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Live Nation set to acquire Royal Arena in Copenhagen with 17,000 capacity

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Live Nation set to acquire Royal Arena in Copenhagen with 17,000 capacity

Live Nation Entertainment has agreed to acquire Royal Arena from Realdania and Copenhagen City, marking another expansion for the concerts giant in Europe.

The deal gives Live Nation control of the 17,000–capacity venue that it has operated since the venue opened in 2017.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in 2026, the company said on Monday (December 1).

Following the transaction, Live Nation says it will invest in infrastructure upgrades including expanded hospitality areas and VIP experiences, improved backstage facilities for touring artists and crews, and renewable energy systems.

Live Nation plans to add rooftop solar panels, convert to full LED lighting, and install two 4.5-megawatt batteries to store renewable energy, targeting annual savings exceeding 800,000 kWh.

The venue has hosted performances by Billie Eilish, Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo, and Danish artists including MØ and Lukas Graham. Recent additions include The Vinyl Room presented by Bang & Olufsen, an exclusive lounge space.

“Now, as both owner and operator, Live Nation is even more committed to the venue and the surrounding area, and we look forward to developing it for many years to come.”

Anders Kjørup, Royal Arena

Royal Arena is located in Copenhagen’s Ørestad district. It was designed by award-winning Danish architecture firm 3XN with Cradle to Cradle certified materials and recyclable wooden fins.

This month, Royal Arena is hosting shows for acts like Radiohead, James Arthur, Lorde and BIG TIME RUSH.

Anders Kjørup, CEO of Royal Arena, said: “From the first concert in 2017, when Metallica took to the stage, the Danes have been in love with this amazing building—delivering world-class experiences for artists and fans alike. Now, as both owner and operator, Live Nation is even more committed to the venue and the surrounding area, and we look forward to developing it for many years to come.”

Live Nation’s acquisition comes as Denmark’s live music sector contributes 10.2 billion Danish kroner (approx. USD $1.6 billion) annually to the economy, and supports thousands of jobs, according to industry data.

Realdania CEO Nina Kovsted Helk said: “Realdania’s philanthropic mission is to create quality of life for all through the built environment. This includes contributing to urban development by creating buildings like Royal Arena that form a framework for communities and memorable experiences.”

“We’re proud to have helped bring a world-class multi-purpose arena to Copenhagen – and to Denmark as a whole. It was never Realdania’s intention to be the long-term owner of the arena, and the time has now come to sell.”

Nina Kovsted Helk, Realdania

“We’re proud to have helped bring a world-class multi-purpose arena to Copenhagen – and to Denmark as a whole. It was never Realdania’s intention to be the long-term owner of the arena, and the time has now come to sell. We’re therefore very pleased with this agreement.”

The acquisition expands Live Nation’s presence in Denmark. In 2019, the company acquired Danish booking agency and artist management company PDH Music.

Across Europe, Live Nation has also expanded its presence. In Q3 2025, the company reported a 60% YoY jump in fans who showed up for stadium shows globally to over 51 million fans, driven by growth in Europe and Mexico.

However, the company is facing a regulatory probe in Belgium. The Belgian Competition Authority launched an investigation in November into Live Nation’s recent acquisition of the country’s Pukkelpop, an annual music festival near the city of Hasselt.

The investigation will assess how the takeover might affect competition in festival organization and the broader live entertainment sector, given Live Nation’s extensive operations across the industry.

Recent acquisitions by Live Nation include Team Event, a New Zealand-based festival producer behind Electric Avenue; an additional 24% stake in Mexican concert promoter OCESA for $646 million; SD Concerts, a live entertainment company in the Dominican Republic; and Hayashi International Promotions (HIP), a Japan-focused live music promoter of both domestic and international artists.

Music Business Worldwide

Shakur Stevenson challenges outcome of Isaac Cruz vs Lamont Roach Jr draw: “Not buying it”

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Shakur Stevenson challenges outcome of Isaac Cruz vs Lamont Roach Jr draw: “Not buying it”

Former WBA super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach had to endure the third draw of his career last night after being held by Isaac Cruz.

