Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.9 percent in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), flash estimates of GDP for Q2 2025, released today by the General Authority for Statistics...

Shares of Microsoft vaulted 5.3 percent after it reported $27.2 billion in quarterly profits as it touted massive investments in AI. Microsoft became the second company to surpass $4 trillion following another AI star, Nvidia.

Within sight of Gaza, the devastated Palestinian enclave ravaged by nearly 22 months of war, hundreds of Israeli settlers marched Wednesday to stake their claim to the battered territory.

A Syrian-Israeli ministerial meeting is set to take place Thursday in Baku to discuss security matters in southern Syria, a diplomat told AFP.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that imports from India will face 25 percent tariffs, while also announcing an unspecified "penalty" over New Delhi's purchases of Russian weapons and energy.

Jerusalem, Undefined -- The United Arab Emirates has begun construction on a major pipeline to carry desalinated water from Egypt to southern Gaza, according to multiple sources. Technical teams sent by the UAE have started transporting equipment needed for the project, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday....

From June-Sept, in harvested fields cleared of stubble, merchants bring their cargo to age in the sun, tempering the bright hues of their natural colors and ridding them of undesirable elements.

The company posted a net profit of $692m.

The foreign ministers of 15 countries issued a joint statement following a conference in New York, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving a two-state solution between Israelis and the Palestinians.

"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said.

Washington, United States - Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears. Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given...

US President Donald Trump said his deadline for Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine or face new sanctions will be in 10 days from Tuesday.

With the goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 countries in AI research and application by 2030, Saudi government aims to attract USD 20 billion in AI investments while creating 200,000 high-tech jobs

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative, a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises, stopped short of declaring a state of famine, but made clear the situation is critical.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Dubai International Airport welcomed a record 46 million passengers in the first half of this year, authorities said on Tuesday, despite disruptions due to the Iran-Israel war The facility marked its busiest first half on record with a 2.3 percent year-on-year growth, Dubai Airports said...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Portuguese forward Joao Felix has signed a two-year deal with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr, where he will join Cristiano Ronaldo, the club announced Tuesday. Felix, now 25, made a blockbuster move from Benfica to Atletico Madrid in 2019, but has since seen his fortunes decline. "I'm...

Looking ahead, the IMF expects the world economy to expand 3.1 percent next year, an improvement from the 3.0 percent it earlier predicted.

Speaking in Scotland after meeting Britain's leader, Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had earlier dismissed fears of famine in Gaza as Hamas propaganda.

It remains unclear how much damage was caused by the US strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities, which came after Israel launched a surprise bombing campaign that it said was aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining an atomic weapon.

Palo Alto, United States - Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has emerged as Silicon Valley's latest tech darling -- one that makes no secret of its macho, America-first ethos now ascendant in Trump-era tech culture. The company's reach spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the...

Russia, a close ally of Syria's former long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad, who reportedly fled to Moscow with his family, still has two military bases in the country, and is also close to Iran, having boosted military ties amid the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine.

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories -- Truckloads of food reached hungry Gazans on Monday after Israel promised to open secure aid routes, but humanitarian agencies warned vast amounts more were needed to stave off starvation. With Gaza's population of more than two million facing famine and malnutrition, Israel bowed to international...

Dubai, UAE --  Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial center in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), said Monday that it witnessed a saw a record number of new firms establishing operations in the center in the first half of 2026. The total number of...

Brussels, Belgium -- The European Commission on Monday announced an investigation into the takeover of German chemical firm Covestro by UAE state oil giant ADNOC, citing competition fears. "The commission has preliminary concerns that foreign subsidies granted by the United Arab Emirates could distort the EU internal market," a statement...

Rights groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel have been frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports was their most stark yet.

Tunis, Tunisia - A towel draped over his head, Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia's "barbechas", informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country's economic -- and migratory -- woes. The 40-something-year-old said he starts the day off at dawn, hunching...

