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Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed a multi-specialisation medical convoy in Guyana, funded by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).During the seven-day mission, the volunteering medical team from Hamad Medical Corporation and Sidra Medicine examined a total of 140 patients and performed 48 major surgeries, in light of the needs specified by the Ministry of Health, as follows: 16 cardiac catheterisations, 13 cancer surgeries, four paediatric gastrointestinal surgeries, and 15 urology surgeries.Apart from the medical team, there was a delegation from QFFD and QRCS, headed by Mohamed Ahmed al-Beshri, assistant secretary-general, Communication and Resource Development at QRCS. Members of the delegation included Dr Izzadeen Gaffar, coordinator, Medical Convoys Project at QRCS and Yousef al-Mulla, acting director of Humanitarian Aid Department at QFFD. They were received by Mohamed Ibrahim al-Rumaihi, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Qatar in Guyana, who helped facilitate the delegation’s mission and coordinate with local authorities.Two training workshops were delivered by the gynaecology and urology consultants for 38 local doctors. In addition, 30 medical professionals received on-the-job training during the procedures,Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation was supported with the medical supplies and equipment needed for cardiac catheterisation and specialised surgeries, helping upgrade the hospital’s resources and ensure continued services following the end of mission.Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, held a special reception for the Qatari delegation, in the presence of al-Rumaihi. He praised Qatar’s support for his country during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the deployment of a fully equipped field hospital and the provision of ventilators and vaccines.

Star Wars: Starfighter is filming in Britain, soundstages in Hungary are packed and post-production houses in Australia are humming, as the global film industry keeps rolling despite US President Donald Trump’s renewed threats to impose tariffs on movies made outside of the US. Trump has proposed levying a 100% tariff on films produced overseas to stem the loss of film jobs to production hubs around the world, reviving an idea he first broached in May. The initial call for tariffs jolted the film world, and temporarily halted projects and international movie finance deals as producers evaluated the potential impact of the levy on each project’s financial viability, two sources familiar with Hollywood motion-picture financing told Reuters. This time around, the reaction has been more muted. “Other than the initial flurry of ‘Oh, he’s said it again,’ people are not taking it as seriously as they did the first time around,” said Lee Stone, a partner at London law firm Lee & Thompson, who worked on the Emmy-winning Netflix show Adolescence. Trump initially called for a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country in early May, to stave off the “very fast death” of the American film industry as incentives lured filmmakers to production hubs around the world. The announcement — just weeks before the Cannes Film Festival — caused a panic. “It was terrible timing. Everyone was saying, ‘What’s going to happen?’” said Stone, noting that Trump’s threat resulted in temporary paralysis. “I’m not getting the impression that there’s the same pause this time.” Newly released data from industry researcher ProdPro reveals that while overall spending is down 15% from last year, amid a pullback in scripted television series and big-budget feature films, there is no evidence that Hollywood is abandoning global production hubs. “We’re not seeing anything in the data that suggests studios are opting to film more of their production in the US because of concern about the tariffs,” said ProdPro CEO Alexander LoVerde. The US remains the industry’s largest production hub, accounting for $16.6bn in spending over the last 12 months, according to ProdPro. However, Hollywood studios and streaming services spent even more — $24.3bn — on film and television projects produced outside the US over that same period, ProdPro reported, as they took advantage of tax credits, lower labour costs and world-class soundstages. The United Kingdom has become a major beneficiary of the Hollywood exodus, attracting $8.7bn in film and scripted TV spending over the past year, including major film productions like Star Wars: Starfighter, the much-buzzed-about next entry in the “Star Wars” saga set for release in May 2027. Canada comes in a close second with $6.4bn, according to ProdPro’s most recent report on production trends. Other regions — Australia, Ireland, Hungary and Spain — together accounted for nearly one-quarter of all production. The Covid-19 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes by US writers and actors supercharged the exodus that began years earlier. “Australia became a bit of a production bubble where particularly in Queensland, productions could continue even as the rest of the world shut down,” said University of Melbourne film expert Kirsten Stevens. Prague increased its tax breaks from 20% to 25% in January, while Britain offers relief of 25.5% on qualifying films and TV productions, with a higher rate for animated films and a new credit for smaller independent films. In places like Central Europe, a deep filmmaking tradition and lower labour costs have attracted a long list of Hollywood films including the Russo brothers’ The Gray Man, Netflix’s Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front in the Czech Republic, and Warner Bros Studios’ Dune: Part Three, which began shooting this summer in Hungary. “Hungarian soundstages are currently operating at full capacity with both international and domestic productions,” Csaba Kael, government commissioner for the development of the Hungarian Motion Picture Industry, told Reuters. Any change in US trade policy would take time to implement, Kael said. Hollywood studios have found that distributing work across multiple locations can accelerate the production timetable, allowing films to be completed faster and cheaper. “It’s not uncommon at high-end films that a bunch of work would come to Australia, but a bunch of work also might go to New Zealand and to London and to somewhere else,” said Mike Seymour, Emmy-nominated visual effects specialist and lecturer at the University of Sydney. “Sometimes the film is being worked on literally 24 hours a day because of all the time zones,” he said. For the moment, it is business as usual for filmmakers, said Stephen Weizenecker, an entertainment lawyer with Barnes & Thornburg in Atlanta. They are hoping to avoid any interruption that throws off the schedule of a production, which can result in actors, directors or even a filming location being unavailable. “The film industry