Lando Norris drew a line in the sand after his trying time in Bahrain last weekend and bossed a second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday marred by a crash for Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda

At the crack of the starter's gun, and as a Chinese pop song "I Believe" blared out from loudspeakers on repeat, the robots queued up one by one and took their first tentative steps.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons - an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Stocks later rallied after Trump announced a 90-day pause on additional higher tariffs that were set to impact around 80 countries. Today, trade tensions persist as governments and business leaders negotiate tariffs rates and exemption policies, fuelling uncertainty and turbulence in financial markets, he adds.

Gaza's civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said early Friday that crews had "recovered the bodies of 10 martyrs and a large number of wounded from the house of the Baraka family and the neighboring houses" following Israeli strikes east of Khan Yunis in Gaza's south.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia’s merchandise imports increased 8 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 72.6 billion ($19.34 billion) in January, according to data issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). Meanwhile, merchandise imports fell by 8 percent, or nearly SAR 6.4 billion, month-on-month (MoM). Machinery and mechanical appliances,...

Jerusalem, Undefined -- By seizing large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Israel is redrawing the map of the Palestinian territory, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, making it increasingly "unlivable". On Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military has transformed vast areas representing 30 percent of...

Beijing, China -- While China's leaders use their economic and political might to fight Donald Trump's trade war "to the end", its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. The US president's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports...

Washington, United States - A US judge on Thursday ruled that Google illegally wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market, in a legal blow that could rattle the tech giant's revenue engine. The federal government and more than a dozen US states filed the antitrust suit against Alphabet-owned...

Egypt's central bank on Thursday announced that it was lowering interest rates for the first time since 2020, days after the government announced a reduction in fuel subsidies.

The US military said it had destroyed a key Yemeni fuel port as it targets the country's Huthi rebels, who said Friday that 20 people had been killed in the strikes.

The Palestinian militants' chief negotiator spoke out after civil defence rescuers in Gaza said new Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people, most of them in camps for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, "most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded". After Israel declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone in December 2023,...

Washington, United States -- A US judge on Thursday ruled that Google wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market in a blow that could rattle the tech giant's revenue engine. The federal government and more than a dozen US states filed the antitrust suit against Alphabet-owned Google, accusing...

Its net revenue for the quarter soared nearly 42%.

The GCC’s luxury hospitality sector has become a global benchmark, yet behind every polished facade lies an increasingly complex financial reality. Costs are rising, investor expectations are shifting, and technological disruption continues to redefine both guest expectations and operational models. At the heart of this transformation is a simple but...

Qatar is to renew a $60 million grant to pay the salaries of Lebanon's army and provide 162 military vehicles, the two countries said on Wednesday following Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's first official visit to the Gulf state.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that Iran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran for talks.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - This weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the final leg of the first 'triple header' of the season. From Suzuka in Japan, to the desert of Bahrain, Formula One now pitches up on the shores of the Red Sea in Jeddah.AFP Sport looks at five talking...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered security chiefs and negotiators to keep pressing for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, where Israel resumed air and ground attacks on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Paris, France -- Meta will start using public posts and comments by its European users to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models from May 27, unless users opt out of the data-mining project. Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said earlier this week that it would develop its...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Total bank credit granted to the public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia reached its highest level at over SAR 3.042 trillion by the end of February 2025, according to the monthly statistical bulletin issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for that month. This marks...

Geneva, Switzerland -- Years of negotiations culminated early Wednesday with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding the mistakes made during the Covid-19 crisis. After more than three years of talks and one last marathon session, weary delegates at the...

UNCTAD report '"Trade and Development Foresights 2025 – Under pressure: Uncertainty reshapes global economic prospects” cited mounting threats including trade policy shocks, financial volatility and a surge in uncertainty that risk derailing the global outlook.

Tourism has long been celebrated for its economic benefits, driving 9.1 percent of global GDP at just over $9.9 trillion in 2023, supporting nearly 330 million jobs worldwide, fostering cultural exchange and uniting nations besides serving as a powerful engine for economic growth and development.Yet, beneath the glossy surface lies...

The United States on Tuesday announced the approval of an $825 million sale of up to 600 Stinger anti-air missiles and related equipment to Morocco.

Cambridge, United States - President Donald Trump escalated his war against elite US universities Tuesday with a threat to strip Harvard's tax-exempt status if the country's most famous educational establishment refuses to submit to wide-ranging government oversight. Harvard stands out for defying Trump, in contrast to several other universities and...

Nvidia on Tuesday notified regulators that it expects a $5.5 billion hit this quarter due to a new US licensing requirement on the primary chip it can legally sell in China.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.

Fakse, Denmark -- They have names, faces and email addresses, but the five new colleagues at Denmark's Royal Unibrew only exist in the virtual realm, which the brewer hails as a milestone to unleash the full potential of its staff. "What we as humans are good at is our creativity,...

Paris, France -- French group Hermes overtook LVMH as the world's most valuable luxury company on Tuesday after shares in the Louis Vuitton maker tumbled following weaker-than-expected quarterly sales. The market capitalization of Hermes reached 248.6 billion euros ($280.5 billion) at the close of trading in Paris, topping LVMH's 244.4...

Paris, France -- Global oil demand will be lower than previously forecast this year as rising trade tensions weigh on the economic outlook, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. While US imports of oil, gas and refined products have been exempted from President Donald Trump's tariffs, his other levies have...

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha. Qatar has been a key backer of the new administration in Damascus after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December.

Beirut, Lebanon - The once unthinkable disarmament of Hezbollah could finally be within reach, as the United States pushes Lebanon to act and applies pressure to the group's backer Iran over its nuclear programme, analysts said. Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel,...

Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of a new round of talks planned between the foes.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy said Monday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was open to a "permanent peace" deal with Ukraine, following talks seeking to end the more than three-year war.

Hamas has informed the mediators that it is willing to agree to any proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the entry of aid.

"The two sides emphasized the importance of strengthening economic cooperation... they agreed to work toward a package of direct Qatari investments totaling $7.5 billion, to be implemented over the next phase," Qatari official media said, citing the statement.

Muscat, Oman -- Travel and tourism sector's contribution to the Gulf's GDP by the end of 2024 reached approximately 11.4 percent, with a value of $247.1 billion. The latest data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) indicated that the growth rate...

Ajman, UAE --  Real estate transactions in Ajman reached AED 2.06 billion ($560 million) in March 2025, marking a significant increase of over 41 percent compared to the same period in 2024. Omar bin Omair Al Muhairi, Director-General of the Ajman's Department of Land and Real Estate Regulation, said the...

Jakarta, Indonesia -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Qatar is set to invest $2 billion in his country's new sovereign wealth fund as he looks to boost economic growth. Prabowo is on a five-nation tour of the Middle East, visiting the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan to...

 The Saudi-led oil cartel said in a monthly report that it now expects demand to grow by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, down from a previous forecast of 1.4 million bpd. The "minor adjustment" was mainly due to first-quarter data and "the expected impact on oil demand...

China said Monday that exports soared 12.4 percent year-on-year last month, beating expectations as Beijing navigated mounting trade headwinds sparked by US President Donald Trump.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed at least 34 people was "a horrible thing."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron over his plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

Analysts had said the US would push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran's ballistic missile programme, along with Tehran's support for the "axis of resistance" -- a network of militant groups opposed to Israel.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST) has said that the Saudi space economy reached $8.7 billion last year, including all value-added activities and industries from space technologies and services. The size of the space market reached $1.9 billion, according to the KSA Space Market 2025...

Washington, United States -- The US defense secretary reiterated Sunday that the United States hopes for a diplomatic solution to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but if that failed the military was ready "to go deep and to go big." US and Iranian diplomats opened indirect talks Saturday...

Damascus, Syria -- Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose war-devastated country seeks Gulf financial support, traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for his first visit since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow, state media said. Nearly a week after rebels toppled Assad in December, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said his...

There were no reports of casualties in the strike and the Israeli military told AFP they were looking into the incident. The civil defense agency in the Hamas-run territory said Israel's air force targeted a building of the Al-Ahli hospital, also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab hospital, in...