Two dead, four wounded in UK synagogue ‘terrorist attack’
Two people were killed Thursday and four wounded outside a Manchester synagogue packed with worshippers on a Jewish holiday, UK...
Geostrategy
Hamas wants to amend disarmament clause in Trump plan: source close to group leaders
Hamas negotiators held discussions Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss...
Geostrategy
McDonald’s eyes big expansion
The company plans about $2.5bn in capital expenditures in 2024.
- McDonald's will seek to effectively grow its network of namesake sites by about one quarter in what it called the speediest expansion in the brand history
- For CosMc's - which McDonald's executives had teased in July - the company plans an initial store in Chicago in 2024 and nine others in Texas
Geostrategy
Israel approves ‘minimal’ increase in fuel supply to Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office wrote on X that a "minimal supplement of fuel necessary to prevent a humanitarian...
- Israel said the fuel supply increase was "necessary to avoid a humanitarian collapse"
- UN chief said he feared that public order would "completely break down soon" in Gaza
Business
Volkswagen to reduce workforce
Volkswagen has some 675,800 employees worldwide.
- "Over the coming years, we will need to reduce our workforce in a socially responsible way," the group's human resources chief Gunnar Kilian said
- The focus would be on "partial retirement and early retirement schemes to the maximum extent possible," he added
Arts & Culture
UNESCO places Ramadan’s ‘iftar’ in intangible cultural heritage
Tehran, Iran - The UN cultural agency on Wednesday recognized iftar, the meal that breaks the daytime fast during the Muslim...
- The application for the sociocultural tradition was jointly submitted by Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to the UNESCO
- The age-old community tradition was recognized by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Business
BAT takes shock $32bn hit
The impairment charge sent BAT shares sinking 7.6 percent.
- Companies like BAT face plunging demand for cigarettes in Western markets, where high taxes, smoking bans and health fears persuade many consumers to give up smoking
- The London-listed company added that its overall revenue growth for the current year was set to be at the "low end" of its previous guidance of between 3 and 5 percent
Business
Airlines expected to carry 4.7 billion passengers in 2024: IATA
"Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, an historic high that exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 4.5...
- Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, an historic high that exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 4.5 billion recorded in 2019," IATA said
- IATA also raised its profit outlook, expecting airlines to post $23.3 billion in net earnings in 2023, more than double the $9.8 billion it forecast in June
Geostrategy
Palestinians in Gaza living in utter, deepening horror: UN rights chief
"Civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished -- suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation...
- The UN official said 1.9 million of the Palestinian enclave's 2.2 million people had been displaced and were being pushed into overcrowded and unhealthy conditions of South Gaza
- The official added he was gravely concerned by "dehumanizing and inciteful statements" made by current and former Israeli officials, as well as Hamas figures
Got to have faith: religion finds its moment at COP28
Organizers say the Faith pavilion is supporting progress toward an ambitious pact to limit global warming, that also ensures financial...
- Organizers say more than 300 faith leaders from all major religions and traditional beliefs are expected to participate in the pavilion during the two-week-long conference
- Faith leaders issued an interfaith statement in support of reducing and eventually exiting fossil fuels - a flashpoint issue at the conference overseen by an Emirati oil executive
COP28 UAE
US pledges climate aid for cities, more private sector finance
Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, is visiting the COP28 summit where nations are wrangling over...
- USAID promised $53mn to help 23 cities in the developing world switch to low-carbon activities
- It would mobilize another $2.3bn in private-sector investment to climate-resilient food infrastructure
Business
Meta, IBM tie up to develop AI
They will defend a collaborative method for AI's future.
- Meta is one of the biggest believers in the open-source model and argues against keeping AI's future holed up in the secretive labs of a few tech giants
- Unlike OpenAI's GPT-4, the model behind ChatGPT, Meta has made its LLaMA models easily available for researchers and startups to tinker with and perfect
Most Read
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
Two dead, four wounded in UK synagogue ‘terrorist attack’
Two people were killed Thursday and four wounded outside a Manchester synagogue packed with worshippers on a Jewish holiday, UK...
Geostrategy
Company News
Latest News
No permit, no hajj: Saudi intensifies crackdown after heat deaths
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia is ramping up a crackdown on unregistered worshippers at next week's hajj pilgrimage, a...
Geostrategy
UAE orders all companies to monitor emissions in new climate law
Under the new law, companies are required to report and reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gases that are responsible...
Geostrategy
Turkey says Ukraine, Russia want ceasefire ahead of possible talks
NATO member Turkey, which has strove to maintain relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, has become a key mediator amid...
Geostrategy
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Business
Saudi Pro League announces long-term partnership with Maaden
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi Pro League (SPL) and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) have agreed a long-term strategic...
- The partnership will focus on strengthening Maaden’s position as an employer of choice in Saudi Arabia
- The collaboration will also explore joint initiatives across community engagement and national talent development
Business
Syria inks $7 bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US firms
The agreement was sealed at the presidential palace in Damascus in the presence of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US...
Interview
Generative AI’s most prominent skeptic doubles down
Vancouver, Canada -- Two and a half years since ChatGPT rocked the world, scientist and writer Gary Marcus still remains...
- Marcus's criticism centers on a fundamental belief: generative AI, the predictive technology that churns out seemingly human-level content, is too flawed to be transformative.
- The large language models (LLMs) that power these capabilities are inherently broken, he argues, and will never deliver on Silicon Valley's grand promises.