DUBAI : Middle Eastern online retailer Souq.com will make an announcement later on Tuesday about Amazon.com Inc’s bid to buy 100 percent of the company from its shareholders, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
One of the sources, declining to be identified ahead of the announcement, said the statement would say that Souq.com’s shareholders had accepted the bid.
Souq.com declined to comment. Amazon officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Dubai’s Emaar Malls, operator of some of the region’s most glitzy shopping malls, said on Monday it had made an $800 million offer for Souq.com. Sources said that bid was higher than Amazon’s offer.
Reuters reported last week that Amazon had agreed in principle to buy Souq.com, which was founded 12 years ago by Syrian-born entrepreneur Ronaldo Mouchawar.
Souq.com has raised $425 million since its founding in 2005, according to CrunchBase. It was reported to be valued at $1 billion at the time of its latest funding round last year, but sources said at the time the deal was worth less than that.
Amazon bid $580 million for Souq.com, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The Financial Times reported Amazon would pay between $650 and $750 million, quoting two sources familiar with the matter.
Emaar Malls’ bid had so far not been accepted by Souq.com shareholders, the Dubai-listed firm said on Monday.
Souq.com would have to break an exclusivity agreement with Amazon if it is to accept the Emaar Malls offer at this stage, a source said.
Dubai’s Souq.com to make announcement on Amazon.com bid — sources
Dubai’s Souq.com to make announcement on Amazon.com bid — sources
Judge to hear arguments over whether LA prosecutor should be kicked off Menendez case
- Hochman’s office has denied the accusations and opposes getting kicked off the case
- The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for shooting their entertainment executive father and mother
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Former LA County District Attorney George Gascón had opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers in October by requesting their sentences be reduced to 50 years with the possibility of parole. His office said the case would’ve been handled differently today due to modern understandings of sexual abuse and trauma, and that the brothers had rehabilitated during their 30 years in prison.
But current district attorney Nathan Hochman has reversed course and opposes the brothers’ resentencing. Hochman has said the brothers have not taken full responsibility for their crimes because they have not admitted to lies told during their trials. The Menendez family and lawyers have been heavily critical of the way Hochman has handled the case.
Hochman’s office filed a motion to oppose his removal from the case, dismissing the defense’s concerns as simply “not being happy” with prosecutors’ opinion on resentencing.
“Disagreeing with the opposing side’s position is not a conflict of interest, it is simply a disagreement,” it said.
While Hochman’s conduct is the focus of defense attorneys’ petition, they want the case entirely removed from the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, in which case the state attorney general’s office would usually step in.
However, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion this week siding with Hochman, saying the defense had not adequately demonstrated a conflict of interest.
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor of criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said these types of recusal requests are “almost never” granted.
“Defendants don’t usually get to pick their prosecutors,” she said. “Occasionally an individual prosecutor will be recused, but to recuse an entire office is very rare.”
Generally, this only happens if a prosecutor’s personal family member is involved or if the district attorney’s office received outside payment in a case, Levenson said.
During long-awaited resentencing hearings last month, attorneys engaged in a heated debate over whether material from risk assessments completed by the state parole board at the governor’s order should be admissible in court. The hearings were delayed, and the brothers’ lead attorney Mark Geragos said he would move to recuse Hochman from the case.
In a motion filed April 25, Geragos argued that Hochman’s bias against the brothers and mistreatment of the Menendez family posed a “genuine risk” the brothers would not receive a fair hearing.
He pointed to Hochman’s demotion of Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, the two deputy district attorneys who filed the original resentencing motion. Theberge and Lunsford have since filed lawsuits against Hochman alleging they were punished for their work on the Menendez case.
Hochman also hired Kathleen Cady, who represented Milton Andersen, the only Menendez family member who opposed the brothers’ resentencing at the time, to head his Office of Victim Services. Andersen died in March.
Geragos said no one from the victim services office had ever reached out to the Menendez family to offer support. In mid-April, both Cady and Hochman were present at an organization’s rally to condemn the Menendez brothers’ resentencing, he said.
