World has ‘the tools’ to unlock $1.3 trillion in climate finance: COP30 report
The 81-page report was released by the heads of last year's COP29 conference in Azerbaijan and the upcoming COP30 gathering...
Economy
World on track to dangerous warming as emissions hit record high: UN
Scientists are in broad agreement that warming above 1.5C relative to pre-industrial times risks catastrophic consequences, and every effort must...
Geostrategy
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
Geostrategy
Israel hits dozens of targets as Gaza sees deadliest night since truce
Gaza's civil defense agency said more than 100 people were killed, including many children, but both US President Donald Trump...
- The Hamas-run territory's civil defense agency said at least 35 children were among the more than 100 killed.
- United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said the report of so many dead was appalling and urged all side not to let peace "slip from our grasp".
Business
AI chip giant Nvidia becomes world’s first $5 trillion company
New York, United States -- AI chip juggernaut Nvidia became the world's first $5 trillion company on Wednesday, as investors...
- By way of comparison, the level was greater than the GDP of France or Germany or higher than that of Tesla, Meta (Facebook), and Netflix combined.
- Microsoft and Apple, the two other largest global market capitalizations, only just exceed $4 trillion in valuation each.
Geostrategy
Syria attracted $28 bn in investment since Assad’s fall: president
Syria has begun the mammoth task of trying to rebuild its shattered economy, after over a decade of war saw...
- Earlier this month, the World Bank put a "conservative best estimate" of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion.
- In May, Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish and US companies as it seeks to revive its crippled power sector.
Business
Microsoft holds 27% of OpenAI in revamped partnership
San Francisco, United States - Microsoft and OpenAI announced Tuesday a sweeping overhaul of their landmark artificial intelligence (AI) partnership,...
- OpenAI has also committed to purchasing $250 billion in Azure cloud services from the tech giant, though Microsoft no longer holds first refusal rights as OpenAI's compute provider
- The partnership began in 2019 when Microsoft invested $1 billion in what was then a small AI research organization founded in 2015 by tech luminaries including Elon Musk
Geostrategy
Pakistan says peace talks with Afghanistan ‘failed’
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan said Wednesday that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had "failed to bring about a...
- Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbours' deadliest border clashes in years
- The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on October 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan
Geostrategy
Trump says ‘nothing’ will jeopardize Gaza ceasefire after Israeli strikes kill 38 people
Trump defended Israel's actions on Wednesday, saying it "should hit back" if Israeli soldiers were killed, but added that "nothing's...
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered "powerful strikes" on Gaza, after his defence minister accused Hamas of attacking Israeli troops in Gaza
- While Israel Katz did not say where the troops were attacked, Hamas said its fighters had "no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah" and reaffirmed its commitment to the US
Business
Nvidia to take stake in Nokia
Nvidia share price soars 20%.
- It said it would issue more than 166 million new shares, for which Nvidia would pay $6.01 per share.
- Under the partnership, Nokia "intends to increase its presence in the AI and cloud market with data center aligned networking solutions."
Geostrategy
Iran proposes regional currency to boost trade
Tehran, Iran -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday proposed that Iran and its regional trading partners establish a shared...
- Years of international sanctions, largely imposed by the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme, have severely weakened Iran's economy.
- "Even a common currency could be adopted in the region to help promote economic development," he told a meeting with Tajik Interior Minister Ramazan Rahimzada.
Geostrategy
OpenAI says a million ChatGPT users talk about suicide
San Francisco, United States -- Data from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suggest that more than a million of the people using its...
- estimated that approximately 0.15 percent of users have "conversations that include explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent."
- With OpenAI reporting more than 800 million people use ChatGPT every week, this translates to about 1.2 million people.
World has ‘the tools’ to unlock $1.3 trillion in climate finance: COP30 report
The 81-page report was released by the heads of last year's COP29 conference in Azerbaijan and the upcoming COP30 gathering...
Economy
Company News
Kimberly-Clark to buy Kenvue
Business
Latest News
10 killed in Aleppo building collapse: Syria state media
The five-story building collapsed in the Ferdaws neighbourhood of Aleppo. Civil defence and local authorities evacuated residents from nearby buildings...
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.
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...
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...
Geostrategy
Hundreds in south Lebanon mourn Hezbollah members killed in Israeli attacks
Nabatieh, Lebanon -- Hundreds of people gathered in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh on Sunday to mourn five Hezbollah members killed in...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Business
High price of gold inspires new rush in California
El Dorado Hills, United States -- Matt James has collected gold nuggets for years from the hills and riverbeds of...
- Though the value has fluctuated, it has effectively doubled in the last two years, reaching an all-time high of more than $4,380 an ounce in October.
- The Gold Rush transformed California, known as the Golden State, and many towns in the Sierra Nevada are working to keep that moment in history alive.
Geostrategy
OPEC+ looks set to further hike oil output
Since April, the V8 group -- comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman...
- As in previous months, the V8 group is likely to cite "low oil inventories" worldwide to justify a further increase in production quotas.
- In late October, pressure on Russian oil supplies mounted after the United States hit the country's two biggest oil producers -- Rosneft and Lukoil -- with sanctions.
Economy
Social media fooled by AI video of ‘sky stadium’ for Saudi 2034 World Cup
Paris, France - An AI-generated video claiming to show one of the football stadiums for the 2034 FIFA World Cup...
- The video of glowing arena built atop a towering skyscraper was shared by thousands of social media accounts, with millions of users believing it was the official visual
- While Riyadh has unveiled plans to build a football area on a real estate complex in The Line – a futuristic new megacity project – the official plans bear no likeness to the clip