dislikes uncertainty,” Weizenecker said. “Once it starts to hesitate, it means a project stops altogether.” A coalition of American film industry unions and guilds, joined by veteran actor Jon Voight, has asked Trump to consider implementing a federal tax incentive to put domestic film production on a more competitive footing with incentives offered in other countries. “What we really want is a national tax incentive that would be more effective than any tariffs,” one studio executive said. Meanwhile, a bill with bipartisan support, known as the CREATE Act, was introduced in the US Congress this past summer. It would extend a tax deduction for US productions, which is set to expire in December, and increase the cap on deductible costs. The looming threat of tariffs raises concern about the potential impact on the economy and livelihoods in production hubs around the world, if Trump follows through. “It is hard for anyone here to understand the likelihood of this coming into effect, but if it did, it would have a huge impact,” said a visual artist in the industry who declined to be named over fears of losing financing. “It would be devastating.” — Reuters

The global economy seems to be “doing better than feared” and has proven “more resilient than expected”, despite acute strains from multiple shocks around the world. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global economy is “adjusting to a landscape reshaped” by new policy measures. Some extremes of higher tariffs (triggered by US policies) were tempered, thanks to subsequent deals and resets. But the overall environment remains “volatile”, and temporary factors that supported activity in the first half of 2025 — such as front-loading — are “fading”, IMF noted recently. As a result, global growth projections in the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) are revised upwards relative to the April (2025) WEO but continue to mark a downward revision relative to the pre-policy-shift forecasts. After a resilient start, the global economy is showing signs of a moderate slowdown, as predicted. Incoming data in the first half of 2025 showed robust activity. Global growth is projected to slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 3.2% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026, with advanced economies growing around 1.5% and emerging market and developing economies just above 4%. Inflation is projected to continue to decline globally, though with variation across countries: above target in the United States — with risks tilted to the upside — and subdued elsewhere. Inflation in Asian economies was subdued, while it remained steady in the United States. This apparent resilience, however, seems to be largely attributable to temporary factors — such as front-loading of trade and investment and inventory management strategies — rather than to fundamental strength, the IMF noted. As these factors fade, weaker data are surfacing. The front-loading is unwinding, and labour markets are softening, it said. Pass-through of tariffs to US consumer prices, previously muted, appears increasingly likely. Advanced economies, traditionally reliant on immigration, are seeing sharp declines in net labour inflows, with implications for potential output. On an end-of-year basis, global growth is projected to slow down from 3.6% in 2024 to 2.6% in 2025. Advanced economies are forecast to grow about 1½ percent in 2025–26, with the United States slowing to 2%. On the other hand, the world trade volume is forecast to grow at an average rate of 2.9% in 2025–26 — boosted by front-loading in 2025 yet still much slower than the 3.5% growth rate in 2024 — with persistent trade fragmentation limiting gains. Further escalation of protectionist measures, including non-tariff barriers, could suppress investment, disrupt supply chains, and stifle productivity growth around the world. Larger-than-expected shocks to labour supply, notably from restrictive immigration policies by some Western countries, could reduce growth, especially in economies facing aging populations and skill shortages. The IMF’s global growth forecast (of roughly 3%) over the medium-term, is well below the 3.7% forecast before the Covid-19 pandemic. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva cited deep undercurrents of marginalisation, discontent and hardship around the world, and said the global economy faced an array of risks, including a potential market bubble around artificial intelligence. Uncertainty is at exceptionally high levels and continuing to climb, while demand for gold — a traditional safe-haven asset — is surging, Georgieva said. Clearly, the IMF has lifted its outlook for global growth this year, flagging a milder-than-expected economic hit, mainly from President Donald Trump’s tariff policies while warning of risks ahead.

The 11th edition of the Katara Festival for Arabic Novel continued Friday.The festival will continue until tomorrow, featuring seminars, discussion panels, and the launch of new publications.A seminar titled "The Novel and the Aesthetics of Translation" was held Friday, discussing the relationship between narrative creativity and linguistic and cultural context, and translation as a bridge between languages.Speaking at the seminar were novelist Mohamed Suleiman al-Shazly, translator Sameh Kroum, and translator Kholoud Amr, and it was moderated by Dr Hanaa al-Bawab.A dialogue session was held with writer Abdel Aziz al-Sayed about his novel *The Carnation Seller, moderated by journalist Mohamed Dahou.A seminar was also held on "The Novel: From Text to Reader: Marketing Mechanisms and the Horizon of Dissemination".Speakers were novelist Jalal Barjas, sales and marketing specialist Aya al-Zein, and digital marketing specialist Jibril Kahlout.The seminar addressed the writers’ relationship with their audience via social media, the role of literary awards in disseminating Arabic books, and the concept of digital marketing.Another seminar highlighted "The Novel and Television Drama in the Gulf: From Written Narration to Spoken Image".Speakers were writer Dr Marzouq Bashir, media personality Mirza al-Khuwailidi, director Rashid Malhas, and writer Mohammed al-Nashmi.The seminar was moderated by Dr Fahd al-Hindal.Meanwhile, the Katara Book Fair, held as part of the 11th Katara Novel Festival, witnessed the launch of the latest publications from some of the participating publishing houses.Katara Publishing House launched the book *Financial Oversight During Crises: A Reading of Lessons Learned from the Coronavirus Crisis" by Dr Salwa Hamed al-Mulla.The book addresses the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the challenges it has posed to the economy and productivity.Dar Rosa launched several of its recent publications, including *Coffee with a Little Fascism by Sheikh Nawaf bin Mubarak al-Thani, a book on digital photography by Abdullah al-Jassim, and *Fresh Thoughts by Jassim Abdulrahman al-Khouri.