Finally, Geragos said the district attorney’s office had violated Marsy’s Law, which ensures victims in California are treated with fairness and respect.
Menendez cousin Tamara Goodell filed a complaint with the US Attorney’s Office in which she wrote Hochman used a “hostile, dismissive, and patronizing tone” that left the family “distressed and feeling humiliated.”
Hochman’s motion said the defense had not presented any proof that hiring Cady, a seasoned prosecutor and attorney, prevented his office from treating the Menendez brothers fairly, and that the reassignments of Theberge and Lunsford were “internal staffing decisions.”
Marsy’s Law also does not give victims the right to seek the removal of a prosecutor, the motion said.
The Menendez brothers are still waiting for the full results of a state parole board risk assessment ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The final hearing, scheduled for June 13, will influence whether Newsom grants the brothers clemency.
Rare New Zealand snail is filmed for the first time laying an egg from its neck
- The habits of the threatened Powelliphanta augusta snail were once shrouded in mystery
- The video was taken at a facility on the South Island’s West Coast
WELLINGTON: The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country’s conservation agency said Wednesday.
What looks like a tiny hen’s egg is seen emerging from an opening below the head of the Powelliphanta augusta snail, a threatened species endemic to New Zealand.
The video was taken at a facility on the South Island’s West Coast, where conservation rangers attempting to save the species from extinction have cared for a population of the snails in chilled containers for nearly two decades.
The conditions in the containers mimic the alpine weather in their only former habitat — a remote mountain they were named for, on the West Coast of the South Island, that has been engulfed by mining.
Observing their habits
Lisa Flanagan from the Department of Conservation, who has worked with the creatures for 12 years, said the species still holds surprises.
“It’s remarkable that in all the time we’ve spent caring for the snails, this is the first time we’ve seen one lay an egg,” she said in a statement.
Like other snails, Powelliphanta augusta are hermaphrodites, which explains how the creatures can reproduce when encased in a hard shell. The invertebrate uses a genital pore on the right side of its body, just below the head, to simultaneously exchange sperm with another snail, which is stored until each creates an egg.
A long but slow reproductive life
Each snail takes eight years to reach sexual maturity, after which it lays about five eggs a year. The egg can take more than a year to hatch.
“Some of our captive snails are between 25 and 30 years old,” said Flanagan. “They’re polar opposites to the pest garden snail we introduced to New Zealand, which is like a weed, with thousands of offspring each year and a short life.”
The dozens of species and subspecies of Powelliphanta snails are only found in New Zealand, mostly in rugged forest and grassland settings where they are threatened by habitat loss.
They are carnivores that slurp up earthworms like noodles, and are some of the world’s largest snails , with oversized, distinctive shells in a range of rich earth colors and swirling patterns.
A political storm
The Powelliphanta augusta was the center of public uproar and legal proceedings in the early 2000s, when an energy company’s plans to mine for coal threatened to destroy the snails’ habitat.
Some 4,000 were removed from the site and relocated, while 2,000 more were housed in chilled storage in the West Coast town of Hokitika to ensure the preservation of the species, which is slow to breed and doesn’t adapt well to new habitats.
In 2011, some 800 of the snails accidentally died in a Department of Conservation refrigerator with faulty temperature control.
But the species’ slow survival continues: In March this year, there were nearly 1,900 snails and nearly 2,200 eggs in captivity, the conservation agency said.
Poisoned guests rarely invited before deadly mushroom lunch, Australia trial hears
- An Australian woman accused of triple murder with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington had rarely invited her four guests to eat at her home before, a court heard Friday
SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of triple murder with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington had rarely invited her four guests to eat at her home before, a court heard Friday.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in July 2023 by serving them the pastry-and-beef dish with death cap mushrooms.
She is also accused of the attempted murder of her husband’s uncle, who survived the meal after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a trial that has seized international attention, prosecutors played a recording of a police interview with Patterson’s son, then 14, following the lunch.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said his mother had hosted his paternal grandparents at her house “once before.”
And she had “never” previously hosted Heather and Ian Wilkinson, his father’s aunt and uncle, the boy said.
