Zelensky returns to site of stunning Oval Office shouting match to talk peace with Russia
European leaders will join Zelensky in Washington on Monday, seeking above all else to prevent another Oval Office meltdown -- but...
Geostrategy
Davos founder Schwab cleared of misconduct by WEF probe
Geneva, Switzerland -- An investigation conducted by the World Economic Forum's board on Friday cleared the body's founder Klaus Schwab...
Geostrategy
Economy
OECD raises global growth forecast as inflation eases, recovery ‘fragile’
The OECD raised its global economic growth forecast as inflation eases and China emerges from Covid restrictions, but warned of...
- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says rate increases are still needed to fight inflation.
- OECD cited uncertainty over the course of the war in Ukraine, the risk of renewed pressure on energy markets.
Geostrategy
Turkey’s foreign minister to visit Egypt as relations ‘return to normal’
It follows a visit last month by Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Turkey in a show of solidarity after...
- At the time, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would "never" speak to "anyone" like Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
- But in November, Sisi and Erdogan shook hands in Qatar, in what the Egyptian presidency heralded as a new beginning in their ties.
Arts & Culture
Libya’s boxers recover from Kadhafi-era knockout
Boxing and other combat sports were banned by Moamer Kadhafi. Officially, authorities considered boxing too violent.
- After Kadhafi was ousted and killed in 2011, 63-year-old Omar Zlitni, a boxer reunited with former fighters and worked to revive boxing, re-establishing the national federation.
- Since then, Libyan boxers have shone in various competitions, modelling themselves after Malik Zinad, a light heavyweight fighter who found success after leaving the country.
Crypto-linked bank failures fuel regulation debate
Global finance was rocked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week, and the digital currency sector was hit...
- The global crypto market stands at more than $1 trillion and has risen sharply in recent months, although it remains far below its 2021 peak of $3 trillion
- Illicit transactions using cryptocurrencies more than doubled last year to almost $21 billion, according to specialist crypto firm Chainalysis
Microsoft adds ChatGPT technology to Excel, Outlook
The Redmond, Washington giant has been swiftly adopting language-based AI, showing less caution than its rivals despite early problems such...
- Microsoft’s latest chatbot, called Copilot, will put ChatGPT-like abilities to work in offices, churning out meeting transcripts, calendar entries or PowerPoint slides instantly
- Microsoft is pouring billions of dollars into OpenAI, the company that is building the technology that powers ChatGPT and that released its latest version, GPT-4, on Tuesday
Geostrategy
Xi Jinping to visit Russia next week, will discuss ‘strategic cooperation’
The two leaders "will discuss deepening the exhaustive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China", including on the international...
- Xi last visited Russia in 2019, though Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year
- The pair will talk about "strategic cooperation", according to a near-simultaneous statement from the Kremlin
Qatari delegation visits Man Utd as bidding war for Premier League club intensifies
The rival bidders, Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were invited to visit...
- Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, founder of the INEOS chemicals company, have made separate offers to buy United
- There will be another day of presentations and tours at United on Friday, with boyhood United fan Ratcliffe who will be joined by INEOS co-owners Andy Currie and John Reece
Two decades after US invasion of Iraq, Senate votes to end war authorization
Since the beginning of his administration in 2021, President Joe Biden has urged Congress to revoke the 1991 and 2002...
- In a procedural vote that came over a decade after the war's official end, senators from both parties strongly supported cancelling the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force
- The same bill also revokes 1991 Authorization for Use of Military Force that empowered Bush's father president George HW Bush to attack Iraq after Saddam's forces invaded Kuwait
Israelis protesters return to streets as Netanyahu rejects reforms compromise
Demonstrators gathered in Jerusalem and the northern city of Haifa to denounce the overhaul that would, among other things, allow...
- President Isaac Herzog presented a proposed compromise on the reforms, but the government immediately rejected it
- Leaders of opposition parties said in a joint news conference on Thursday they supported Herzog's outline
Economy
Silicon Valley Bank demise: US Fed lends banks $12bn to ease stress
The Fed had unveiled the scheme alongside the Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Sunday night, as authorities...
- The outstanding amount of all advances under the Bank Term Funding Program reached $11.9 billion by Wednesday, the US central bank announced in a statement
- The new liquidity facility made additional funding available "to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors," the statement read
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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
Zelensky returns to site of stunning Oval Office shouting match to talk peace with Russia
European leaders will join Zelensky in Washington on Monday, seeking above all else to prevent another Oval Office meltdown -- but...
Geostrategy
Company News
Latest News
Netanyahu says Israel has ‘landed a series of blows on Hezbollah’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel has dealt serious blows to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, as rapidly...
Geostrategy
Al Jazeera TV raided in West Bank; ordered to close for 45 days
Global news channel Al Jazeera said armed and masked Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West...
Geostrategy
Coal mine blast in Iran kills more than 50 mine workers
A blast caused by a gas leak at an Iranian coal mine has killed at least 51 people, state media...
Economy
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Geostrategy
Israel pounds Lebanon as Hezbollah vows revenge for device blasts
Israel said it struck hundreds of targets in Lebanon, hours after Hezbollah's leader vowed to retaliate for two "unprecedented" rounds...
- The explosion of thousands of Hezbollah pagers and radios killed 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 over two days
- Lebanon filed a complaint against "Israel's cyber-terrorist aggression that amounts to a war crime
Geostrategy
Hizbollah chief admits ‘unprecedented’ blow in device blasts
Israel has not commented on the attacks in which Hizbollah operatives' pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in supermarkets, on streets and...
- In his first speech since the attacks, which killed 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 across two days, Nasrallah struck a defiant tone, vowing that Israel would face retribution
- Describing the attacks as a "massacre" and as a possible "act of war", Nasrallah said Israel would face "tough retribution and a just punishment
World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
Washington, United States - The World Bank announced Thursday that it delivered a record $42.6 billion in climate change financing in...
- In December, the Bank committed to raising the proportion of its annual financing that goes to climate change adaptation from 35 percent to 45 percent
- This figure included lending, along with other financial instruments such as grants and guarantees, a World Bank official told AFP by email