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Thursday, July 02, 2026 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Tag Results for "crisis" (51 articles)

Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - January 7, 2026
Tottenham Hotspur's Cristian Romero looks dejected as referee Darren England overturns a penalty decision after a VAR review REUTERS
Sport

Captain Romero apologises for Spurs slump as crisis deepens

Cristian Romero added to the mounting crisis at Tottenham as the Argentinian appeared to take a swipe at the club’s hierarchy after apologising for their latest dismal defeat. Thomas Frank’s side were beaten 3-2 at Bournemouth on Wednesday to leave them with just two wins from their last 12 Premier League matches. Tottenham are languishing in 14th place, with pressure building on Frank as he struggles to turn the tide in his first season in charge after arriving from Brentford. With fans growing increasingly angry – some were seen arguing with players after the Bournemouth loss – Tottenham captain Romero took to social media to say sorry for his team’s plight. The volatile centre-back also hinted that Frank and the players should be backed publicly by the club’s powerbrokers. Writing on Instagram, he said “other people” should be coming out to speak and added that they “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”. The 27-year-old later deleted that post but his replacement post was almost identical, omitting the lies comment but still seeming to take aim at Tottenham’s board. Daniel Levy left his role as chairman in September and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was only appointed in April. Tottenham co-sporting director Johan Lange has been in place since 2023, while majority owners ENIC, run by the Lewis family trust, have rarely made public statements. Romero previously defended Frank’s predecessor Ange Postecoglou in another social media post last year. Postecoglou was sacked despite winning the Europa League last season to end the club’s 17-year trophy drought. Romero appeared to support the Australian as he highlighted “many obstacles that always existed and always will exist” at the club. Spurs manager Frank later said he and Lange had spoken to Romero. “I said it when I named him the captain that even though he’s an experienced player, he’s tried a lot, he’s still a young leader. And I think a lot of the things he’s done well on and off the pitch, I’m happy with,” said Frank. “But also when you’re a young leader sometimes you make a mistake, of course it’s good to keep it internally. Johan and I had a good conversation with him this morning about everything, which we of course keep internally.” Tottenham’s injury crisis, meanwhile, continues to increase with Rodrigo Bentancur suffering a hamstring injury at Bournemouth and Lucas Bergvall also forced off. Frank, already without Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski, told a press conference Thursday: “Kudus is a bigger one, to the tendon and quad, and don’t expect him back until after the March international break.” 

The Cuban national flag flies at half-mast outside the US Embassy in Havana. Havana declared two days of national mourning as of January 5 after a total of 32 Cubans were killed during the US attack on Caracas that culminated in the capture of Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro. (AFP)
International

Toppling of Venezuela's Maduro stirs fear in Cubans

Cubans weary from years of economic crisis, shortages of basic supplies and regular power blackouts, fear the US attack on Venezuela, a leftist ideological ally and its main oil supplier, will see life get even tougher.After American forces seized Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro in an early-morning raid, US President Donald Trump over the weekend issued threats to other leftist leaders in the region and said he thought Cuba was "ready to fall."He played down the need for US military action on the island, saying it would be hard for Havana to "hold out" without Venezuelan oil, and "it looks like it's going down.""2026 is going to be tough, very tough," Axel Alfonso, a 53-year-old working as a driver for a state enterprise, told AFP in the capital Havana."If Venezuela is the main supplier, at least of oil, it's going to get a bit complicated," said Alfonso who, like the vast majority of Cubans, has lived his whole life under a bruising US trade embargo in place since 1962.The communist-run island has seen 13 US administrations come and go, some more punishing than others."We've been fighting for 60 years, and we have to keep going," Alfonso said.'Uncertainty'Located roughly 90 miles (about 145 kilometers) from the coast of Florida, Cuba's last major economic test followed the implosion in 1991 of the Soviet Union, a major trade partner and source of credit.It survived by opening up to tourism and foreign investment.Since 2000, Havana has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil under a deal struck with Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, in exchange for Cuban doctors, teachers, and sports coaches.In the last quarter of 2025, Venezuela sent Cuba an average of 30,000 - 35,000 barrels a day, "which represents 50 percent of the island's oil deficit," Jorge Pinon, an energy expert and researcher at the University of Texas, told AFP.The number was much higher 10 years ago, slashed by the global oil price crash that sent Venezuela's own economy into turmoil.For the past six years, Cuba has been mired in an ever-deepening crisis caused by a toxic combination of tighter US sanctions, poor domestic management of the economy and the collapse of tourism due to the Covid-19 pandemic.GDP has fallen by 11 percent in five years and the government faces a severe shortage of currency to pay for basic social services: electricity, healthcare and supplying subsidized food and other basic goods that many Cubans have learned to rely on.Economic hardship was a trigger for the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting "We are hungry" and "Freedom!"Since then, ever more frequent and longer power cuts and shortages of food and medicine have deepened discontent and led to sporadic, smaller protests, quickly contained by the government.Now, many fear that the loss of Venezuelan oil will make matters even worse."We're living in a moment of uncertainty," attorney Daira Perez, 30, told AFP.No bailoutPinon said it was "not clear whether shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba will continue," especially in the context of the recent US seizure of oil tankers in the Caribbean.And he highlighted that "Cuba doesn't have the resources to buy that volume on international markets, nor a political partner to bail it out."Despite concerns for the future, long-suffering Cubans put on a brave face."He (Trump) keeps making tough threats," said Havana resident Roberto Brown, 80, who was a young man during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war."We already told him once: we're 90 miles away, and a long-range missile from over there reaches here, but the one from here reaches there too," said Brown. 