The European Union should jointly borrow to pay for European public goods like defence, research and development and energy, Alfred Kammer, the head of the International Monetary Fund's European Department, told Reuters yesterday. Joint borrowing by EU countries is a highly controversial topic. The bloc's biggest economy, Germany, is especially sensitive to joint debt, but a number of other northern European countries are also sharply opposed. The EU broke the taboo in 2020 when it jointly borrowed 800 bn euros to re-launch the European economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, and the option of more joint borrowing, while still very difficult, has been in the public debate since then. The threat of Russian aggression in Europe has dramatically increased the need for defence spending, and competition from China and the US has added to pressure to boost European innovation and lower energy prices. "We are suggesting concretely to more than double the European Union spending on these public goods, going up from 0.4% of GNI (gross national income) to 0.9% of GNI," Kammer said in an interview. That increase would be roughly equivalent to 100bn euros ($117bn). "We have one more recommendation, and that is to finance this increase in the EU budget with common debt in order to pay for these European goods, because they are a must, they need to be done, the benefits accrue to everybody, and you want to make sure that they start accruing now," he said. "And with that, of course, you are going to service that debt over time. For that, you need to have an increase in own resources (revenues to EU budget) to do that service. So don't shy away from thinking about common debt for common interests," Kammer said. Common EU defence projects, paid for jointly by the EU, are already happening through the EU programme of 150bn euros of cheap EU loans, though probably more money would be needed given the huge scale of necessary defence investment. Joint financing to create a European energy market would be new — the EU needs not only to switch away from burning fossil fuels to zero-emission energy sources but also build networks across borders to transport the electricity all over the bloc. Investing in research and development and innovation would also benefit all 27 EU countries and the bloc's 450mn citizens. "Those public goods are going to support many other reform efforts, so they are key in terms of moving up," Kammer said, adding that a co-ordination mechanism at the EU level is needed and doing so would save money. "More co-ordination at the European level on the energy electricity market saves 7% of the costs of the clean transition," Kammer said. "Other studies have said that, on defence spending, when you move to common procurement and have a more coordinated effort, you would actually save 30% compared to national-level efforts," Kammer said. "It's cheaper to do them at the European level." The EU has been discussing the idea of public goods as part of the debate about the bloc's next seven-year budget starting from 2028, but no conclusions have been agreed.

When the cries of children echo through the war-torn streets of Gaza, devastated by relentless Israeli attacks, very few can look away without feeling compelled to act. Among those who did something meaningful was a young Indian humanitarian, Sreereshmi Udayakumar, whose small act of solidarity has touched thousands of lives.Sreereshmi, a 24-year-old from Kayamkulam in Kerala’s Alappuzha district and the founder of the Koottu collective, coordinated the delivery of a 3,000-litre water truck to 250 displaced families in southern Gaza. At a time when safe drinking water had become a distant dream, her effort brought both relief and hope. Gaza responded with gratitude, holding signs thanking “Reshmi and her friends from Kerala, India,” images that went viral on social media.In an exclusive interview with Gulf Times, Sreereshmi shares her journey, challenges, and what keeps her going.Q: Can you share a little about yourself and how your journey into humanitarian work began?A: My journey into humanitarian work comes from my own life experiences. I grew up in a family where three members are disabled, and I witnessed my mother’s struggles every single day. From childhood, I was encouraged to help others, and that shaped my empathy and commitment.Over the years, I’ve been part of several efforts: during the 2018 Kerala floods I worked in rescue missions, rehabilitation, and relief camps. In 2019, I helped people affected by the Wayanad landslide. I also initiated post-Covid support for people facing isolation, offering them a non-judgmental listening space. At times, I have even done post-mortem care, such as washing the bodies of victims of the Chooralmala landslide.Beyond disaster relief, I help students and families from financially weak backgrounds by supporting their education and basic needs. For me, humanitarian work means standing with ordinary and oppressed people, both in everyday life and in times of crisis. That commitment is what led me to focus on Palestine.Q: What was the turning point that pushed you to start supporting families in Gaza from Kerala?A: It was the realization of how privileged we are compared to the people in Gaza. Here, we can eat, drink, and sleep safely, while at the same time children are being killed, families destroyed, and people dying of malnutrition. It felt impossible for me to stay silent.During the war, I began communicating with a few families in Gaza, mostly women with children. Over time, they became like sisters to me. Even though we come from different nations, cultures, and languages, there was a deep bond of humanity. Listening to their pain moved me so much that I couldn’t sleep at night. That’s when I knew I had to act—not as charity, but as solidarity.Q: You coordinated the delivery of a 3,000-litre water truck. How did this effort come together?A: I’ve been in contact with families displaced from northern to southern Gaza. One of my closest friends there, Hadeel, a mother of two, raised the urgent issue of water scarcity for 250 families in Jamal Al Wadi. Together with Hadeel and my friend Lesley Hawksley, a TV producer from the UK, we searched for organizations distributing water in that area but found none.Finally, Hadeel located a private water truck owner and coordinated logistics. The truck cost USD 300, and we collected the amount through friends and family. The delivery brought immense relief. Hadeel shared the video of families receiving water—it went viral, and the gratitude shown in those moments will stay with me forever.Q: How did you establish and maintain connections with families in Gaza?A: Through social media. Since the war began, I’ve been closely following the situation in Palestine. I connected with families and began video calls with them—joining them in their daily lives, even simple moments like visiting the market or talking to their children. These small exchanges kept me emotionally connected.Over time, I was able to support around 50–60 families with food and water. Later, when they were displaced, we organized the water truck during a critical time.Q: What role did your friends and well-wishers play in this initiative?A: They were crucial. I am blessed with friends and followers—more than 160,000 on social media—who are ready to support any cause. They contributed through verified international donation links like Chuffed and GoFund, created by social workers from different countries.In Gaza, transactions are complicated and sometimes exploitative, with money exchangers charging up to 50%. So, my friends trusted me to coordinate support and make sure it reached the right people. I will never forget their solidarity.Q: When you saw the viral videos of families thanking you, what was your reaction?A: I was overwhelmed with happiness. Seeing their gratitude gave me peace. Hadeel and her two sons, Mohammed and Read, appeared in one of the videos. Their smiles reminded me that, even from afar, I could bring a little light during such dark times.The world has not witnessed such a targeted genocide against women and children in recent history. According to the Palestinian Health Authority, more than 66,000 civilians have been killed, including 19,000 children. Amidst this horror, if I can bring even a little happiness and hope, it means everything to me.**media[367253]**Q: What challenges did you face in coordinating relief from India?A: The biggest challenge is that direct payment channels from India to Palestine are blocked. We often had to send money through social activists abroad who then transferred it via crypto wallets. Internet blackouts in Gaza make communication difficult, but we still managed to coordinate.At times, even water trucks couldn’t reach families because roads were destroyed or blocked. Once, a truck got stuck in the sand, and we had to find another vehicle to pull it out. Every delivery is a challenge, but worth it.Q: You mentioned that families now need at least 6,000 litres of water daily. How sustainable is this?A: It’s very difficult. Around 280 families that I initially supported have fled to South Gaza. The main water source, the Basin Stream, is polluted after sewage plants were destroyed. Private water trucks face logistical hurdles in reaching these families.I cannot do this alone. International organizations must step in. We need global solidarity and structural support to sustain such efforts.Q: What are your next plans to continue supporting Gaza families? A: I want to continue supporting families who fall through the cracks of humanitarian aid—pregnant women, children needing essentials like diapers, and families without access to social media. My aim is not just food and water but also education and dignity. I don’t know how much I can achieve, but I will try.Q: What message would you like to share with young people who feel helpless but want to make a difference?A: Gaza represents the largest genocide since the Holocaust, and it targets women and children in ways the world cannot ignore. We must understand that this is not about politics—it is about humanity.Wherever possible, raise your voice. Speak about Palestine. Stand against injustice. Even if you cannot send aid, you can spread awareness, keep the conversation alive, and remind the world that silence is complicity.

