News Bites

Economy

• BELIEVE IT OR NOT, some experts are confident that the GCC are meant to play a pivotal role in climate change efforts. How will they do it amidst all the oil refineries, desalination plants, unsustainable tourist traps, etc…🌱 tune in here

• The occupation of Palestine and increased bombardment post-October 7, 2023, has shrunk the Israeli economy by 20%. It’s almost as if genocide should be avoided 🙅🏾

• China’s slowing economy is causing the price of oil to weaken, which could spell disaster for GCC countries relying on oil

Real Estate

• Sharjah (UAE) is BOOOMING with investor confidence! $1.06 Billion USD in transactions occurred in the month of January 2024 alone

• Oman has awarded massive deals worth a total of $2.58 Billion USD to change the landscape of Muscat. Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia…hold on because there may be another player on the horizon for super modernization efforts

• Sooooooo, you got some extra cash lying around from your recent crypto market gains? (The only people who seem to have the wins in crypto are bots on Twitter - no seriously) Well, maybe you would want to purchase an overpriced property in one of Dubai’s best neighborhoods. Read more about the top 5 neighborhoods in Dubai!

Arts and Culture

• We love some Palestine shout-outs during an awards show 🏆 James Wilson’s film The Zone of Interest won 3 BAFTAs, and he used his speech to call attention to innocent lives lost in Gaza and Yemen

• You better f-ing b-lieve the ultimate f&b event, Gulfoods, is back in Dubai! 5,500 exhibitors from 127 different countries are showcasing their goods under this year’s theme: “Real food. Real business.” (we make other ppl’s food our business - can we get a seat at the table?? 🤤) P.s. the exhibition is on until Feb 23 at the World Trade Centre

• Ghana’s getting gold! Ermmm…getting it BACK from the British Museum and V&A Museum, since the valuable pieces were kinda stolen during colonial times (awks). The 32 items are over 150 years old and will be displayed at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi for the next 6 years ✌🏿

Technology

• You know that friend you keep calling to photoshop/edit your stuff…you can now call Sora instead! OpenAI's Sora is a magical AI wizard who learns about our world and crafts videos just by reading text. 🧙‍♂️✨. Basically - you make the recipe of characters/actions and it creates that world in motion for you! While it can be a creator's dream, reducing costs for content creators and gaming studios, butttt legal concerns about copyright risks in marketing have been raised

• Upside of Sora?? Independent creators being able to disrupt industries like film, advertising, and education. Downside of Sora? Just a lil concern about deepfakes and manipulated realities that could totally raise questions about consciousness, human identity, and trust (like that toxic ex of yours 👀)

✨ akhbaar Spotlight ✨

The only bombs Brazil is dropping are truth bombs ☮️ President Lula compared what’s happening with the people of Gaza to what happened to Jews during Nazi Germany. History should not be repeating itself. World leaders speaking up can ensure that 👏🏾 📣

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