A Palestinian woman holds a child wearing a perspex protective mask as she speaks to a member of staff at the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, Wednesday.
Region

Gaza faces deeper crisis after ban on aid groups

The decision taken by the Israeli occupation to suspend the operations of nearly 37 international relief organisations operating in the Gaza Strip is perilous and would aggravate the depth of the humanitarian crisis and anguish in the enclave that has been gripped by a two-year war of annihilation, politicians and human rights advocates, as well as representatives of Palestinian civil society institutions said.Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), they stressed that this decision to deny those international institutions from operating in Gaza is a destruction to a core and significant part of the relief operation in Gaza, a menace that threatens the daily life of roughly 2mn Gazans amid the ongoing ramifications of the war of annihilation and non-recovery, primarily the Israeli intransigence and non-response to humanitarian needs.As such, they implored the UN, the international community, and donors to spring into action, halt all Israeli-imposed restrictions on the international and civil organisations' operations, and allow the flow of all kinds of humanitarian aid to ensure the continuation of their operations, bolster humanitarian response, and make sure that humanitarian action is independent.**media[399621]**Director General of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), Amjad Shawa, said the move will further increase the humanitarian tragedy, degenerating into a catastrophic level, in addition to deepening the impending menace for Gazans.The situation engulfing Gazans following a two-year war prompts those relief organisations to ramp up their relief programmes, Shawa highlighted, adding that the decision would exacerbate the crisis and disrupt a critical portion of this magnanimous work, as included in the rejected Israeli decision.Shawa deemed the move dangerous in terms of content and timing, terminating the operation of those relief organisations amid the very difficult situation facing the Palestinians in Gaza with the relentless genocidal impacts, as well as the crippled situation facing all components of human life.This Israeli move won't only disrupt the operation of dozens of relief organisations but rather extend to harm thousands of domestic and international workers who operate within their crews, he cautioned.As such, Shawa added that, consequently, the Israeli occupation will later deny the entry of international workers, namely physicians, administrators, and personnel to Gaza, stressing that there would be no alternative other than these organisations to fill the gap, especially after banning the operation of UNRWA.Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, said the Israeli move is a new breach of international norms and laws, stressing that banning the operation of 37 international organisations in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as blocking UNRWA, are part of the full Israeli fascist attack to destroy the life of Palestinians.The Israeli occupation forces would not have reached the degree of rudeness if Western governments had been defending not only international law and UN institutions, but their countries' institutions per se, Barghouti concluded.Head of the International Commission to Support Palestinians' Rights (ICSPR), Dr Salah Abd Alati, stressed that this decision comes within a methodical occupation policy to disband the entire international humanitarian operation to yield to the Israeli logic of dominance and political extortion, and ultimately erode the independence of those organizations and disrupt their critical role in protecting civilians and meeting humanitarian needs.This move, which had been taken with the intent of abrogating the licenses of several of those international organisations, constitutes a methodical policy and an international crime against them and human values, Dr Abd Alati noted.Abd Alati clarified that the Israeli measures are intended to impose a reality that ends in re-registering those institutions to operate for the occupation authorities and then compel them to disclose the sensitive and private information of their operators, in addition to imposing security and administrative conditions that curtail their operations and put hindrances in the way of human rights monitoring of Israeli abuses.The new Israeli occupation order in registering NGOs operating since March 2025 is leveraged as a political and security tool to take over the humanitarian activity, imposing a reality that compels those relief workers to disclose sensitive information about their workers, Abd Alati warned.In essence, this Israeli move against those organisations and UNRWA comes concomitantly with a humanitarian tragedy engulfing Gazans who fundamentally rely on aid in many key services such as relief, health, and emergency, which has ultimately engendered worsening living conditions with rampant unemployment, poverty, and famine among the Palestinians.Israel has so far declared the suspension of the operations of the humanitarian organizations in the Gaza enclave under the pretext of non-compliance with rules and laws.These institutions include a host of fabled international relief organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, namely Oxfam, ANERA, CARE International, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the globally widespread Doctors Without Borders.In a statement, the latter confirmed that it provided care to nearly half a mn people during the two‑year war on Gaza and warned that its de-registration by the Israeli occupation would result in the withholding of life‑saving medical aid from hundreds of thousands. 

