The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totalling US$6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth US$9 billion. The State Department announced the sales to America’s allies in the Middle East late on Friday as tensions rise in the region over the possibility of US military strikes on Iran . They were made public after the department notified Congress of its app...
The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totalling US$6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth US$9 billion. The State Department announced the sales to America’s allies in the Middle East late on Friday as tensions rise in the region over the possibility of US military strikes on Iran . They were made public after the department notified Congress of its approval of the sales earlier in the day. The sales also come as President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his ceasefire plan for Gaza that is intended to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and reconstruct the Palestinian territory after two years of war left it devastated, with tens of thousands dead. Advertisement While the ceasefire has largely held, big challenges await in its next phases, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas. WATCH: Iran shuts airspace amid escalating tensions WATCH: Iran shuts airspace amid escalating tensions The Saudi sale is for 730 Patriot missiles and related equipment that “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non- Nato ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region,” the department said.
"Making Tax Digital is the biggest tax change since self assessment and, with just over two months to go, time is running out to get ready," said Victoria Todd, of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, which has produced a guide for those unsure of the changes.
"Making Tax Digital is the biggest tax change since self assessment and, with just over two months to go, time is running out to get ready," said Victoria Todd, of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, which has produced a guide for those unsure of the changes.
"We do find that we are catching students trying to use their phones in social times, and we can't see every corner of the school at all times", Tsang says. "We need statutory guidance. If every school is doing the same thing, then it's fair and we'd be more likely to get the buy-in from the parents and the families that we need."
"We do find that we are catching students trying to use their phones in social times, and we can't see every corner of the school at all times", Tsang says. "We need statutory guidance. If every school is doing the same thing, then it's fair and we'd be more likely to get the buy-in from the parents and the families that we need."
The stock's price has soared in 2026, but there's a glaring problem for investors. 2025 ended up being a wild ride for stockholders of artificial intelligence (AI) company BigBear.ai (BBAI 8.70%). The share price of the security- and defense-focused AI specialist plunged more than 75% in March and experienced a lot of volatility in the months since then. Expand NYSE : BBAI BigBear.ai Today's Chang...
The stock's price has soared in 2026, but there's a glaring problem for investors. 2025 ended up being a wild ride for stockholders of artificial intelligence (AI) company BigBear.ai (BBAI 8.70%). The share price of the security- and defense-focused AI specialist plunged more than 75% in March and experienced a lot of volatility in the months since then. Expand NYSE : BBAI BigBear.ai Today's Change ( -8.70 %) $ -0.48 Current Price $ 5.04 Key Data Points Market Cap $2.4B Day's Range $ 4.96 - $ 5.53 52wk Range $ 2.36 - $ 10.36 Volume 86M Avg Vol 92M Gross Margin 27.28 % 2026 has been good for the stock so far, with shares trading up 11.8% year to date, but it still has a long way to go before it regains its 2025 highs. Should you buy stock in BigBear.ai right now? A different kind of AI Even though it has "AI" in its name, BigBear.ai isn't focused on developing a large language model (LLM) like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude. Instead, BigBear.ai has developed AI for use in very specific, very niche applications for the defense and security industry. One of BigBear.ai's biggest products is its Trueface facial-recognition software platform, which is currently deployed at U.S. airports and other points of entry. The system takes photos and videos in real time and matches them against an existing image gallery -- for example, criminal mugshots -- in as little as 2 milliseconds. The company claims Trueface's accuracy is better than 99.1% when the database consists of 12 million images and even higher for smaller databases. BigBear.ai also provides secure AI-powered edge computing services of various types, including the ORION decision support platform used by the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Planning and Execution Community (JPEC). According to the company, ORION is "an advanced operational planning and readiness tool designed to enhance decision-making through predictive analytics, real-time data integration, and AI-driven insights." This business line seems...
The US justice department has released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically. While an analysis is still under way, the release exposes previously unknown financial ties and s...
The US justice department has released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically. While an analysis is still under way, the release exposes previously unknown financial ties and social connections between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK – including some in the president’s orbit. One back-and-forth email chain between Epstein and Elon Musk in 2012 appears to show the world’s richest billionaire responding to the question “how many people will you be for the heli[copter] to the island” with “what day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?” Musk, you may recall, formerly served as an unelected official in the Trump administration, running the “department of government efficiency” (Doge). Documents also revealed that Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary, planned a visit to Epstein’s private island in December 2012, despite claiming last year that he and his wife had been so “revolted” by Epstein around 2005 that they decided to “never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again”. A day after the planned meeting, the emails appear to show that Epstein’s assistant forwarded Lutnick a message from Epstein that read: “Nice seeing you.” Catching up? Here’s what happened on 29 January 2026.
'Melania' is Amazon's airbrushed and astronomically pricey portrait of the First Lady toggle caption Muse Films/Amazon MGM Studios If you've seen the trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 — prominently featuring shots of stiletto heels walking down corridors — you've got the general drift of what director Brett Ratner is up to in Melania. Melania is a high heels-forward documentary. It covers the 20...
