European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran
Berlin, Germany -- Britain, France and Germany are planning to hold fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in...
Geostrategy
Israeli fire kills 39 and wounds more than 100 Gazans near two aid centers
UN has said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 in the...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
US sanctions Iranian company that shipped drones to Russia
The US Treasury said it had placed Tehran-based Safiran Airport Services on its sanctions blacklist, two months after the White...
- The Treasury said Safiran has coordinated Russian military flights between Iran and Russia, including those that carried the UAVs, personnel and related equipment
- The Treasury also placed sanctions on three Iranian companies involved in developing and producing drones and linked to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Economy
US launches Asia economic forum to counter China
The two-day event is the first face-to-face meeting between members of the new Indo-Pacific Economic Prosperity Framework (IPEF), an initiative...
- Trump's isolationist "America First" policy saw him yank the United States from the Asia-focused trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Washington hopes to forge common standards throughout the region, but without promoting the access to its domestic market
Economy
Gas to flow ‘in weeks’ from Israeli licensed field disputed by Lebanon
Israel says the Karish field is located entirely within its exclusive economic zone, but Lebanon insists that part of the...
- Israel announced in early July that it had downed three unarmed drones launched by Hezbollah towards Karish
- Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz said late last month that any attack on its gas assets could reignite war between the two sides
Business
Abu Dhabi-based firm GAAC to handle air traffic in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan - A United Arab Emirates firm signed a contract with Afghanistan on Thursday to manage air traffic across...
- The contract is part of more than $300 million that Abu Dhabi based GAAC aims to invest in Afghanistan over a 10-year period to develop its aviation sector.
- The deal allows GAAC to "operationalize airspace to allow the passage of international carriers", the company's regional head Ibrahim Moarafi said.
Geostrategy
Middle East heating at twice the global average: Study
Nicosia, Cyprus - The Middle East is heating at nearly twice the global average, threatening potentially devastating impacts on its...
- The study found an average increase of 0.45 degrees Celsius per decade across the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.
- Oil-rich Middle East is on course to becoming one of the world's leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Geostrategy
Queen Elizabeth II, longest-serving British monarch, passes away at 96
The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 is the oldest heir apparent in British...
- Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne aged just 25 in 1952 in the aftermath of World War II, Her 70-year reign straddled two centuries of seismic upheavals.
- She was also head of the 56-nation Commonwealth, which takes in a quarter of humanity, and supreme governor of the Church of England.
Geostrategy
Egypt vows to champion climate finance for Africa at COP27
Egypt's environment minister Yasmine Fouad said that Egypt will also remind rich countries of the industrialized world of their unfulfilled...
- African countries are among the most exposed to the impacts of climate change, especially worsening droughts and floods, but responsible for only around 3% percent of emissions.
- The 2015 Paris agreement requires developed countries to "provide financial resources to assist developing country parties" in curbing their emissions.
Geostrategy
Egypt to set up framework to regulate streaming platform content
Egypt is to establish a licensing framework for digital entertainment platforms like Netflix that will require them to conform to...
- The announcement comes just days after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours asked Netflix to drop content that conflicted with Islamic social values.
- Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation vowed to take the "necessary steps in the event of the streaming of content contrary to the values of society".
Economy
ECB to make a bumper rate hike to curb inflation
Struggling to tame surging inflation in the eurozone that has seen steep increases in the price of energy in the...
- Inflation hit 9.1 percent in August, an all-time high for the eurozone and more than four times the two-percent rate targeted by the ECB
- At its last meeting in July the ECB exceeded expectations with a 50-basis-point increase in interest rates, its first hike in more than a decade
Economy
UN says human progress set back five years by Covid
Depicting a gloomy picture of the state of human progress, a United Nations report argues that an unprecedented array of...
- The Human Development Index has steadily risen for decades, but began sliding in 2020 and continued its fall in 2021, erasing the gains of the preceding five years
- A large contributor to the Human Development Index's recent decline is a global drop in life expectancy, down from 73 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021
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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
European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran
Berlin, Germany -- Britain, France and Germany are planning to hold fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in...
Geostrategy
Company News
Microsoft lays off 1,900 staff
Business
Latest News
Gaza children fly kites to escape horrors of war
RAFAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES – Meters away from the concrete and steel fence separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt, 11-year-old Malak Ayad flies a...
Geostrategy
Hamas undecided on sending delegation to new truce talks: Official
The official said the gap between the two sides' negotiating positions was too wide. "I doubt that there will be...
Geostrategy
Thousands gather for pro-Palestinian rally in London
LONDON, UK – Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in London on Saturday, in the latest demonstration in the British capital demanding...
Geostrategy
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UN says four staff wounded in south Lebanon blast
The military observers, from Australia, Chile and Norway, and a Lebanese language assistant had been on foot patrol around the...
- Lebanese PM Najib Mikati condemned what he called a "dangerous incident", while his foreign ministry said the attack was "in violation of international law"
- UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned Saturday's blast and underscored "grave concern" over the frequent exchange of fire along the Blue Line
Gaza ceasefire talks to resume in Cairo: Egyptian media
Reports of the new talks in Cairo came as protesters in Israel's biggest city blocked a major road Saturday following...
- Egypt, Qatar and key Israeli ally the United States have mediated previous rounds of negotiations, but a workable agreement has remained elusive
- Reports of the new talks in Cairo came as protesters in Israel's biggest city blocked a major road Saturday following demonstrations calling for the release of hostages
Geostrategy
Deadly chaos at Gaza aid distribution as WHO renews hospital warning
UN agencies have warned repeatedly that northern Gaza is on the verge of famine and called it a man-made crisis...
- Israel's siege brings nightly air strikes and in recent days major operations around several hospitals, which it says are used by Palestinian group
- The World Health Organization warned that Gaza had just 10 "minimally functioning" hospitals for its more than two million people