UAE organizations strengthen governance to scale AI cybersecurity: Report
Governance, accountability and validation processes emerge as critical requirements for translating growing AI investment into measurable operational and security outcomes,...
Geostrategy
Trump says Xi wants Hormuz Strait reopened amid Iran conflict
US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping wants the Strait of Hormuz reopened, following talks between the two...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
US aid cuts strain response to health crises worldwide: WHO
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The United States slashing foreign aid risks piling pressure on already acute humanitarian crises across the...
- Donald Trump has effectively frozen foreign aid funding, moved to dismantle USAID and other programs, and announced plans to leave the WHO.
- Washington, which had long been the WHO's biggest donor, did not pay its 2024 dues, and it remains unclear if the United States will meet its membership obligations for 2025.
Geostrategy
Lebanon president says disarming Hezbollah ‘delicate’ as two dead in strikes
Beirut, Lebanon -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that disarming Hezbollah group was a "delicate" matter whose implementation required...
- "We will implement" a state monopoly on bearing arms "but we have to wait for the circumstances" to allow this. "Nobody is speaking to me about timing or pressure."
- Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was left weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, sparked by the Gaza war.
Business
Global tax plans targeting super rich and tech giants stall under Trump
Paris, France -- Global tax plans targeting billionaires and multinational companies are running aground, with the United States torpedoing reforms...
- Countries have accused Amazon, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet and Facebook's parent company Meta of sidestepping local taxes.
- Trump issued a warning on February 21 to countries that would hit big tech and other US companies with fines or taxes that are "discriminatory, disproportionate".
Geostrategy
‘Resist Tyranny’: Another round of anti-Trump demonstrations hit major US cities
Many took aim at Trump's deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting "No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here," a reference...
- In New York, people gathered outside the city's main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like "No Kings in America" and "Resist Tyranny."
- In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process.
Geostrategy
US Supreme Court intervenes to pause Trump deportations
Washington, United States - The US Supreme Court, in a dramatic nighttime intervention Saturday, paused President Donald Trump's unprecedented use...
- The emergency ruling, delivered in two terse paragraphs, noted that two of the most conservative of the nine justices had dissented
- The order temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act
Geostrategy
Putin announces ‘Easter truce’ in Ukraine set to last until midnight on Sunday
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced a surprise Easter truce in Ukraine, set to last until midnight on Sunday...
- The short-term order for Russia's troops to halt all combat activity comes after months of US President Donald Trump pushing both Moscow and Kyiv to agree a truce
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a social media post responded sceptically to the truce proposal, accusing Putin of attempting to "play with human lives."
Geostrategy
Tunisia opposition figures get jail terms in mass trial
A Tunisian court has handed down jail sentences of up to 66 years to multiple defendants, including prominent opposition figures,...
- The trial, decried by a defence lawyer as a "masquerade", is of unprecedented scale with around 40 defendants including vocal critics of President Kais Saied
- Among those sentenced were well-known opposition figures, lawyers and business people, with some already in prison for two years while others were in exile or still free
Geostrategy
Iran, US to resume high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome amid sanctions and mutual distrust
Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons - an allegation Tehran...
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will hold the Oman-mediated talks in Rome
- Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution
Geostrategy
Israeli strikes kill 24 after Hamas calls for ‘comprehensive deal’
Gaza's civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said early Friday that crews had "recovered the bodies of 10 martyrs and a...
- Hamas chief negotiator urged international pressure to end Israel's complete blockade of Gaza that began on March 2.
- The appeal comes after the United Nations warned of worsening conditions and shortages of medicine and other essentials for the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million besieged people.
Geostrategy
Israel making Gaza unlivable, expands control over half of the territory
Jerusalem, Undefined -- By seizing large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Israel is redrawing the map of the Palestinian territory,...
- Nearly all Gazans have been displaced at least once, and many now live in schools turned shelters, under tents and in other makeshift shelters.
- Some Israeli figures who advocate for the return of settlements in the Gaza Strip -- which were evacuated in 2005 -- claim to have concrete plans and make regular visits.
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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
UAE organizations strengthen governance to scale AI cybersecurity: Report
Governance, accountability and validation processes emerge as critical requirements for translating growing AI investment into measurable operational and security outcomes,...
Geostrategy
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World Bank estimates Syria reconstruction costs at $216 billion
"The conflict has damaged nearly one-third of Syria’s pre-conflict gross capital stock, with direct physical damages to infrastructure, residential buildings, and...
Geostrategy
Saudi Crown Prince to meet Trump in Washington next month
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet US President Donald Trump during a three-day...
Geostrategy
Lavrov and Rubio discuss Putin-Trump summit, Zelensky seeks invite to the meeting
Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed preparations for an upcoming summit between Vladimir Putin and...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Brazil greenlights oil drilling in Amazon region
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has come under fire from conservationists who argue his oil expansion plans clash with...
- Brazil will host COP30 climate talks in the Amazon city of Belem next month.
- Petrobras said drilling in the Foz de Amazonas region will begin immediately and will last for five months, after its five-year battle to get permission to explore the area.
Geostrategy
Southern EU countries call for ‘immediate release’ of Gaza aid
Countries of the so-called MED9 group -- Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain -- met on...
- "There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to block such humanitarian aid," Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said.
- The reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt remains on hold despite calls from the UN and aid groups.
Geostrategy
Trial opens in Klarna’s $8.3 billion lawsuit against Google
Stockholm, Sweden -- A Swedish court began hearing arguments Monday in a lawsuit brought by Swedish price comparison site Pricerunner,...
- The Swedish tech startup filed its suit with the Patent and Market Court in Stockholm in 2022.
- It filed the suit after EU General Court ruling that Google "breached EU antitrust laws by manipulating search results in favor of their own comparison shopping services".