'Melania' is Amazon's airbrushed and astronomically pricey portrait of the First Lady toggle caption Muse Films/Amazon MGM Studios If you've seen the trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 — prominently featuring shots of stiletto heels walking down corridors — you've got the general drift of what director Brett Ratner is up to in Melania. Melania is a high heels-forward documentary. It covers the 20 days prior to her husband's second inauguration, when much planning is required of a First Lady: Ball and banquet invitations, place-settings for a candle-lit dinner in Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum. Her staff previews for her the golden egg that will be that meal's first course, and wonders whether the rectangular tablecloths should have broad gold stripes, and the round ones narrow stripes, or vice versa. So many decisions, and she's on top of all of them. Sponsor Message The once-and-future President makes an occasional appearance, including in what appears to be a staged flashback to an election-night phone call. At another point, she drops by with her camera crew as he's rehearsing his inaugural speech, and she suggests that he identify himself as a peacemaker "and a unifier." He incorporates it on the big day — in the film to a big burst of applause, which inspires a quick nod to his wife in gratitude. That's not quite how it played out in real life; the applause and the nod are editing tricks. But never mind, the film Melania is her story, and — as not just its leading lady, but also an executive producer — she's entitled to tell it any way she wants, peppered with needle drops from her favorite songs, including Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." It's a story that's not without hiccups — the blouse collar that's loose in the back, and not high enough; Former President Carter's inconvenient death just before the inauguration, with his funeral falling on the first anniversary of her mother's death. The First Lady talks in scripted voiceover through this sec...
Photos: Thousands once again protest ICE in Minneapolis and across the U.S. toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR For the second week in a row, thousands of people in downtown Minneapolis marched to protest the presence of immigration enforcement agents in their city. Demonstrations were also organized in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Portland, Maine. These prot...
Photos: Thousands once again protest ICE in Minneapolis and across the U.S. toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR For the second week in a row, thousands of people in downtown Minneapolis marched to protest the presence of immigration enforcement agents in their city. Demonstrations were also organized in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Portland, Maine. These protests came after the Department of Justice announced a civil rights probe into the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and ICU nurse Alex Pretti but not of Renee Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7. toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR toggle caption Adam Gray/AP/FR172090 AP toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR toggle caption Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images toggle caption Spencer Platt/Getty Images toggle caption Jae C. Hong/AP toggle caption Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR toggle caption Robert F. Bukaty/AP toggle caption Stephen Maturen/Getty Images toggle caption Stephen Maturen/Getty Images toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR
Russia's Lukoil To Sell Bulk Of International Portfolio To US Carlyle Group Russia's second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, has agreed to sell the bulk of its international assets - initially valued at $22 billion by analysts - to private equity heavyweight Carlyle, as Western sanctions continue to force a fire sale of Russian energy holdings abroad. This sanctions-induced fire sale was expected, as...
Russia's Lukoil To Sell Bulk Of International Portfolio To US Carlyle Group Russia's second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, has agreed to sell the bulk of its international assets - initially valued at $22 billion by analysts - to private equity heavyweight Carlyle, as Western sanctions continue to force a fire sale of Russian energy holdings abroad. This sanctions-induced fire sale was expected, as the company had first unveiled in late October: "Lukoil informs that owing to introduction of restrictive measures against the Company and its subsidiaries by some states the Company announces its intention to sell its international assets." Via Harici The US sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft represented the first major round of economic penalties imposed on Moscow following Trump's return to his second term in the White House. "I just felt it was time," Trump had told reporters on Oct. 22 while hosting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. " These are tremendous sanctions. We hope they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled . " It was seen as a way to pressure the Kremlin to the negotiating table - something with 'teeth' - but the reality has remained that the Zelensky government and its Western backers are unwilling to give up territory, which is a Moscow main sticking point. The oil sanctions were imposed "as a result of Russia's lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine" - and that forced Lukoil into a formal bidding process. The Carlyle deal notably excludes Lukoil's assets in Kazakhstan , which will remain under Lukoil Group ownership and continue operating under existing licenses. The agreement is non-exclusive and remains contingent on multiple conditions, including regulatory approvals and explicit authorization from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the transaction with Carlyle, according to various industry reports. Discussions and negotiations with other potential buyers...
Internal skepticism has caused negotiations to stall, with reports suggesting NVIDIA (NVDA.US) has shelved a $100 billion investment plan in OpenAI. 富途牛牛
Internal skepticism has caused negotiations to stall, with reports suggesting NVIDIA (NVDA.US) has shelved a $100 billion investment plan in OpenAI. 富途牛牛
Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St's investing ideas for FREE. Alphabet (NasdaqGS:GOOGL) introduced Project Genie, an AI tool that lets users create interactive 3D digital worlds. The announcement signals a new push by Google into virtual content creation and has already drawn attention from the video game industry. Market watchers are assessing ...
Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St's investing ideas for FREE. Alphabet (NasdaqGS:GOOGL) introduced Project Genie, an AI tool that lets users create interactive 3D digital worlds. The announcement signals a new push by Google into virtual content creation and has already drawn attention from the video game industry. Market watchers are assessing how the tool could influence costs, workflows, and competition across gaming and broader digital content. For you as an investor, Project Genie sits alongside Alphabet’s broader AI efforts that have mostly focused on search, productivity, and cloud services. By moving into tools for 3D world building, Alphabet is stepping closer to areas typically associated with game engines and creative software. This could influence how developers think about their tech stack over time. The reaction from major game development platforms highlights that competitors are already treating this as a potential change in how games and virtual experiences get built. As Project Genie evolves, the key things to watch are adoption by developers, integration with existing workflows, and how it fits into Alphabet’s wider AI monetization efforts. Stay updated on the most important news stories for Alphabet by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on Alphabet. NasdaqGS:GOOGL Earnings & Revenue Growth as at Jan 2026 How Alphabet stacks up against its biggest competitors For Alphabet, Project Genie looks less like a one off experiment and more like another way to put its Gemini AI models and custom chips to work in a high-compute use case. By offering AI generated 3D worlds to game studios and creators that might otherwise use engines from Unity, Roblox or Epic, Alphabet is testing whether its AI stack can sit closer to content creation workflows, which could eventually support demand for Google Cloud and its Tensor Processing Units. H...