Saudi Arabia’s sports fund invests in DAZN streaming service
Paris, France - Saudi Arabian sports investment fund SURJ, linked to the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has acquired a minority stake...
Business
Sisi discusses Middle East peace with World Jewish Congress chief
Cairo, Egypt -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the head of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder on Sunday that...
Geostrategy
‘Numb’ New Orleans grapples with horror of deadly truck attack
New Orleans, United States - The celebratory atmosphere of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, long an American byword for indulgence and...
- A deadly truck attack on New Year's crowds in New Orleans' French Quarter left at least 15 dead, shaking the heart of the city's famed Bourbon Street
- Residents and visitors mourn the tragedy, calling for stricter security as New Orleans faces major upcoming events like Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl
Syria Foreign Minister in Saudi Arabia, hopes the visit opens ‘new, bright page’
Last week, in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, Sharaa said Saudi Arabia "will certainly have a large role...
- Syrian state media said the top delegation had come to the kingdom "at the invitation of the Saudi foreign minister", quoting a foreign ministry source.
- Saudi Arabia severed ties with Assad's government in 2012 and backed Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow him early in the country's civil war
Geostrategy
UN: Israel’s strikes on Gaza hospitals may constitute war crimes, urges independent probe
The UN's 23-page report, "Attacks on Hospitals During the Escalation of Hostilities in Gaza," documented 136 strikes on 27 hospitals...
- The world body's 23-page report, entitled "Attacks on hospitals during the escalation of hostilities in Gaza", looked at the period from October 7, 2023 to June 30, 2024
- The report said attacks on hospitals typically involved missile strikes on hospital buildings, the destruction of facilities, shooting of civilians, and sieges.
Economy
Maysa Sabreen made first woman chief of Syrian central bank
Damascus, Syria -- Syrian authorities have appointed Maysa Sabreen as interim central bank governor, a bank official told AFP on Tuesday,...
- Sabreen, a Syrian banking expert, held the position of first deputy governor since 2018. She has also served on the central bank's management committee.
- Mohammed Issam Hazime, who headed the central bank before her, was appointed in 2021 under the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
South Korea’s Yoon: from star prosecutor to president facing arrest
Yoon is under investigation for his martial law declaration and faces criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life...
- Investigators sought an arrest warrant against Yoon which a court issued on Tuesday.
- If arrested, Yoon would become the first S.Korean president detained before impeachment procedures
Geostrategy
UN experts demand Israel face consequences for alleged Gaza war crimes and genocide claims
The experts called for urgent, independent and thorough investigations into alleged serious violations of international law, saying Israel's continued impunity...
- Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians
- The experts highlighted alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israel "including murder, torture, sexual violence.'
Business
Cambridge study warns of perils in AI-driven ‘intention economy’
London, United Kingdom -- Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) tools may soon "covertly influence" users' decision making in a new commercial frontier...
- The marketplace emerging for "digital signals of intent" could, in the near future, influence everything from buying movie tickets to voting for political candidates.
- Our increasing familiarity with chatbots, digital tutors and other so-called "anthropomorphic" AI agents is helping enable this new array of "persuasive technologies".
Asia stocks mostly down after Wall St. losses
The "Santa Claus rally" got off to a good start but US stocks then fell across the board on Friday,...
- S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both dropped more than one percent
- Jeju Air shares tumbled more than eight percent after one of its planes crashed in South Korea
Former US president Jimmy Carter dies aged 100
Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his home in Plains, Georgia -- the same small town...
- Carter died "peacefully" at his home in Plains, "surrounded by his family," the Carter Center said in a statement
- Carter was the longest-lived US president -- an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer
Economy
Indian workers replace Palestinians in Israel’s construction sector amid post-war labour void
Indians, long employed in Israel as caregivers, diamond traders, and IT professionals, are now increasingly recruited for the construction sector...
- Israeli researchers believe the number of Indians working in construction still does not match the number of Palestinians who did so before the war
- Before the Hamas attack, around 80,000 Palestinians were employed in construction, along with some 26,000 foreigners, Eyal Argov of the central Bank of Israel said
Saudi Arabia’s sports fund invests in DAZN streaming service
Paris, France - Saudi Arabian sports investment fund SURJ, linked to the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has acquired a minority stake...
Business
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Sudanese journalists form union to safeguard press freedom
The journalists' syndicate held elections on Saturday, the first since ousted president Omar al-Bashir dissolved independent unions after rising to...
Morocco bus crash leaves 23 dead, scores injured
An average of 3,500 deaths and 12,000 injuries have been recorded annually in Morocco, according to the National Road Safety...
Tunisia train accident leaves nearly 100 passengers injured
A head-on collision between two passenger trains injured 95 people on Monday morning in the south of the Tunisian capital,...
Iranian jet fighter crashes, three killed, reports state TV
Jet fighter crashed in a residential area of the northwestern city of Tabriz.
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Grande, and Billie Eilish shortlisted for Oscar
Iran's Asghar Farhad is among a select group of auteurs to have won multiple foreign film Oscars previously again makes...
Israel says could fulfil Trump’s Gaza displacement plan if hostages not freed, Hamas says truce deal ‘fragile’
Hamas has said it would postpone the release citing Israeli violations, and hours later, Trump warned that "hell" would break...
Geostrategy
UAE to launch DeepSeek-inspired AI models: Faisal Al Bannai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates is planning to launch new artificial intelligence models inspired by China's DeepSeek,...
Business
At least $53 billion needed to rebuild Gaza, UN estimates
United Nations, United States - More than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the "humanitarian catastrophe" that...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Jordan king set for tense Trump talks as Gaza truce under strain
The talks come a day after Trump said he could "conceivably" halt billions of dollars in US aid to both...
- King Abdullah is a key US ally but last week rejected "any attempts" to take control of the Palestinian territories and displace its people.
- Every year, Jordan receives around $750 million in economic assistance from Washington and another $350 million in military aid.
Business
Chinese auto giant BYD to integrate DeepSeek, broaden self-driving tech
BYD will install its "God's Eye" autonomous driving system in at least 21 models, including the Seagull budget hatchback priced...
- The company also said it would integrate AI startup Deepseek's software into its cars, following domestic peers such as Geely, Great Wall Motors, and Leapmotor
- BYD is Tesla's biggest rival in China and increasingly abroad, and Monday evening's announcement led analysts to suggest a new price war might be on the horizon
Trump warns ‘all hell’ will break loose if Gaza hostages not returned after Hamas delays exchanges
The January 19 truce halted 15 months of Gaza fighting, freeing Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but tensions...
- The truce that went into effect on January 19 largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip saw five groups of Israeli hostages freed
- But tensions have been running high since a shock proposal by Trump to take over the Gaza Strip and remove its more than two million inhabitants