After the successful launch of the latest iPhone model on Friday, Apple received more good news with reports that its chief executive, Steve Jobs, will return to work later this month after a liver transplant in April.
Mr Jobs, who stepped down in January for health reasons, received medical treatment in Tennessee and is recovering well, the Wall Street Journal reported, without disclosing where it got its information.
Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, declined to be specific about the date of Mr Jobs's return or whether his role would change.
"Steve continues to look forward to returning to Apple at the end of June and there is nothing further to say," Mr Dowling told Bloomberg News.
In Mr Jobs' absence, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, was given day-to-day control of the company and has guided its shares to a rise of 63 per cent this year.
Mr Cook's success has surprised Wall Street, after pessimistic forecasts that sent Apple's shares to a two-year low of US$78.20 on Jan 20, six days after Mr Jobs announced his leave. The subsequent rise in the share price has led to some investors calling for Mr Cook's permanent appointment.
"For investors, it would be better if Steve doesn't return to be as hands-on as he was," said Michael Obuchowski, the chief investment officer at First Empire Asset Management. "He has created a good team and investors would be comfortable with that team and having Steve in more of an advisory role." Apple's shares rose $3.60 to $139.48 on Friday.
Although there were queues reported in Apple retail stores in the US for the launch of the iPhone GS, one analyst, Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets, said he expected the new model to sell only about half of the one million units its predecessor, the iPhone 3G, had sold after its initial three days on sale.
The iPhone's phenomenal success in the two years since its launch revolutionised mobile phone design and forced rivals such as Research In Motion (maker of the BlackBerry), Palm and Nokia to offer touchscreen smartphones of their own, with moderate success.
The latest iPhone retails for $199 or $299, depending on the memory capacity on a two-year carrier contract, and contains a faster processor, a new camera and an upgraded operating system.
The iPhone 3GS is expected to be released in the UAE by Etisalat in August. The company has not provided a firm date for when it will be available for sale.
* with Bloomberg
dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
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