Insurance giant Allianz signals job cuts in AI shift
Frankfurt, Germany -- German insurance giant Allianz signalled Wednesday looming job cuts due to its adoption of artificial intelligence, with...
Business
Fake AI videos have a new generation loving 1980s life
New York, United States - "The 1980s are calling," a teenager with a throwback hairstyle tells viewers as "Everybody Wants...
Arts & Culture
Geostrategy
Trump stirs global tensions with surprise nuclear test order
The announcement came in the wake of Russia saying it had tested a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable torpedo, as well as...
- The last US nuclear test explosion was in September 1992, a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.
- Then-president George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992 that has been continued by successive administrations.
Business
Amazon shares surge as AI boom drives cloud growth
San Francisco, United States - Amazon's share price skyrocketed by more than ten percent on Thursday after the online retail...
- The e-commerce giant's Amazon Web Services division, which recently suffered a global outage, saw revenues jump 20 percent to $33 billion in the third quarter
- Amazon's major rivals in the cloud computing space, Microsoft and Google, on Wednesday also reported sales increases in their cloud computing business
Arts & Culture
After delays, Egypt set for lavish opening of grand museum
Cairo, Egypt - With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is due to inaugurate on Saturday the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum,...
- With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the GEM houses thousands of artefacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of over $1 billion
- More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates five million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display
Economy
Backed by its sovereign wealth fund, Saudi chases AI ambitions with homegrown firm pitched to global investors
The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in...
- The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in financing the kingdom's gigaprojects
- But Riyadh's ambitions to become a global AI hub face fierce competition from the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, which have invested in AI for years
Business
TotalEnergies net profit soars despite lower oil prices
Paris, France -- French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies reported on Thursday a sharp increase in third-quarter net profit despite...
- The company said net income grew around 61 percent to $3.7 billion compared to the same period last year, even as oil prices fell by more than $10 per barrel year-on-year.
- TotalEnergies shares were down 1.4 percent in afternoon trading while the Paris stock exchange's blue-chip CAC 40 index was 0.7 lower.
Geostrategy
Israel says received bodies of two Gaza hostages from Red Cross
Not including the latest two, Hamas have so far given back the remains of 15 of the 28 deceased hostages...
- Israel launched a wave of strikes on Gaza overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday after an attack that left an Israeli soldier dead in the south of the Palestinian territory.
- Hamas has said its fighters had "no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah" and reaffirmed its commitment to the truce.
Business
BYD Q3 profit down 33%
This was a 33% year-on-year decrease.
- The Shenzhen-based firm recorded revenue of 195 billion yuan over the same period, a slight decrease of 3 percent year-on-year.
- China's EV industry is world-leading but a cutthroat domestic market has weighed on companies' profitability.
Geostrategy
Israel hits another Gaza target after deadliest night since truce
Israel said it struck an arms dump in Gaza on Wednesday, hours after the deadliest night of bombing since the...
- The military announced it had carried out a strike on a site in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza where it said weapons were being stockpiled for "an imminent terror attack."
- Israeli troops, it said, would remain deployed in "accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat".
Business
Alphabet posts first $100 bn quarter
The growth was powered by cloud division buoyed by AI
- The tech giant's revenues jumped 16 percent year-on-year to $102.3 billion in the third quarter, beating analyst expectations
- "Alphabet had a terrific quarter, with double-digit growth across every major part of our business," CEO Sundar Pichai said
Geostrategy
Trade truce in balance as Trump meets ‘tough negotiator’ Xi: ‘We’ll have a great understanding’
The world's two top economies' trade tussle -- encompassing everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees -- has rocked...
- Sitting opposite each other each leader was flanked by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
- Xi's team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before - the US side was already in South Korea - included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao
Insurance giant Allianz signals job cuts in AI shift
Frankfurt, Germany -- German insurance giant Allianz signalled Wednesday looming job cuts due to its adoption of artificial intelligence, with...
Business
Company News
Rory McIlroy wins seventh Race to Dubai title
Arts & Culture
Latest News
Turkey seeks to host next COP as co-presidency plans with Australia falter
Turkey wants to host next year's UN climate change talks and is ready to organise the event alone if there...
Science
Cervical cancer vaccine push has saved 1.4 million lives: Gavi
Geneva, Switzerland - A three-year campaign to bring vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) to low-income countries has prevented 1.4 million...
Science
UN Security Council set to vote on Trump’s Gaza plan, deployment of international force
The draft, which has been revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, "endorses" the plan, which allowed for...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Business
Samsung plans $310 bn investment to power AI expansion
Seoul, South Korea -- South Korean conglomerate Samsung unveiled on Sunday a plan to invest $310 billion over the next...
- The business group's flagship Samsung Electronics is already one of the world's top memory-chip makers, providing crucial components for the AI industry.
- South Korea is also home to SK hynix, another key player in the global semiconductor market.
Geostrategy
Israel says Gazans who landed in S. Africa unexpectedly had third-country approval
Israeli authorities said on Saturday that 153 Palestinians who turned up unexpectedly in South Africa, triggering questions from its president,...
- After landing in Johannesburg on Thursday, the Gazans were kept aboard their plane for 12 hours because they did not have departure stamps from Israel in their passports
- The home affairs ministry finally allowed the passengers to disembark when an NGO said it would provide them with accommodation
Business
Google announces $40 billion Texas investment to expand AI infrastructure
Google announced Friday a major $40 billion investment in Texas through 2027 to build new cloud computing and artificial intelligence...
- The investment will fund new data center campuses in northern Texas, adding to Google's presence in the Lone Star State that spans more than 15 years, the company said
- "Our latest investment in Texas is designed to not only support Texas' workforce, but to ensure the US retains the technical backbone to lead the world in AI," Google said