Spain bank graph
Business

In Spain and Italy, banks drive a long-awaited stocks recovery

It’s been about 17 years since banks sent global equity benchmarks plunging to distressed levels during the financial crisis. In Spain and Italy, an unstoppable surge in shares of the country’s biggest lenders is finally wiping out those losses.Spain’s Ibex 35 Index claimed its first record high since 2007 in October, and Italy’s FTSE MIB has hit the highest level since 2001 last month. These rallies have been overwhelmingly propelled by banks, which account for almost 70% of the gains in Spain this year and nearly 80% of those in Italy, with lenders making up nearly 40% of the benchmarks by weight.“Spanish and Italian banks are now much better and more solid businesses than 20 years ago,” said Roberto Scholtes, head of strategy at Singular Bank. “Balance sheets are less leveraged, as loan-to-deposit ratios are below 100%, reliance on interbank and capital markets for funding has been greatly reduced, and now have more diversified income sources.”Europe’s best-performing sector so far this year, the Stoxx 600 Banks Index, is up 56% compared with a 14% gain in the broader benchmark. Spanish banks have emerged as clear standouts, providing four of the sector’s top 10 stocks in 2025. Strong earnings, generous investor payouts, improving economic prospects and industry consolidation supported the shares of lenders in the two southern European countries and beyond.“Southern European banks screen as attractive given their strong profitability, with Iberian and Italian banks set to deliver mid- to high-teen ROTEs,” said Goldman Sachs Group Inc analyst Sofie Peterzens, referring to return on tangible equity. This is supported “by reduced interest rate sensitivity, an improving volume outlook, disciplined cost management, significant deleveraging and de-risking over the past decade driving a benign cost of risk outlook, and a constructive macroeconomic backdrop,” she said.Since the start of 2021, bank-stock returns have entirely revolved around earnings growth. Forward earnings estimates for the Stoxx 600 Banks Index have surged 242%, even faster than the 206% price rally over the same period. That also means valuations are nearly 10% lower than they were back then.Banco Santander SA offers an illustration of transformation in Europe’s banking sector, growingly aggressively in recent decades to become a global heavyweight. Its last earnings included a sixth consecutive quarterly record profit, and the lender has become continental Europe’s most valuable bank.In Italy, successive crisis-era rescues, bad-loan cleanups and pressure from European regulators pushed weaker banks into mergers or resolution, turning a loss-making sector into one of Europe’s most profitable and resilient.Recent consolidation has been more voluntary: Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena September takeover of Mediobanca SpA created Italy’s third-largest lender by assets, while BPER Banca SpA secured control of smaller rival Banca Popolare di Sondrio SpA a few months earlier. UniCredit SpA withdrew its offer for Banco BPM SpA amid political opposition.“The regulatory overhang is behind us, and banks are finally seeing ratings that reflect the exit from a very long phase in which everything went against the financial system,” said Bruno Rovelli, BlackRock Inc.’s chief investment strategist for Italy.Across Europe, banks are far stronger than before the GFC, but their valuations lag pre-crisis levels. The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the Stoxx 600 Bank index is around 9.5, making it the cheapest sector in Europe after autos. Morgan Stanley analysts say that pre-GFC multiples are “once again possible” for European banks, leaving room for upside in the sector over the coming year.“Banks have outperformed the Nasdaq by a factor of two in the last three years. You would’ve done much better owning the SX7E than the hyperscaler AI,” Giles Rothbarth, portfolio manager and co-head of the European equity team at BlackRock, referring to the Euro Stoxx Banks Price Index. “That can continue because European banks remain the cheapest in the world.”What that means for national equity benchmarks in Italy and Spain may be less clear. Both countries’ economies are expected to keep growing as unemployment eases and inflation moderates, making for a positive backdrop for banks. And with the European Central Bank set to leave rates near current levels, lending revenue should hold up.“The Ibex has performed very well this year, but in reality what it has done is recover, because in previous years it had been lagging behind,” Rosa Duce, chief investment officer at the Spanish unit of Deutsche Bank, said. “Given that we still like the banking sector, we can expect the Ibex to continue doing well — but we shouldn’t assume it will keep outperforming the rest of the indexes, because what it has done now is mainly catch up.” 


