Middle East Experience

French logistics firm Geodis and Silicon Valley remote driving software startup Phantom Auto Inc on Wednesday announced a partnership for developing remote-controlled forklifts, a move that can make forklift driving an office job.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“So I can be in one warehouse in Marseille in the morning and work for another warehouse in Calais in the north of France during the afternoon,” said Stéphanie Hervé, chief operating officer of Western Europe, Middle East and Africa for Geodis.Hervé said the technology could eventually help alleviate the challenges of hiring employees for warehouse work and also enable people with disabilities to have a new kind of job.“With this solution we create a new environment of working which could probably be more attractive for young talent, for digital natives,” she said.In a demo for Reuters, Phantom Auto had a forklift in a warehouse in Mountain View, California, move pallets of plastic-wrapped boxes. The driver was sitting 50 feet (15 meters) away at a desk, one hand on the wheel, the other maneuvering a joystick while watching a monitor featuring six sub-screens showing the vantage point of the corresponding cameras positioned on the forklift.“To show the robustness of our technology, we’ve had customers that have driven the forklifts 5,000 miles away,” said co-founder Elliot Katz. “We’ve had customers remotely operating in Asia a forklift located here in California.”In addition to remote controlling machines, Phantom Auto technology can also be used to monitor autonomous vehicles that might get stuck and need a human hand. It has worked with San Francisco delivery startup Postmates and its small sidewalk robots and can be used for yard trucks and robotaxis, said Katz.The forklifts used at the Geodis warehouses are made by Fenwick-Linde, part of German multinational Kion Group AG .Phantom Auto has raised approximately $25 million to date, with Bessemer Venture Partners as one of its investors.Read more:Saudi artists shine as Art Dubai opens its doors post-coronavirusSuez Canal must upgrade infrastructure quickly to avoid future disruption: SourcesLebanon to swap medical expertise for Iraqi oil
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: New software developed can make remote-controlled forklift driving an office job

Professional social network LinkedIn is giving nearly all of its 15,900 full-time workers next week off as it seeks to avoid burnout and allow its employees to recharge, the company told AFP Friday.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The Microsoft-owned firm said that the “RestUp!” week starting Monday is meant to give employees time for their own well-being.“There is something magical about the entire company taking a break at the same time,” LinkedIn said in reply to an AFP inquiry.“And the best part? Not coming back to an avalanche of unanswered internal emails.”During the week, LinkedIn will provide employees who may feel isolated the option of taking part in daily activities such as volunteering for worthy causes through “random acts of kindness,” according to the company.“A core team of employees will continue to work for the week, but they will be able to schedule time off later,” LinkedIn said.Major technology companies were among the first in the US to adopt working from home last year to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, and most have yet to fully reopen their offices. Twitter has extended remote working indefinitely.LinkedIn does not expect employees to begin returning to its offices until September, and plans to make it standard practice to let them work from home as much as half of the time.Microsoft in mid-2016 bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in cash, stepping into the world of social networking and adding a new tool for its efforts to boost services for business.Read more:Two dead, including police officer, after suspect rams vehicle into US Capitol PoliceNew software developed can make remote-controlled forklift driving an office jobTaiwan prosecutors seek arrest warrant for suspect in deadly train crash
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: LinkedIn giving staff one week off for well-being, to avoid burnout

