Analysis

Lebanese start-ups seek tech boom

Bader — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:34:04 -0400

By Sara Hussein — LEBANON has long suffered with some of the slowest Internet speeds in the world, but a new crop of online entrepreneurs believes their country is primed for a tech start-up boom. In the upscale Hamra district of Beirut, start-up "accelerator" Seeqnce has a second-floor office with a vibe and style that recall 1990s Silicon Valley. The office is open-plan, a main workspace ringed by meeting rooms that are named for and painted in bright colours.

Children play war

Bader — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:58 -0400

By Adel Zaanoun — AS the hot weather arrives in Gaza, teenagers head to the town of Rafah for summer camp — not to play sports but to join war games organised by a Palestinian group. Youngsters wearing military fatigues and the movement's black insignia capture a fellow camper posing as a soldier and drag him away — all part of being trained to "resist" the enemy. Around 100 children under the age of 16 learn how to strip down an AK-47 assault rifle, crawl through tunnels and run across burning tyres amid the sound of explosions on their assault course.

Shaky start for Bulgaria's new government

Bader — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:44 -0400

By Diana Simeonova — BULGARIA'S Socialist-backed government is under severe pressure to resign after just two weeks in office following several days of demonstrations in the EU's poorest country. The latest protests began last Friday when Delyan Peevski, an inexperienced but well-connected 32-year-old media mogul, was named head of the powerful state agency for national security DANS.

Taking up the challenge

Bader — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:41 -0400

By Justine Gerardy — NELSON Mandela's grandson Mandla wanted to be a disc jockey but his illustrious grandfather had other ideas for him — passing down a lesson on the responsibility that South Africa's most famous surname carries. The anti-apartheid hero chose his 38-year-old grandson as the first Mandela in decades to be chief of his rural birthplace Mvezo in the Eastern Cape six years ago. "My grandfather has always been my role model. He's an inspiration to the work I do today," Mandela, whose father was Makgatho from the hero's first marriage, said.

Defiant Putin sets himself up as G8 outsider

Bader — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:38 -0400

By Anna Smolchenko — VLADIMIR Putin's participation in the first G8 summit of his new term was supposed to seal his comeback to the global stage as Russia's paramount leader after winning a third presidential term last year. Instead, it brought to the forefront a Kremlin agenda increasingly at odds with Western values and raised fresh questions about Russia's membership in the club of the world's richest democracies.

Challenges for Afghan forces

Dawood — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:44:33 -0400

SECURITY forces in Afghanistan are braced for an uphill struggle as they take over lead responsibility for operations in the last remaining areas of the country, ahead of the withdrawal of international troops next year.
The last stages of the handover, expected this week, are a milestone for the national forces, little more than a decade old but already facing dozens of engagements with the Taliban and other armed groups every day.

Cloud computing firms see silver lining in scandal

Dawood — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:43:53 -0400

FRANCE has its "Sovereign Cloud" project while across the Rhine data firms have made the label "Cloud Services: Made in Germany", all trying to reassure big companies that their information is stored away from the prying eyes of US spies.
European firms believe revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has secretly gathered user data from nine big US Internet companies, including Microsoft and Google, will hand them a competitive advantage as they play catch-up with the dominant American players in "cloud computing".

Hungary surprises with new taxes

Dawood — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:41:58 -0400

HUNGARY'S government raised taxes on the mostly foreign-owned financial and telecoms sectors yesterday to plug budget holes but also rattling investors who have already experienced three years of unpredictable policies.
The new set of fiscal measures were a surprise. They included lifting the current financial transaction tax and raising existing charges on telephone calls and mining royalties for what some analysts said was around 100 billion forints ($459.68 million).

A mother’s long trek

Dawood — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:47:09 -0400

LESS than four years ago, Viktoria Mohácsi enjoyed the life of an international politician, eating at pricey restaurants in Brussels and winning awards as a human rights activist.
Today, the 38-year-old mother of three sleeps on the floor of a one-room basement apartment in Toronto and faces deportation. As a political asylum-seeker, she hopes to convince Canada that the life of a former member of the European Parliament could be in danger in a democratic country like Hungary.

Thai economy beyond the bright lights of Bangkok

Dawood — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:46:27 -0400

STEEL girders jut from the low skyline of the Thai city of Udon Thani near the Laos border as workers lay cement for a new shopping mall, one of many illustrating a boom in the Thai economy beyond the bright lights of Bangkok.
The malls, factories and construction sites in Thailand's northeast are emerging alongside its farms as a potent economic fuel in one of Asia's top emerging markets. Growth in Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, has begun to slow, but the economy of the northeast is in the grip of a boom.