Bloomberg Does your home really need a “smart speaker” that can answer questions, call you an Uber, turn off the lights or play music when you ask? You may be about to find out. Two years ago, Amazon introduced the Amazon Echo, an unassuming, $180 cylinder that sits atop a kitchen counter or bookshelf, acting as a personal assistant …

  DUBAI / AFP A vintage carnival in Australia provided the inspiration for Emirati designer Lamya Abedin’s show at Arab Fashion Week in Dubai that combined frills and sequins with Muslim modesty. Abedin said she followed every detail of the century-old fair, which she visited while travelling with her husband and children, for her collection “Voyage of the Carnival” — …

Relaxnews The Spring/Summer 2017 ready-to-wear shows have finally wrapped up, and it’s time to examine the key trends for the upcoming season. When it comes to tailoring, the next season will be all about playing with proportion. There were tops all over the SS17 catwalks, but the real star piece was its more wearable cousin, the crop top. Nicholas K …

  DUBAI / AFP Canadian-Jordanian designer Rad Hourani creates avant-garde designs with a vision: To break all boundaries, starting with gender. His revolutionary unisex garments were showcased in the Middle East for the first time ever during a show late Friday at Arab Fashion Week in Dubai. In thick pieces of material tied up in different styles, male and female …

Angers / AFP Dusty and somewhat faded, as befits its onetime use as insulation for horse stables, a priceless piece of medieval artistic heritage, France’s Apocalypse Tapestry, is getting a welcome clean-up. As the French culture ministry says, it’s high time “to see what state this old lady of upwards of 600 years of age is in.” In truth, she …

Bogota / AFP Spray-paint cans in hand, a generation of street artists is covering Colombia’s run-down walls with rifles that shoot heart-shaped bullets and rainbow-colored pleas for peace. After half a century of conflict, the end of which remains just beyond reach, war and peace have become central themes in Colombia’s graffiti art. On the streets of Bogota, corncobs that …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE has highlighted its efforts in developing an intellectual property system that plays a key role in the move to build a sustainable competitive economy in compliance with the set objectives and goals of the UAE Vision 2021. This came during the UAE Ministry of Economy’s delegation’s participation in the ongoing 56th series of …

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Marine Services “Safeen”, the marine services subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, supporting the operations of the network of ports and harbours across the emirate of Abu Dhabi with a range of maritime and quayside-support services, announced significant milestones reinfo- rcing Abu Dhabi Ports’ continued expansion and latest remarkable results. Three new state-of-the-art tugs, specialising …

  DUBAI / WAM Being major re-export hubs in their respective regions, Dubai and the Netherlands can open a gateway for business opportunities with the rest of the GCC, Africa, and Asia, as well as become an ideal trading partner for the European markets, according a senior official of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With access to over …

  DUBAI / WAM Foreign investors purchased AED524 million worth of shares on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and sold AED595.2mn over the week, DFM said. Net foreign investment on the market reached AED71.2 million as aggregate sell. Value of shares bought by foreigner investors comprised 45.4 per cent of the total value of stocks traded during the last five …