Saudi powers forward with deficit spending to fund diversification of its oil-dependent economy
Saudi Arabia greenlit its 2026 budget Tuesday, projecting a deficit of 165 billion riyals ($44 billion) as the kingdom presses...
Economy
Trump says US freeze on asylum decisions will last ‘a long time’
US President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration intends to maintain a pause on asylum decisions for "a long time"...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Ukraine scrambles for energy with power generation at ‘zero’
Kyiv, Ukraine -- Ukraine was scrambling to turn lights and heating back on Sunday after Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure...
- launched hundreds of drones at energy facilities across the country overnight into Saturday.
- The attacks interrupted electricity, heat and water supplies in several cities, with state power firm Centerenergo warning generating capacity "is down to zero".
Economy
China’s consumer prices rose in Oct, reversing stagnation
Beijing has struggled to maintain a strong economic recovery from the pandemic, as it fights a debt crisis in its...
- The consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2 percent year-on-year last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
- Consumer prices were stagnant in July followed by two months of decline.
Geostrategy
Tunisian opponents go on collective hunger strike to support jailed figure
Tunis, Tunisia - Prominent Tunisian opposition figures including Rached Ghannouchi said Friday they would go on hunger strike in solidarity...
- Jawhar Ben Mbarek, co-founder of the National Salvation Front, Tunisia's main opposition alliance, launched a hunger strike last week to protest his detention since February 2023
- In April, he was sentenced to 18 years behind bars on charges of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group" in a mass trial criticised by rights group
Geostrategy
Turkey issues genocide arrest warrant against Netanyahu, senior officials in his govt
The announcement was met with a firm rebuttal from Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel "firmly rejects, with contempt"...
- The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that a total of 37 suspects were targeted by the arrest warrants, without providing a full list
- The announcement was met with a firm rebuttal from Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel "firmly rejects, with contempt" the charges
Geostrategy
Chinese ship scouts deep-ocean floor in South Pacific
Beijing, China -- A Chinese research vessel docked in the Cook Islands Saturday as it probed the Pacific nation's deep-sea...
- Huge areas of seabed around the Cook Islands are carpeted in polymetallic nodules, lumpy rocks studded with rare earths and critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel and manganese.
- Fringed by sparkling lagoons, South Pacific nation the Cook Islands has opened its vast ocean territory for deep-sea mining exploration.
Geostrategy
At COP30, nations target the jet set with luxury flight tax
Rooted in the idea that a small elite of premium flyers should pay more for their outsized contribution to global...
- Diplomats from the coalition of more than 10 countries are pushing for more to come aboard.
- Countries that do not yet have such a tax would commit to imposing levies on business and first-class tickets as well as private jets.
Business
Pfizer poised to buy Metsera
The pharma giant improved its offer to $10bn.
- The Danish firm said Saturday that it "does not intend to make an increased offer to acquire Metsera."
- The company "will continue to assess opportunities for business development and acquisitions that... further its strategic objectives," it said.
Geostrategy
Kazakhstan to join Abraham Accords as Trump pushes Mideast peace
Washington, United States - Kazakhstan said Thursday it will join the Abraham Accords between Israel and mainly Muslim nations, in...
- The central Asian republic has had diplomatic ties with Israel for decades, unlike the four Arab states that normalized relations with Israel under Abraham accords
- But with Trump aiming to shore up his fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, Washington is pushing to get as much support as possible behind a wider peace initiative
Economy
UAE company inks $22 mn deal for stake in Latakia container terminal
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - AD Ports Group of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a $22 million agreement Thursday...
- Abu Dhabi-based firm inked the deal with French shipping giant CMA CGM for a 20 percentage stake in the Latakia International Container Terminal, AD Ports Group said in a statement
- The Syrian government signed a 30-year contract in May with the French firm to run the Mediterranean port and modernise it, including developing the infrastructure
Economy
Qatari firm to invest $29.7 billion in Egypt coastal development
The project in the Alam al-Roum area, in Egypt's Matrouh Governorate, will span "4,900 acres... extending across a coastline of...
- Egypt, mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, is betting big on its 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles) of coastline as a revenue source
- In 2024 the UAE said it would inject $35 billion in foreign direct investment into Egypt, including $24 billion that would go to developing the Ras al-Hikma area west of Alexandria
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
Saudi powers forward with deficit spending to fund diversification of its oil-dependent economy
Saudi Arabia greenlit its 2026 budget Tuesday, projecting a deficit of 165 billion riyals ($44 billion) as the kingdom presses...
Economy
Company News
Fake AI videos have a new generation loving 1980s life
Arts & Culture
Latest News
G20 grapples with splintering world order
Geostrategy
Fake AI videos have a new generation loving 1980s life
New York, United States - "The 1980s are calling," a teenager with a throwback hairstyle tells viewers as "Everybody Wants...
Arts & Culture
Hezbollah mourns top commander killed in Israel strike, Iran Guards urge revenge
Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior commander from the Iran-backed group to be killed by Israel since a November...
Geostrategy
Tabatabai: Hezbollah military chief who led the group in Yemen, Syria
Beirut, Lebanon - Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah's top military chief whom Israel killed on Sunday, had taken the role after...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Geostrategy
G20 grapples with splintering world order
"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters....
- He and the other leaders at the summit -- which was boycotted by the United States -- held a searching discussion on how the G20 can survive in a fragmenting world.
- The United States is to host next year's G20 summit, with Trump planning to hold it at a Florida golf club he owns.
Geostrategy
Israeli strikes kill 21 in Gaza, dozens more wounded: Civil defense
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, Bassal said one strike hit a house in Deir el-Balah in the...
- The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the strikes.
- It urged the international community to put "immediate pressure" on Israel to "stop the massacres".
Geostrategy
Amazon climate deal a ‘win’ for global unity but fossil fuels untouched
Nearly 200 countries approved the deal by consensus after two weeks of exhaustive negotiations on the fringes of the rainforest,...
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who staked political capital on the success of COP30, said the pact was proof that a fractured world could still unite in crisis.
- There was less euphoria in Belem, where defeated European ministers admitted they only took the watered-down deal to keep the entire process from imploding.