XRG, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said on Thursday it has been awarded a development licence for the Loran gas field in the Caribbean, which straddles the Venezuela–Trinidad and Tobago boundary. XRG will hold the licence jointly with BP and Qatar’s UCC to develop more than 4 tcf of gas. The gas is slated to supplement Trinidad’s industrial feedstock, including supply to the Atlantic LNG complex operated by Shell and BP, and to petrochemical and fertilizer plants that hav

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a Mecca joint defence pact that could shift regional power dynamics by enhancing members' autonomous deterrent capacity and easing some US security burdens, though its operational credibility remains uncertain. A Foundation for Defense of Democracies expert says the agreement appears more focused on economic and commercial cooperation than on a NATO‑style security alliance; its deterrent value depends on joint planning, command arrangements and crisis procedures. A Pakistani policy analyst at CUNY warned the pact should not be read as an Article‑5 equivalent for now. Even a limited military arrangement may harden alignments—prompting counter‑cooperation from countries such as Israel and Greece—and therefore raise geopolitical tensions in the region.

The 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games will open on Aug. 22 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval Ice Ribbon, hosted by the Beijing municipal government and China Media Group. The event attracted 666 teams from 16 countries across six continents with 2,056 robots, a 138% increase in teams and roughly a fourfold rise in robots YoY. International entrants include teams from the United States, Germany and Japan; Brazil fielded a national combined squad drawn from five robot-football World Cup champion teams. Domestic participation comprises 157 companies, 641 teams and 1,975 robots, including nearly all first‑tier robotics firms and 27 '985' universities covering 30 provinces, municipalities and SARs. Competition categories expanded from 26 to 51 events.