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Government Chiefs and Tech Leaders Gather in Paris for AI Summit

This is Beirut, 10/02 09:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Political and tech industry leaders were set to descend on Paris Monday for a two-day summit on artificial intelligence, hoping to find common ground on a technology with the potential to upset global business and society. Co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the gathering's stated aims include ...

January Sets 'Surprising' Heat Record: EU Monitor

This is Beirut, 06/02 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Europe Climate Change Copernicus

Last month was the hottest January on record, Europe's climate monitor said Thursday, despite expectations that cooler La Nina conditions might quell a streak of record-breaking global temperatures. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said January was 1.75C hotter than pre-industrial times, extending a persistent run of history-making highs ...

Sweden Announces Record 1.2 Billion Dollars in Military Aid to Ukraine

This is Beirut, 30/01 18:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Europe Kyiv Ukraine

Sweden's government on Thursday pledged an additional $1.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, saying Europe needed to prepare to shoulder a larger part in supporting Kyiv. Defense Minister Pal Jonson said the package, the country's 18th since Russia's 2022 invasion, was the largest to date and was a sign that Sweden was ready to support Ukraine ...

Dubai Airport Sets a Record with 92.3 Million Passengers in 2024

This is Beirut, 30/01 14:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United Arab Emirates Europe Dubai's airport

A record 92.3 million passengers travelled through Dubai's international airport last year, its operator said on Thursday, underlining the Gulf city's economic boom. The figure broke the previous high of 89.1 million in 2018, Dubai Airports said, despite regional tensions caused by the Gaza war and last April's unprecedented floods which badly ...

Rwanda, DR Congo Leaders in Crisis Summit as Goma's Fate Hangs in Balance

This is Beirut, 29/01 09:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

UN Security Council Europe Goma

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma. The M23 armed group took control of Goma's airport on Tuesday, a security source said, following days of intense clashes that ...

Nvidia Loses $500 bn in Value as Chinese AI Firm Jolts Tech Shares

This is Beirut, 27/01 20:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Europe United States AI Nvidia

US chip-maker Nvidia led a rout in tech stocks Monday after the emergence of a low-cost Chinese generative AI model that could threaten US dominance in the fast-growing industry. The chatbot developed by DeepSeek, a startup based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has apparently shown the ability to match the capacity of US AI pace-setters ...

EU to Agree Easing Syria Sanctions

This is Beirut, 27/01 10:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Europe European Union

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to agree Monday to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. "It is a step for step approach," Kallas said at the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the move. Europe is keen to help the reconstruction of the war-ravaged ...

IMF chief tells Europe to take page out of US book

This is Beirut, 24/01 16:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

International Monetary Fund Europe USA Donald Trump Davos

With the European economy lagging behind the United States, the head of the International Monetary Fund had a piece advice for the continent on Friday: "Believe in yourself." There was much handwringing about Europe losing its competitive edge at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, with the European Union racing to act to catch up with ...

Eastern Patriarchs: The Challenge of Unity

Fady Noun, 24/01 08:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Europe Middle East USA Christians Lebanon

The unity of Christians has never been more vital amid the evolving realities of the Middle East. The “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” observed from January 18 to 25, offers a timely opportunity to reaffirm this essential mission. This annual tradition boasts a complex history. It originated from the 19th-century ecumenical movement aimed ...

Germany's Crisis-Hit Economy Casts Shadow Over Election

This is Beirut, 23/01 10:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Europe Germany Donald Trump Economy

Auto industry jobs have long been the lifeblood of the German town of Luedenscheid but now, a trade union official says, the sector's woes have sparked fears it will turn into an "open-air industrial museum". Insolvencies and layoffs have cast doubt on the town's future prosperity, echoing wider anxieties in Europe's biggest economy as it heads ...

Cyprus tourist arrivals topped four million in 2024

This is Beirut, 20/01 11:15 - Reading : less than a minute

Europe Israel Middle East

Cyprus tourist arrivals exceeded four million for the first time last year despite devastating wars in the nearby Middle East, official figures showed on Friday. Tourism Minister Costas Koumis called the figures a "historic achievement" with income expected to exceed three billion euros for the first time. But he warned that the island, which ...

TikTok Restores Service in US, Thanking Trump

This is Beirut, 20/01 09:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump Tik Tok US Supreme Court Europe Los Angeles

TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. The video-sharing platform credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible – though the outgoing administration of President ...

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