Tag Archives: classifieds
Shaikh Mohammed receives Apple CEO Tim Cook
Shaikh Mohammed receives Apple CEO Tim Cook (Wam) / 3 February 2014 Shaikh Mohammed and Cook discussed an array of issues regarding future of the IT sector in the backdrop of international transformations. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday. Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, was also present. Shaikh Mohammed and Cook discussed an array of issues regarding future of the IT sector in the backdrop of international transformations and the sector’s role in developing and advancing education. Shaikh Mohammed hailed Apple’s role in developing technology and IT-based education worldwide. Cook credited the UAE as one of the leading role models in application of e-government and it is on track to introduce smart government under the patronage and directives of Shaikh Mohammed, whom he praised as a visionary leader who holds constructive breakthrough initiatives especially in education and IT in order to position the UAE government in general and Dubai government in particular among the firsts using technology in management and services. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gargawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, and other senior officials attended the meeting. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Syrian sides break ice in peace talks
Syrian sides break ice in peace talks (Reuters) / 31 January 2014 Opposing sides in Syria’s civil war stand together to observe a minute of silence at talks in Geneva. Opposing sides in Syria’s civil war stood together to observe a minute of silence on Thursday in honour of the tens of thousands killed in the three-year conflict, a rare symbol of harmony a week into peace talks that have so fare yielded no compromise. The first talks between President Bashar Al Assad’s government and his foes have been mired in rhetoric since they began last Friday. The two sides took a first tentative step forward on Wednesday by agreeing to use the same 2012 roadmap as the basis of discussions to end the civil war, although they disagreed about how talks should proceed. UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round which ends on Friday, but hopes for more progress in a second round starting about a week later. Opposition delegate Ahmad Jakal said his delegation’s head, Hadi Al Bahra, proposed the minute of silence and all sides stood up, including Assad’s delegation and Brahimi’s team. “All stood up for the souls of the martyrs. Symbolically it was good,” Jakal said. Diplomats said there had been no progress on humanitarian issues and that a UN aid convoy has been waiting fruitlessly to enter the rebel-held Old City of Homs, where the United States says civilians are starving. If there is no breakthrough on Homs this week, it would give the opposition delegation, mostly comprised of exiles, little to show for their decision to participate. Other factions with more power on the ground in Syria are opposed to the talks. The 2012 plan sets out stages to end the conflict, including a halt to fighting, delivery of aid and agreement on setting up a transitional government body by mutual consent. US and Russian officials, co-sponsors of the conference, are in Geneva advising the opposition and Syrian government delegations, their respective allies. Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad, one of the most influential players, was meeting with Russian officials later in the day in Geneva, diplomatic sources said. While the opposition wants to start by addressing the question of the transitional governing body, the government says the first step is to discuss terrorism. Damscus uses the word “terrorist” to describe all rebel fighters. There was still no sign of a breakthrough in attempts to relieve the suffering of thousands of besieged residents of the rebel-held Old City of Homs. UN trucks must be able to enter besieged areas with security guarantees and the distribution of goods must be carried out in a safe way for the beneficiaries, he said. “The UN convoys are ready, we are waiting for clearances so we can provide this aid in a secure manner,” Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Thursday. Syria’s biggest city Aleppo took some of the heaviest aerial bombardment of the conflict in the past week, including the dropping of indiscriminate “barrel bombs” – crude drums of high explosives tossed from helicopters – that killed and wounded dozens, opposition delegate Ahmed Ramadan told Reuters. New York based watchdog Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Syrian authorities had flattened seven residential districts for no apparent military objective other than to punish civilians living among rebels who had already fled. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Syrian terror group a threat to US, says intelligence chief
Syrian terror group a threat to US, says intelligence chief (AFP) / 30 January 2014 James Clapper says Syrian regime now may have the ability to produce biological weapons on a limited scale. Syria’s civil war serves as a “huge magnet” for terror groups while sub-Saharan Africa has become a “hothouse” for extremists, US intelligence chief James Clapper warned on Wednesday. Presenting an annual intelligence assessment of global threats, Clapper described a mounting danger from militants aligned or inspired by Al Qaeda, even as the terror group’s core leadership has been steadily weakened in Pakistan. The raging conflict between President Bashar Al Assad’s regime and rebel forces has lured Al Qaeda-linked militants to Syria, where they could possibly prepare to mount attacks on the West, Clapper said. “Syria has become a huge magnet for extremists” who can now recruit, train and equip a growing number of militants there, he told the Senate Intelligence Committee. America’s intelligence agencies estimated that there were about 26,000 “extremists” operating in Syria out of a total opposition force of 75,000 to 110,000, Clapper said. The conflict had attracted roughly 7,000 foreign fighters from some 50 countries, mostly in the Middle East and Europe, he said. The presence of the hardline militants was of “tremendous concern” among US allies, particularly among European governments, who fear foreign fighters will return home to carry out attacks, he said. “We’re seeing now the appearance of training complexes in Syria to train people to go back to their countries, and, of course, conduct more terrorist acts,” he said. Clapper said Syria resembled the semi-autonomous tribal belt in northwest Pakistan, which has served as a sanctuary for the Taleban and members of Al Qaeda. Echoing Clapper’s comments, Mathew Olson, head of the National Counter-terrorism Center, said “a permissive environment, extremist groups like Al Nusra and the number of foreign fighters combine to make Syria a place that we are very concerned about, in particular the potential for terrorist attacks emanating from Syria to the West.” Clapper also offered a warning on advances in Syria’s biological weapons programme. Although Syria has agreed to eliminate its large arsenal of chemical weapons, the regime now may have the ability to produce biological weapons on a limited scale, he said. “We judge that some elements of Syria’s biological warfare programme might have advanced beyond the research and development stage and might be capable of limited agent production, based on the duration of its longstanding programme,” he said. Clapper offered no further details, but it was the first time officials had stated publicly that spy agencies believed Syria had made significant strides in its biological programme. Neither Assad nor the rebel groups appeared able to achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield in the next six months, said Clapper, adding that the war would further foment Sunni-Shia sectarian tensions across the region. Clapper also said America’s 16 intelligence agencies believed sub-Saharan Africa would “almost certainly” experience more security turmoil in 2014, as the region had turned into an incubator for extremists. “The continent has become a hothouse for the emergence of extremist and rebel groups, which increasingly launch deadly asymmetric attacks, and which government forces often cannot effectively counter due to a lack of capability and sometimes will,” Clapper said in written testimony to senators. He said countries in the Sahel region, including Chad, Niger, Mali and Mauritania, faced the threat of terror attacks due to their backing of a French military intervention in Mali launched a year ago. The region also faced pressures from swelling youth populations and “marginalised” ethnic communities that are frustrated over a lack of government services and jobs, according to Clapper. The annual report from the intelligence community addressed Ukraine’s dramatic political stand-off, describing President Viktor Yanukovych as “firmly intent” to hold on to power. The Ukrainian leader appeared prepared to resort to force or other illegal means to prevail against popular protests, according to Clapper. A Russian aid package to Ukraine signed in December will prevent a financial crisis in the “short term” but will increase Kiev’s dependence on Moscow and leave it vulnerable to Russian pressure, he wrote. Clapper denounced an avalanche of leaks from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, saying the disclosures of National Security Agency eavesdropping had put diplomats, spies and soldiers at risk and damaged foreign partnerships. He called on Snowden and his “accomplices” to return the documents he had “stolen.” For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
