STOCKHOLM: Music and video streaming giants Spotify and Netflix have penned a deal to bring several video podcasts produced by Spotify to Netflix&#39;s platform, the companies announced late Tuesday.&nbsp;Under the deal, 16 video versions of podcasts produced by Spotify Studios and the Ringer, which was acquired by Spotify in 2020, will be available on Netflix, starting in early 2026 in the United States, with other markets to follow.&nbsp;&quot;This partnership marks a new chapter for podcasting,&quot; Roman Wasenmuller, VP and Head of Podcasts at Spotify, said in a statement.&nbsp;Spotify also said that it was planning &quot;to bring similar opportunities&quot; to a wider range of podcasters in the future.&nbsp;&quot;I see this as a clear step in Spotify&#39;s strategy to accelerate its video podcast bet, which has become an increasingly important focus,&quot; Christoffer Jennel, an analyst at equity research firm Inderes, told AFP.&nbsp;Spotify first began offering non-music audio and video content on its service in 2015.&nbsp;It has since accelerated its investment in podcasts and in 2019 it acquired prominent podcast producer Gimlet Media.&nbsp;In a statement, Spotify noted that while podcasting &quot;began as an audio-first medium,&quot; it &quot;is now a vibrant multi-format landscape.&quot;&nbsp;Jennel added that &quot;the agreement can be seen as another step in Spotify&#39;s ambition to establish itself as a broader media platform beyond audio&quot;.

Artificial Intelligence

Spotify and Netflix signed a deal to stream 16 video versions of podcasts on Netflix from 2026, marking Spotify’s push to expand beyond audio and strengthen its position in video podcasting.

Spotify, Netflix sign deal to stream video podcasts

WASHINGTON: Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power.&nbsp; The US government has called the new rules &ldquo;common sense.&rdquo; News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information &mdash; classified or otherwise &mdash; that had not been approved by Hegseth for release. Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building.&nbsp; As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. &nbsp;Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sad, but I&rsquo;m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together,&rdquo; said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007.&nbsp; She took a map of the Middle East out to her car. It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they&rsquo;d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point. Images of reporters effectively demonstrating against barriers to their work are unlikely to move supporters of President Donald Trump, many of whom resent journalists and cheer his efforts to make their jobs harder.&nbsp; Trump has been involved in court fights against The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in the past year. Trump supports the new rulesSpeaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump backed his defense secretary&rsquo;s new rules.&nbsp; &ldquo;I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;The press is very dishonest.&rdquo; Even before issuing his new press policy, Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host, has systematically choked off the flow of information.&nbsp; He&rsquo;s held only two formal press briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the sprawling Pentagon without an escort and launched investigations into leaks to the media. He has called his new rules &ldquo;common sense&rdquo; and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them.&nbsp; Journalists see that a distinction without a difference. &ldquo;What they&rsquo;re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That&rsquo;s not journalism,&rdquo; said Jack Keane, a retired US Army general and Fox News analyst, said on Hegseth&rsquo;s former network. When he served, Keane said he required new brigadier generals to take a class on the role of the media in a democracy so they wouldn&rsquo;t be intimidated and also see reporters as a conduit to the American public.&nbsp; &ldquo;There were times when stories were done that made me flinch a little bit,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s usually because we had done something that wasn&rsquo;t as good as we should have done it.&rdquo; Youssef said it made no sense to sign on to rules that said reporters should not solicit military officials for information.&nbsp; &ldquo;To agree to not solicit information is to agree to not be a journalist,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Our whole goal is soliciting information.&rdquo; Reporting on US military affairs will continue &mdash; from a greater distanceSeveral reporters posted on social media when they turned in their press badges. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s such a tiny thing, but I was really proud to see my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents,&rdquo; wrote Heather Mongillo, a reporter for USNINews, which covers the Navy.&nbsp; &ldquo;Today, I&rsquo;ll hand in my badge. The reporting will continue.&rdquo; Mongillo, Youssef and others emphasized that they&rsquo;ll continue to do their jobs no matter where their desks are.&nbsp; Some sources will continue to speak with them, although they say some in the military have been chilled by threats from Pentagon leadership. In an essay, NPR reporter Tom Bowman noted the many times he&rsquo;d been tipped off by people he knew from the Pentagon and while embedded in the military about what was happening, even if it contradicted official lines put out by leadership.&nbsp; Many understand the media&rsquo;s role. &ldquo;They knew the American public deserved to know what&rsquo;s going on,&rdquo; Bowman wrote.&nbsp; &ldquo;With no reporters able to ask questions, it seems the Pentagon leadership will continue to rely on slick social media posts, carefully orchestrated short videos and interviews with partisan commentators and podcasters. No one should think that&rsquo;s good enough.&rdquo; The Pentagon Press Association, which has 101 members representing 56 news outlets, has spoken out against the rules.&nbsp; Organizations from across the media spectrum, from legacy organizations like The Associated Press and The New York Times to conservative outlets like Fox and Newsmax, told their reporters to leave instead of signing the new rules. Only the conservative One America News Network signed on.&nbsp; Its management likely believes it will have greater access to Trump administration officials by showing its support, Gabrielle Cuccia, a former Pentagon reporter who was fired by OANN earlier this year for writing an online column criticizing Hegseth&rsquo;s media policies, told the AP in an interview.

