Qatar’s beIN Sports wins LA 2028 media rights in buildup to 2036 Olympics bid
Qatar’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games has received a boost with the state-owned broadcaster beIN Sports concluding a media rights deal for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.It is understood that beIN has won the rights to broadcast LA 2028 in the Middle East and north Africa (Mena) region, with the contract signed by the International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, and the beIN chair, Nasser al-Khelaifi, over the last few days at the Winter Games in Milan Cortina.Khelaifi is not a member of the Qatar Olympic Committee that is running the bid to bring the Games to Doha, while beIN has no formal role in promoting it.The Paris Saint‑Germain president is a board member of the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, however.BeIN acquired Olympic rights in 2015, and last week secured a last‑minute deal to show the Winter Games on its streaming platform, TOD.
LA 2028 will be shown on all beIN’s channels in Mena,Qatar announced last year that it had entered into what the bid rules describe as “continuous dialogue” with the IOC over hosting 2036 in what is shaping up to be a heavyweight battle with Ahmedabad, the home city of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi,Qatar has little Olympic history and its Olympic committee was only recognised by the IOC in 1980, but it has invested heavily in sporting infrastructure over the past two decades and is bidding to become the first Arab nation to host the Olympics,Its pitch to the IOC is expected to emphasise the bid’s financial and environmental sustainability, as 95% of the venues it plans to use are already in place as a legacy of hosting the 2022 World Cup,Doha is also a compact city which had a new metro system built for the World Cup, and Hamad international airport is a global transport hub.
A Qatari Olympics would create controversy given the country’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights and limited history of female sport.Qatar did not send any women athletes to the Olympics until London 2012, when their female team had four competitors, and the sprinter Shahd Mohamed was their only female competitor at the Paris Games.India’s planned Olympic bid will also have heavyweight political backing, as Ahmedabad is the powerbase of the country’s ruling BJP party.In addition Nita Ambani, whose family wealth is estimated at more than $120bn (£104bn), has been an IOC member since 2017 and has been lobbying for India since Paris 2024.A Times of India report last year estimated the costs of staging the Games in Ahmedabad at a record $7.
5bn, far higher than LA’s budget of $5bn.
Markets brace for US jobs data as White House acknowledges ICE effects; Heineken to cut 6,000 roles – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.It’s non-farm payrolls day! The eagerly-awaited US jobs report is out today, and the White House has been trying to moderate expectations.Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to Donald Trump, was speaking on Fox News last night.We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like. When we were letting in 2 million illegal aliens a day we had to produce 200,000 [jobs] a month for steady stay
Activist investor Elliott builds up stake in London Stock Exchange Group
The activist investor Elliott Management has built up a “significant” stake in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and is engaging with the company to drive its performance at a time of reduced listings and concerns about disruption from artificial intelligence.Elliott’s exact shareholding in LSEG was unclear; the Financial Times, which first reported the stake, added that the fund had been in talks with LSEG to help it work on improvement, encourage the group to consider a fresh share buyback and to try to narrow the gap with its rivals.Shares in LSEG climbed by as much as 6% in early trading on Wednesday before falling back slightly.LSEG is best known for operating the London Stock Exchange but in recent times has moved away from its traditional stock market activities and now derives almost half of its revenues from its data and analytics arm after its 2020 takeover of the financial data provider Refinitiv.The company’s share price has declined steadily over the past year, amid investor concerns that its income will be squeezed by AI disruption at a time of growing competition
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Will the Gulf’s push for its own AI succeed?
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. Today in tech, we’re discussing the Persian Gulf countries making a play for sovereignty over their own artificial intelligence in response to an unstable United States. That, and US tech giants’ plans to spend more than $600bn this year alone.I spent most of last week in Doha at the Web Summit Qatar, the Gulf’s new version of the popular annual tech conference. One theme stood out among the speeches I watched and the conversations I had: sovereignty
Australia v Ireland: T20 World Cup cricket – live
5th over: Ireland 28-4 (Tucker 8, Delany 0) It’s a wicket maiden from Nathan Ellis. A masterclass of T20 bowling - slower balls, short balls, cutters and full and fast. He has 3-5 from his two overs!Another one to Ellis! He goes full pace this time and a bit of extra bounce sees Calitz get an under edge and chop onto the stumps. Ireland are in pieces.4th over: Ireland 27-3 (Tucker 8, Calitz 2) Tucker climbs into a length ball from Kuhnemann and deposits down the ground for SIX
Winter Olympics 2026: Franjo von Allmen takes Super G title for third gold of Games – live
Half-pipe: Liu Jiayu, who was in contention for making the final 12, had a horrible fall towards the end of her run, and had to be taken off the course on a stretcher.Another gold for the unstoppable von Allmen, who becomes the fourth skier to win three gold medals at one Winter Olympics, with silver for America’s Cochran-Siegle, and bronze for Marco Odermatt.A lovely story about von Allmen. After his dad died when he was 17, his village crowd-funded his ski-ing career. Now, on his Olympic debut, downhill, team-combined and Super G golds
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