Bird call contest boosts conservation awareness in Hong Kong’s concrete jungle
The competition brought nearly 100 people together, including a contestant who mimicked the critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo.
Arts & Culture
Syria postpones selection of lawmakers from Druze, Kurdish-held areas
A Syrian official said Saturday that the selection process planned for a transitional parliament next month will be postponed in...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Millions of Indonesians travel home in annual Eid exodus
Jakarta, Indonesia -- On motorcycles, cars, buses, planes or by boat, millions of Indonesians are travelling to their hometowns in the...
- This year marks the first "mudik", as the annual exodus is known, since Covid-19 restrictions were removed at the end of 2022 in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
- Indonesia's transport ministry has predicted up to 123 million people will travel for Eid this year, up from 85 million estimated to have made the trip last year.
Geostrategy
India set to overtake China as world’s most populous country: UN
India's population will be 1.4286 billion compared to China's 1.4257 billion at mid-year, the United Nations Population Fund's State of...
- India has no recent official data on how many people it has because the census, due in 2021, was delayed due to coronavirus.
- Critics say the government is deliberately delaying the census to hide data on contentious issues such as unemployment ahead of national elections next year.
Business
Car sales vault in Europe, cross 1 million mark first time since 2021
Paris, France--Sales of new cars jumped last month in Europe, surpassing the level of one million for the first time since...
- Italy posted 40.7 percent jump in car sales while Spain recorded 66.1 percent increase as sales rose in all EU nations
- German carmaker Volkswagen reported high sales, with the group selling 275,753 vehicles across its various brands
Business
United Airlines reports Q1 loss
The US airline posted a quarterly loss of US$194mn.
- United Airlines said that its results were hit by higher costs, especially on salaries and for jet fuel
- But the US carrier expects a rebound in demand for tickets in the coming summer months
Business
Iraq police arrest more than 200 in raids on ‘illegal casinos’
Baghdad, Iraq--Iraqi police arrested overnight almost 200 people in raids on illegal casinos where alcohol was served in defiance of the...
- According to the interior ministry spokesman, the raids targeted four locations in Baghdad where games of blackjack and roulette were underway
- In Muslim-majority Iraq public consumption of alcohol is frowned upon, although beverages can be readily purchased from liquor stores
Business
Elon Musk hypes up new moderation policy to reassure advertisers
Speaking at a meeting in Florida, the controversial billionaire outlined new rules, first announced Monday, to limit the reach of...
- Under the new policy, unveiled in a blog post titled "Freedom of Speech, Not Reach," Twitter will soon begin tagging posts whose visibility has been limited
- According to analyst at market research firm Insider Intelligence, Twitter's revenue is set to drop 28 percent this year, because advertisers don't trust Musk
Economy
Lebanon postpones municipal elections due to lack of funds
With the cash-strapped country mired in an unprecedented economic meltdown, Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday put off municipal elections scheduled for...
- Citing a lack of funds as the reason, deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab warned last week that "holding municipal elections has become almost impossible"
- Putting off polls was commonplace in Lebanon even before 2019, when the country plunged into an economic crisis described by the World bank as the planet's worst
Business
Goldman Sachs net income down
The bank's shares dropped 3.7% to $327 in pre-market trading.
- The big investment bank pointed to a "significant decline in industry-wide completed mergers and acquisitions transactions".
- Net income came in at $3.1 billion, down 19 percent from the year-ago period on a five percent drop in revenues to $12.2 billion
Business
Volkswagen to invest in China
The new venture will be launched in 2024.
- Electric Vehicles now make up one out of four car sales in China, the world's largest car market. Local brands command 81 percent of the EV market in China.
- Executive Ralf Brandstaetter said the move was a key step of the group's "in China, for China" strategy.
Geostrategy
Afghans below poverty line doubled under Taliban, says UN
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released on Tuesday a stark new assessment of 2022 data estimating 34 million Afghans...
- Vast foreign subsidies were halted and aid programs dramatically cut back after the US-backed republic fell in 2021.
- "Some have been compelled to sell their homes, land, or assets that generate income," the UNDP report said.
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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
Bird call contest boosts conservation awareness in Hong Kong’s concrete jungle
The competition brought nearly 100 people together, including a contestant who mimicked the critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo.
Arts & Culture
Company News
Latest News
Updates: Israel hits more targets in Lebanon as Blinken travels to Middle East to push for truce
Lebanon says four people were killed including a child in the latest Israeli strikes as Tehran says the United States...
Geostrategy
In escalation, Israel bombs Hezbollah-linked finance group
-Israel began bombing Lebanese branches of an association accused of financing the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, Lebanese state media reported late...
Geostrategy
China’s central bank cuts two key rates to boost economy
Beijing, China - China's central bank on Monday said it had cut two key interest rates to historic lows, in the...
Economy
Most Read
Putin thanks UAE president for positive role in prisoner exchange with Ukraine
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral ties and Middle East. Sheikh Mohamed will...
- Moscow and Kiev announced that they had swapped 95 prisoners each following negotiations led directly by the UAE
- The UAE and Russia ties have grown closer recently with Putin saying that their bilateral trade had tripled in the past three years to $11.1 billion
Geostrategy
Israeli settler attacks, Gaza conflict ruin Palestinian olive harvest
UN experts said recently that Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank are facing "the most dangerous olive season ever".
- The ongoing war has reduced vast areas of Gaza to rubble, with about 68 percent of the territory's agricultural areas damaged by the conflict.
- This year's harvest in Gaza is expected to net just 15,000 tons, sharply down from around 40,000 tons in the years before the war.
UN biodiversity conference in Colombia: what’s at stake?
Paris, France - The world's pledges to halt humankind's destruction of nature will be put to the test when the 16th...
- The COP16 is the first meeting of the international community since the adoption two years ago of an unprecedented roadmap to stop humankind's destruction of nature
- But putting that agreement into practice risks not moving fast enough to stop the destruction of land, oceans and species by a 2030 target date