Americas

The US government has called the new rules “common sense”. It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have.





Journalists turn in access badges, exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules

President Donald Trump’s administration for now must stop firing workers during the government shutdown, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from firing workers during shutdown

Gaza City: Hamas said Wednesday it has handed back to Israel the remains of all the deceased hostages that it can reach, and that it will need special recovery equipment to reach more bodies promised under a ceasefire deal. &quot;The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access,&quot; the Palestinian movement&#39;s armed wing said in a statement on social media. &quot;As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file.&quot;

Middle East

Hamas announced it has returned all deceased Israeli hostages it can access under the ceasefire deal, saying recovery of remaining bodies requires special equipment and ongoing efforts to fulfill its obligations

Hamas says has handed over all hostage remains it can reach

Reuters

US President Donald Trump told CNN on Wednesday that he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal.&nbsp;&quot;Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they&rsquo;d do that,&quot; Trump was quoted as saying to CNN in a brief telephone call when asked what would happen if Hamas refused to disarm.

US President Trump told CNN that Israel could resume military action in Gaza if Hamas violates the ceasefire deal.

Trump warns Israel may resume Gaza war if Hamas defies ceasefire

GAZA: UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel on Wednesday to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in a US-backed ceasefire plan. &quot;It should happen now. We want it to happen immediately as part of this agreement,&quot; Fletcher told AFP in an interview in Cairo, ahead of a planned trip to the Gaza border. Earlier in the day, Israeli public broadcaster KAN had reported that the Rafah crossing point to Egypt would reopen, but this did not happen and an Israeli spokesperson did not respond to an AFP request for comment. Fletcher, the UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief is expected to head to the Rafah crossing on Thursday. It is the only border point that connects Gaza to the world without passing through Israel. US President Donald Trump and regional leaders on Monday signed a declaration in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to cement the deal. &quot;But the test of this agreement is not the photos and the press conferences and the interviews,&quot; Fletcher said. &quot;The test is that we have children fed, that we have anaesthetics in the hospitals for people getting treatment, that we have tents over people&#39;s heads.&quot; Israel currently allows humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory through other checkpoints under its control, but aid agencies complain that bureaucracy and security controls slow the flow of life-saving supplies. &quot;We want all of those crossings open and we want completely unimpeded access,&quot; Fletcher said, adding that Trump and other world leaders at the summit &quot;were unequivocal that we must be allowed to deliver aid at massive scale&quot;. Humanitarian riskMeanwhile, under the Trump plan endorsed by international mediators, Israel and Hamas are expected to continue their exchange of human remains. The swap has seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails. So far, Hamas has handed back the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages -- along with an eighth corpse which Israel says is not of a former hostage. There is now domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies. Israel&#39;s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory. Israel, meanwhile, transferred another 45 Palestinian bodies that had been in its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the number returned to 90, the territory&#39;s Hamas-run health ministry said. Under the Trump plan Israel is to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage. Gaza&#39;s civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said Israeli fire killed three Palestinians on Wednesday, including two while trying to reach their homes in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. The Israeli military said that &quot;several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching&quot; troops in the northern Gaza Strip, referencing the line to which Israeli forces have pulled back to under the ceasefire deal. The military said this &quot;violates the agreement&quot; and &quot;troops removed the threat by striking the suspects.&quot; Aid trucksThe war sparked by Hamas&#39;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the densely-populated territory reliant on aid that was heavily restricted, when not cut off outright. At the end of August, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim. The return of aid is listed in Trump&#39;s 20-point plan for Gaza. Another political challenge is Hamas&#39;s disarmament, a demand the militant group has refused to countenance. The group is tightening its grip on Gaza&#39;s ruined cities. Hamas has published a video on its official channel showing the summary executions of eight blindfolded and kneeling people, branding them &quot;collaborators and outlaws&quot;. The footage, apparently from Monday evening, emerged as armed clashes were underway between Hamas&#39;s various security units and armed Palestinian clans, some alleged to have Israeli backing. In the north, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government&#39;s black-masked armed police resumed their patrols. &quot;Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens,&quot; a Palestinian security source in Gaza told AFP. Israel and the United States insist Hamas can have no role in a future Gaza government. Trump&#39;s plan says that Hamas members who agree to &quot;decommission their weapons&quot; will be given amnesty. &quot;If they don&#39;t disarm, we will disarm them,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House a day after visiting the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire. &quot;And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.&quot;

