• Work starts on creation of new Dubai island

  Work began on Monday on the development of a man-made island in Dubai, 500 metres directly opposite the Jumeirah Beach Residence complex. To be known as Bluewaters Island, the new development will house five star hotels and resorts, al fresco dining and entertainment zones, and residential apartments and villas. The focal point of the island city, which will cost $1.6 billion, will be a 688 ...

• ICC withdraws Asad Rauf from Champions Trophy because of spot-fixing allegations

  International Cricket Council (ICC) has withdrawn umpire Asad Rauf from officiating in the Champions Trophy, which is slated to start from June 6. Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: "In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as well as those of the ...

• Pakistani umpire Rauf withdrawn from Champions Trophy

  The International Cricket Council (ICC) Thursday withdrew Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf from next month's Champions Trophy in England and Wales after his name cropped up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal. ICC said it took the decision after media reports indicated that the 57-year-old umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police. Rauf, who is an ICC Elite Panel umpire, has ...

• Google wants rational tax system following criticism over firms lesser tax transparency

  Google chairman Eric Schmidt has called for a more rational and predictable international tax system following widespread criticism over the company's failure to have a more transparent tax payment system. The move comes after Labour Party leader Ed Miliband targeted his rebuke towards Schmidt at the Google Big Tent Conference, the Guardian reports. UK Prime minister David Cameron's aides have ...

• Leona Lewis heart-broken after first breakup

  Leona Lewis has revealed that she thought her world had come to an end following her split with first boyfriend. The 'Bleeding Love' hit maker, who was in a 10-year relationship with A'n'R scout Lou Al-Chamaa until 2010, told Stylist magazine that she was not sure if she would be able to get over the breakdown of her first romance, Contactmusic reported. Bu Lewis now believes that the split ...

• Tamara Ecclestone opens up about relationship with new beau

  Tamara Ecclestone, who started dating her new boyfriend Jay Rutland in January after being introduced by mutual friends, shocked the world by announcing that she was engaged to him just one month later. The F1 heiress told the Mirror that the couple's engagement has been very sudden and she knows that there are people who won't understand that and will read things into it. She said that, ...

• Lydia Davis pips Indian writer U.R. Ananthamurthy to win Booker International Prize 2013

  American short story writer Lydia Davis, whose works can be as brief as a single sentence, has won the fifth Man Booker International Prize topling other authors including an Indian named U.R. Ananthamurthy. The influential American writer accepted the 60,000 pounds honour, which is presented every two years to a living, non-UK author for a body of work published in English, at a ceremony held ...

• ICC launches Champions Trophy website

  The International Cricket Council (ICC) Thursday launched the official event website for the Champions Trophy, which will be held in England and Wales June 6-23. The site will be accessible at www.icc-cricket.com. The site will have short-form highlights from all tournament matches as well as exclusive behind-the-scene content. The official match centre will be informative and interactive, ...

• Singapores exports continue to fall

  Singapore's external trade continued to fall in the first quarter of this year, with declines for total trade, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) and non-oil re-exports (NORX), the city-state's trade promotion agency, International Enterprise Singapore, said Thursday. This is the third consecutive quarter of decrease for both total trade and NODX. According to the data, the NODX, a key gauge of ...

• Angela Merkel tops Forbes Most Powerful Women list for third successive year

  German chancellor Angela Merkel has been named as the most powerful woman in the world for the third successive year by business magazine Forbes. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was ranked second with Melinda Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in third. According to the Independent, the Queen, rankedat 40, is the oldest woman on the list and has dropped 12 places ...

• Cheruiyot to miss World championships for pregnancy

  Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot will not be able to defend her 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres titles at this year's Moscow World championships as she is expecting her first child. The runner said in a statement Wednesday that she felt it was "the right time to start a family" at the age of 29, reports Xinhua. Cheruiyot plans to return for the 2014 season and compete in the 2015 World championships in ...

• Pakistan one of worlds most negative nations Poll

  Pakistan has been viewed as one of the most negative countries in the world in a new poll. The south Asian country was ranked after Israel, North Korea in terms of how they are viewed globally. This year's annual Country Ratings Poll for the BBC World Service found that 55 percent of respondents viewed Pakistan as a negative country as compared to only 15 percent who had a mainly positive ...

• Iran upgrading nuclear program IAEA

  Tehran has reportedly upgraded its nuclear program by adding advanced uranium enrichment facilities and building a plutonium-producing reactor according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA report reflects the increased international concerns about the potential proliferation dangers it represents as the completion date approaches, the Huffington Post reports. According ...

• Gisele Bundchen crowned most powerful model in world

  Gisele Bundchen has been named as the most powerful model in the world by Forbes magazine. The 32-year-old, who is the only model named to the magazine's newly released 2013 'World's Most Powerful Women' list, has been ranked No. 95 out of the 100 influential women including iconic entrepreneurs, CEOs, politicians and philanthropists, the Huffington post reported. Bundchen made the list last ...