US President Donald Trump has thrown a lifeline to coal with his move to reinvigorate the industry by easing regulatory barriers. He’s declared the fuel “essential” to national and economic security, and his administration has given last-minute reprieves to plants that were set to shut down.The country’s coal consumption had been trending downward for much of the past two decades in the face of cheap natural gas, tighter environmental restrictions and pressure to curb planet-warming emissions.The US coal industry is having a good year. Demand for the dirtiest fossil fuel is increasing, utilities are running their plants harder, and miners are boosting production.In September, the Department of Energy announced it would be providing $625mn to recommission or modernise coal power stations as part of a co-ordinated government effort to revive the industry.The Energy Information Administration expects the US to consume 398mn metric tonnes of coal in 2025, up 7% from last year. That would mark the first increase since 2021, when power demand roared back after the global industrial slump triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.Electricity generation accounts for the vast majority of coal use in the US. The EIA forecasts the amount of power from coal-fired plants will rise by 9% this year. That would push coal to 17% of the electricity mix — a slight uptick from 2024, although a far cry from the days when it fuelled more than half the country’s generation.For years, cheap gas has made coal plants comparatively less economic to run. But gas prices increased in 2025 in the face of tighter supply, which incentivised utilities to burn more coal — particularly during the initial months of the year, when colder-than-anticipated winter weather drove up electricity demand for heating.Trump issued an executive order in April that said it’s a national priority to support the US coal industry and directed federal agencies to identify and consider revising any policies that discourage coal production and power generation.That same month, his administration granted a two-year exemption to dozens of coal-fired power plants from federal requirements to limit the emission of mercury and other toxins.Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to reverse some of the fundamental legal findings for regulating greenhouse gases in the US, a move that would weaken pollution limits for coal plants and make them cheaper to operate.The Trump administration is targeting its support further up the supply chain, too, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says the US will “mine, baby, mine”. While the country has the largest coal reserves in the world, its production has been in long-term decline for almost two decades.Power consumption in the US is expected to surge in the coming years after decades of stagnant growth. Some researchers forecast it could rise by as much as 25% by 2030.The momentum reflects the proliferation of data centres for artificial intelligence (AI), as well as increasingly electrified homes and cars, and factories shifting away from fossil fuels.Data centres could account for 7% of the country’s electricity demand by the end of the decade, according to BloombergNEF, from around 4% today.BloombergNEF estimates that by 2035, the US will need an extra 77 gigawatts of generation capacity to power its data centres. Coal plants that delay their retirement could be the second-largest source to meet the additional capacity requirements after gas.Coal plants are designed to run for decades, so project developers consider the economics over a much longer time horizon than presidential terms. While Trump has swung federal policy in coal’s favour, this could change as soon as 2029 if a more climate-friendly successor is elected to the White House.

The agreement by Electronic Arts Inc to sell itself to a group of investors — a deal that would be the largest leveraged buyout on record — has created an attractive money-making opportunity in a corner of Wall Street known as merger arbitrage. Arbitrageurs, known as arbs, seek to profit from the gap between where a stock trades today and the price a buyer has agreed to pay.The size of the EA deal, which values the video-game company at about $55bn, along with a wave of mergers and acquisitions in recent months, is a potential boon for arbs, who now have more names to trade on. But just as their wagers can reap large rewards, they also carry significant risks.What is merger arbitrage?Also called risk arbitrage, it’s a trading strategy, used primarily by hedge funds, to profit from price differences that arise when it becomes known that one company intends to acquire another. When that happens, the stock price of the target company often rises but not to the level of the offer price. The gap reflects the risk that the deal might not go through.Why is EA’s stock trading below the offer price?The buyer group that would take the publicly listed EA private agreed to pay $210 in cash per share. That represents roughly a 25% premium over the stock’s so-called unaffected price, which is where it was trading before the media began reporting on talks aimed at a deal.The proposed buyers — Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners, a firm managed by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — all have deep pockets. And JPMorgan Chase & Co has committed to providing about $20bn of debt.But it’s not a done deal yet.The transaction is still subject to shareholder approval and sign-offs from regulators. In the US, it’s expected that the deal will need to be reviewed by antitrust authorities and by the Committee on Foreign Investment, better known as CFIUS, which screens foreign investments in American companies. EA has a global footprint, and authorities in jurisdictions where it generates meaningful revenue — potentially the European Union, UK and China — could also review the deal.These processes could drag on. EA has said it aims to close the deal by mid-year 2026.How do arbs stand to profit from the EA deal?Given the risks of the deal falling apart and the fluidity of the timeline for its completion, the market is pricing in doubt. With EA stock trading slightly above $200 as of the market’s close on October 2, the deal spread — the gap between the trading price and the bid— is about $10, implying approximately 80% odds of completion, based on back-of-the-envelope math.Many holders of EA stock will cash out and lock in a gain rather than wait to see how the deal unfolds. That’s when arbs step in. In theory, by buying the stock and holding it to the close of the deal, arbitrage traders could pocket the spread. They could achieve nearly an 8% annualised return if the deal closes on time, a decent payoff compared with the roughly 3.5% yield on a nine-month US Treasury bills.EA has also agreed it may pay quarterly dividends of as much as $0.19 per share until closing. That’s small, but it’s still extra pennies for investors to collect along the way.What can go wrong with merger arbitrage?Regulatory review is usually the primary source of concern for arbs. Last year, an antitrust challenge sank a proposed tie-up between the makers of Coach and Kate Spade handbags, dealing a huge blow to many hedge funds that lost money on the arbitrage.In a different video-game industry deal a few years ago, Microsoft Corp’s takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc drew scrutiny on antitrust grounds in both the US and the UK. The reviews prolonged the saga, sending the spread up and down, for a year and a half before the deal was ultimately cleared.The environment for mergers and acquisitions was challenging during the Biden administration, when Lina Khan, who was chair of the Federal Trade Commission, took a tough approach on antitrust issues. Regulators have become more accommodating toward M&A since Trump’s return to the White House for a second term. Arb specialists expect that the deal to buy EA won’t raise significant antitrust flags because while Saudi Arabia’s PIF, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, already has some investments in video games, the buyout wouldn’t represent a significant consolidation in the industry.The national security review is another risk. The saga around US Steel’s sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel showed how that process can muddy deal timing and outcomes. Then-President Joe Biden initially blocked the acquisition on national security grounds. Eighteen months following the deal’s announcement, it finally closed in June, after Trump extracted a concession giving the US government a so-called golden share in the targeted company.Another wrinkle is a potential competing bid. The agreement gives EA a 45-day period in which it can engage other suitors; if it accepts a superior offer, the original bidders would be entitled to a $1bn breakup fee.There can be other kinds of developments that can delay or sink a deal. For example, in early 2022, Elon Musk said he would buy Twitter Inc, creating an opening for arbs. His threats to walk away turned that deal into a roller coaster ride for them.And during periods of extreme market turmoil, buyers sometimes press to reduce prices, which can make an arb’s bet on a merger less or not at all profitable. LVMH successfully pushed for a price cut in its takeover of Tiffany & Co during the tumult of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scientists' work relates to 'how we keep immune system under control'Work spurred development of treatments in areas such as cancer, autoimmune diseaseMore than 200 trials on humans involving regulatory T cells under wayFirst award in 2025 Nobel Prizes, Physics next on TuesdayAmerican scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for work shedding light on how the immune system spares healthy cells, creating openings for possible new autoimmune disease and cancer treatments.Their discoveries relate to peripheral immune tolerance, or "how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease", said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, the awarding body.The institute said all three laureates brought to the fore so-called regulatory T cells, a class of white blood cells that act as the immune system's security guards that keep immune cells from attacking our own body.Brunkow, who found out she had won after being woken by her dog barking at a news photographer on the front porch of her Seattle home, said she, Ramsdell and their colleagues had isolated a gene called FOXP3 that could be used as a marker for the cells."They're rare, but powerful, and they're critical for sort of dampening an immune response," she said in an interview, describing the cells as a braking system that prevents the body's immune system from tipping over into attacking itself.Sakaguchi expressed surprise at a press conference in Osaka, western Japan, because he felt any major recognition would have depended on more development advances."I used to think that some sort of reward may be forthcoming if what we have been doing will advance a little further and it will become more beneficial to people in clinical settings," he said in a calm voice, cracking a smile now and then.The press conference was interrupted for Sakaguchi to take a congratulatory phone call from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who asked him how effective immunotherapy could be for cancer treatment in the future."I believe the time will come when cancer is no longer a scary disease, but a curable one," said Sakaguchi.The winners of the award are selected by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute, a leading medical university, and receive a prize sum of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), as well as a gold medal presented by Sweden's king.Brunkow is senior programme manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, while Ramsdell is scientific adviser at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. Sakaguchi is a professor at Osaka University.Jeffrey Bluestone, a decades-long friend of Ramsdell and a co-founder with him of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, told Reuters that his associate's extraordinary contribution was finding the FOXP3 gene, initially in mice, that controlled the development of regulatory T cells. They described their findings in a paper in 2001."Those cells were the master regulators of the tolerance of the immune system," said Bluestone.Ramsdell could not be reached by Reuters - nor by Brunkow or Bluestone, with Bluestone saying he may be on a hiking trip in an area without cell phone reception.After announcing the winners, the Karolinska Institute's Thomas Perlmann said specific therapies had yet to win market clearance but more than 200 trials on humans involving regulatory T cells were ongoing.Among companies in the early race, Ramsdell's Sonoma Biotherapeutics is partly funded and supported by US drugmaker Regeneron to work on therapies against diseases including inflammatory bowel disease.Also targeting that condition, Quell Therapeutics has partnered with AstraZeneca. Other biotech firms exploring the approach include Bayer's BlueRock.The Nobel Prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and a wealthy businessman.They have been awarded since 1901 for outstanding contributions in science, literature, and peace. The economics prize was added later and is funded by Sweden's central bank.Winners are selected by expert committees from various institutions. All prizes are awarded in Stockholm, except for the Peace Prize, which is presented in Oslo.Past recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine include renowned scientists such as Alexander Fleming, who shared the 1945 award for discovering penicillin. In recent years, the prize has recognized major breakthroughs, including those that enabled the development of COVID-19 vaccines.Last year's medicine prize was awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its key role in how multicellular organisms grow and live.Medicine in accordance with tradition kicks off the annual Nobels. The physics award is next, on Tuesday.The awards culminate in ceremonies attended by the royal families of Sweden and Norway, followed by lavish banquets held on December 10 - the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Lebanon's Minister of Public Health Dr. Rakan Nassereddine highlighted the depth of the distinguished relations between the State of Qatar and Lebanon, praising Qatar's leadership in the health sector. In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Lebanese Health Minister affirmed that the relations between the two countries date back many years and are based on a shared