His mother’s relationship with the couple was “not a negative one, but it is not strong,” the youngster told police.
The accused’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, had declined the invitation to lunch at her home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
Four members of his family attended: his parents Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle.
While the guests had lunch, Patterson’s children went to a McDonald’s and the cinema.
Within hours after eating, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting and were taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed death cap mushroom poisoning.
Days later, three of the guests were dead. Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, lived after weeks of hospital treatment.
On the morning after the lunch, Patterson’s son said she was “a little bit quieter” than usual, complaining of “feeling a bit sick and had diarrhea,” the court heard.
The family had missed their local church service because “mum was feeling too sick,” he said.
That night, Patterson and her children ate the purported leftovers of the beef Wellington.
The defendant has said she scraped off the mushrooms because her children were picky eaters.
“It was probably some of the best meat I’ve ever had,” her teenage son said.
“Mum said it was leftovers.”
Jurors also heard a recording of a police interview with Patterson’s daughter, then nine, who said her mum was a good cook.
“We make cupcakes and muffins,” she said.
The girl, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, said she did not get sick from eating the claimed leftovers.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that neither she, nor her children, consumed the deadly mushrooms.
Her defense says it was “a terrible accident” and that Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick.
The trial is expected to last another five weeks.
Timberwolves overpower Warriors to level series
- Golden State coach Steve Kerr said his team had learned valuable lessons on how to play without the talismanic Curry
LOS ANGELES: The Minnesota Timberwolves exploited the injury absence of Stephen Curry to defeat the Golden State Warriors 117-93 and level their NBA Western Conference semifinal series on Thursday.
A fired-up Timberwolves line-up, who had been stunned by the Warriors in game one on Tuesday, were always in control as they powered to a wire-to-wire victory in Minneapolis that squares the series at 1-1.
Julius Randle led the scoring for Minnesota with 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds while Anthony Edwards finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added an eye-catching 20 points off the bench, including four three-pointers, on a night when five Timberwolves players finished in double figures.
Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors scoring with 18 points from the bench, Jimmy Butler finishing with 17.
Edwards said an improved defensive effort led to Minnesota’s win after a dismal offensive display in their game one loss.
“We watched film yesterday and we saw it wasn’t just that we didn’t make our shots — it was more so our defensive effort and intensity. We didn’t bring it,” Edwards said.
“So we knew we had to bring it today.”
With Golden State taking to the floor without Curry, who suffered a hamstring injury in game one, Minnesota set the tone early in the first quarter, racing into a hefty 25-7 lead that left the Warriors chasing the game.
Minnesota were given a scare when Edwards limped off with an ankle problem in the second quarter, but the Timberwolves went into half-time with a commanding 56-39 lead.
Edwards returned for the start of the third quarter, but Minnesota were rocked by an early Golden State onslaught.
Butler and Kuminga both grabbed eight points apiece in a rally that helped the Warriors slash the Timberwolves’ lead to just seven points at 62-55 with just under seven minutes remaining in the third.
The Timberwolves regrouped impressively and closed the quarter with a 20-5 run to build an 85-65 lead heading into the final frame.
Without the deadly three-point scoring threat of Curry, the Warriors never looked like closing the gap and Golden State coach Steve Kerr ran up the white flag with four minutes remaining, removing his starters as Minnesota coasted home.
Kerr said his team had learned valuable lessons on how to play without the talismanic Curry as they return to San Francisco for game three on Saturday.
The 11-time All-Star Curry was ruled out for at least a week on Wednesday.
“We’re trying to figure out what we’re gonna be able to do in this series without Steph, so we gave a lot of people a lot of chances,” Kerr said of his shifting line-up.
“I thought we made a really spirited run to get the lead down to seven, but then we just kind of lost a little bit of composure. We turned it over a couple of times, gave up a couple of threes when we lost our defensive connection.
“But we learned a lot and I think this game will help us figure out how to move forward.”
