Netflix’s $83 billion takeover of Warner Bros reshapes Hollywood as regulators prepare intense antitrust scrutiny
Streaming giant Netflix said Friday it will buy film and television studio Warner Bros. Discovery for nearly $83 billion, the...
Business
OpenAI declares ChatGPT ‘code red’ over stiff competition: report
Washington, United States -- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a company-wide "code red" as its ChatGPT technology faces stiff...
Business
Business
Hermes overtakes LVMH as world’s most valuable luxury group
Paris, France -- French group Hermes overtook LVMH as the world's most valuable luxury company on Tuesday after shares in...
- The market capitalization of Hermes reached 248.6 billion euros ($280.5 billion) at the close of trading in Paris, topping LVMH's 244.4 billion euros.
- LVMH shares sank 7.8 percent a day after the group owned by Europe's wealthiest man, Bernard Arnault, reported a two percent drop in first-quarter sales to 20.3 billion euros.
Geostrategy
Trade war to cut global oil demand: International Energy Agency
Paris, France -- Global oil demand will be lower than previously forecast this year as rising trade tensions weigh on...
- It lowered its forecast for growth in oil demand by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) -- down from just over one million bpd in its March report to 730,000.
- Trump imposed global tariffs of 10 percent this month but paused higher levies on scores of countries for 90 days.
Geostrategy
Syria, Lebanon leaders in Qatar for first official visits
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha. Qatar has been a key backer...
- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, accompanied by foreign minister Youssef Raggi, also touched down in Doha as delegations of two countries held talks.
- Beirut and Damascus have been seeking to improve relations since the overthrow of Assad, whose family dynasty exercised control over Lebanese affairs for decades.
Geostrategy
Disarming Lebanon’s Hezbollah no longer inconceivable: analysts
Beirut, Lebanon - The once unthinkable disarmament of Hezbollah could finally be within reach, as the United States pushes Lebanon...
- Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, beginning with the group's campaign of rocket fire at its arch-foe in support of ally Hamas
- Israel was meant to withdraw its troops, but it still remains in five points it deems "strategic" and conducts regular strikes on what it says are mostly Hezbollah targets
Geostrategy
Iran’s top diplomat to visit Russia after US nuclear talks
Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of...
- On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman -- the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear accord collapsed
- Russia, a close ally of Iran and party to the 2015 deal, and China have engaged with Tehran in recent weeks over its nuclear programme
Geostrategy
Trump envoy says Putin open to ‘permanent peace’ deal with Ukraine
US President Donald Trump's special envoy said Monday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was open to a "permanent peace" deal...
- Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin
- Despite a flurry of diplomacy, there has been little meaningful progress on Trump's main aim of achieving a Ukraine ceasefire
Geostrategy
Israel offers 45-day ceasefire if Hamas releases half of remaining Gaza hostages
Hamas has informed the mediators that it is willing to agree to any proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire, a...
- A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war but that this crossed a "red line".
- "The proposal includes the disarmament of Hamas and all Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip as a condition for a permanent end to the war," the official added
Geostrategy
Qatar plans direct investments worth $7.5 billion in Egypt
"The two sides emphasized the importance of strengthening economic cooperation... they agreed to work toward a package of direct Qatari...
- Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, has taken tentative steps to emerge from its worst-ever economic crisis with prices for consumer goods rising by the day.
- The two countries, which have also led mediation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, "emphasized the centrality of the Palestinian cause as the foremost Arab issue".
Geostrategy
Qatar to invest $2 billion in Indonesia sovereign wealth fund
Jakarta, Indonesia -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Qatar is set to invest $2 billion in his country's new sovereign...
- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is on a five-nation tour of the Middle East, visiting the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan to boost bilateral ties with the region.
- He said Sunday he had a "productive" meeting with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and that the country would invest in the Danantara Indonesia fund.
Economy
OPEC lowers 2025 oil demand forecast over impact of US tariffs
The Saudi-led oil cartel said in a monthly report that it now expects demand to grow by 1.3 million barrels...
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries now sees global demand reaching at total 105.05 million bpd this year.
- Oil prices sank to a four-year low last week, dipping under $60 per barrel over concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
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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
Netflix’s $83 billion takeover of Warner Bros reshapes Hollywood as regulators prepare intense antitrust scrutiny
Streaming giant Netflix said Friday it will buy film and television studio Warner Bros. Discovery for nearly $83 billion, the...
Business
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Palestinian leader to address UN as the US weighs whether to stop Israel’s Gaza annexation
Steve Witkoff, Trump's golfing friend turned roving global negotiator, said that Trump in a separate meeting with a group of...
Geostrategy
‘A child killed every hour’: UN humanitarian chief slams impunity in face of Gaza ‘horror’
After nearly two years of war, Israeli military operations have killed at least 65,419 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the...
Geostrategy
Yemen drone attack wounds 22 in Israeli resort town: army, rescuers
Israel's military said a drone launched from Yemen struck the southern resort town of Eilat on Wednesday, with rescuers reporting...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Palestinians rally in West Bank to celebrate statehood recognition
Crowds of people rallied in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, waving flags and holding posters of president Mahmud Abbas...
- Nationalist slogans blared from loudspeakers across the central square in the city of Ramallah, where a crowd of more than 100 clutched Palestinian and European flags
- High-ranking officials from Abbas's political movement, Fatah, and the Palestinian Authority -- which exerts limited control in the West Bank -- shook hands and smiled
Geostrategy
UN experts urge FIFA, UEFA to suspend Israel over Gaza genocide
"Sports must reject the perception that it is business as usual," the eight independent UN experts the in a statement....
- Their comments came after the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) said that "genocide is occurring in Gaza" and that Israel was to blame.
- The experts said countries that host international organizations and sporting competitions with Israel must not "remain neutral in the face of genocide".
Geostrategy
‘The time for peace has come:’ Macron recognizes Palestinian state at landmark UN summit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to allow a Palestinian state and far-right members of his cabinet have...
- Macron, speaking at a summit that Israel and its chief backer the United States did not attend, called for an end to the war in Gaza
- "The time for peace has come, as we are just moments away from no longer being able to seize it," Macron said in an address in the General Assembly