• Kazakhstan defeat India in volleyball tourney

  Kazakhstan defeated India 3-2 in the China International men's volleyball tournament here. Kazakhstan won 25-12, 23-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-7 Wednesday, reports Xinhua. "Our team is so young that they didn't cooperate well and made mistakes, but I am satisfied with their performance," said Gilyazutdinov Rafael, assistant coach of Kazakhstan team. "Our setup was bad today and that is why we lost ...

• Finance head Carrion to run for IOC president

  Finance Commission head Richard Carrion has joined the race to succeed International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge. The Puerto Rican will run against Thomas Bach, Ng Ser Miang and Wu Ching-kuo, who has yet to officially declare his intention to run, reports Xinhua. Carrion, 60, has no sporting background. He is chairman of a financial holding company and since 2002 has ...

• British soldier hacked to death in suspected Islamist attack in busy London street

  Two suspected terrorists hacked a man believed to be a British soldier to death on a busy London street on Wednesday. One of the men yelled 'Allahu Akbar', in an attack that was caught on video and left the nation shocked and horrified. According to Fox News, the victim was killed on the spot, and the attackers waited at the scene until police arrived and shot both. One attacker, his hands ...

• European leaders hold summit on tax evasion

  The heads of state and government of the European Union held a summit Wednesday in an effort to make more progress in fighting tax evasion and tax fraud. EU leaders are targeting tax crimes both within the borders of their countries and in foreign tax havens despite the reluctance of Austria and Luxembourg. The leaders of the EU's 27 member states are expected to give the go ahead to the ...

• Italy has lowest graduate share in Europe

  Italy has the lowest graduation rates in Europe with just one-fifth of people aged 30-34 holding a university degree, according to a study. A total of 31 percent of Italian families cannot afford to pay for their children's university studies, and must take out loans or have their offspring seek jobs to help fund tuition and living costs, said the report by charity Save the Children. It said ...

• UN urges collective efforts to achieve water secure world on Day for Biological Diversity

  22 May 2013 150 Unless greater efforts are made to reverse current trends, the world will run out of freshwater, the United Nations said today marking the International Day for Biological Diversity and urging stronger scientific alliances to understand and protect natural resources. "We live in an increasingly water insecure world where demand often outstrips supply and where water quality ...

• Amid turmoil in Mideast UN envoy urges concerted action to resume Israeli-Palestinian talks

  22 May 2013 150 While international attention is understandably on the tragedy that continues to unfold in Syria, it is equally important to ensure the resumption of negotiations aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a senior United Nations envoy stressed to the Security Council today. "Ending the conflict in Syria is a matter of great urgency and must be the top priority of ...

• International community must help Darfur become self-sufficient 8211 UN official

  22 May 2013 150 The United Nations humanitarian chief today stressed the international community must do more to ensure the people of Sudan's Darfur region can better provide for themselves. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, who is currently on a four-day visit to Darfur, said she was disappointed that after 10 years of humanitarian operations, the region is ...

• UN agency to open nuclear emergency preparedness centre in Fukushima

  22 May 2013 150 Experts from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are heading to Japan to launch an emergency preparedness and response centre in Fukushima, the coastal city devastated two years ago when a massive earthquake and tsunami set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. The IAEA, supported by the Government of Japan, will designate a new Response and ...

• Council of Europe Concerned About Russias Human-Rights Record

  MOSCOW Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, has told President Vladimir Putin that the human rights body is concerned about Russia's law requiring non-governmental organizations to register as foreign agents. Jagland said Europe will watch how the Kremlin implements the law that went in effect last November, a measure requiring non-governmental organizations ...

• Boston bombing probe Man shot dead by FBI

  An FBI agent shot and killed a 27-year-old alleged friend of slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Florida, a day after questioning him as part of the investigation into the April 15 attack, media reports said. The victim, identified as Ibragim Todashev, was shot at a condominium complex Wednesday in Orlando, Florida. The FBI confirmed a man died while one of its agents ...

• UN World Bank Say Development is Key to Congo Peace

  GOMA -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been visiting the war-weary city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), accompanied by the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim. Both men stressed they see investing in development as the way out of Congo’s conflicts. The front lines outside Goma were silent on Thursday morning as Ban and Kim conducted their ...

• Indias Tata Steel reports loss on Europe woes

  MUMBAI (AFP) - India's Tata Steel, one of the world's biggest steelmakers, on Thursday swung to a quarterly net loss from a profit a year ago due to falling demand in its key European market.Tata Steel reported a consolidated net loss of 65.29 billion rupees ($1.18 billion) for the fourth fiscal quarter which ended March, compared to a profit of 4.33 billion rupees in the same period a ...

• Eleven die in surge of Iraq violence

  BAGHDAD // Attacks in Iraq yesterday killed 11 people, including four soldiers, officials said. It was the latest in a wave of violence that has left 420 people dead so far this month. Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in Taji, north of Baghdad, killing the four soldiers and wounding five others, security and medical officials said. Near Baquba, also north of the capital, a roadside bomb in a ...