Saudi women must share their stories with pride, Princess Noura Al-Saud tells London forum
- The founder of 2 leading Saudi cultural incubators was speaking at the Creative Women Platform
- Networking forum’s CEO, Olga Balakleets, says women are ‘united by their belief in making a creative impact’
LONDON: Saudi creatives are writing and telling their stories to the world after years of borrowing the narratives of others, Princess Noura Al-Saud, the founder of two leading Saudi cultural incubators, said on Wednesday.
“Finally, now, we are taking ownership and writing our own stories. We are proud of it and are showcasing who we really are. (We’re) not trying to fit into other people’s expectations,” she said.
Princess Noura was speaking at the annual networking forum of the Creative Women Platform, of which she is a Saudi patron, at Palastiers’ Hall in London’s Square Mile.
She is the the founder of Rukun Creative Exchange and Almashtal Creative Space, a destination for creatives in Riyadh to receive support and nurture their talent.
On Wednesday, she joined dozens of entrepreneurs, policymakers and business leaders from the food, steel and sports sectors, as well as celebrities, philanthropists and fitness experts, to discuss sustainability and the role of women in shaping the future.
She acknowledged that building a space for creatives could be relatively easy but said that the most critical factor was creating a place of belonging where people could share meaningful experiences.
At Almashtal, which means plant nursery in Arabic, the focus was on the tiny details, such as the interior design and the background music, to foster a cultural identity in the space, Princess Noura said.
“Nature is a major source of inspiration for me. Plant nurseries provide the right climate and nutrition, so the plant builds strong roots to live in the outside world, and this is also our goal at Almashtal,” she told Arab News.
Almashtal, founded in 2019, has four labs focusing on creativity, business, glass and sound, and offers workshops, mentorship and other resources. The space has become essential for sharing ideas, networking and experimenting among Saudi creatives, Princess Noura said.
She told Arab News that Saudi women in the private sector who work in sciences, technology and entrepreneurship should “speak more about their work and achievements, and show the efforts it took to reach this stage.
“I tell them to be proud and share their stories as it will inspire others,” she added.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has transformed women’s lives in the Kingdom through a series of reforms since 2016 that empowered them to take part in the workforce and business. There are increased opportunities for women to pursue careers in the creative industries such as design, architecture, film, fashion and the arts. The Kingdom made “major strides” in the cultural sectors, according to a 2024 Harvard Business Review report, driven by a “commitment to preserving and showcasing its abundant history, national identity and heritage.”
During a conversation with Olga Balakleets, founder and CEO of the Creative Women Platform, Princess Noura said: “Creativity is essential to life. It is what grounds us ... it is how we connect, and it has always been that for me, and my mission is to help others see and understand that.”
Balakleets told Arab News that her journey with the forum was “an exciting one,” and added that creative women are “united by their belief in making a creative impact,” contributing positively to society by finding solutions to global problems.
At Wednesday’s event, speakers included author and philanthropist Sarah Ferguson, duchess of York; Shaikha Fouz Al-Sabah, founder of Khaleejesque, a Kuwait-based online magazine that covers the cultures of the Arab Gulf youth; and Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, a community app designed to help people share food and reduce waste. Daniela Baumann, CEO of LOFTI Studios, spoke about the ups and downs that led her to establish a series of pole fitness studios, while Paula Owen, founder and CEO of ECO Action Games, highlighted the importance of raising climate awareness through games and avoiding tactics that induce guilt or fear.
Aswar Kadie, a young entrepreneur of Somali descent who grew up in Sweden, is the founder and CEO of Aswar Sports Agency, established in 2021. She told Arab News that Aswar’s clientele includes football players under 18 and 21 in the Premier League and La Liga academies.
She recently returned from a visit to the Kingdom and said her agency is set to be involved with the Saudi Ministry of Sport as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. She described the Creative Women Platform as a “huge” opportunity for a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry.
“I always worked with men in a very competitive environment ... coming (to this event), I feel really inspired and the women here have become role models and I’m learning a lot from them,” she said.
The Creative Women Platform will return to Riyadh next November to feature Saudi entrepreneurs and leaders from various sectors, according to organizers.
Since launching in 2016, the networking forum has celebrated the leadership and entrepreneurial achievements of women from more than 50 countries.
