Caracas / Bloomberg Venezuela is planning to move fast with a new mining joint venture announced this week with Spokane, Washington-based Gold Reserve Inc. and will start extracting the precious metal within six months, according to central bank President Nelson Merentes. The government will have a 55 percent to 60 percent stake in the new venture, while Gold Reserve and ...

AFP Bendable mobile phones, quick-charge batteries and unbreakable touch screens — technology firms are racing to harness the potential of graphene, a wonder material which scientists say could transform consumer electronics. A fine sheet of pure carbon, graphene is as thin as an atom, making it the skinniest material known. At the same time though, it is 100 times stronger ...

DPA An enterprising music-lover is producing what look like simple wooden boxes, but are in fact cajons, a fast-rising musical instrument which all the hippest bands now want to play. “The first time I saw a cuboid like this was at a concert. I was thrilled,” Markus Meyer recalls. The German, who had been fascinated by musical instruments since childhood, ...

Beirut / AP Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with key players in the Syria conflict, including President Bashar Assad, ahead of a US-Russia-engineered cease-fire, as the opposition voiced concerns that the truce due to begin later this week will only benefit the Syrian government. Government troops backed by Russian warplanes waged fierce battles to regain control of a strategic road ...

Beirut / AFP The Syrian army retook a strategic town from the IS group on Thursday, paving the way for the reopening of its sole supply route to main northern city Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops still needed to clear the extremists from hills overlooking the key highway before it could be fully secured. The road ...

Irbil / AP The IS group relies on commercially available components for most of its bombs, with some parts coming from as far away as the United States and Japan, according to a report released Wednesday by a London-based arms research group. Conflict Armament Research says most components — such as chemicals and detonators — come from companies in Turkey ...

Geneva / AFP All sides in Libya’s chaotic conflict are likely guilty of war crimes, including torturing, raping and executing prisoners, the UN said on Thursday, urging the world to do more to bring the perpetrators to justice. “A multitude of actors, both state and non-state, are accused of very serious violations and abuses that may, in many cases, amount ...

Benghazi / AP French special forces have been helping Libyan troops fight IS militants in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi for two months, two Libyan military officials said. The French combat squad, consisting of 15 special forces, carried out four military operations against IS and other militant groups in Benghazi, the officials said. They said that French forces work ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The second UAE-Qatar Business Forum focused on ways to promote building a variety of economic partnerships and supporting the goals of sustainable development. The meeting also discussed opening up wider horizons for mutual investments to enhance the joint cooperation and consolidation of efforts to bring about desired economic integration among the GCC countries. The Forum, which ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Dr Lee Yang, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Vice-President of the China Society for Finance and Banking (CSFB), has said that his country seeks to strengthen its relations with the UAE in all fields as it holds a strategic position in the region and is a central player in the implementation ...