Saudi Arabia’s MBC launches new video streaming service

MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim
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Updated 17 January 2020
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Saudi Arabia’s MBC launches new video streaming service

  • MBC’s top-rated channels are also included in the new Shahid, which includes nine HD channels, streamed live, as well as a catch-up service

LONDON: MBC Group has unveiled the all-new version of its video on demand (VOD) service, Shahid.

It comes as the Saudi-owned broadcaster seeks to boost its original content to fend off growing competition from global players such as Netflix and Amazon.

“As we look ahead, we strive to take control of our own narratives, showcasing our stories to the rest of the world through the very best in original films, series, and other media content, produced and marketed via MBC Studios,” MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim said.

“We’re immensely proud to provide the region with an advanced digital platform that is on par with the best in the world. Shahid is a global brand that is worth watching.”




Faces at the Shahid relaunch, from left: Seba Moubarak, Tamer Habib, Ahmed Malek and Amr Youssef; MBC Managing Director Johannes Larcher; Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, MBC Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim and Mona Al-Marri.

Recently appointed group CEO Marc Antoine d’Halluin revealed plans to raise investment into home-grown drama productions at the broadcasting group.

Shahid Premieres will focus on first-look exclusives from cinema and television, while Shahid Originals will offer local and regional productions, with long-form content such as drama series as well as short-form content.

Shahid also announced a content partnership with Disney and Fox as well as streaming platform Spotify.


Pakistan urges urgent water reforms as India tensions escalate, climate risks mount

Updated 13 min 4 sec ago
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Pakistan urges urgent water reforms as India tensions escalate, climate risks mount

  • In the outgoing fiscal year, government completed 34 of 59 water-related projects at a cumulative cost of $1.06 billion
  • Additional $368 million had been allocated for continued investment in ongoing schemes, finance minister says

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan must overhaul its water management system “on a war footing,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with intensifying climate threats and renewed tensions with neighboring India over transboundary river flows.

Hostility between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India is high after they struck a ceasefire on May 10 following their most intense military confrontation in decades. The latest escalation, in which the two countries’ militaries traded missile, drones and artillery fire, was sparked after India accused Pakistan of supporting militants who attacked dozens of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, killing 26. Islamabad denies involvement.

Following the attack, Delhi unilaterally “put in abeyance” the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs the usage of the Indus river system. The accord has not been revived despite the rivals agreeing on a ceasefire on May 10.

Delivering the federal budget speech for fiscal year 2025–26, the finance minister said India’s decision to suspend the decades-old water sharing mechanism had added urgency to the longstanding issue of water security. 

“In recent days, following the Pakistan-India war, India has threatened to block the waters meant for Pakistan. India is trying to use water as a weapon. I want to make it clear that water is vital to Pakistan’s survival and no stoppage in this regard will be tolerated,” Aurangzeb told parliament during the budget speech. 

“At the same time, it is essential that we expand our water reservoirs on a war footing. The government, despite its limited resources, will ensure the implementation of its water reservoir projects.”

Islamabad had said after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty that it considered any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan to be an “act of war.”

About 80 percent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.

Despite resource constraints, Aurangzeb said the government was committed to expanding its storage capacity and revamping its water infrastructure, adding that a detailed implementation plan would be announced in the coming days.

The minister also described climate change as an “existential threat” to Pakistan, saying the country was among the most affected nations due to its impact.

Aurangzeb said the government had given significant attention to climate finance in the last 16 months and issued green sukuk not only to lower its carbon footprint but also provide investors with a chance to support environmental initiatives.

Aurangzeb cited Pakistan’s 2018 National Water Policy as the foundation for a renewed push to manage water resources more efficiently and equitably.

Among key goals, he said, was expanding water storage by 10 million acre-feet, increasing water-use efficiency by 30 percent and deploying real-time discharge monitoring systems to reduce wastage, which is currently estimated at 33 percent.

He also said in the outgoing fiscal year, the government completed 34 of 59 water-related projects at a cumulative cost of Rs295 billion ($1.06 billion).

An additional Rs102 billion ($368 million) had been allocated for continued investment in ongoing schemes, the finance minister added. 


The US and China have agreed on a framework to resolve their trade disputes

Updated 28 min 53 sec ago
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The US and China have agreed on a framework to resolve their trade disputes

LONDON: Senior US and Chinese negotiators have agreed on a framework to move forward on trade talks after a series of disputes had threatened to derail them, Chinese state media said Wednesday.
The announcement followed two days of talks in the British capital that ended late Tuesday.
The disputes had shaken a fragile truce reached in Geneva last month, leading to a phone call last week between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to try to calm the waters.
Li Chenggang, a vice minister of commerce and China’s international trade representative, said the two sides had agreed in principle on a framework for implementing the consensus reached between the two leaders and at the talks on Geneva, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Further details, including any plans for a potential next round of talks, were not immediately available.
Li and Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, were part of the delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. They met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator, said the disputes had frittered away 30 of the 90 days the two sides have to try to resolve their disputes.
They had agreed in Geneva to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100 percent-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession.
“The US and China lost valuable time in restoring their Geneva agreements,” said Cutler, now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Now, only sixty days remain to address issues of concern, including unfair trade practices, excess capacity, transshipment and fentanyl.”
Since the Geneva talks, the US and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries.
China, the world’s biggest producer of rare earths, has signaled it may ease export restrictions it placed on the elements in April. The restrictions alarmed automakers around the world who rely on them. Beijing, in turn, wants the US to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors.
Cutler said it would be unprecedented for the US to negotiate on its export controls, which she described as an irritant that China has been raising for nearly 20 years.
“By doing so, the US has opened a door for China to insist on adding export controls to future negotiating agendas,” she said.
Trump said earlier that he wants to “open up China,” the world’s dominant manufacturer, to US products.
“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”


