All posts tagged: Shockwaves

Iran war shockwaves push Saudi Arabia to strike security deal with Ukraine – POLITICO

Iran war shockwaves push Saudi Arabia to strike security deal with Ukraine – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“I would like to note that local air defense specialists are at a fairly high level, by the way, but they mostly work with ballistic threats. As for short-range air defense — how to counter massive “Shahed” [Iranian-made kamikaze drones] attacks — I believe no one has,” Zelenskyy said previously. Earlier, Zelenskyy said he would gladly trade Ukraine’s interceptor drones and expertise for PAC-3 missiles, which Gulf countries possess plenty of. In the first days of the war, they used more than 800 PAC missiles, while Kyiv has only received about 600 since 2022, according to reporting in the New York Times. Ukraine is set to sign further agreements in the region, according to Zelenskyy. “They[Middle East and Gulf countries] have strong financial resources and experience in dealing with ballistic threats, but they need our expertise in countering drones. This includes all types of drones, ‘Shahed’ drones which cause serious damage to infrastructure, and FPV-drones which are now used for targeted attacks on military bases and equipment in the region,” Zelenskyy said Thursday in a …

Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros Discovery causes shockwaves in Europe

Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros Discovery causes shockwaves in Europe

Published by Sam Flores

Warner Bros studios, in Burbank, California, February 27, 2026. MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES/AFP Mathematically, the numbers do not add up in Hollywood’s mega-mergers: One plus one never equals two. Ever since Disney acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, the new group has produced far fewer films than the two studios did separately. That has also meant less diversity. This is precisely the scenario worrying European film professionals since the announcement of Warner Bros Discovery’s acquisition by Paramount Skydance on Friday, February 27, at the expense of Netflix’s offer. Laura Houlgatte, the CEO of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which brings together cinema exhibitors from 39 European countries, did not support either offer. “Our priority,” she said, “is to protect our members. Our concerns remain: Cinemas need diversity and a strong, varied film release schedule, with significant periods of exclusivity for theaters.” For her, “the Fox-Disney merger is a textbook case” and its impact on diminishing the range of films on offer is clear. “Disney released 12 to 15 films per year before the merger, and …

From Karachi to Beirut, Khamenei’s death sends shockwaves across the Shiite world

From Karachi to Beirut, Khamenei’s death sends shockwaves across the Shiite world

Published by Sam Flores

BEIRUT (AP) — The killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes over the weekend did not just shake Iran. It has reverberated across the Shiite Muslim world, raising the specter of a broader backlash in the Middle East and beyond. For the Muslim world’s Shiite minority, 86-year-old Khamenei was more than just Iran’s theocratic ruler since 1989. He was also one of their most prominent religious and political figures. His death at the hands of a joint U.S.-Israeli operation has stoked fury across the Shiite world. “There is reason to be concerned about how Shia minorities across the Middle East, and in particular … the Shia majority in Iraq might respond to this,” said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, a UK-based defense and security think tank. Shiite Muslims make up around 10% to 15% of the world’s Muslim population, concentrated mainly in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan, while there are also significant communities in Pakistan, Lebanon and Yemen. For …

Anthropic Just Sent Shockwaves Through the Entire Stock Market by Releasing a New AI Tool

Anthropic Just Sent Shockwaves Through the Entire Stock Market by Releasing a New AI Tool

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images Last week, Anthropic released a new AI tool for automating legal work, precipitating a mass stock market selloff over fears that the tech could upend huge software customers in industries ranging from law to finance, Reuters reports — an urgent example of the power that AI currently has over financial markets and even the economy writ large. The S&P 500 software and services index fell by nearly nine percent over five trading sessions, and is down over 20 percent from its October peak following the release of the AI tool. The Nasdaq 100 Index is similarly despondent, down by around 2.6 percent. Thomson Reuters, Reuters’ parent company which operates a large legal division, saw its stock plunge by over 20 percent over five days. Both the SaaS heavyweight Salesforce and the global cloud-based cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike fell by around percent, but eased on Wednesday. The stock rout is a sign of the tense fears over AI automation’s potential to disrupt entire industries and …