Saudi pushes equal pay at launch of women’s tennis finals

• Saudi Arabia has been luring professional tennis players to tournaments since 2019, part of a broader campaign to turn the conservative and formerly closed-off kingdom into a sport
• It has also recruited top footballers including Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar into its professional league and hosted marquee heavyweight boxing bouts and Formula One races

US offers $5 million reward for Bulgarian ‘cryptoqueen’

• Ignatova, 44, evaded arrest by fleeing on a flight from Sofia to Athens two weeks after her indictment in October 2017 and her whereabouts remain unknown.
• Ignatova, who has German citizenship, is accused of being the mastermind behind the mammoth fraudulent virtual currency scheme OneCoin.

Battles in Gaza’s Rafah as US warns Israel over Lebanon

• "Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war," US Defense Secretary warned
• "Diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent more escalation," Austin added

Iran picks new president at turbulent time

• In the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, voters shunned the polls
• Six candidates, five conservatives and one reformist, are competing in Iran's presidential election

Israel top court rules ultra-Orthodox men must serve in army

• The High Court of Justice's decision on the politically charged issue comes as calls grow for ultra-Orthodox men to enlist
• Ultra-Orthodox Jews adhere to a strict interpretation of Jewish custom and largely live in insular communities in Israel and elsewhere

WikiLeaks founder Assange freed in US plea deal

• Assange, who from 2010 published hundreds of thousands of secret US documents as head of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, was freed Monday from a high-security British prison
• The judge on Wednesday sentenced him to five years and two months in prison - with credit for the same amount of time he spent behind bars in Britain

Israel PM says ‘intense’ phase of Gaza war winding down

• The right-wing premier spoke in a TV interview on Sunday as Defence Minister Yoav Gallant travelled to Washington for what Gallant called "critical" talks with Israel's top ally
• With fears growing of full-scale war in Lebanon, Netanyahu said Israel would return its displaced citizens to their evacuated northern border communities

Dubai to build $8 bn stormwater runoff system after record floods

• The rainwater drainage network announced by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum is set to be completed by 2033 with construction to start in 2033.
• "It will cover all areas of Dubai and will absorb more than 20 million cubic meters of water per day," Sheikh Mohammed said of the plan for Dubai.

UAE energy giant ADNOC offers $12.8bn for Germany’s Covestro

• It said the "starting point" for talks was a "possible offer price" of 62 euros per share from ADNOC. This would value Covestro at $12.57 billion.
• ADNOC welcomed Covestro's decision to start talks on its "final offer", adding that it looked forward to working with the German group to "swiftly progress" the matter.

Apple holds talks with rival Meta