commitment to supporting and developing them in various fields. He praised the significant development witnessed by the State of Qatar across various sectors, particularly in the health field, noting that Qatar represents an advanced model to be emulated in integrated healthcare systems both regionally and internationally. He stressed Qatar's steadfast support for Lebanon and its continued assistance, especially in the health sector, highlighting the ongoing cooperation with the Qatar Fund for Development in the reconstruction of Karantina Hospital. He explained that Qatar's support for the Lebanese health sector has been present throughout various stages — starting from the COVID-19 pandemic, through the Beirut Port explosion, and up to the recent Israeli aggression against Lebanon--affirming that this continuous support reflects the depth of the fraternal relations between the two countries. The Minister also referred to his recent visit to Doha to participate in the 6th Global Ministerial Summit on Mental Health, noting the meetings he held with several officials from Qatar Charity, the Qatar Cancer Society, the Qatar Fund for Development, and the Qatar Red Crescent, during which ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the health and humanitarian fields were discussed. Dr. Nassereddine expressed his gratitude to the State of Qatar for its continued support to Lebanon, affirming his country's readiness to strengthen health cooperation and exchange expertise, particularly in crisis response and in dealing with injuries resulting from disasters and wars. He emphasized the importance of Arab partnerships, including with Qatar, to support Lebanon's health sector, which suffers from limited resources but at the same time boasts highly qualified and skilled professionals. He revealed an improvement in healthcare coverage for patients under the supervision of the Lebanese Ministry of Health, through the expansion of medication protocols — especially for cancer treatment — along with the gradual inclusion of kidney transplants and heart valve procedures, in addition to enhancing mental health support, particularly for chronic cases. The Minister of Public Health, pointed out that the ministry's 2024 budget amounted to around $445 million, while the 2025 budget is approximately $480 million, noting that more than $200 million of this amount is allocated to hospital care.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has highlighted the GCC region’s “comparative advantage” in terms of access to energy that helps it host data centres and cites Qatar's partnership with Blue Owl Capital as an example.“GCC’s comparative advantage in terms of access to energy is helping it unlock major projects to host data centres. Examples include partnerships with Humain and Nvidia in Saudi Arabia, Blue Owl Capital in Qatar, or the US-UAE AI accelerated partnership,” Georgieva said in her meeting with the Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Kuwait.Georgieva noted: “The last time we saw each other was during the Spring Meetings six months ago. At the time, trade tensions brought global uncertainty to new highs, contributing to a downward revision in our global growth projections.“Since then, a series of trade agreements and pauses in tariff increases have prevented escalation. Almost all countries subjected to US tariffs have refrained from retaliating. This, combined with the fact that the rest of trade relations among countries remain guided — so far — by WTO rules, allowed us to avoid a full-scale trade war.”In addition, she noted the private sector has shown “impressive” agility and adaptability, front-loading cross-border purchases, adjusting supply chains and pursuing investment strategies aligned with a more complex global environment.And access to finance has eased both for the public and the private sector. As a result global growth prospects are better than feared during our last meeting in April.Yet, they are still worse than pre-Covid and the world economy remains in flux. Major transformational forces are in play, from geopolitics to trade relations, technology and demography, producing new opportunities but also new risks.They steer anxiety in societies and complicate the job of policymakers. Navigating uncertainty is becoming the new normal.She said, “In this environment, risks to the global outlook remain tilted to the downside. Protectionism could lead to escalation of trade tensions, with negative impact on supply chains. Erosion of confidence could constrain consumption and investment. Shocks to labour supply, including from changing immigration policies, could lower growth, especially in countries with aging populations.”Georgieva said the outlook is not homogeneous — while some parts of the world are slowing down, others do better. Growth is expected to accelerate in the Middle East and Central Asia as global headwinds are offset by an increase in oil production, and structural reforms pay off.“As for the GCC, a year ago I said that the GCC ‘remains a bright spot’ despite the numerous shocks.”Since then, global uncertainty has increased, including related to shifts in the global trade system, while oil prices have declined and geopolitical tensions have intensified.“Yet, despite this increasingly challenging environment, the GCC continues to deliver strong and steady performance and is still a bright spot in the world economy. You, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the region, deserve credit for the strong reform momentum underlying this. It is making the GCC more resilient, as evidenced by limited spillovers from tensions and conflicts in the region,” Georgieva said.She noted the impact of higher US tariffs on GCC economies has been modest, with exports to the US ranging from just 0.1% of total exports for Kuwait and up to 8% for Bahrain.“Against this backdrop, we now expect overall GCC growth to accelerate to a 3-3.5% range in 2025 and close to 4% in 2026, supported by the resilience of the non-hydrocarbon economy, the unwinding of voluntary oil production cuts, and the expansion of natural gas production.”Over the medium term, non-hydrocarbon activity is set to remain strong on the back of ambitious reform efforts facilitated by ample policy buffers — both official reserves and those available through sovereign wealth funds. This activity is expected to offset the impact of lower oil prices.But there are risks to this outlook. Oil prices and revenues could be negatively affected by weaker oil demand, driven by elevated economic uncertainty, an escalation of global trade tensions, or deepening geo-economic fragmentation.Additionally, a potential supply glut may emerge as Opec+ continues to unwind voluntary oil production cuts at a time when demand remains weak.“In a downside scenario where oil prices temporarily fall to $40 per barrel, non-hydrocarbon GDP growth in the GCC could slow by 1.3 percentage points, while fiscal deficits could rise significantly. In addition, high global uncertainty could lead to tightening of financial conditions and lower FDI, thereby threatening the economic diversification agenda.“Over the medium term, the outlook remains subject to two-sided risks related to ongoing global structural shifts, such as the energy transition, potential global fragmentation, digitalisation and the use of AI,” Georgieva noted.