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to immediately open all Gaza crossings under a US-backed ceasefire. Rafah remained closed despite reports; aid deliveries stalled as hostage exchanges proceed amid political pressure and continued violence

UN relief chief urges Israel to open Gaza border crossings

NEW YORK: A consortium led by asset manager BlackRock, including chip giant Nvidia and Microsoft is set to acquire data center specialist Aligned Data Centers from Australian financial services group Macquarie for approximately $40 billion. The deal marks another sign of the tech sector&#39;s insatiable appetite for AI infrastructure, including chips, servers, and data centers that provide the computing storage and processing power required by artificial intelligence. Founded in 2013, Aligned currently operates more than 50 data centers across the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, with a projected capacity exceeding 5 gigawatts. Macquarie initially acquired a stake in the Texas-based company in 2018 through its subsidiary Macquarie Asset Management and subsequently increased its investment in 2020. The acquiring consortium consists of BlackRock, Emirati sovereign tech fund MGX, and the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), a joint venture established by BlackRock in 2024 that includes BlackRock, MGX, Nvidia, and Microsoft. AIP plans to raise $30 billion in direct investments and leverage debt to achieve a total investment capacity of $100 billion. The partners have not disclosed how equity will be distributed among Aligned&#39;s new shareholders following the transaction&#39;s completion, expected in the first half of 2026. &quot;We are entering a new era in which AI will fundamentally reengineer our economies and enable accelerated growth,&quot; said Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi, CEO of MGX and Vice Chairman of AIP, in a press release. BlackRock CEO and AIP Chairman Larry Fink said the acquisition enabled its clients to participate in the growth of AI.

Business

BlackRock, Nvidia, Microsoft, and MGX will acquire Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie for $40 billion, expanding AI infrastructure across the Americas. The deal underscores tech giants’ race to secure computing power for artificial intelligence growth

Nvidia-backed consortium makes $40 billion AI data center deal

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan were denied a famous win over England after their ICC Women&rsquo;s World Cup 2025 match was washed out due to heavy rain in Colombo on Wednesday.&nbsp;Pakistan, still looking for their first win of the tournament, had bowled brilliantly to restrict four-time champions England to 133-9 in a 31-over game.&nbsp;Chasing a revised target of 113, Pakistan made a strong start, reaching 34-0 in 6.4 overs before rain returned and ended the match.&nbsp;Captain Fatima Sana led the attack superbly, taking 4-27. She bowled brilliantly, removing key batters Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt, while also dismissing Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont.&nbsp;Pakistan right-arm medium-fast Diana Baig struck first by bowling Beaumont and the spinners then controlled the middle overs, keeping England under pressure.&nbsp;Play was first stopped with England struggling at 79-7 after 25 overs. When the game resumed, England right-handed batwomen Charlie Dean and Emily Arlott added 47 runs for the eighth wicket, helping England reach a modest total.It was the third rain-hit match in Colombo this World Cup, after Australia-Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka-New Zealand games were also washed out earlier in the week.&nbsp;Pakistan stays rooted to the bottom of the table, while England remains on top.

Cricket

Pakistan’s brilliant bowling display, led by Fatima Sana’s 4-27, put England on the back foot, but heavy rain washed out their World Cup clash in Colombo.

Rain saves England after Pakistan’s superb bowling in World Cup clash

MILAN: The European Commission has fined luxury fashion houses Gucci, Chlo&eacute; and Loewe a total of over 157 million euros for anti-competitive practices restricting independent retailers&#39; ability to set prices for their goods.&nbsp;The commission said the companies&#39; fixing of resale prices, discovered in a 2023 investigation, breached the bloc&#39;s competition rules and harmed consumers.&nbsp;&ldquo;The decision sends a strong signal to the fashion industry and beyond that we will not tolerate this kind of practice in Europe, and that fair competition and consumer protection apply to everyone, equally,&rsquo;&rsquo; Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera said in a statement on Tuesday.&nbsp;Gucci owner Kering acknowledged the decision &ldquo;related to past commercial practices&rdquo; and said in a statement that &ldquo;a cooperative procedure&rdquo; allowed for a swifter resolution of the case. Gucci&#39;s fine was cut in half to nearly 120 million euros for its cooperation, revealing additional breaches, the commission said.&nbsp; Kering said funds were set aside for the fine in the first half of 2025.&nbsp;Chlo&eacute;, which is owned by the Richemont group, saw its fine reduced by 15% to nearly 20 million euros.&nbsp;The French fashion house said in a statement that since the 2023 investigation it had reinforced its compliance training and adopted enhanced measures to ensure &quot;strict&quot; adherence to competition law, including annual training and reports.&nbsp;&quot;We take this matter extremely seriously and acted with the utmost diligence to address it,&#39;&#39; Chlo&eacute; said in a statement.&nbsp;Loewe owner LVMH did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Loewe&rsquo;s fine was halved to 18 million euros for its cooperation.&nbsp;The commission said that the three brands restricted the ability of independent retailers to set their own prices for high-end apparel, leather goods, footwear and accessories sold both online and in physical stores.&nbsp;The brands required the retailers to stick to recommended prices, set maximum discount rates as well as periods for sales, mirroring practices in the brands&rsquo; own direct sales channels.&nbsp;The practices &quot;deprived the retailers of their pricing independence and reduced competition between them,&rdquo; the commission said.