Syrian autorities led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa -- dissolved the former longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's rubber-stamp legislature and adopted a temporary constitutional declaration to cover a five-year transition period.

Ever since the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947, the United Nations has been inextricably linked to the fate of Palestinians, with the organization meeting this week hoping to revive the two-state solution.

San Diego, United States - Godzilla has morphed over the years, but one constant is the devotion of its fans, who celebrated the Japanese monster's 70th anniversary at the pop culture convention Comic-Con. The Japanese studio Toho, which created Godzilla, maintains a calendar of events to celebrate the beast often...

Muscat, Oman -- The nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries reached US$587.8 billion by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, up from US$579 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, reflecting a growth rate of 1.5 percent. The latest...

UN's World Food Programme said a third of the population of Gaza had not eaten for days, and 470,000 people were "enduring famine-like conditions" that were already leading to deaths.

Shanghai, China -- Serving craft beer, playing mahjong, stacking shelves and boxing, the dozens of humanoid robots at Shanghai's World AI Conference (WAIC) this weekend were embodiments of China's growing AI prowess and ambition. The annual event is primed at showcasing China's progress in the ever-evolving field of artificial intelligence,...

Washington, United States -- The US deadline of August 1 for imposing tariffs on its trading partners is firm and there will be no extensions, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday. "So no extensions, no more grace periods. August 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will...

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.

Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving sweltering heat, social stigma and inadequate facilities as she dreams of taking her team to the Paralympics. Sarmad and seven other Iraqi women who live with disabilities train three times...

Policymakers at the independent Federal Reserve have kept the benchmark lending rate steady since the start of the year as they monitor how Trump's sweeping tariffs are impacting the world's biggest economy.

Geneva, Switzerland -- The world urgently needs to find a global approach on regulating artificial intelligence, the United Nations' top tech chief said this week, warning that fragmentation could deepen risks and inequalities. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, head of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) agency, told AFP she hoped that AI...

Paris, France - France's foreign minister has called the CEO of Spanish airline Vueling to demand an "explanation" after dozens of French teenagers, all Jewish, were removed from a flight this week, Paris said on Saturday. During an incident on Wednesday, the Spanish airline said it had asked the adolescents...

The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with international NGOs warning of soaring malnutrition among children.

Syrian diplomatic source said Saturday that a US-mediated meeting with Israeli officials in Paris this week sought to "contain the escalation" after recent sectarian violence in southern Syria prompted Israeli intervention.

The US president argued that the Palestinian militant group was not ready to hand over the remaining captives in Gaza because "they know what happens after you get the final hostages".

China's Premier Li Qiang warned Saturday that artificial intelligence development must be weighed against the security risks, saying global consensus was urgently needed even as the tech race between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of abating.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli military operations killed at least 23 people on Friday across the Palestinian territory, with another five killed in an overnight air strike.

When both governments and international institutions are explicitly warning businesses about geopolitical risks, traditional corporate approaches to navigating international relations are no longer sufficient. The solution isn't merely better government relations or enhanced risk management; it's the emergence of an entirely new C-suite role: the Chief Geopolitical Officer (CGO), he...

Q2 net profit fell by 18% to $637 million.

"The negative statements of the US envoy Witkoff run completely counter to the context in which the last negotiations were held, and he is perfectly aware of this, but they come to serve the Israeli position," said Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim.

London, United Kingdom -- New UK age verification measures to prevent children accessing harmful online content came into force on Friday, with campaigners hailing them a "milestone" in their years-long battle for stronger regulations. Under the new rules, to be enforced by Britain's media watchdog, websites and apps hosting potentially...

United Nations, United States -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians starving in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience." "I cannot explain the level of indifference and inaction we...

Chinese Premier Li Qiang dismissed EU fears over Beijing's allegedly excessive subsidies to its industry, telling the bloc's leaders "we can't afford it" in markedly candid remarks during a tense summit.

The US special envoy for Syria said he held talks with Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris on Thursday on de-escalating sectarian violence in Syria.