NEW YORK: The holiday season has long been a battleground for retailers seeking to capture shoppers’ attention, whether in New York, London, or elsewhere. This year, however, companies are not just chasing human eyes—they are targeting artificial intelligence to reach consumers. Globally, online sales during festive periods are expected to exceed hundreds of billions of dollars, with traditional website visits …

LIVERPOOL: Troubled Liverpool’s miserable season spiralled further into turmoil as PSV Eindhoven swept to a stunning 4-1 win at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday. Arne Slot’s side trailed to Ivan Perisic’s early penalty and Dominik Szoboszlai’s equaliser did nothing to galvanise the Reds. Second-half goals from Guus Til and Couhaib Driouech, who netted twice, condemned the woeful Premier …

DOHA: Max Verstappen is seeking a hat-trick of wins at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend as this year’s Formula One world championship reaches boiling point in the Arabian Gulf. But he will know, better than most, that even with luck on his side he is unlikely to overhaul a 24-point deficit that separates him from McLaren’s Lando Norris as …

A huge fire that engulfed a Hong Kong residential estate has killed at least 36 people and left more than 200 unaccounted for in the city’s worst blaze in decades. The fire, which started on Wednesday afternoon and was still burning in the early hours of Thursday, shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world’s most densely …

Two members of the National Guard were shot on Wednesday in a busy area near the White House in downtown Washington, officials said, putting the building into lockdown with President Donald Trump away in Florida. West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey initially said in a post on X that both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died …