• 86 sentenced in Macedonia highway toll scam case

  SKOPJE, Macedonia -; A criminal court in Macedonia's capital has sentenced 86 employees of a road management company to prison terms ranging from eight months to more than six years for involvement in a massive highway toll ...

• Appellate court Berlusconi ran illegal scheme

  MILAN -; A Milan appeals court has explained why it upheld Silvia Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction, saying the politician illegally purchased the rights to broadcast U.S. movies on his private TV network, then falsely declared the payments to avoid ...

• Google Trends Lets You Track What The World Is Searching For

  Google likes to remind us just how much they know about the things we like, the things we're interested in, and the people we'd like to see experience some sort of wardrobe malfunction. Earlier this month, Google's YouTube released a data map which ...

• It’s World Turtle Day

  turtle crossing a busy road - pick it up and send it in the direction it was originally going on the other side of the road, advises the advocacy group American Tortoise Rescue (ATR), which is celebrating their 13thannualWorld Turtle Day2013 today.Picking up the tortoise and turning it around will only cause the slow moving animal to try crossing the road again, according to ...

• Japan’s Nikkei Index Falls 7.3 for Several Reasons Europe and U.S. Indexes Dip after Japanese Nosedive JPMorgan Voters Keep CEO Dimon

  YahooFinance ) The Japanese stock market’s single-largest, one-day loss since the 2011 tsunami featured a 7.3 percent plunge yesterday that was blamed on lower-than-expected Chinese manufacturing figures for April, the Federal Reserve's lack of a clear message on continuing quantitative easing and spiking Japanese bond prices.Elsewhere in the Far East, markets generally pulled back. ...

• Five Obstacles To A Healthier World

  Runners in the Zurich Marathon (Credit: Wikipedia) Imagine a community in which "great health" is as important as education or social status, or where health education is as important as mathematics. In this community, well-being would be a priority that would be appreciated, pursued and rewarded. That's the vision of leaders at the World Economic Forum. In collaboration with ...

• Strife in Iraq Worse and worse

  A WIDENING arc of violence across Iraq is raising fears that the country could fracture under the weight of sectarian and political strife. Attacks in the past week stretched from north of Baghdad, the capital, to the normally calm southern city of Basra, killing more than 200 people. The targets included Sunni mosques as well as Shia districts and Iraqi security forces. On May 20th alone, at ...

• Tax-Avoiding Corporations Siphoning Billions from Worlds Poorest

  Some of the world's wealthiest corporations-utilizing secretive tax havens backed by powerful governments-are siphoning of billions of dollars of potential revenue from the very same poor countries that foreign investment is so often said to be helping.According to a new report by ActionAid International, ...

• Obama to address drones Guantanamo in major security speech

  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about tornadoes and severe weather affecting Oklahoma, at White House on May 21, 2013. Obama will deliver a key speech on U.S. counterterrorism policy this afternoon. (Larry ...

• Kenyan police clear truckers blocking east Africas main trade route

  MOMBASA (Reuters) - Kenyan police cleared the only highway from the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi on Thursday, two days after striking truck drivers blocked it and threatened to choke the main trade artery in east ...

• Berlin hopes efforts on youth jobs will help its image in Europe

  BERLIN (Reuters) - German alarm that their country is blamed for austerity measures compounding the problems in the euro zone helps explain Berlin's bilateral efforts to tackle youth unemployment in some of the countries worst ...

• Way of the World Some Cracks in the Cult of Technocrats

  NEW YORK -- We are living in the age of the technocrats. In business, Big Data, and the Big Brains who can parse it, rule. In government, the technocrats are on top, too. From Washington to Frankfurt to Rome, technocrats have stepped in where politicians feared to tread, rescuing economies, or at least propping them up, in the ...

• Amazon Set To Take Over The World With Kindle In June

  Amazon hasn’t been able to effectively compete with Apple just yet as its Kindle Fire devices are only available in a select few countries. That’s all going to change next month. Amazon announced today that ...

• Sudan South Sudan vow to keep oil flowing differ on pumping problem

  KHARTOUM/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan's oil ministers on Thursday vowed to continue cross-border oil flows but gave contradictionary opinions whether a technical problem at a pumping station which had cut output had been ...

• Lyft Gears Up for International Expansion on Anniversary

  IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau) - Lyft, the ridesharing service known for its fleet of pink mustache-festooned cars, is eyeing international expansion supported by its biggest funding round yet. The company will be looking at entering new markets, including overseas, between now and the end of 2014, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer said Wednesday. Specific countries of interest were not ...

• Top Research Reports Explore Ad Effectiveness in a Social World Hidden Influences on Creativity

  How does advertising perform in a social-media world? How can you build a cohesive social strategy? And what are the hidden influences that shape your organization's creativity? Ad Age is releasing three papers that address these pressing business ...

• Frustrated family of American found dead in Singapore withdraw inquiry

  The parents of Shane Todd, the American engineer found dead in his Singapore apartment on June 24, 2012, announced Wednesday that they are withdrawing from the official inquiry into their son's death and will leave Singapore immediately. "We no longer have confidence in the transparency and the fairness of the system," the Todds said in a statement released to CBS ...

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