US mediator Kushner and Netanyahu hold talks on the second round of Gaza ceasefire
Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump who helped broker the ceasefire, met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday as...
Geostrategy
Amazon rainforest sets stage for toughest climate talks yet as world leaders gather for COP30
The United States, the world's largest economy and second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is absent for the first time in...
Economy
Business
Jane Birkin’s Hermes handbag up for auction in Abu Dhabi
Paris, France -- A Hermes handbag once belonging to Jane Birkin will be auctioned in Abu Dhabi on December 5,...
- Nicknamed the "Birkin Voyageur", the estimated value of the late actor's black leather bag hovers between $230,000 and $430,000.
- Gifted to Birkin by Hermes in 2003, it is one of four the celebrity owned after auctioning the original to raise money for an AIDS charity in 1994.
Geostrategy
Saudi Crown Prince to meet Trump in Washington next month
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet US President Donald Trump during a three-day...
- The Crown Prince will arrive on November 17 and discuss political, economic and security files with Trump the following day, the source said on condition of anonymity.
- Some media reports suggest Saudi Arabia is hoping for a US security agreement after Trump's executive order this month pledging to defend its neighbor Qatar from attacks.
Business
Iraq bans Roblox game platform citing ‘moral values’
Iraq has banned US gaming platform Roblox over what it described as sexual content, blasphemy and risks of online blackmail...
- The popular site, which lets players build their own games, has repeatedly been accused of failing to protect its youngest players in recent years
- Iraq's communications ministry said late Sunday that it wanted to "protect social order, preserve moral values" and "ensure the safety of internet users in Iraq."
Geostrategy
Lavrov and Rubio discuss Putin-Trump summit, Zelensky seeks invite to the meeting
Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed preparations for an upcoming summit between Vladimir Putin and...
- Diplomatic efforts to end Russia's three-and-a-half-year invasion have stalled since Trump and Putin met for peace talks in Alaska in August
- The two announced last week that they would meet in Budapest for a second round of talks, but it was not clear whether Zelensky would attend
Geostrategy
Trump says Hamas will be ‘eradicated’ if group breaches Gaza deal with Israel
Trump, however, insisted that American forces would not be involved in confronting against Hamas, saying dozens of countries that have...
- Vice President JD Vance headed to Israel shortly after Trump's comments, joining two top US envoys after weekend violence threatened to wreck the fragile ceasefire
- Trump helped broker the Gaza deal nearly two weeks ago but it has repeatedly come under threat as Israel accuses Hamas of stalling on handing over dead hostages
Geostrategy
Brazil greenlights oil drilling in Amazon region
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has come under fire from conservationists who argue his oil expansion plans clash with...
- Brazil will host COP30 climate talks in the Amazon city of Belem next month.
- Petrobras said drilling in the Foz de Amazonas region will begin immediately and will last for five months, after its five-year battle to get permission to explore the area.
Geostrategy
Southern EU countries call for ‘immediate release’ of Gaza aid
Countries of the so-called MED9 group -- Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain -- met on...
- "There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to block such humanitarian aid," Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said.
- The reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt remains on hold despite calls from the UN and aid groups.
Geostrategy
Trial opens in Klarna’s $8.3 billion lawsuit against Google
Stockholm, Sweden -- A Swedish court began hearing arguments Monday in a lawsuit brought by Swedish price comparison site Pricerunner,...
- The Swedish tech startup filed its suit with the Patent and Market Court in Stockholm in 2022.
- It filed the suit after EU General Court ruling that Google "breached EU antitrust laws by manipulating search results in favor of their own comparison shopping services".
Geostrategy
US soliciting new bids for Moon mission amid SpaceX delays: NASA chief
The US space agency's Artemis program hopes to return humans to the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival...
- Blue Origin is the Jeff Bezos-founded rival of SpaceX. That company currently has the contract for the fifth planned mission of the multibillion-dollar Artemis program.
- US President Donald Trump's second term in the White House has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress.
Business
OpenAI big chip orders dwarf its revenues – for now
New York, United States - OpenAI is ordering hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chips in the artificial intelligence...
- In less than a month, the San Francisco startup behind ChatGPT has committed to acquiring a staggering 26 gigawatts of sophisticated data processors from Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom
- Silicon Valley-based Nvidia has announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI over several years to build the world's largest AI infrastructure
US mediator Kushner and Netanyahu hold talks on the second round of Gaza ceasefire
Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump who helped broker the ceasefire, met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday as...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Microsoft unveils $15.2 billion AI, cloud computing investments in UAE
The deal sent US chip-maker Nvidia shares up 2.6 percent, buoyed by hopes the AI juggernaut could see access for...
Business
OpenAI signs $38 bn infrastructure deal with cloud giant AWS
Under the seven-year agreement, OpenAI, which is partly owned by AWS's archrival Microsoft, will gain access to computing resources including...
Business
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Economy
OPEC+, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agree further hike to their oil production
The 137,000-barrels-per-day hike will apply from December and remain at that level for the following three months, signifying a "pause"...
- The 137,000-barrels-per-day hike will apply from December and remain at that level for the following three months, signifying a "pause" in what had been regular hike since April
- The announced increase, which tallied with analyst expectations, has been seen as a bid by the key members of OPEC+ - known as the Voluntary Eight - to gain greater market share
Geostrategy
Syrian leader to discuss sanctions, reconstruction in US visit: FM
Syria's president will discuss issues including lifting remaining sanctions, reconstruction and counter-terrorism when he becomes the country's first leader to...
- Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected in the US capital in early November, Syria's top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani told a panel at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain
- On Saturday, US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sharaa was heading to Washington "hopefully" to sign an agreement to join the US-led alliance against the Islamic State
Geostrategy
Death becomes a growing business in ageing, lonely South Korea
Busan, South Korea -- Rows of coffins line a university classroom in the South Korean port city of Busan, ready...
- Single-person households now account for around 42 percent of all homes in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
- A new profession has emerged reflecting that statistic: cleaners who are called in to tidy up homes after their occupants, most of whom lived alone, have died.