demand for haven assets has been a key factor for declining gold prices, with […]
By Adrian Croft and Geert De Clercq | PARIS PARIS France sought to keep a computer hack of frontrunner Emmanuel Macron’s campaign emails from influencing the outcome of the country’s presidential election with a warning on Saturday it could be a criminal offence to republish the data. Macron’s team said a “massive” hack had dumped emails, documents and campaign financing information online just before campaigning ended on […]
The UAE on Friday delayed the start-up of its first nuclear reactor until next year for further safety checks because regulators have not yet granted an operating licence. The reactor, one of four being built at the $20-billion Barakah plant west of Abu Dhabi by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), had been due to begin operating this year. But UAE nuclear regulators are […]
Johnson & Johnson recently lost in a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims to have contracted ovarian cancer after using the company’s Baby Powder and Shower To Shower powder for 40 years. The company seems to have been the target of similar lawsuits claiming is talc-based products cause ovarian cancer, especially after some studies showed that talcum powder can increase the risk of ovarian cancer when applied to the […]
Scientists have successfully completed the first outdoor field trial sanctioned by the US Environmental Protection Agency for genetically engineered algae. The researchers tested a genetically engineered strain of algae in outdoor ponds under real-world conditions. The researchers conclude that genetically engineered algae can be successfully cultivated outdoors while maintaining engineered traits, and, most importantly, without adversely impacting native algae populations. (via WSJ)
GAZA The Palestinian movement Hamas elected Ismail Haniyeh to lead its political office on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters in Gaza. Former deputy chief Haniyeh will replace Qatar-based veteran leader Khaled Meshaal, who is stepping down from the group just as it softened its stance toward Israel in a new policy document last week. (Reporting By Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Noah Browning; Editing by Keith […]
The German luxury car maker BMW saw its net profit rise by nearly a third in the first three months of the year as sales increased, helped by profitable 4x4s and the 7-Series large saloon. The Munich-based firmr said Thursday that it made €2.15 billion (Dh8.62bn) in the first quarter, up 31 per cent on the €1.64bn in the year-earlier quarter. Profits were also boosted by a […]
Loads of these guys have awesome Instagram accounts.Image: Paul Buck/Epa/REX/Shutterstock By Sam Haysom2017-05-06 08:30:00 UTC Warning: Contains spoilers for all seasons of Game of Thrones. We’ve still got far, far too much time to kill before Game of Thrones Season 7 kicks off, so what better way to fill the gaps between promos than with some good old fashioned Instagram stalking? Gone are the days when an […]
BEIJING China on Saturday demanded that Taiwan release two mainland fishermen who have been detained after the island’s coastguard fired rubber bullets at them amid simmering tensions between the rivals. The shooting put a new strain on ties between Beijing and Taipei which have cooled since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took power last year, because she refuses to concede the self-ruled […]
