World’s only Dragon Ball theme park launched in Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya City
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Board of Directors of the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) revealed on Sunday the launch of...
Arts & Culture
Iraqi PM to visit Washington for troop talks
Washington, US – President Joe Biden will welcome Iraq's prime minister on April 15 for talks on the US troop presence,...
Geostrategy
Business
Dubai at top global ranking for attracting Greenfield FDI projects in H1 2023
DUBAI, UAE - Dubai remains the top global destination for attracting Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects, with the emirate...
- During the first half of 2023, Dubai’s global share in the attraction of Greenfield FDI projects stood at 6.58 percent.
- The results align the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to double the size of the emirate’s economy over the next decade.
Economy
FAO raises its forecast for global cereal production in 2023
ROME, ITALY - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) raised its forecast for global cereal production...
- The higher forecast is almost entirely based on recent and more positive yield estimates for the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
- There will be increased wheat consumption while global rice utilization is forecast at 520.5 million tons.
Science
Drought caused major global hydropower drop in early 2023
BANGKOK, THAILAND - Dry conditions, particularly in China, caused a "historic" global drop in hydropower in the first half of 2023,...
- Wind and solar generation grew more slowly in the first half of this year than in the same period last year.
- The chief of this year's COP climate meeting has called for a global tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Geostrategy
Saudi Arabia to enhance air connectivity to over 250 destinations by 2030
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - A delegation led by President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) Abdulaziz bin...
- The Kingdom plans on carrying 330 million passengers annually and raising freight capacity to 4.5 million tons by 2030.
- Saudi Arabia and the Dominican Republic also signed agreements on air transport services between the two countries.
Economy
Middle East economic growth to fall in 2023, says World Bank
WASHINGTON, US - The growth of the economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to fall...
- The region’s gross domestic product is expected to fall to 1.9 percent in 2023 from 6 percent in 2022, due to oil production cuts.
- The decline in growth this year is expected to be more pronounced in the oil exporting countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Science
Nobel Chemistry Prize awarded to quantum dots researchers
The trio, whose names were leaked in the Swedish press ahead of the announcement, succeeded in producing these tiny components,...
- Bawendi, 62, born in Paris to French and Tunisian parents, is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
- Brus, 80, is a professor at Columbia in New York, and Russian-born Alexei Ekimov works at the US-based Nanocrystals Technology.
Science
Trio wins physics Nobel for illuminating electrons
France's Pierre Agostini, Hungarian-Austrian Ferenc Krausz and Franco-Swede Anne L'Huillier won the Nobel prize in physics for research using ultra...
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences likened the process to how the flapping wings of a humming bird turn into a blur for the human eye.
- "We can now open the door to the world of electrons," Eva Olsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a statement.
Market Report
Markets slump as US jobs data says labor market buoyant
The focus has been on US Treasury bond yields that have surged to levels not seen in over a decade,...
- Asian indices also ended mostly lower with Hong Kong leading the decline, falling nearly 2.7 percent as the market reopened after a holiday weekend
- Russia's currency meanwhile continued to weaken on signs the country's economy is facing slower growth and higher inflation as the Ukraine war drags on
Geostrategy
Qatar begins construction on North Field gas expansion
RAS LAFFAN, QATAR - Qatar's state-owned energy giant began construction on Tuesday on a project to expand production from the world's...
- There has been mounting demand for Qatari gas as European consumer nations have scrambled to replace lost Russian deliveries.
- Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi called the project a "leap towards our country's leadership in the field of energy".
Geostrategy
Countries pledge to raise $12 billion to help coral
The pledge comes with coral around the world under particularly acute stress because of record warm seas this year.
- Marine heatwaves -- episodes of abnormally high water temperatures -- have become more frequent and intense.
- Oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat produced by human activity since the dawn of the industrial age, according to scientists.
World’s only Dragon Ball theme park launched in Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya City
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Board of Directors of the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) revealed on Sunday the launch of...
Arts & Culture
Company News
Latest News
British lawmaker suspended over ‘Islamophobic’ comments
London, UK - Britain's ruling Conservatives on Saturday suspended their former deputy chairman from the parliamentary party, after he refused to...
Geostrategy
UAE to provide US$10m grant to support WTO initiatives, says foreign minister
ABU DHABI, UAE – Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced that the UAE...
Geostrategy
American spaceship lands on moon, images expected soon
The first American spaceship on the Moon since Apollo is "alive and well" following a drama-packed touchdown, the firm that...
Science
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Geostrategy
Dutch court upholds $50bn payment award in Yukos case
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - A Dutch court quashed an appeal by Russia in a record $50-billion case on Tuesday, paving the...
- The Amsterdam Appeals Court turned down a claim by Moscow that shareholders had "committed fraud" during the arbitration process.
- In 2014 the international Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled in favor of shareholders,
Geostrategy
WHO registers eighty percent rise in measles case
Geneva, Switzerland - The World Health Organization voiced alarm on Tuesday at the rapid spread of measles, with more than 306,000...
- At least 95 percent of children need to be fully vaccinated against the disease in a locality to prevent outbreaks, but global vaccination rates have slipped to 83 percent.
- WHO official Crowcroft pointed out that 92 percent of all children who die from measles live among less than a quarter of the global population, mainly in very low-income countries
Geostrategy
Global operation smashes ‘most harmful cyber crime group’
LONDON, UK - An international operation led by UK and US law enforcement has severely disrupted "the world's most harmful cybercrime...
- LockBit and its affiliates have targeted governments, major companies, schools and hospitals, causing billions of dollars of damage.
- LockBit's website -- selling services that allow people to organize cyber attacks and hold data until a ransom is paid appears -- was taken over.