Abdulatif Ali al-Yafei, chairman of the Business Continuity and Resilience Conference.
Business

BCRC calls for boosting organisational resilience in Qatar

The recently held Business Continuity and Resilience Conference (BCRC) 2025 concluded with key recommendations to strengthen organisational resilience in Qatar, under the theme ‘Business Continuity and Resilience – Smart Solutions and Artificial Intelligence’. Key recommendations of the conference included accelerating the integration of smart solutions and AI into continuity plans; emphasising adaptive, data-driven resilience powered by AI; using AI not only to forecast disruptions, such as cyber threats and supply-chain bottlenecks, but to automate crisis response; enhancing public–private collaboration to unify standards and share expertise; establishing specialised training programmes to improve team readiness; and building secure, resilient digital infrastructure to support sustainable transformation. Engineer Abdulatif Ali al-Yafei, BCRC chairman, said: “This conference reflects Qatar’s steadfast commitment to fostering a dynamic business ecosystem, one that does not merely face challenges, but transforms them into drivers of innovation, growth, and competitive advantage. “This year’s theme, ‘Business Continuity and Resilience – Smart Solutions and Artificial Intelligence’, embodies our ambitious vision for the future and presents a pivotal opportunity for collective progress.” The event was attended by Hassan bin Sultan al-Ghanem, Assistant Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, along with CEOs from both the public and private sectors and senior representatives from various entities, underscoring the importance of strengthening institutional readiness to face challenges through the adoption of advanced technological solutions and artificial intelligence (AI). The conference also focused on the transformative role of AI and smart solutions in reshaping resilience strategies. These technologies have become essential tools for risk forecasting, crisis response, and accelerating disaster recovery, enabling Qatari organisations not only to withstand challenges but also to convert them into opportunities for growth and innovation. Al-Yafei said: “We stand at a defining moment in which AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics are revolutionising how institutions handle risks. These technologies empower organisations to move from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience, embracing change as a fundamental opportunity for advancement.” According to al-Yafei, the conference highlighted the critical role of risk management, business continuity, resilience, and crisis management in an era shaped by technological transformation. “We explored how AI and tools ranging from predictive analytics to automated crisis responses are redefining readiness. Modern resilience is no longer reactive: it is intelligent, cognitive, adaptive, and analytics-driven. The event demonstrated how these powerful technologies equip companies to anticipate disruptions, such as cyber threats or supply chain issues, and automate crisis response to ensure faster recovery and a robust, monitored infrastructure,” al-Yafei emphasised. He added: “Through this conference, the BCR Qatar network gathered industry leaders and experts in support of Qatar National Vision 2030. Our mission is to stimulate innovation, promote sustainable growth, and strengthen Qatar’s global position as a resilient, future-ready economy. Together, we explore how to transform challenges into opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and strategic advantage — turning resilience into a critical strategic asset that drives our success.” 