The 30-year-old’s first came in 2018 after a drab encounter with Orlando Cruz, a fight many felt Roach deserved to win. Then, in March this year, he was again unlucky not to have beaten superstar Gervonta Davis.

Roach stepped into his third weight class last night, taking on Mexican marauder Cruz over 12 rounds in the PBC main event at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

In the third session, Roach touched down, handing Cruz the upper hand in the round, but the 27-year-old was docked a point in the seventh for an illegal blow.

Judges Nathan Palmer and Cory A. Santos both scored it 113-113, while Chris Tellez returned a 115-111 card for Cruz who retained his WBC Interim super-lightweight belt.

Across the three draws in his career Roach, staggeringly, has only been awarded victory from one of the nine judges who scored the Orlando Cruz, Davis and Isaac Cruz fights.

Roach appeared to have done enough to win, though former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr felt Cruz edged it. Shakur Stevenson, aiming to become a four-weight world champion when he moves to 140lbs for his next fight next month against WBO title-holder Teofimo Lopez, also weighed in. The 28-year-old posted his reaction on X, saying:

“I thought Lamont pulled that off too.”

Roach voiced his frustration afterwards but remains in line for major opportunities next year –– including a potential rematch against “Pitbull” Cruz.

UN watchdog reports that Chernobyl radiation shield has lost safety function due to drone strike

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UN watchdog reports that Chernobyl radiation shield has lost safety function due to drone strike

A protective shield covering the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine can no longer provide its main containment function following a drone strike earlier this year, according to a UN watchdog.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found that the massive structure, built over the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, had lost its “primary safety functions including the confinement capability”.

In February, Ukraine accused Russia of targeting the power plant – a claim the Kremlin denied.

The IAEA said repairs were “essential” to “prevent further degradation” of the nuclear shelter. However environmental expert Jim Smith told the BBC: “It is not something to panic about.”

Prof Smith from the University of Portsmouth in the UK, who has studied the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, said the biggest danger linked to the site was disturbing radioactive dust.

But he said that “the risk is low” because contaminated dust is contained within a thick concrete “sarcophagus” which is covered by the protective shield.

The 1986 explosion at Chernobyl blasted radioactive material into the air, triggering a public health emergency across Europe.

In response, the former Soviet Union constructed the sarcophagus over the nuclear reactor.

The sarcophagus only had a 30-year lifespan, prompting the need for the protective shell to prevent radioactive material leaking out over the next 100 years.

The IAEA said a team had completed a safety assessment of the site last week after it was “severely damaged” by the drone strike. The attack caused a fire in the outer cladding of the steel structure.

Inspectors said there was no permanent damage to shell’s load-bearing structures or monitoring systems and some repairs had been carried out on the roof.

But IAEA director general Rafael Grossi, said: “Timely and comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety.”

Since the beginning of December, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has been assessing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as the country continues to defend itself against Russia.

Overnight, Russia launched airstrikes on the city of Kremenchuk, a major industrial hub in the centre of Ukraine.

As well as assessing Chernobyl, the IAEA has been inspecting electrical substations linked to nuclear safety and security.

Mr Grossi said: “They are absolutely indispensable for providing the electricity all nuclear power plants need for reactor cooling and other safety systems.

“They are also needed to distribute the electricity that they produce to households and industry.”

How AI Wildlife Videos are Negatively Impacting Genuine Conservation Efforts

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How AI Wildlife Videos are Negatively Impacting Genuine Conservation Efforts

In recent months, AI-generated wildlife clips have flooded social media, merging real animal behavior with playful fabrications. From leopards in backyards and raccoons riding crocodiles, to bunnies on trampolines, scientists warn that these digital deepfakes are distorting people’s sense of what the natural world looks like. And when people cannot distinguish real wildlife from digital fiction, conservation loses something essential: A public that understands what is really at stake.

