News Bites

Real Estate

• Getting into real estate in some countries in the Middle East is not easy (minus Dubai), that being said, it may be getting easier! An online investment firm operating in the fintech space plans to expand its footprint in the region to assist online buyers 🤖

• Looks like more Palestinian land is getting sold in North America. Protesters were seen outside of the real estate expos trying to stop the sale of lands within the occupied West Bank

• Trump still trying to stay relevant by pushing for a $4 Billion dollar real estate deal in Oman. Would you purchase a villa in the upcoming “Trump Signature Villas” project? It’s expected to sell out! 🤔

Economy

• 8% inflation can be really bad… try 67% 😱 Turkiye’s annual inflation rocketed for the month of February amidst credit upgrades and fiscal/monetary tightening. Sidenote, Egypt also hit 35.7% inflation in February 🫠 

• Saudi Arabia is BOOMING! (and not just with sand and oil). The non-oil sector growing is in line with MBS’s vision of economic modernization. Don’t let that fool you though, the economy still overwhelmingly relies on oil exports… and there is still a lot of sand in Saudi too… 🏝

• Speaking of Saudi Arabia’s modernization efforts, the Public Investment Fund is inching closer to the $1 Trillion mark. This puts it in the TOP 5 public sovereign wealth funds in the world and will likely continue to grow still 💰

Arts and Culture

• Think traffic problems are just for us common peeps? Turns out A-list celebs were forced to face it on their way to the Oscars 😱 (oh the horror!) What caused the 5-min delay to the broadcast? Pro-Palestine protesters who turned up in the thousands near the red carpet in LA 💪🏾 P.S. Check out which celebs rocked “Ceasefire” pins at the ceremony!

• Think you’re fancy? Qatar’s got an exhibition just on silk 💁🏽‍♀️ Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art has collaborated with Washington institution to bring the history of textiles to life - P.S. it’s on till June 22

• Traditional tunes, face painting for the kids (or the adults, we won’t judge), delicious bites, and Ramadan vibes will be on from March 21-31 at District 1 Mall in Bahrain 🇧🇭 Check out the full schedule here

Technology

• The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban, in the greatest threat to the app since the Trump administration. That means we might see fewer people doing dances on the streets (booo, we like seeing people bust out an embarrassing move)🕺🏾

• Jeddah’s Abdulaziz Abdullah Sharbatly mosque is the world’s first 3D-printed mosque 🤯 The Kingdom's got its eyes on technological innovation in the region and we see the proof! (P.S. if we get a big enough printer, could we print ourselves a house?? we will also accept 3-D printed shawarmas) 🥙

• Abu Dhabi has established a new technology investment firm named MGX to accelerate artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to enhance its future economy (hey, hey, Saudi, you got competition 👀). MGX will focus on: AI infrastructure (including data centers and connectivity), semiconductors, and core technology (AI models, software, data, life sciences, and robotics). The baby daddies are Mubadala Investment Company and the AI and cloud computing firm G42 🏦 

✨ akhbaar Spotlight ✨

Growing up in the Middle East and the US, and moving around countries like global citizens - these Pakistani American sisters couldn’t find lipsticks in their shade…so they went ahead and created their own 💪🏾💄

If you want to support a female-led brand that’s making waves for people of colour, then find your perfect Nudiversal lippie and liner match NOW!

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