A photograph taken Monday shows the new book by Greek former prime minister Alexis Tsipras displayed in a bookshop in Athens on the day of its release. (AFP)
International

Ex-PM Tsipras pens memoir in expected Greece comeback

Greece's former prime minister Alexis Tsipras Monday released a long-awaited memoir, 10 years after the trauma of the country's debt crisis, as he reportedly mulls a political comeback.The ex-Communist youth leader, who came to power in 2015 as an anti-austerity firebrand at the head of the left-wing Syriza alliance, was forced to negotiate a multi-billion-dollar rescue with Greece's EU-IMF creditors.Now 51, he has said he felt an "obligation" to "recount the events as I experienced them, to capture the conditions, the conflicts, the dilemmas, and the cost"."It is time for my voice to be heard," he said in a statement this month.The memoir — an epic 730 pages — is titled *Ithaki, the Ionian island also known as Ithaca, where Tsipras in 2018 emphatically declared Greece's exit from its decade-long economic crisis.Much of his ire over Greece's troubled financial odyssey is directed at former comrades, including finance minister of the time Yanis Varoufakis.Tsipras said he picked the maverick economist to show "aggressive determination" but that ultimately he was a "celebrity" who became intolerable even to his own colleagues.There are also details about Tsipras' tightrope negotiations with world leaders, including former US president Barack Obama, Germany's Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin.He recalled Merkel being left "speechless" by his decision to hold a referendum on the EU-IMF rescue deal.While Obama offered behind-the-scenes guidance, Putin bluntly turned down an offer to buy Greek government bonds, saying he would rather give the money to an orphanage.Tsipras insists the referendum, in which Greeks overwhelmingly voted to reject further cuts, was a "weapon" to stave off national "humiliation".But he also admitted that some members of his party had a tenuous grip on reality when it came to the issues at stake.Zoe Konstantopoulou, who was picked by Tsipras to be head of parliament but later fell out with him over the rescue deal he approved, Monday called him a "traitor".And some of Tsipras' attributions to the former leader of the socialist Pasok party Fofi Gennimata, who died in 2021, were untrue, one of her close aides said Monday.The book "puts words into the mouth of a person who can no longer respond and defend the truth", said former Pasok MP Manolis Othonas.Tsipras stood down as prime minister after losing a 2019 national election to the conservative New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the current prime minister.He quit as party leader in 2023 after Mitsotakis inflicted an even broader election defeat in back-to-back polls. In October he also stepped down as MP.Syriza repeatedly fractured after Tsipras' departure, and currently polls in sixth place at around 5.0%.Tsipras last year formed a political institute, and is believed to be planning the creation of a new political movement or party, which polls show would be supported by about 20% of voters.

Hail lies on a G20 sign following a thunderstorm, at the G20 Leaders' Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa on November 22, 2025. REUTERS
International

G20 summit adopts declaration despite US boycott, opposition

A Group of 20 leaders' summit in South Africa adopted a declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges Saturday after it was drafted without US input. The declaration, using language to which Washington has been opposed, "can't be renegotiated," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson told reporters, reflecting strains between Pretoria and the Trump administration over the event."We had the entire year of working towards this adoption and the past week has been quite intense," spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said. Ramaphosa, host of this weekend's gathering of Group of 20 leaders in Johannesburg, had earlier said there was "overwhelming consensus" for a summit declaration. But at the last minute Argentina, whose far-right President Javier Milei is a close ally of US President Donald Trump, quit the negotiations right before the envoys were about to adopt the draft text, South African officials said. "Argentina, although it cannot endorse the declaration ... remains fully committed to the spirit of cooperation that has defined the G20 since its conception," its foreign minister Pablo Quirno said at the summit.Ramaphosa noted this, but went ahead with it anyway. In explanation, Quirno said Argentina was concerned about how the document referred to geopolitical issues. Envoys from the G20 - which brings together the world's major economies - drew up a draft leaders' declaration on Friday without US involvement, four sources familiar with the matter said.The declaration used the kind of language long disliked by the US administration: stressing the seriousness of climate change and the need to better adapt to it, praising ambitious targets to boost renewable energy and noting the punishing levels of debt service suffered by poor countries.The mention of climate change was a snub to Trump, who doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities. US officials had indicated they would oppose any reference to it in the declaration. In opening remarks to the summit, Ramaphosa said: "We should not allow anything to diminish the value, the stature and the impact of the first African G20 presidency".His bold tone was a striking contrast to his subdued decorum during his visit to the White House in May, in which he endured Trump repeating a false claim that there was a genocide of white farmers in South Africa, brushing aside Ramaphosa's efforts to correct his facts.Trump said US officials would not attend the summit because of allegations, widely discredited, that the host country's Black majority government persecutes its white minority. The summit came at a time of heightened tensions between world powers over Russia's war in Ukraine and fraught climate negotiations at the COP30 in Brazil. "While the G20 diversity sometimes presents challenges, it also underscores the importance of finding common ground," Japan Cabinet Public Affairs Secretary Maki Kobayashi told Reuters.

