Syria inks $7 bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US firms
The agreement was sealed at the presidential palace in Damascus in the presence of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US...Business
ADNOC Drilling secures $1.15bn contract
The contract for two jack-up rigs begins in the second quarter.Company News Business
Trump expands Apple tariff threat to all smartphones
Washington, United States -- US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened Apple and other smartphone manufacturers with a 25 percent...Trump initially said the tariff would apply only to Apple -- an unusual move to single out a specific company in trade policy.
While Apple designs its products in the United States, most iPhone assembly occurs in China, which remains embroiled in a trade war with the United States.
Anthropic’s Claude AI gets smarter — and mischievious
San Francisco, United States -- Anthropic launched its latest Claude generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models on Thursday, claiming to set..."Claude Opus 4 is our most powerful model yet, and the best coding model in the world," Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said.
Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 were described as "hybrid" models capable of quick responses as well as more thoughtful results that take a little time to get things right.
Trump threatens Apple with a 25% tariff if iPhones aren’t made in US
Washington, United States -- US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened Apple with a 25 percent tariff if the iPhones...Trump's sweeping tariffs on major US trading partners have roiled global markets and upended international commerce.
Trump's comments Friday echo statements he made last week while on a trip to Qatar, urging Apple to bring iPhone production to US shores.
TOURISE 2025: Riyadh to host premier summit for sustainable tourism
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, has officially unveiled TOURISE, a groundbreaking global platform set...The inaugural TOURISE 2025 event will take place in Riyadh from November 11-13, bringing together public and private sector leaders, experts, and investors.
Nominations will be accepted via an online portal, with winners announced at a dedicated ceremony during the platform.
Trump administration refocuses US-China chip war on AI and Huawei
Beijing, China -- The United States has taken aim at China's Huawei over the cutting-edge chips powering artificial intelligence (AI),...The Trump administration is seeking to change the ways the US limits China's access to state-of-the-art semiconductors needed to develop AI.
Chinese firms like Alibaba and Xiaomi have announced huge investments in AI in what experts say feeds into a national goal to cut reliance on foreign suppliers.
Xiaomi launches new advanced in-house mobile chip
Beijing, China -- Tech giant Xiaomi unveiled a new advanced in-house mobile chip on Thursday, a significant milestone for the...With the XRING O1, it becomes only the second smartphone brand globally after Apple to mass produce its own 3-nanometre chips, among the most advanced on the market.
Xiaomi took early steps into semiconductors for smartphones with the launch of the firm's first in-house chip, the Surge S1, in 2017.
May 2025 Islamic Treasury Sukuk auction attracts bids worth $1.88bn
Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Ministry of Finance (MoF), in its capacity as the issuer and in collaboration with the...The total bids received reached AED 6.93 billion ($1.88bn), reflecting an oversubscription rate of 6.3 times.
The auction results highlighted competitive, market-driven pricing with a Yield to Maturity (YTM) of 3.99 percent for the May 2027 tranche and 4.06 percent for the May 2030 tranche
Ads pressured to evolve as AI changes Google search
San Francisco, United States -- As Google races to lead in artificial intelligence, it faces the challenge of making sure...The internet giant is dabbling with ads in its new AI Mode for online search, a strategic move to fend off competition from ChatGPT.
A new AI Mode enables conversational interaction with Google during search queries, providing answers in diverse formats, such as video, audio or graphs.
Turkey says increasing energy exports to war-torn Syria
Damascus, Syria -- Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Thursday in Damascus that his country would ramp up energy exports...Syria's Islamist authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.
The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.
Cyberattack to cost UK retailer Marks & Spencer $404 million
London, United Kingdom -- British clothes-to-food retailer Marks and Spencer on Wednesday said a cyberattack affecting its online service is...Marks last week revealed that some personal data of its customers had been stolen in a cyberattack that has crippled its online services for weeks.
The news came as Marks on Wednesday reported operating profit before adjusting items of £985 million for its financial year to the end of March.