Film & TV

The European Commission fined Gucci, Chloé, and Loewe over €157 million for fixing resale prices, violating EU competition rules. The luxury brands restricted retailers’ pricing freedom, harming market competition.

European Commission fines Gucci, Chloé and Loewe for price fixing

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned India for reviving what it described as fabricated and provocative propaganda ahead of upcoming state elections in Bihar and West Bengal, warning that such irresponsible remarks could endanger regional peace and stability.&nbsp;The Pakistani military&rsquo;s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said it had taken &ldquo;serious notice&rdquo; of recent comments made by Indian military officials, calling them a repeat of &ldquo;delusional claims frequently made during election periods in India.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It is regrettable to see the military leadership of a nuclear-armed country issuing irresponsible statements under intense political pressure,&rdquo; the ISPR said.&nbsp;&ldquo;Such rhetoric has turned the Indian military establishment into a source of ridicule,&rdquo; it added.&nbsp;The ISPR cautioned that &ldquo;unnecessary chest-thumping and unwarranted statements could trigger a cycle of jingoism,&rdquo; which might have dangerous implications for peace and security in South Asia.&nbsp;It also noted that contradictions in the Indian Army&rsquo;s recent press statements were &ldquo;so evident that they do not warrant a detailed response.&rdquo; The statement slammed Indian leaders of attempting to rewrite history with &ldquo;Bollywood-style narratives&rdquo; aimed at shaping domestic opinion ahead of elections.&nbsp;Reaffirming Pakistan&rsquo;s resolve, the ISPR stated that the Pakistan Armed Forces are fully prepared and capable of defending every inch of national territory.&nbsp;&ldquo;Every act of aggression will be met with a swift, resolute, and memorable response,&rdquo; it warned.&nbsp;Referring to the May 2025 confrontation, referred to as Maarka-e-Haq, the ISPR said Indian forces had been &ldquo;decisively defeated,&rdquo; yet Indian leaders continue to deny that outcome.&nbsp;&ldquo;The world now recognizes India as the true face of cross-border terrorism and the epicenter of regional instability,&rdquo; the statement said.&nbsp;Pattern ahead of Indian elections&nbsp;Analysts and international observers have noted a recurring pattern in India, where anti-Pakistan rhetoric intensifies before elections, often used to rally nationalist sentiment and distract from domestic challenges.&nbsp;In May 2024, Germany&rsquo;s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) reported that anti-Pakistan sentiment remains &ldquo;an emotive issue in India&rdquo; and serves as &ldquo;a convenient political tool for candidates.&rdquo;&nbsp;Similarly, during the 2019 Pulwama attack and subsequent Balakot airstrikes, which occurred just weeks before India&rsquo;s general elections, The Guardian observed that the escalation &ldquo;played to Prime Minister Modi&rsquo;s advantage,&rdquo; helping his party shift public focus from economic issues.&nbsp;Former Indian intelligence chief A.S. Dulat, in an interview with The Times of India, had described the Pulwama attack as &ldquo;a gift to the BJP ahead of the elections.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It was inevitable that something would happen,&rdquo; Dulat had said, suggesting that the timing benefited the ruling party politically.&nbsp;Pakistan calls for restraint and regional stability&nbsp;Pakistan has repeatedly urged India to avoid using baseless allegations and militaristic rhetoric for domestic political gain. Officials maintain that such behavior undermines regional stability and diverts attention from the urgent need for peace and economic cooperation in South Asia.&nbsp;&ldquo;Pakistan remains committed to peace and stability in the region,&rdquo; the ISPR concluded. &ldquo;However, any attempt to violate its sovereignty will be met with a firm and decisive response.&rdquo;

Foreign Affairs

The military’s media wing says the Indian Army’s delusional and provocative statements ahead of state elections reflect political desperation, warning that such reckless rhetoric could endanger regional peace and will be met with firm resolve.