A motorist rammed a car into US Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down in an attack that police said did not appear to be terrorism-related.Police shot and killed the suspect.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of the US Capitol Police, said the suspect drove into the officers, then hit a barricade and got out of the vehicle, lunging at them with a knife.“It is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries,” she told a news conference, her voice choked with emotion.Police identified the slain officer as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force and father of two children. Officials said the other officer was in a stable and non-life threatening condition.“It does not appear to be terrorism-related but obviously we’ll continue to investigate,” said Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington.President Joe Biden said he was heartbroken by the attack and ordered flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff. In a statement, he said he was being briefed on the investigation.Multiple media organizations, citing anonymous sources, named the suspect as Noah Green, 25, of Newport News, Virginia. Green’s brother told the Washington Post that his sibling struggled with drug use and paranoia and his family worried about his mental state.According to media reports, Green spoke on Facebook about the “end times”, the anti-Christ, and government “mind control”. He also said he was unemployed after leaving his job, “partly due to afflictions,” and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.Facebook said in a statement that it removed the suspect’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram and were in contact with law enforcement.Brendan Green told the Washington Post his brother had been violently ill on Thursday evening at the Virginia apartment they shared, and later sent him a text message saying that he planned to become homeless.Police said the suspect was not known to them, and they had yet to determine what motivated him.“Clearly this was someone who was actively trying to just get at whoever or whatever - we just don’t know right now,” Contee said. “Whether the attack was at law enforcement, or whoever, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it and we’ll do that.”Dozens of police cars, marked and unmarked, raced toward the iconic domed white building, in an unwelcome reminder of Jan. 6, when thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump overran the complex.It was the worst security threat at the Capitol since that day, when scores of Capitol police were wounded, one was killed and two others later committed suicide.US spy agencies warned in mid-March of an ongoing threat that racially motivated violent extremists, such as white supremacists, will carry out mass-casualty attacks on civilians while militia groups target police and government personnel and buildings.Roads leading to the complex were blocked by police cars or officers and people inside the Capitol were told to stay away from windows for much of the afternoon before police announced that the lockdown had been lifted.Videos and photographs from the scene showed a blue car rammed into a security barricade, a front door open.Read more:Two dead, including police officer, after suspect rams vehicle into US Capitol PolicePentagon set to extend National Guard deployment at US Capitol for two months
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US Capitol vehicle attack suspect posted about government ‘mind control,’ ‘end times’

In conjunction with the anniversary of the Egyptian resistance’s defeat by the Ottoman invasion, many intellectuals called for the amendment of the names of some titles and streets that are inspired by or dating back to the Ottoman era.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Calls to get rid of Ottoman legacy emerge in Egypt

The United Arab Emirates recorded 2,084 new coronavirus cases and two deaths due to complications in the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry reported on Saturday. The UAE carried out 252,243 COVID-19 tests and registered 2,210 recoveries.Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates.Saturday’s numbers bring the total active cases in the UAE to 14,198 and the death toll to 1,504, figures from the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) suggested. The total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak sits at 468,023. The country has been leading one of the world’s most effective vaccination programs, with over 8.4 million doses administered and the majority of the elderly population already inoculated. In an effort to bolster its vaccination drive, the UAE recently announced the launch of its commercial production of China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. Read more:New Abu Dhabi plant to make COVID-19 vaccine from China’s SinopharmUAE reports 2,180 new COVID-19 cases, three deaths in 24 hoursUAE’s Mohamed bin Zayed, Chinese FM discuss regional developments
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE registers 2,084 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths

Sino-US relations have been strained in recent years by disagreements about trade, China's treatment of its Uighur minority, as well as China's actions in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Kerry: US 'hopeful' it can work with China to tackle climate change

Samir Geagea, the leader of the right-wing Christian Lebanese Forces party, has fallen ill with coronavirus after attending an Easter celebration organised by the party..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Leader of right-wing Lebanese Christian party falls ill with Covid-19

Some Palestinians said on Saturday that the mounting tensions marked the beginning of an unprecedented mutiny against Abbas and the veteran Fatah leadership.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Palestinian Elections: Abbas faces ‘revolt’ over Fatah’s electoral list

The study concluded that one in 36 males in the UK will contract melanoma throughout their life, compared to one in 47 women.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Men with high testosterone levels have greater risk of melanoma - study

During his tenure at the Zoo, Devadoss worked at every department and knew almost all animal care segments..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Former Dubai Zoo handler dies of Covid in India