In 1945, as the world emerged from a global war that had demonstrated the strategic importance of scientific discovery and technological innovation, Vannevar Bush, the chief of America’s wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development, published a landmark text. In Science, the Endless Frontier, he argued that government should invest heavily in basic research, confident that scientific breakthroughs would translate into economic growth, improved health, and global preeminence.That vision was fully realised in the US, ushering in a golden age of discovery. The American research university underpinned US progress in science, and that progress established the country as a global leader in innovation.But even before President Donald Trump’s second administration had launched a full-scale assault on US universities and scientific research, Bush’s 80-year-old model was showing signs of age. The model has always rested on three assumptions: that there is a linear pathway from fundamental science to socially beneficial applied technologies; that scientists, largely free from regulation, would naturally generate outcomes in the public interest; and that the government could be relied on to fund basic research. None still completely holds true.Rarely has the scientific enterprise been both as important and as vulnerable as it is now. Climate change demands urgent innovation in clean energy. AI promises to unleash both revolutionary opportunities and profound risks. And while biotechnology holds the potential to cure numerous diseases, it also raises thorny ethical questions. Moreover, these fields are advancing at a time when public trust in science has eroded, federal funding has declined, and the line between basic and applied research has become blurrier with the rise of entrepreneurial labs and more interdisciplinary research teams.This issue has grown even more urgent now that the Trump administration is determined to slash research funding, weaponise federal grantmaking powers, and place extortionate demands on universities that it disapproves of (for whatever idiosyncratic reason). The situation demands a new social compact for science, one that recognises 21st-century political and industrial realities and reimagines the relationship between research and society.Research scientists’ vulnerability to the whims of populist political leaders and movements shows that we must establish more reliable forms of support. This is especially true when it comes to work on climate change, AI, and synthetic biology. Novel approaches to biomedical research are producing new therapies for cancer, infectious diseases, and a range of other challenges to our personal and public health; but these gains could be squandered without ongoing support.Moreover, today’s political environment forces us to recognise that the loss of trust in science can be reversed only by emphasising the role of science as a civic enterprise. Knowledge is not just the property of governments, researchers, universities, or corporations; it is a public resource. Research must be subject to institutional mechanisms of accountability, not only to ensure technical rigour, but also to monitor and manage its ethical, environmental, and social impact. If cutting-edge advances in AI are governed solely by technology companies, what confidence can we have that they will serve the public good? For science to regain public trust, it must demonstrate – in tangible ways – that it serves more than shareholder interests.Science also must be better networked and distributed. Discoveries happen not only at elite universities or in federal laboratories but also in private industry, and through international collaborations, citizen-science initiatives, and digital platforms. A new social compact for science must embrace this diversity.While industry and private philanthropy need to develop a more productive relationship with government-supported initiatives, we also need more open science, shared infrastructure, and interoperable data. These are not luxuries; they are necessary for accelerating discovery, ensuring transparency, facilitating broader participation, and drawing on more of the world’s talents and resources.Equally, we must invest in people, not just programmes. The current funding regime too often marginalises early-career scientists and rewards incremental advances over bold, groundbreaking ideas. A society that is serious about discovery must be willing to place risky bets on the next generation. That means empowering scientists with portable funding, more flexible career paths, and the freedom to pursue ambitious questions. We cannot afford to waste talent by locking it into bureaucratic cycles or prolonged postdoc precarity, and we must be more tolerant of failure.By the same token, science must become more interdisciplinary. Whether in fields like AI, which cries out for stronger ethical controls and social-science perspectives, or in some biological research, where the focus can be too narrow, there is an obvious need for broader intellectual participation. Science has the unique capacity to help us better understand the complex nature of the social and physical world, but only if we let it.At its core, science must be cross-sectoral by design. The old “triple helix” of government, universities, and industry is no longer sufficient. Civic institutions, individual communities, and others from around the world must be part of the process of shaping and creating scientific agendas. Scientists should learn to listen, so that they can engage with communities not as subjects or beneficiaries, but as partners in the design and direction of research. The Covid-19 pandemic was a powerful lesson in the need to engage communities early and often. Failing that, scientific messaging will no longer be widely trusted or heeded.The challenges before us – be they pandemics, climate change, or disruptive technologies – are not just scientific; they are social, political, and ethical as well. Bush’s vision helped win the peace and build prosperity after World War II. Our task today is to craft a vision for an even more fraught world. We need a new social compact to ensure that science remains a shared frontier that is free of political influence, open to all, accountable to society, and committed to both human and planetary flourishing. — Project SyndicateNicholas Dirks is President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences.