Latest in Real Estate Highlight
Latest in Real Estate
Bunker-busting ATM attacks show security holes
LAS VEGAS: A hacker has discovered a way to force ATMs to disgorge their cash by hijacking the computers inside them. The attacks demonstrated Wednesday targeted standalone ATMs. But they could potentially be used against the ATMs operated by mainstream banks. Criminals have long known that ATMs aren’t tamperproof. There are many types of attacks …
FA to decide on Geddo saga
CAIRO: Board member Hazem Al-Hawari informed FilGoal.com with the date of the meeting, stressing that the player will definitely be sanctioned. "We’ll have a meeting on Sunday and we shall discuss the problem," Al-Hawari said. "He will definitely be fined, according to the FA’s regulations. "But it’s still unclear whether there will be a suspension …
Review: Great iPad games are worth the search
Apple’s iPad has been around only since April, but since its release I have drawn two conclusions: 1. It is a great machine for playing games. 2. Game developers have not come close to exploiting its potential. Oh, there is plenty for sale in the iPad version of the App Store. But most of the …
FIFA clears Australia over World Cup bid
SYDNEY: FIFA has cleared Australia of any wrongdoing in its bid to host the 2022 World Cup, after allegations of bribery, football officials said on Friday. Football Federation Australia (FFA) said the world body found there was no case to answer after The Age newspaper reported gifts of jewellery and free travel for delegates. "FIFA …
Google finances projects to test digital library
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc. is giving researchers nearly a half-million dollars to test the academic value of its rapidly growing online library. The grants announced Wednesday will be used to help pay for 12 humanities projects studying questions that will require sifting through thousands of books to reach meaningful conclusions. Google is hoping the research …
Britain unveils Google Earth map showing temperature rises
LONDON: British ministers on Wednesday launched a new Google Earth map designed to show the potential impact of temperature rises of four degrees Celsius. The interactive map lets members of the public see the dramatic changes that could occur if action is not taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Significant alterations include higher temperatures over …
Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web
NEW ORLEANS: Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment. Near the spill site, researchers have documented a massive die-off of pyrosomes — cucumber-shaped, gelatinous organisms fed …
Yamaha unveils zero-emission electric motor scooter
TOKYO: Japan’s Yamaha Motor unveiled on Wednesday a zero-emission electric motor scooter for city use that it said could travel five times farther than a gasoline model for the same cost. The EC-03 can travel 43 kilometres (26.6 miles) on a single six-hour charge from a household power outlet, which costs about 18 yen (cents) …
Tiny shard bears oldest script found in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: Archaeologists say a newly discovered clay fragment from the 14th century B.C. is the oldest example of writing ever found in antiquity-rich Jerusalem. Dig director Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University says the 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) long fragment bears an ancient form of writing known as Akkadian wedge script. The fragment includes a partial text including …
Danish study says, Obese men face higher death risk
Danish study says, Obese men face higher death risk STOCKHOLM: A Danish study suggests that men who are obese by age 20 die eight years earlier on average than their non-obese peers, scientists said Tuesday. The research, presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, also indicated that obesity usually develops before the age …
Oil rises above $77 on equities rally
LONDON: Oil reversed early losses and rose towards $78 a barrel on Thursday after a bounce in equities overshadowed earlier news pointing to flatter economic growth in the world’s number two oil consumer China. European shares turned positive after JP Morgan Chase & Co reported second-quarter earnings, adding to evidence of the strong correlation between …
A lawsuit, an alleged affair behind feminist Nawal El-Saadawi’s divorce
CAIRO: A lawsuit filed by controversial feminist Nawal El-Saadawi to attain legal guardian of her husband, Sherif Hatata, following an alleged affair he had, is the reason for the famed couple’s divorce, Saadawi’s lawyer Mohamed El-Samadoni said. In a statement released Thursday, El- Samadoni said that Hatata “was seduced by a woman, 50 years younger …
Bye-bye trolls? Blizzard forums to use real names
NEW YORK: Activision Blizzard Inc.’s move to require people to use their real names if they want to post messages in online forums for games is the latest sign that online anonymity is falling out of favor with many companies. The upcoming change has upset many gamers who prize anonymity and don’t necessarily want their …
Solar plane lands after completing 24-hour flight
PAYERNE, Switzerland: An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely Thursday after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of …
Early humans ventured farther north than thought
LONDON: Ancient man ventured into northern Europe far earlier than previously thought, settling on England’s east coast more than 800,000 years ago, scientists said. It had been assumed that humans — thought to have emerged from Africa around 1.75 million years ago — kept mostly to relatively warm tropical forests, steppes and Mediterranean areas as …
Europe’s ‘Big Bang’ probe sends back first image of cosmos
PARIS: A space telescope designed to peer into the enigma of the "Big Bang" has served up its first overall image of the cosmos, the European Space Agency said on Monday. The picture "is an extraordinary treasure chest of new data for astronomers," ESA declared. The image was painstakingly built up, slice by slice, by …
Particle physics: ‘Honey, I shrunk the proton’
PARIS: Scientists lobbed a bombshell into the world of sub-atomic theory on Wednesday by reporting that a primary building block of the visible Universe, the proton, is smaller than previously thought. More precisely, revised measurements shave four percent off the particle’s radius, according to a study in Nature that is highlighted on the journal’s cover. …
Oil jumps to around $75 on equities, US data
LONDON: Oil rose to around $75 per barrel on Thursday, supported by a rally in stock markets and an industry report showing a sharp fall in crude oil inventories in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer. The euro surged to a two-month high and Asian stocks climbed to their highest in more than …
BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf’s biggest
NEW ORLEANS: BP’s massive oil spill will become the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday based on the highest of the federal government’s estimates, an ominous record that underscores the oil giant’s dire need to halt the gusher. The oil that’s spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well …
Scientists say test could predict menopause
LONDON: Doctors could one day use a blood test to predict decades in advance when women will go into menopause, scientists say. In research to be presented on Monday at a European fertility conference in Rome, Iranian experts say their preliminary study could be a first step toward developing a tool to help women decide …
Study pushes back dawn of multicellular life on Earth
PARIS: Scientists unveiled fossils from West Africa Thursday that push back the dawn of multicellular life on Earth by at least 1.5 billion years. Just how complex the newly discovered organisms are is sure to be hotly debated. But there can be no doubt that the creatures unearthed from the hills of Gabon, visible to …
Giant predatory whale named for ‘Moby Dick’ author
LONDON: Scientists have discovered an ancient whale whose bite ripped huge chunks of flesh out of other whales about 12 million years ago — and they’ve named it after the author of "Moby Dick." The prehistoric sperm whale grew to between 13 and 18 meters (up to 60 feet) long, not unusual by today’s standards. …
Oman c.bank sees pressure on currency if CPI rises
DUBAI: Oman’s central bank may continue pursuing an accommodative monetary policy for an extended period and expects a pressure on the currency if inflation differential to the United States widened further, it said on Thursday. The Arab Gulf oil producer needs to keep its monetary policy closely aligned with the United States due to its …
Quantum control: New step forward for supercomputers
PARIS: Scientists said they had overcome two hurdles in the quest for quantum computers, whose backers say will pry open an era of computing magic by exploiting a quirk of the sub-atomic world. Dubbed "supercomputers on steroids" but facing daunting technical obstacles, quantum computing is based on a counter-intuitive theory of particle physics. When two …
Astronomers glimpse distant planet's lethal moods
PARIS: A planet named after ancient Egypt’s Lord of the Dead is a place where human beings would be simultaneously boiled, poisoned and ripped apart by super storms, astronomers reported on Wednesday. The distant world, orbiting a bright star in the constellation of Pegasus 150 light years from Earth, is known officially as HD 209458b, …
UN climate panel names new authors after criticism
GENEVA: The UN science body on climate change, accused of ignoring its critics and allowing glaring errors to creep into its work, announced Wednesday that a broader range of experts will write its next report on global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change included more women and scientists from developing countries, but also selected …
Nations fail to limit whaling, Japan still hunts
AGADIR, Morocco: An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed Wednesday, leaving Japan, Norway and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked. The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join …
Suicide bombers kill five as 12 die in Iraq unrest
MOSUL: Three suicide bombers killed four police and a soldier in separate attacks in Iraq’s main northern city of Mosul on Thursday, as violence claimed a total of 12 lives nationwide, police said. Most of the attacks came in Al-Qaeda strongholds as Iraqi and US commanders warned that a persistent political vacuum nearly four months …
Hisham Mubarak Law Center launches pilot report on social, economic, cultural rights
CAIRO: The government has to set fair minimum wages, expand social insurance funds and include minorities in decision-making, economic and cultural rights in the country, a legal report recommended. Hisham Mubarak Law Center launched in a press conference Wednesday its first report on social, economic and cultural rights in 2009. Prepared by the center’s Egyptian …
Ahmed Beltagy: Meet the man behind the country's biggest musical concerts
It was an occasion that created a lot of buzz last September: Could Beyoncé Knowles, the multi-platinum selling American singer, really be coming to Egypt to perform, in Port Ghalib of all places? To the amazement of many, the concert that took place last November went without a single glitch, and attendees spoke …