Family-friendly ‘Astro Bot’ wins highest award at Oscars of video games
Los Angeles, United States -- Video game "Astro Bot" -- a family-friendly sci-fi adventure -- was named 2024's Game of the...
Business
Crunch time for Saudi-hosted drought, desertification talks
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Landmark talks on desertification are set to conclude in Saudi Arabia this week amid doubts that pledged funds...
Geostrategy
Business
Bahrain central bank’s sukuk oversubscribed by 403 percent
Manama, Bahrain -- The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds,...
- Subscriptions worth BD 104.778 million ($277 million) were received for the BD 26 million issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days.
- By March 23, the total outstanding value of government treasury bills reached BD2 billion ($5.3 billion).
Economy
Qatar’s Q1 private sector exports hit $2.49 billion, up 17.5%
Doha, Qatar -- Qatar's private sector exports hit QR 9.1 billion ($2.49 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, representing...
- China was the top recipient of Qatari private sector exports amounting to QR 3.1 billion, a share of 34.1 percent.
- It is followed by India with almost QR 2.4 billion and a share of 26 percent, and Oman with about QR989 million, a share of 10.9 percent.Â
Business
Amarenco acquires Spectrum International
The acquisition includes all operating projects and pipeline of Spectrum.
- Following the acquisition, Spectrum will be rebranded as Amarenco Jordan, becoming the main platform for Amarenco MENA in Jordan, with a target to own 200MW.
- The company develops, builds, and operates large and medium-scale solar projects, with more than a billion dollars of investments on average every year.
Geostrategy
Khader Adnan becomes first Palestinian to die of hunger strike
His Tuesday death came during his 13th stint in Israeli custody, with nearly eight years of his life spent behind...
- In 2012, a 66-day hunger strike turned Adnan into a national hero, and revitalized hunger striking as a form of protest among Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli jails.
- His widow, Randa Mousa, warned against retaliation. "We don't want someone to launch rockets and then (have Israeli) strikes (on) Gaza," she told reporters.
Geostrategy
COP28 chair Sultan Al jaber urges tripling of renewables capacity
Al Jaber's call marked a public endorsement of a target laid out by the International Energy Agency. Last month at...
- Rather, the COP28 chair said the focus must be on removing the emissions they produce while stepping up renewables.
- Al Jaber also called on developed countries to deliver a long promised $100-billion climate package for developing countries.
Business
Dubai directs service providers to declare local sea container charges
Dubai, UAE -- Container service providers in Dubai will now be required to declare their local sea container charges to...
- Effective from 1st May 2023, the new directive will provide the DMA with a clear data-led understanding of local sea container charges and associated practices, WAM reported.
- The directive applies to all service providers providing local sea container services within, outside, or through any port in the emirate.
Business
Book industry needs to focus more on sustainability
She was highlighting key industry challenges such as environmental pressures and rising costs, during the opening of the Sharjah International...
- Prominent booksellers, publishers, and experts from 69 countries participate in Sharjah International Booksellers Conference, which facilitates discussions on industry trends
- Sustainability, generative AI, industry transformation remain prime focus of the discussion as Sharjah emphasizes the importance of collaboration and effective communication
Business
Aramco, PIF and Baosteel to build Saudi Arabia’s first steel plate plant
It will be the largest integrated steel plate manufacturing complex in the kingdom to be located in Ras Al Khair...
- The production capacity is expected to be up to 1.5m tons per annum. The complex will have premium facilities such as natural-gas-powered direct reduction iron furnace.
- Aimed primarily at meeting the needs of the Saudi market, there are plans to export to the Gulf Cooperation Council and MENA region.
Business
Saudi ports handle more than 2 million containers in first quarter
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The number of containers handled by Saudi ports in the first quarter of 2023 grew by...
- Transshipment containers witnessed an increase of 14.96 percent and 778,056 containers compared to 676,826 containers in the first quarter of 2022.
- A total of 258,051 cars were imported, an increase of 35.52 percent over the first quarter of the previous year, which recorded 190,422 cars.
Business
Trina Solar revenue up 83%
Trina's market share of 210mm module shipments was more than 50%.
- Trina Solar’s main businesses, including PV products, PV systems and smart energy, all registered strong growth, the company said in a statement.
- The company also unveiled that its module shipments in 2022 totaled 43.09GW and cumulative module shipments exceeded 140GW by the end of March 2023.
Family-friendly ‘Astro Bot’ wins highest award at Oscars of video games
Los Angeles, United States -- Video game "Astro Bot" -- a family-friendly sci-fi adventure -- was named 2024's Game of the...
Business
Company News
Amazon to invest $17bn in Spain Â
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Saudi fashionistas attempt beach rebrand
Arts & Culture
Day after UAE-Chile CEPA, Dubai Chambers and Pro-Chile sign MoU
Under the MoU, both parties will coordinate events aimed at strengthening ties between exporting companies from Dubai and Chile and...
Business
Gaza official says 300 killed in Khan Yunis as army ends assault
"Since the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion of the eastern part of Khan Yunis province, the civil defence and...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Lufthansa, Air France halt Beirut flights as Israel tensions rise
Beirut, Lebanon -- Air France and the German airline group Lufthansa said Monday they were suspending flights to Beirut after Israel...
- Lufthansa services would be halted up to and including August 5 due to "current developments in the Middle East", a group spokesman told AFP.
- Royal Jordanian also announced the suspension of flights, with at least two of its regular trips to Beirut cancelled.
Business
AI startups swap independence for Big Tech’s deep pockets
Washington, United States -- It's the case of the vanishing startup: some of Silicon Valley's most promising names in the fast-developing...
- Critics believe these deals are acquisitions in all but name and have been especially designed by Microsoft or Amazon to avoid the attention of competition regulators.
- US, European and UK regulators on Tuesday signed a joint statement insisting that they won't let big tech companies run roughshod over the nascent AI industry.
Business
Dubai welcomes record 9.31m international overnight visitors in H1
Dubai, UAE -- Dubai welcomed 9.31 million international overnight visitors from January to June 2024, a 9 percent increase over...
- Dubai was named the No.1 global destination for an unprecedented third successive year in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards in January.
- Occupied room nights increased by 3 percent, with 21.35 million at the end of H1 2024, compared to 20.73 million in H1 2023.