BEIJING Prosecutors in China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang have set up a special team to handle terror-related cases, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in resource-rich Xinjiang, on the borders of central Asia, in violence between the Muslim Uighur people who call the region home and ethnic majority Han Chinese. The government has blamed the […]
BEIRUT A ceasefire deal between Syrian government forces and rebels that took effect at midnight held early on Friday, after initial isolated clashes and gunfire, a monitoring group and a rebel official said. The truce was violated almost immediately after it came into effect as the warring sides clashed in the northwest of the country. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said hours later that the […]
UAE-based construction firm Arabian Construction Company (ACC) has signed a joint venture contract to build a 170-metre luxury residential tower called ONE in Cyprus. ACC and its joint venture partners, Joannou & Paraskevaides Group, said in a statement that upon its completion in 2019 the project will be the tallest residential seafront tower in Europe. The new tower will be located on 28th October Avenue, Limassol’s prime […]
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; December 30, 2017 As the 10th anniversary year of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, draws to a close, industry watchers can reflect on 12 months that have marked a historic milestone for the company and a pivotal moment for the renewable energy sector as a whole. During the decade since Masdar was established, the UAE has cemented a global reputation for […]
Dec 30, 2016 11:20 am IST From an incarcerated pigeon to luxury car owners who have nowhere to drive, here are some interesting articles from India that you could have missed this year. Why the Vast Majority of Women in India Will Never Own a Smartphone Eric Bellman and Aditi Malhotra reported on why technology, promoted as a social equalizer, is having the opposite effect in one […]
BHUBANESWAR, India At least three men were killed and nearly two dozen trapped when a pile of mine waste collapsed in a mine in Jharkhand run by state-run miner Coal India Limited, state police said on Friday. Several vehicles engaged in the mining operation were also trapped in the mishap that took place on Thursday evening at the Lalmatia mines owned by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a […]
HONG KONG China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], one of the world’s largest telecom equipment makers, said on Friday it expects 2016 revenue growth to slow slightly to 32 percent and forecast greater uncertainties next year. The Shenzhen-based company, which competes with Sweden’s Ericsson (ERICb.ST) for the top spot in the global market for telecoms equipment, sees 2016 revenue hitting 520 billion yuan ($74.8 billion), said Eric […]
BEIJING Two Beijing police officers have been punished following the death of an environmentalist in custody in May, state media said on Friday, a case that sparked public disquiet about China’s law enforcement methods. Lei Yang, 29, was arrested in a massage parlour as part of a police operation against prostitution and died hours later after choking on his own vomit. While prosecutors decided last week not […]
Chinese netizens are mourning the demise of a popular online talk show that dared to tackle social and political topics in a media landscape dominated by vapid soap operas, staid costume dramas and webcam girls. The final episode of “Xiaosong-pedia“, hosted by songwriter, music producer and film director Gao Xiaosong, was aired on Friday on iQiyi, the online video platform owned by internet search group Baidu. The show received […]
In August, US group ValueAct announced a $1.1bn stake in Morgan Stanley. Yet the notorious boardroom activist had no plans to shake up management, no beef with strategy at the investment bank. The stock, it said, was simply cheap. Mere months later an investment that had seemed brave at the time is worth $1.8bn. ValueAct’s gain is just one of the more striking examples of an extreme […]
Samsung Electronics’ 2017 premium TV line-up to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), branded Samsung QLED TV, applied ‘metal coating’ to improve the integrity of the quantum dot (QD) materials, company insiders say, allowing colour in a wider range to be accurately represented at higher brightness level or better than those reached in OLED TVs. Internally called the “Q Project,” the business set a target resolution […]
BEIJING China will prosecute one its former spy chiefs for corruption after accusing him of bribery and abusing his power to interfere in law enforcement activities, the ruling Communist Party said on Friday. Ma Jian, once a vice minister at China’s Ministry of State Security, is the most senior security official to be investigated since former domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang was ensnared in a graft scandal […]
BEIRUT Clashes between rebels and Syrian government forces took place less than two hours after a ceasefire took effect on Friday, a monitoring group and a rebel official said, in the first violations of a deal backed by Russia and Turkey. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said rebels had violated the truce deal and taken over a position in Hama province. Mohammed Rasheed, a […]
Authored by Oliver Stone (via Facebook), THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING As 2016 draws to a close, we find ourselves a deeply unsettled nation. We’re unable to draw the lines of our national interest. Is it jobs and economy, is it national security, or is it now in our interest to ensure global security — in other words, act as the world’s policemen? As the “failing” (to quote […]
JAKARTA/SYDNEY An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck on Friday off the island of Sumbawa in eastern Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. There was no tsunami warning issued. The undersea quake was felt strongly in the area and some surrounding islands including the resort of Bali, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, said Indonesia’s national disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo. […]
The Singapore government has invested significant resources and efforts in building up a thriving startup environment, but its inhabitants must now take risks and look beyond local shores. Jeffrey Paine, general partner at Golden Gate Ventures, believed Singapore’s startup scene had progressed well over the last six to eight years. He said a number of successful startups had grown and executed well in the region, as well […]
By John Davison | BEIRUT BEIRUT A nationwide ceasefire in Syria, brokered by Russia and Turkey which back opposing sides in the conflict, got off to a shaky start after midnight on Friday (2200 GMT on Thursday) in the latest attempt to end nearly six years of bloodshed. Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, announced the ceasefire on Thursday after forging […]
The Malaysian opposition has attacked a state company’s investment in a palm oil project in Indonesia, saying it is a costly handout to a foreign businessman connected to Prime Minister Najib Razak. Malaysia’s state-owned Federal Land Development Authority, known as Felda, plans to buy a 37 per cent stake in Eagle High, controlled by Indonesian conglomerate Rajawali Group, for $505m. The deal will be financed by the […]
The two-state solution would establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel — two states for two peoples. In theory, this would win Israel security and allow it to retain a Jewish demographic majority (letting the country remain Jewish and democratic) while granting the Palestinians a state. Continue reading the main story Most governments and world bodies have set achievement of the two-state solution as official policy, including […]
By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The FBI squarely blamed Russian intelligence services on Thursday for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, releasing the most definitive report yet on the issue, including samples of malicious computer code said to have been used in a broad hacking campaign. Starting in mid-2015, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, the FSB, emailed a malicious link to more than 1,000 recipients, including […]
BEIRUT The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said warring sides appeared to cease firing across Syria after a truce deal came into effect at midnight on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday). The British-based Observatory said there had been some shellfire around Aleppo and in an area close to the capital Damascus shortly before the ceasefire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, began. (Reporting by John Davison; Editing […]
By Jeff Mason and Lesley Wroughton | HONOLULU/WASHINGTON HONOLULU/WASHINGTON President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 presidential election. The measures, taken during the last days of Obama’s presidency, mark a new post-Cold War low in U.S.-Russian ties which have deteriorated over Ukraine and Syria. […]
MOSCOW The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia would harm relations between Moscow and Washington. Dmitry Peskov said Putin would order an “appropriate” retaliation to the sanctions, which included the expulsion of 35 diplomats. In a conference call with reporters, Peskov said Moscow doubted the effectiveness of the measures as the current U.S. presidential administration […]
In this Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, photo, Emerson Hill, 6, plays with Pepper the robot at Westfield Mall in San Francisco. While merrily chirping, dancing and posing for selfies, Pepper looks like another expensive toy in the San Francisco mall where it will be entertaining shoppers through mid-February. But it would be a mistake to dismiss Pepper as mere child’s play, even though kids flock around the […]
