Author: Arabian Media staff

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Huawei’s founder said the US was exaggerating the Chinese chipmaker’s capabilities and played down his company’s technology amid trade talks between Beijing and Washington that include discussions of export controls.In a rare interview with China’s state-run People’s Daily on Tuesday, Ren Zhengfei said Huawei’s Ascend chip, the main rival to Nvidia’s products in China, “still lags behind the US by one generation”. He added that the “US has exaggerated Huawei’s capabilities — we’re not that strong yet”.Ren’s comments come as Nvidia chief…

From recapitalising rural banks to propping up the stock market, Central Huijin, an arm of China’s sovereign wealth fund, has supported the country’s financial system since its launch two decades ago. But over the past year, the scale of its interventions has thrust it into the spotlight. Central Huijin’s holdings of exchange traded funds soared past Rmb1tn ($140bn) in 2024, a seven-fold increase year on year, as the government ordered stimulus measures aimed at boosting the economy.Beijing has made clear its desire to build bigger financial institutions to help its already state-dominated financial sector navigate economic and market turmoil. Central Huijin,…

Image courtesy: WAM Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has reported that a total of 1,673,230 (1.67 million) Hajj pilgrims visited Mecca for the year 1446 AH. Of the total number, 1,506,576 pilgrims arrived from outside the kingdom through various entry points. The remaining — 166,654 pilgrims — were domestic, consisting of both Saudi citizens and residents. Hajj pilgrims by gender Breaking down the numbers by gender: 877,841 male pilgrims performed the Hajj, with 795,389 female pilgrims completing the rituals, the statistics authority reported. As the kingdom’s official statistical authority, GASTAT is the exclusive provider of official statistics in…

Image: WAM/ For illustrative purposes Dubai Police has been named the most reputable and strongest police force globally, according to a new study by Brand Finance. The force received a top-tier AAA+ rating and scored 9.2 out of 10 in the Institutional Brand Value Index, outperforming counterparts across 10 countries in a study involving feedback from over 8,000 stakeholders. The global evaluation assessed public perceptions on criteria including professionalism, integrity, effectiveness, fairness, and transparency. Dubai Police’s performance was credited to its strong community trust, ethical standards, clear communication, and innovative service delivery. The force also maintained a robust presence across…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Australia’s corporate regulator has moved to speed up the listing process to try to reverse the biggest slump in initial public offerings for more than a decade. Only a few large listings have occurred on the Australian Securities Exchange in the past three years as companies have looked to private markets to raise funds. A larger number of companies have delisted as takeover activity has picked up.Kicking off a regulatory review, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said on Tuesday it would start…

Image: Getty Images/ For illustrative purposes Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.4 per cent in Q1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to new data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Saturday. The growth was primarily driven by a 4.9 per cent increase in non-oil activities and a 3.2 per cent rise in government activities, the report showed. Meanwhile, oil activities saw a slight decline of 0.5 per cent year-on-year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP grew by 1.1 per cent compared to Q4 2024. Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Eurostar plans to launch new services from London to Frankfurt and Geneva to meet rising business demand for greener travel, as it faces the long-term prospect of competition on its cross-channel services.The rail group unveiled a plan for expansion into the two key European finance hubs, including new services from Amsterdam and Brussels to Geneva, with an indeterminate timing of the “early 2030s”.Eurostar last year said it aimed to invest €2bn in 50 new trains, expanding its fleet to 67, but has…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK has ended years of uncertainty over the future of its nuclear industry by pledging £11.5bn of new state funding for the Sizewell C project in Suffolk, taking the total taxpayer investment in the site to £17.8bn. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce the record public investment in nuclear energy on Tuesday, telling attendees at the GMB Congress that she is ending “years of delay” over Sizewell, which will support the creation of 10,000 jobs. Although Reeves has had to make tough decisions in…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK retail spending growth slowed to its weakest pace this year in May, according to new data, casting doubt on the strength of consumer resilience.The value of retail sales increased at an annual rate of 1 per cent in May, the lowest rate in 2025 and well below the average of 2.5 per cent between January and May, according to figures published by the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday.The figure also lagged behind the April inflation rate of 3.4 per cent, suggesting a…

Images: Supplied With the launch of WHOOP 5.0 and the medical-grade WHOOP MG, founder and CEO Will Ahmed is ushering in a new era for wearable technology — one that goes far beyond fitness tracking. In this interview with Gulf Business, the health tech pioneer shares how the latest innovations position the brand as a central operating system for human health. From AI-powered insights that drive meaningful behaviour change to the platform’s growing popularity in the Middle East, Ahmed outlines how WHOOP is redefining performance, longevity, and recovery for its global user base. What makes the WHOOP 5.0 launch a…