Source: BBC
Security & Justice
State Action Signals Change in Tackling Longstanding Illegal Land Grabs in Jbeil District
For years, the serene villages of Jbeil's highlands have been far from peaceful. Ghabat, a Maronite village nestled between the predominantly Shiite towns of Afqa and Lassa, has become a focal point of growing tensions due to territorial disputes.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Mawlawi Ensures Strict Monitoring for Wanted Syrian Regime Figures at Beirut Airport
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, conducted an inspection tour of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut to review the security arrangements and measures implemented by the Airport Security Apparatus ahead of the holiday season.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon After the Assads
The United States has important equities in Lebanon, including a desire for a generally friendly government’s economic and political stability; security cooperation; long-standing relations with the large Christian community in Lebanon and Lebanese diaspora in the United States; and ultimately peace between Israel and Lebanon within a broader regional settlement. Achieving these objectives will require navigating a tumultuous period in the country’s history following a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has devastated a large part of the country, exacerbating Lebanon’s already challenging economic conditions. But perhaps the most important dynamic will be how a likely Sunni-dominated state of uncertain composition in Syria will differ in its intentions toward Lebanon from the previous Alawite-led minoritarian Assad regime.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Europe’s Syrian Dilemma
The news of the sudden and unexpected demise of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has met a mixed response in Europe. The jubilation that a murderous dictator and close ally of Russia and Iran has fallen is not just good for the Syrian people but serves as a morale booster for Eastern Europeans wondering whether Russia can be defeated
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Unveils New Private Jet Worth $73 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the richest global athletes, has unveiled his upgraded private jet reportedly worth $73 million. With its top-notch design, exceptional speed and range of 7500 nautical miles, the Gulfstream G650 is among the fastest jets in the world.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Guardiola Accepts Man City May Need to Sign More Players to Cope with Schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he will need a bigger squad to handle soccer’s ever-expanding fixture schedule.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Monday 17 July 2023 12:42:55
Twitter Loses Nearly Half Advertising Revenue Since Elon Musk Takeover
Twitter has lost almost half of its advertising revenue since it was bought by Elon Musk for $44bn (£33.6bn) last October, its owner has revealed.
He said the company had not seen the increase in sales that had been expected in June, but added that July was a "bit more promising".
Mr Musk sacked about half of Twitter's 7,500 staff when he took over in 2022 in an effort to cut costs.
Rival app Threads now has 150 million users, according to some estimates.
Its in-built connection to Instagram automatically gives the Meta-designed platform access to a potential two billion users.
Meanwhile, Twitter is struggling under a heavy debt load. Cash flow remains negative, Mr Musk said at the weekend, although the billionaire did not put a time frame on the 50% drop in ad revenue.
In a tweet he said: "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else."
Lucy Coutts, investment director at JM Finn, told the BBC's Today programme she thought Mr Musk would be able to turn Twitter around "but it is just going to take longer".
"But unfortunately he has got $13bn of debt to pay by the end of July so we may see more pressure on the shares in Tesla if he has to sell more of his stake in that company."
Mr Musk is also the chief executive and majority shareholder of electric car-maker Tesla, which will report its latest quarterly financial results on Wednesday.
After laying off thousands of employees and cutting cloud service bills, Mr Musk said Twitter was on track to post $3bn (£2.29bn) in revenue in 2023, down from $5.1bn in 2021.
The development is the latest sign the aggressive cost-cutting measures have not been enough to ignite a return of advertisers who fled after changes to its content moderation rules.
That is despite an interview Mr Musk gave to the BBC in April, in which he suggested that most had returned to the site.
However, Meghana Dhar, the former head of partnerships at Snap and Meta, which owns the new Twitter rival Threads, said the company had been struggling prior to Mr Musk's buyout.
"Elon and Twitter are in a candidly tough position right now," she told the BBC's Today programme. "To be fair to Elon though, we've seen that decline in Twitter revenue and growth in revenue since pre-Elon - there's been kind of a steady decline."
Linda Yaccarino, previously head of advertising at NBCUniversal, was taken on as chief executive of Twitter in June - a move suggesting advertising sales are still a priority for the company.
Ms Yaccarino has said Twitter plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships. It is said to be in early talks with political and entertainment figures, payments services, and news and media publishers.