Category: World

Hassan Allam Construction has secured a contract valued at about $250 million to deliver the new headquarters of the African Export-Import Bank in Egypt, marking one of the most significant institutional construction awards in the country’s financial infrastructure sector this year. The project will house Afreximbank’s global headquarters and is positioned as a flagship development reflecting the lender’s expanding role in trade finance across the continent.The agreement covers the turnkey construction of a comprehensive campus, including the main headquarters building

Alphabet Inc is positioned to record a sizeable paper profit after a major insider share transaction at SpaceX valued the aerospace company at about $800 billion, a level that could significantly uplift the book value of Alphabet’s long-held stake in the Elon Musk-led venture. The valuation, anchored by a tender offer pricing shares at roughly $421 each, more than doubles earlier benchmarks and underscores the growing financial impact of SpaceX’s private market performance on one of the world’s largest technology

China has imposed sanctions on a retired senior Japanese military officer, accusing him of colluding with what Beijing describes as separatist forces in Taiwan, a move that underscores sharpening tensions in East Asia and Beijing’s growing readiness to penalise foreign individuals it says undermine its sovereignty claims.The Chinese foreign ministry announced punitive measures against Katsutoshi Kawano, who served as Japan’s chief of joint staff until his retirement in 2019 and was the country’s top uniformed officer at the time. Officials

Google has expanded its cultural mapping ambitions with the debut of the Google Art Project, a digital platform that places high-resolution artworks and virtual museum galleries within reach of anyone with an internet connection. The initiative extends the company’s mapping tools beyond streets and landmarks, offering close-up access to paintings, sculptures and artefacts held by leading museums across Europe, North America and Asia.Launched as a collaboration with major cultural institutions, the project allows users to explore museum interiors using Street

The United States government’s approval for Nvidia to export its powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips to China has upended expectations across global technology markets and deepened debate over export controls and strategic competitiveness. President Donald Trump confirmed that U. S. authorities will permit sales of Nvidia’s H200 processors to approved Chinese customers under a regime that levies a 25 per cent levy on such transactions, a policy intended to balance economic interests with national security priorities. Trump’s announcement excluded the

A proposal in the House of Lords to restrict the use of virtual private networks by under-16s has reignited debate over child online safety, digital privacy and the enforceability of age-based controls. The amendment, put forward during scrutiny of the government’s online safety framework, aims to prevent children from using VPNs to bypass age checks on social media, adult content platforms and other regulated online services.Supporters of the move argue that VPNs have become a routine tool for circumventing safeguards

Pick n Pay has accelerated its push into in-store financial services, positioning its supermarket network as a bridge between formal banking and millions of consumers who remain underserved by traditional financial institutions across South Africa. The retailer says the initiative is aimed at turning everyday shopping locations into secure, affordable access points for essential financial services, particularly in townships, rural areas and lower-income urban neighbourhoods.The group’s strategy centres on embedding payments, savings and transaction services into its existing retail footprint,

European Union regulators have opened a fresh competition investigation into Google, examining whether the search engine is undermining publishers and content creators by failing to pay fairly for their material while setting conditions that could disadvantage those unwilling to share content for artificial intelligence training.The European Commission said the inquiry will focus on Google Search and YouTube, with particular attention on how content is used to train and power AI-driven services. Officials are assessing whether Google has imposed unfair terms

Warnings that Japanese companies face existential risks if supply chains linked to China are disrupted are sharpening the debate in Tokyo over economic security, diversification and the costs of geopolitical strain in East Asia.Hidetoshi Tashiro, chief economist at Infinity LLC and chief executive of Terra Nexus Project Management Services, said the most serious danger from worsening Japan–China relations lies not in tariffs or diplomacy but in the dense web of supply chains binding the two economies. He argued that nearly

