Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host Asian playoffs for World Cup: AFC
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the...
Arts & Culture
Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites, kills top generals; Tehran, Iraq shut airspace, casualties reported
Israel's operation struck at the "heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme", taking aim at the atomic facility in Natanz and...
Geostrategy
Arts & Culture
Women’s camel beauty contest makes debut in Saudi
The event, part of the prestigious King Abdelaziz Festival, was previously a men-only affair. The top five in the women's...
- The camels' beauty is judged on several criteria, but the shape and size of the lips, neck and hump are the main attributes.
- The 40-day festival, which kicked off last month, is an annual Bedouin event that lures breeders from across the Gulf with total prize money of up to $66 million.
Geostrategy
Concern grows for Palestinian teenager held by Israel
Palestinian teenager Amal Nakhleh's first name means "hope" in Arabic, but his parents are in despair because he is chronically...
- Israeli authorities accuse Nakhleh Amal of throwing stones at soldiers and have held him for a year in administrative detention.
- Administrative detention has been criticized by the Palestinians, human rights groups and foreign governments, who charge that Israel abuses it.
Geostrategy
Iran allegedly smuggling weapons to Yemen: UN
The deputy information minister of Yemeni rebel group denied smuggling of weapons from Iran.
- UN found seized thousands of weapons in the Arabian Sea likely came from Iran
- Teheran has dismissed the accusation saying that the weapons were not sold or transported to Yemen
Economy
Oil prices jump as unrest continues in Kazakhstan
Over the week, crude prices gained about 5 percent and on Friday Brent exceeded $83 per barrel.
- Kazakhstan is the largest oil producer in central Asia with a twelfth of the world's proven reserves, and produced around 1.8 million barrels a day in 2020
- The country is also the second largest oil producer in the OPEC+ group of top oil producers, behind Russia
Economy
Protesters behind national blackout in Lebanon, says power company
Lebanon experienced total blackouts after demonstrators stormed a key substation and tampered with the electrical equipment.
- Protesters disconnects a 150-220 kilovolt power transformer and opened circuit breakers connecting the Zahrani power plant which caused blackout
- The disruption will pressure on private generators which already struggles to keep up with the near-total absence of state power
Science
NASA sets ‘amazing milestone’ as it deploys Webb telescope in orbit
The James Webb Telescope blasted off in an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on December 25 and is heading...
- The NASA team declared all major deployments successfully completed as the mirror was latched into place at 1817 GMT
- The engineers sent a command from the Space Telescope Science Institute for the final section of golden mirror to unfold
Geostrategy
Saudi coalition accuses Yemen rebels of militarizing sea ports
The coalition said the rebels are using two Red Sea ports for military purposes, after the Huthis seized an Emirati-flagged...
- The coalition has been fighting for nearly seven years in support of Yemen's internationally-backed government against the Huthis
- The alliance has lately stepped up its accusations against the rebels and Iran, alongside an escalation in fighting
Geostrategy
Turkey urges restraint before US-Russia talks to quell tension
Turkey Saturday warned against "provocative acts" ahead of talks between Russia and the United States next week to quell tensions...
- NATO, of which Turkey is a member, has warned of real risks that Russia will invade Ukraine after Moscow amassed tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border
- High-ranking American and Russian diplomats will meet on Monday in Geneva after Moscow laid down a list of demands for Washington and NATO
Geostrategy
Violence marks Soleimani’s death anniversary in Iraq
Gunmen in Iraq on Saturday shot and wounded two protesters who disrupted an anniversary commemoration of the death of Iranian...
- He was killed along with his Iraqi lieutenant, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi
- Tehran and its Middle East allies have in recent days held a series of emotional commemorations to mark the second anniversary of the assassinations
Geostrategy
Syrians look for loved ones missing in regime jails
More than 70 families gathered in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz on Friday to highlight the plight of loved...
- Around 105,000 have died in custody, while others have been released, but tens of thousands remain unaccounted for, according to Observatory figures
- In 2013, a military defector known as "Caesar" smuggled more than 50,000 photographs out of Syria, many of them documenting the deaths of prisoners in detention centres
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Revenue from Saudi cinema may exceed $1bn by 2030KSA, UAE play well as e-gaming trends across GCCExclusive: Middle East’s retail sector rides on AR and hybrid shopping to become $600bn digital economyTECOM Group profit soars 13%UAE startups eye Saudi Arabia for growth, expansionSaudi Arabia leads GCC AI healthcare raceDisparity remains as Saudis, Emiratis see wealth gains
Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host Asian playoffs for World Cup: AFC
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the...
Arts & Culture
Company News
Equinor profits tumble
Business
Latest News
Qatar awards $6bn in contracts for Al-Shaheen oilfield expansion
The four engineering, installation and procurement contracts will increase production at the Al-Shaheen oilfield -- the country's largest -- by...
Business
Yemen’s Houthis fire missiles at US warship: rebel statement
The Houthis, part of the anti-Western, anti-Israel "axis of resistance" of Iranian-backed groups, have been harassing Red Sea shipping for...
Geostrategy
Banco Santander posts US$12bn profit
It made record profit on the back of higher interest rates.
Business
Most Read
Google says AI helped boost profits
Alphabet reported a profit of $20.7 billion.
- Alphabet reported a profit of $20.7 billion on revenue of $86.3 billion, with strong contributions from video-sharing platform YouTube and its cloud computing unit
- Google ads brought in a total of $65.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $59 billion in the same period the prior year, according to the earnings report
Geostrategy
Palestinian aid agency can’t be replaced, UN says
Several countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan, have suspended funding to the UNRWA agency, and the UN...
- UNRWA said it has acted promptly over allegations by Israel
- Israel accused UN Palestinian refugee agency of "hiring terrorists on a massive scale"
Business
China edges out Japan as world’s top vehicle exporter
In recent years, China's auto sector has grown remarkably largely because of massive investments in electric cars, an area where...
- Japan's vehicle production in 2022 excluding motorcycles totalled 7.84 million units
- China's BYD this month snatched Tesla's crown for most sales of all-electric vehicles