A US central bank official said that more interest rate hikes "will likely be needed" to bring inflation down further, shortly after policymakers lifted rates to the highest level since 2001. Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman said she supported the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee's decision for a rate hike...

NEW YORK, US - Two senior UN humanitarian officials have called for more funding and fewer bureaucratic impediments to support civilians affected by the crisis in Sudan, including roughly 14 million children.Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations at the UN children’s agency (UNICEF), and Edem...

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices soared more than a dollar a barrel on Friday to record a sixth consecutive week of gains, after top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia extended supply cuts through September, adding to undersupply concerns.Brent crude futures rose $1.10, or 1.3%, to settle at $86.24 a barrel, while the...

The US military says Iran has either seized or attempted to take control of nearly 20 internationally flagged ships in the region over the past two years. Washington said its forces blocked two attempts by Iran to seize commercial tankers in international waters off Oman on July 5, while Tehran...

Dubai, UAE--Trade in goods and services amounted to US$ 31 trillion in 2022, a 13% rise year-on-year. According to the World Trade Statistical Review 2023, issued by the World Trade Organization, while trade in goods exceeded pre-pandemic levels already in 2021, trade in services caught up in 2022. China remained...

On July 11, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that Iraq would start paying for Iranian gas with oil, as a way of circumventing the complicated mechanism. "Work is continuing with the American side concerning unpaid bills, which have fallen to 9.2 billion" euros ($10 billion), Sudani told reporters at...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - ADNOC and Occidental on Tuesday signed a strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) to evaluate potential investment opportunities in carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) hubs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United States (US), with a view to developing a carbon management platform to accelerate...

China accounts for 94 percent of the world's production of gallium -- used in integrated circuits, LEDs and photovoltaic panels -- according to a report by the European Union published this year. For germanium, essential for fiber optics and infrared, China makes up 83 percent of production.

European regulators in January had dismissed the previous legal basis -- "legitimate interest" -- Meta had used to justify gathering users' personal data for targeted advertising.

The closed-door meeting was one of the highest-level known gatherings of US and Afghan government officials in months, with the Washington team headed by Special Representative Thomas West and Kabul's by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The US statement did not, however, identify the Afghan representatives -- describing them only...

Profits fell on lower refining margins, natural gas prices.

Brussels, Belgium - The European Commission on Thursday announced an antitrust probe into Microsoft bundling its Teams communication app with its popular Office suite, on concerns it could be cutting out competitors.The investigation, to see whether the US software giant is "abusing and defending its market position" through the practice, comes...

Analysts are divided ahead of the Fed's next decision in September, with the so-called "hawks" predicting additional rate hikes in the face of strong economic data, and "doves" expecting an end to the current hiking cycle given recent inflation data.

The air force jet was on a training exercise when it crashed on Wednesday in the south of the country, killing its crew, according to the kingdom's defense ministry. The statement from the ministry said that the accident resulted in the "martyrdom of the aircrew" without specifying exactly how many...

Revenue accelerated 25 percent to US$877 million.

Profits jumped 52 percent to $2.6 billion .

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to bring his controversial proposal to curb the power of judges to a vote in the Knesset as soon as Monday. The proposal triggered dueling protests over the weekend between supporters of the proposal and those who fear it will undermine Israel's democracy.

Dubai, UAE-- Bahrain and the US have reaffirmed their commitment to freedom of navigation in international waters. They reiterated the importance of ensuring safe passage for commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and condemned acts that put freedom of navigation in jeopardy.The joint statement came after a meeting between...

Asian equities wobbled at the end of a draining week as fresh US jobs data put revived bets on two more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, adding to ongoing worries about China's economy. Investors have largely been on the back foot since Beijing announced a big miss on second-quarter growth.

The US-Arab Strategic Dialogue discussed Middle East peace and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, among other issues. The dialogue concluded successfully and the US and Arab League issued a joint statement on several issues. They statement said that they will counter terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms.

The spike in numbers comes after password crackdown.

Until now, Palestinians with United States citizenship could not enter Israel through Ben Gurion airport without obtaining visas, but had to enter through Jordan. Citizens of 40 countries are exempt from visas for short stays in the United States for leisure or business.

Broadcom is seeking to expand into the software market.

The G20 talks come after Russia on Monday refused to extend a deal allowing critical Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, sparking outrage from the United Nations, which has warned millions of the world's poorest would "pay the price". World Bank president Ajay Banga said he feared a lack...

The Norwegian watchdog, Datatilsynet, said Meta uses information such as the location of users, the content they like and their posts for marketing purposes. "The Norwegian Data Protection Authority considers that the practice of Meta is illegal and is therefore imposing a temporary ban of behavioural advertising on Facebook and...

Dubai, UAE - The United States has announced plans to bolster its military presence in the Middle East in response to Iran's recent actions involving the seizure and harassment of commercial shipping vessels in key waterways. Reuters reported on Monday. The Pentagon will be sending additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets,...