Gulf Times
International

Bolivia elects Rodrigo Paz as President

Bolivians have elected Rodrigo Paz of the center-right Christian Democratic Party (PDC) as their new president, ending nearly two decades of rule by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.With 97% of ballots counted, Paz secured 54.5% of the vote in Sunday's run-off, according to figures released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).Paz is scheduled to take office on November 8, succeeding outgoing President Luis Arce, who chose not to seek re-election after a five-year term marked by Bolivia's worst economic crisis in four decades.The country is currently grappling with a severe fuel shortage caused by collapsing gas exports and dwindling foreign currency reserves, which have pushed inflation above 23% and led to long queues at fuel stations.Paz's economic platform focuses on cutting government spending, particularly fuel subsidies, while encouraging private-sector expansion and implementing a model of "capitalism for all" based on decentralization and fiscal discipline before resorting to new borrowing.

Gulf Times
International

Trump says he's working to end Ukraine war, affirms ongoing trade war with China

US President Donald Trump affirmed that he is working hard on resolving the Ukrainian crisis, amid the ongoing Russian military operation against Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Trump added, in press statements, that he continues to work on ending the Russian war on Ukraine, saying he is working diligently on this file, ahead of the expected visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House scheduled for Friday. On another note, the US President stated that the United States is in a trade war with China. In response to a question about the possibility of escalating relations with China into a trade war, Trump said, "We're in one now."

Gulf Times
Business

Dollar headed for best week of the year as Yen struggles

The dollar took a breather on Thursday after a strong run this week that has put it on track for its best performance in nearly a year, helped by a weak yen that has struggled amid a change of guard in Japan's ruling party. The Japanese currency was last a touch stronger at 152.49 per dollar, after having slid to an eight-month low of 153 per dollar overnight. The euro is also under pressure due to the escalating political crisis in France following the shocking resignation of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government, although French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to appoint a new prime minister within 48 hours. The moves in the yen and the euro have in turn provided support for the dollar, which is up more than 1% for the week. Sterling rose 0.07% to $1.3413, after having touched a roughly two weeks previous session, while the Australian dollar was last up 0.11% at $0.6594. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.1 % to $0.5792, after falling in the previous session following the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's 50 basis point interest rate cut. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was little changed at 98.77.

Gulf Times
Opinion

ReputationUP: A study in contemporary digital crisis management and online reputation protection

