Day: May 14, 2026

The country’s internationally recognized government has reached an agreement with the Iran-backed Houthi movement on a prisoner exchange, the largest so far since the outbreak of the war in 2014, News.Az reports, citing Sweden Herald.

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The agreement was signed in Jordan after 14 weeks of negotiations, and builds on the agreement reached just before Christmas last year. At that time, it was said that almost 3,000 prisoners would be exchanged, but now it will be just over half that number – if Thursday’s agreement is followed.

Around 1,100 Houthis are to be released, while the Houthis are releasing around 600 prisoners as well as “a number of politicians and media representatives”, according to Houthi representative Abdelkader al-Murtada.

It is not clear when the exchange will be implemented.

The post Yemen to exchange almost 1,700 prisoners in historic swap​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

CSG’s initiative marks yet another attempt to consolidate the European defense industry, but it is likely to face political resistance from Paris and Berlin, News.Az reports, citing Financial Times.

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According to the FT, the Czech group has approached the owners of half of KNDS’s shares with an offer to purchase them. The deal involves full or predominantly cash payment, although it is currently unknown whether it will receive shareholder support.

KNDS was established about ten years ago as a result of the merger between the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and the French company Nexter. The group manufactures, among other things, Leopard 2 tanks and Caesar self-propelled artillery systems. The company is also one of the key suppliers of weapons to Ukraine.

Currently, KNDS is owned in equal shares by German shareholders and the French government, making the issue of changing the ownership structure politically sensitive. Paris and Berlin have a direct interest in controlling the company, its production capabilities, and the priorities of its defense programs.

CSG’s proposal came as KNDS was preparing for a potential IPO as early as the beginning of July. The company expects a market capitalization of between 15 and 20 billion euros.

However, the IPO plans are being implemented amid a deteriorating situation in the defense sector’s stock market and internal disputes within German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition over what share of the stock should be bought back from German owners.

CSG, which conducted the largest IPO in the history of the defense industry in Amsterdam, was valued at approximately €30 billion at the time of its IPO. This has encouraged a number of other European defense companies, including KNDS, to consider selling shares amid high investor interest in the sector.

However, CSG’s stock has recently plummeted following allegations from short-seller Hunterbrook. Hunterbrook claimed that CSG allegedly concealed certain information in its IPO prospectus and pointed to a “pattern of incomplete disclosure” regarding the company’s subsidiaries and business practices. CSG has rejected these allegations.

A similar decline is being observed among other players in the defense sector. In particular, Rheinmetall shares, which had been rising rapidly in recent years, have lost about 30% of their value this year due to investor concerns about future sales.

CSG has repeatedly demonstrated interest in major deals. The company lost the battle for Iveco’s defense business, but in 2024 it acquired the ammunition manufacturer Kinetic Group, which includes the Remington brand.

The potential acquisition of a significant stake in KNDS could become the largest and most ambitious deal in the history of the Czech group of companies.a

The post Czechoslovak Group offers to buy stake in KNDS​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

“One thing he agreed to today, he’s going to order 200 jets. That’s a big thing. Boeings,” Trump told Fox News, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Analysts had expected a big order of Boeing aircraft to come out of Trump’s visit to China, though analysts had been expecting more, with Jefferies estimating the order would be up to 500 aircraft. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and other top executives from U.S. companies joined Trump on the trip, News.Az reports, citing CNBC.

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The manufacturer hasn’t won a major order from China in almost a decade, but the country has been buying from Boeing’s main rival, Airbus.

Trump didn’t specify which aircraft China could purchase from Boeing, though analysts had expected a potential order to include hundreds of Boeing’s bestselling 737 Max planes.

Boeing and the White House didn’t immediately comment. Boeing shares were down nearly 4% in afternoon trading.

Ortberg said on a company earnings call last month that the U.S.-China summit could be a “meaningful opportunity for us” that could include an aircraft order.

“I’m not going to give you the number of airplanes, but it’s a big number,” he said.

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The post Kids in Lower Merion school district in Pennsylvania get iPads starting in kindergarten, switch to Chromebooks in second grade and get their own MacBooks in eighth grade. Hundreds of parents signed a petition asking to preserve their ability to opt their children out of using digital devices during the school day. The school district has pushed back, saying it’s not feasible to let hundreds of students opt out of technology that is essential to the curriculum. first appeared on October Surprise 2016 – octobersurprise2016.org.

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