NEW YORK, US – In the last three years, poverty rates in low-and lower-middle-income countries have surged, with the number of additional individuals living on less than $3.65-a-day reaching 165 million by 2023, said a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in a new policy brief.According to the policy brief ‘The...

Record heat is forecast around the world from the United States, where tens of millions are battling dangerously high temperatures, to Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming. The heatwaves come after EU's climate monitoring service said the world saw its hottest June on...

Results of large US banks released underscored the boon from higher interest rates, as executives described the world's biggest economy as "resilient" but facing risks. JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo all enjoyed the benefits of being able to charge higher rates on loans, while not suffering much from elevated...

ExxonMobil will acquire Denbury for $4.9 billion.

IDB will fund renewable projects by joining ETAF platform.

London, United Kingdom - World stock markets mostly rose Wednesday as investors jockeyed for position before key US inflation data.London equities climbed after the Bank of England announced that all major UK retail lenders passed stress tests to assess their resilience to economic shocks.Frankfurt and Paris also advanced before the week's...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM- The European Commission approved US chipmaker Broadcom's planned $61 billion takeover of cloud computing firm VMware on Wednesday, conditional on the company fulfilling certain commitments to ease competition concerns.The massive deal had raised concerns about competition, prompting probes by antitrust watchdogs in the European Union and Britain.The commission said...

Despite overwhelming condemnation of the Muslim holy book being desecrated, the vote brought more division than unity as Western nations said that more negotiation could have resulted in a unanimous consensus. Pakistan and other Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries brought forward a resolution after an Iraqi refugee burnt pages...

The Iraqi prime minister said the decision to pay for Iranian gas imports with oil corresponds with the mechanism agreed with the US in order not to violate the sanctions. Gas is crucial for Iraq's electricity generation, but US sanctions on Iranian oil and gas impose restrictions on how Baghdad...

Threads, billed as the killer of Twitter, a platform that has tumbled into chaos under the leadership of mercurial tycoon Elon Musk, has added more than 100 million users in its first week in app stores.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - A powerful alliance of pro-Iran factions in Iraq called on Sunday on Baghdad to pressure the United States to unlock pending payments to Tehran for crucial gas imports.Iraq, ravaged by decades of conflict and international sanctions, relies on gas imported from its eastern neighbor for a third of...

Asian stocks tumbled again after another round of strong US data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will resume its interest rate hikes as officials wrestle with stubbornly high inflation. After a strong start to the week fueled by signs that US prices were stabilizing, regional markets have taken a turn...

For years, Facebook's algorithm automatically moved posts lower in the feed if they were flagged by one of the platform's third-party fact-checking partners, including AFP, reducing the visibility of false or misleading content. Under a new "content reduced by fact-checking" option that now appears in Facebook's settings, users have flexibility...

Dubai, UAE -- Kuwait ranked third and Qatar 22nd on the list -- prepared by the World of Statistics -- of the countries with large millionaire populations.About 15 percent of Kuwaitis were millionaires, after Hong Kong's 15.3 percent and Switzerland, which had the highest number of millionaires (15.5 percent) in...

Global glut of semiconductors hurts company's core memory sector.

In the northwest United States they say the average expanse of forest destroyed by wildfires annually doubled between 1984 and 2015 as a result of human-induced warming -- an area bigger than Switzerland. Despite the efficient strategy and a prevention campaign -- most forest blazes are sparked by humans --...

MENA is an important market for Verition.

France could very well walk into the embrace of far-right politics, if Macron doesn’t hew his governance closer to what French people had bargained for.

The country received the fourth largest number of greenfield projects (997), an 84 per cent increase, behind only India (1008), the UK (1230) and the US (2075), according to the UN Investment Report 2023. UAE's impressive numbers led to an increase of the projects in West Asia by two thirds.

WASHINGTON, US-  Google revealed seven new features to be added to Google Chat, a communication and collaboration tool, to enhance the user experience on the app.The upcoming additions include the integration of Gmail features, improved editing, quoting options, and the ability to include apps in personal conversations.One of the standout...

In April, several OPEC+ members opted to slash production voluntarily by more than one million bpd -- a surprise move that briefly raised prices but failed to bring about lasting price recovery.

In Beijing, Yellen will discuss how the United States views its economic relationship with China, a senior Treasury official said Sunday. She will meet with senior Chinese officials and leading US firms, the American spokesperson said without providing specifics.

New York, US - The number of people suffering from drug use disorders has surged by 45 percent over the past decade, reaching a staggering 39.5 million individuals, reveals the recently released UN Drug Report 2023.The report highlights a substantial increase in global drug usage, with over 296 million people...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran has earned revenue to the tune of $54 billion last year from the export of oil, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate. OPEC members earned about $888 billion in net oil export revenue last year. That’s what the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates in...