In the modern, interlinked ecosystem, online footprints significantly influence career paths and organizational fortunes. Online reputation management has grown from a niche service to a core business activity. This growth has spawned a new generation of specialist crisis management companies, with ReputationUP emerging as a shining example of holistic digital reputation defense and restoration.The Evolution of Digital Risk ManagementThe internet era has transformed the ways reputations are established, sustained, and impacted. Conventional public relations strategies, which were previously sufficient to deal with corporate image management, are now not effective enough to counter the sophisticated issues of online defamation, viral lies, and organized digital assault. The advent of search engine defamation, compliance blacklist manipulation, and personalized disinformation campaigns has generated an increasing demand for professional intervention services.ReputationUP has systematized this challenge with its own certified proprietary framework that deals with the four pillars of contemporary online reputation management: cleaning, monitoring, protection, and improvement. This methodological framework is a significant break from the traditional crisis management practices of the past, providing clients with a step-by-step guide to digital reputation restoration and long-term safeguarding.Guided by CEO EMEA Andrea Baggio and CEO America Juan Ricardo Palacio, the company has forged what industry-watchers acknowledge as an overarching vision of digital crisis management. With decades of collective experience in online reputation management, crisis mitigation, and digital privacy, ReputationUP has become a go-to solution for governments, Fortune 500 corporations, and prominent individuals on five continents.Dealing with Modern Online ThreatsThe range of online threats to contemporary organizations and individuals has grown significantly. Business leaders are targeted by synchronized attacks intended to counterfeit search results and harm professional reputation. Political leaders are confronted by complex disinformation campaigns capable of shifting public opinion in a matter of hours. Also, financial institutions deal with illegitimate compliance blacklists that have the potential to initiate banking prohibitions and reputational loss.ReputationUP's response to these threats demonstrates an appreciation for the way digital environments function. The company's RepUP Monitoring Tool, a proprietary solution, detects reputational attacks in real time, and the RepUP Guardian Tool examines and identifies malicious accounts, categorizes sources of disinformation, and triggers takedown processes. This technological backbone makes it possible to respond to threats as they emerge, rather than after they have inflicted long-term harm.The group's efforts on behalf of extorsion victims illustrate the organization's dedication to helping those who are experiencing extremely personal digital emergencies. Through its melding of technical proficiency and compassionate crisis counseling, ReputationUP has assisted thousands of people in reasserting control over their digital lives and professional futures.Regional Expertise and Global ReachThe global operations of ReputationUP demonstrate the varying nature of online threats in different regions and regulatory frameworks. In the United States, the operation is focused on defense against fake news, defamatory information, and viral social media onslaughts. While the Middle East focuses on defense against online defamation and financial reputation loss due to false compliance databases.Within Latin America, the company offers full online reputation cleaning services with specialized victim care for sextortion. Lastly, European operations specialize in addressing search engine defamation and client removal from problematic compliance blacklists. Expansion into African markets serves to meet the specific challenge of political reputation management and interference in democratic processes.This geographical specialization, allied to multilingualism in English, Spanish, and Italian, allows ReputationUP to deliver culturally appropriate and legally sound solutions in varied markets. The company's success globally has been helped by its capacity to tailor its core methodology to local regulatory needs and cultural sensitivities. The Technology-Driven ApproachReputationUP's technological expertise sets it apart from conventional crisis management companies. The company's in-house monitoring systems offer round-the-clock tracking of online channels, facilitating early identification of threats. Sophisticated analytics capabilities enable the detection of orchestrated attacks and the origin of the malicious content.The content removal capabilities of the organization go beyond mere takedown notices. With its advanced legal and technical strategies, ReputationUP can tackle sophisticated cases with multiple jurisdictions and obstinate platforms. Content removal from Google search results and dealing with compliance database entries are specialized skills that very few organizations have.Crisis communication strategy is another key element of ReputationUP's service portfolio. The company's crisis management procedures guarantee clients retain ownership of their message throughout times of digital crisis, safeguarding both short-term reputation and long-term brand reputation.Setting Industry StandardsReputationUP's impact reaches from client-by-client service to setting wider industry standards. The company's executives are frequent contributors of expert opinion to the world's leading media and are speakers at international conferences on digital reputation and crisis management. This thought leadership has assisted in defining best practices in digital crisis resolution and reputation defense.The company's dedication to ethical practices and client privacy has earned trust in industries where reputation management is critical. Banks, healthcare organizations, and government institutions trust ReputationUP's confidentiality and skill to manage delicate reputation issues without organizational integrity being undermined.The company's high success rate in intricate reputation recovery situations has drawn praise from independent experts and sector watchers. This record of achievement across a range of markets and types of threats illustrates the success of ReputationUP's methodical strategy to online crisis management.Online reputation management has become a professional specialty unto itself, demanding expert knowledge, proprietary technology, and worldwide operating capabilities. ReputationUP's holistic strategy to the challenge has set new benchmarks for what individuals and organizations may anticipate from professional reputation protection services.As online threats persist in developing, the company's dedication to technical innovation and best practices makes it a significant authority in online reputation management and crisis mitigation.

Gulf Times
Region

GCC Secretary General welcomes US President's plan to end crisis in Gaza Strip

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi welcomed the plan announced by US President Donald Trump regarding ending the war in the Gaza Strip. The Secretary General considered that any international effort aimed at ending the crisis and putting a stop to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip deserves praise, engagement, and contribution. He affirmed that a ceasefire, the direct and rapid lifting of restrictions on aid delivery, preventing the displacement of the population from the Strip and protecting them, are priorities that should be at the core of any responsible international action. He stressed that the success of any initiative is contingent on the seriousness of its implementation and on ensuring the protection of civilians and providing suitable conditions for stability. GCC Secretary General indicated that the Cooperation Council views the proposed steps positively, as they could contribute to paving a genuine and just path that guarantees the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also underscored the Cooperation Council's readiness to cooperate with regional and international partners to support every effort that leads to ending the crisis in the Gaza Strip and formulating a solution that preserves all the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, based on the two-state solution, and achieves security and stability in the region.