Nintendo says sold record 3.5m Switch 2 consoles in first four days

Updated 47 min 20 sec ago
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Nintendo says sold record 3.5m Switch 2 consoles in first four days

  • The Switch 2 costs $449.99 in the United States, compared to a launch price of $299.99 for the original Switch

TOKYO: Nintendo said Wednesday it had sold a record 3.5 million Switch 2 units worldwide in the first four days after the console was launched.
“This is the highest global sales level for any Nintendo hardware within the first four days,” the Japanese video game giant said in a statement.
Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to Nintendo’s blockbuster Switch console.
It was released last Thursday to a global swell of fan excitement that included sold-out pre-orders and midnight store openings.
Since its 2017 launch, the original Switch — which enjoyed a popularity boost during the pandemic with hit games such as “Animal Crossing” — has sold 152 million units.
That makes it the third best-selling console of all time.
Analysts predicted last week that Nintendo could score record early sales with the Switch 2 — but it remains to be seen if it can match the performance of its predecessor.
Challenges for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether it can convince enough people to pay the high price for its new device.
The Switch 2 costs $449.99 in the United States, compared to a launch price of $299.99 for the original Switch.
Both are hybrid consoles which can connect to a TV or be played on the go.
New games such as “Donkey Kong Bananza” and “Mario Kart World” — which allow players to go exploring off-grid — are also more expensive than existing Switch titles.
Nintendo forecasts it will sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release.
The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high” compared to its predecessor, so it “will not be easy” to keep initial momentum going, the company’s president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May.
The Switch 2 has eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse.
New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw for young audiences used to watching game streamers.
Success is crucial for Nintendo: while the “Super Mario” maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.


Newly appointed Saudi ambassador to Mexico presents his credentials

Updated 57 min 5 sec ago
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Newly appointed Saudi ambassador to Mexico presents his credentials

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed ambassador to Mexico has presented his credentials to the North American state’s foreign ministry, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Fahad bin Ali Al-Manawer handed over a copy of his credentials to Ambassador Jonathan Chait Auerbach, the director general of protocol at the ministry, at a reception held on Tuesday. 
The diplomats also reviewed relations between their nations at the meeting.
Al-Manawer took his oath of office in from to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March, in a ceremony attended by the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.


Pakistan hikes defense budget 20 percent following conflict with India, but overall spending is cut

Updated 32 min 11 sec ago
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Pakistan hikes defense budget 20 percent following conflict with India, but overall spending is cut

  • Finance minister says 14 percent of the proposed 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion) budget will go to the military
  • India in February increased its defense spending by 9.5 percent to a record high of $78.8 billion for 2025-2026

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has hiked defense spending by 20 percent following last month’s deadly conflict with India.
The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the increase as part of the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, in which overall spending will be cut by 7 percent to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion).

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the budget to parliament on Tuesday evening, allocating 14 percent to the military.

It comes after Pakistan’s government announced Friday on social media that it was in discussions to acquire 40 new Chinese fighter jets and new air defense systems.

Pakistan and India were pushed to the brink of war earlier this year after a gun massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, marking the biggest breakdown in relations between them since 2019.

More than 70 people were killed in the four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May before a ceasefire was announced.
 

Aurangzeb said the government was allocating 2.55 trillion rupees ($9 billion) for defense compared with 2.12 trillion rupees in the previous budget.
India in February increased its defense spending by 9.5 percent to a record high of $78.8 billion for 2025-2026.

Sharif told the Cabinet: “All economic indicators are satisfactory. After defeating India in a conventional war, now we have to go beyond it in the economic field as well.”
Opposition members of the National Assembly verbally abused Aurangzeb, chanting slogans, throwing scrunched-up copies of the budget at him, whistling, and banging their desks as he gave his address.
The coming year’s defense allocation is considerably more than the government’s expenditure on higher education, agricultural development, and mitigating climate-related risks, to which Pakistan is especially prone.

Brink of default

Pakistan came to the brink of default in 2023, as a political crisis compounded an economic downturn and drove the nation’s debt burden to terminal levels, before it was saved by a $7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
It has since then enjoyed a degree of recovery, with inflation easing and foreign exchange reserves increasing.
“We have moved in the right direction,” Aurangzeb said at a briefing ahead of the budget announcement in parliament.
“Any transformation takes two to three years and we have done a good job in terms of where we wanted to take things.”
The budget will be voted on by parliament later this month, but the government’s safe majority means only minor changes are expected.
An economic survey released on Monday for the outgoing fiscal year which ends on June 30, showed that the country missed almost all the targets set at the beginning of the year, with GDP expected to grow by 2.7 percent — falling short of the initial 3.6 percent target set in the last budget.
The government has set an ambitious target of 4.2 percent GDP growth for the next fiscal year.
The budget set aside 8 trillion rupees ($28.4 billion) to service its huge amount of debt.
A World Bank report said last week that nearly 45 percent of Pakistan’s 240 million population is living below the poverty line, while the country’s literacy rate stands at 61 percent.
It is the government’s second budget since coming to power last year, in an election which saw the wildly popular leader Imran Khan jailed for charges he says were politically motivated.