Australia has begun enforcing a landmark social media restriction aimed at limiting how platforms interact with users under 16, triggering debate among teenagers who question whether the policy addresses the realities of online life or simply shifts responsibility away from technology companies.The measures, introduced through updates to the Online Safety Act and reinforced by regulatory directives to major platforms, require companies such as Meta, TikTok, Snap and X to strengthen age-verification processes, restrict targeted features for minors, and face heavy

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale struck northeastern Japan on Friday, triggering a tsunami advisory and prompting authorities to urge coastal communities to remain alert while assessments were carried out. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake occurred offshore, with tremors felt across parts of the Tohoku region, an area that remains closely monitored because of its seismic history.Officials said the advisory was issued as a precautionary measure, a standard response when earthquakes of this strength

Nairobi — Kenya’s commercial banks have begun to implement a revised risk-based credit pricing framework that standardises how loan interest rates are set, driven by directives from the Central Bank of Kenya aimed at enhancing transparency and aligning borrowing costs with market conditions. Banks are now required to price variable-rate, Kenya-Shilling loans using a common reference rate plus a risk-adjusted premium, a shift designed to tighten the link between monetary policy and retail lending and improve comparability for customers.

Global development officials are assessing faltering progress on sustainable development targets as the United Nations Development Programme warns that economies and communities face mounting pressures from climate shocks, widening inequality, and geopolitical instability. The review comes at a time when the Global Environment Outlook 7 underscores the scale of environmental disruption, projecting that unchecked climate change could shave about 4 per cent off annual global GDP by 2050 while driving loss of life and amplifying forced migration. The

Australia’s attempt to block under-16s from accessing major social media platforms was immediately challenged as teenagers bypassed the new restrictions within hours, surfacing concerns over the policy’s design, its rapid rollout, and the possibility that younger users could drift towards platforms with fewer safeguards. The ban, introduced as part of a national response to mounting concerns over online harm, requires platforms including Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube to verify that users are over 16 before granting access.Authorities

McDonald’s Netherlands has withdrawn its Christmas commercial built with generative artificial intelligence after an extraordinary wave of criticism from viewers who found the creative execution and message off-putting and disconnected from seasonal sentiment. The advertisement, designed to run through the festive period, was taken down from the company’s official YouTube channel just days after its release, reflecting growing public scepticism about AI-assisted advertising.The 45-second spot, produced by Dutch agency TBWANeboko in partnership with AI specialist The Gardening Club and

Senegal is moving to start construction of a domestic gas pipeline network before the end of 2025, marking a decisive step in its strategy to channel offshore gas discoveries into power generation and industrial development. The announcement from Petroleum and Energies Minister Birame Soulèye Diop signals that the government aims to accelerate the transition from planning to execution as major gas projects come onstream.The minister confirmed that Réseau Gazier du Sénégal, the state-owned midstream operator, is preparing to begin physical

A federal judge has granted Kalshi a temporary stay against enforcement by Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, pausing a directive that ordered Kalshi — along with Robinhood Derivatives and Crypto. com — to stop offering sports-event contracts to residents. The move underscores the intensifying legal battle between state regulators framing such contracts as illegal gambling and the platform’s claim that its products fall under federal derivatives regulation by Commodity Futures Trading Commission.The DCP’s cease-and-desist letters, issued on 2 December,

The US Supreme Court indicated during oral arguments that it is prepared to permit the president to remove leaders of independent federal agencies at will — a move that could weaken decades-old protections shielding regulatory bodies from political control. The case centers on the dismissal of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission, and touches on the fate of more than two dozen agencies governed by similar “for-cause” removal statutes. The justices heard heated argument over whether the longstanding

Australia has committed roughly A$1.4 billion to accelerate the MQ-28A Ghost Bat from prototype into active service, after the uncrewed combat jet successfully fired an air-to-air missile during a live weapons trial. On 8 December at the test range near Woomera, a Ghost Bat armed with a AIM-120 AMRAAM destroyed an aerial drone target — validating the platform’s combat-ready status.The Ghost Bat — the first combat aircraft designed and built in Australia in more than 50 years — flew