Researchers at the University of Córdoba in Spain have examined how AI-generated wildlife images and videos circulating on social media can distort public understanding of animals and their habitats. The team explores how realistic synthetic content influences people’s perception of species behavior, ecological relationships, and rarity – particularly when those fabricated clips resemble real footage and spread at alarming speed across social platforms.

At first glance, it’s fair to assume these AI generated wildlife videos are harmless: A leopard strolling through a suburban backyard; a fox stealing someone’s mail; a capybara politely sharing a bathtub with a golden retriever. And my personal favorite, bunny gymnastics on the trampoline.

You absolutely know some of it is fake, but the videos are such a distraction it takes a beat to calibrate. And then reality sets in. How could these videos impact public perception of animals and their environment?

The team highlights how quickly these clips can spread. In one prominent case, an AI-generated video of a leopard entering a backyard and being chased off by a house cat earned over a million likes and more than 15,000 shares. The authors argue that such hyper-viral examples show how realistic fabrications can move through social media ecosystems at overwhelming speed, blurring the line between authentic wildlife encounters and synthetic ones.

“They reflect characteristics, behaviors, habitats, or relationships between species that are not real,” said lead author José Guerrero-Casado. “For example, we see predators and pray playing. They show us animals with human behaviors that are far from reality,”

That confusion is exactly what worries conservation scientists. Researchers argue that AI wildlife content is already reshaping how the public understands ecosystems. When fake videos make rare species look common, or portray dangerous animals as harmless companions, the baseline for what nature looks like starts to drift.

If people come to expect to see crocodiles and raccoons hanging out together, the real behavior of these species feels less remarkable, and threats to their survival feel less urgent.

While it may seem hard to grasp that such videos could take hold, believing these pairings is easier than it sounds. Imagine a young child scrolling through Instagram on an older sibling’s phone, for example. A single AI-generated clip of a crocodile and a raccoon playing then triggers the algorithm, and suddenly their feed is filled with similar scenes.

Without anyone to tell them otherwise, these fabrications become familiar. And once something feels familiar, the brain treats it as normal.

If nothing more accurate replaces that impression, the child risks growing up with a distorted baseline for how wildlife behaves and where animals belong. Especially if the videos continue to flood social media unchecked. Multiply that by millions of viewers, year after year, and the gap between digital nature and the real world widens.

For conservation groups that rely on public trust and accurate storytelling, this shift is significant. The more these fabricated moments spread across social feeds, the harder it becomes to communicate what species actually need, what habitats really look like, and how fragile many ecosystems already are.

Researchers point out that these fabrications distort three key realities: how rare an animal is, how it behaves, and where it belongs. A species that exists in only a handful of protected regions might suddenly appear in suburban neighborhoods. Predators seem gentle. Habitat boundaries dissolve.

The more these clips circulate, the easier it becomes for people to misjudge population health, misunderstand risks, or overlook the urgency of protecting the ecosystems that keep these species alive.

The clips may be digital, but the consequences are not.

Scientists studying this trend say the solution isn’t to abandon AI outright, but to understand and educate how quickly it can reshape public perception. Many conservation efforts rely on showing people what is rare, fragile, or threatened, and that depends on trust. When AI-generated wildlife becomes more visible than the real thing, that trust erodes.

“There is already a total disconnect between citizens and wildlife, which is particularly pronounced among primary school children, as we saw in the IncluScienceMe project, which demonstrates a lack of knowledge of local fauna among young children,” said co-author Rocío Serrano. “These videos create false connections with nature, as vulnerable species appear more abundant in these videos, and that is negative for conservation.”

Researchers recommend clear labeling, improvements in platform oversight, and encouraging transparency about what is real and what is synthetic. But they also stress the need for education. If people understand how these clips are made, and why they spread so easily, they are far less likely to mistake them for authentic encounters.

The reality is, now more than ever, what we see online shapes what we believe about the natural world. If AI-generated wildlife keeps filling our feeds, it becomes harder to remember how extraordinary real animals are and how vulnerable many of them have become. The clips may be entertaining, but the ecosystems they imitate are already under strain, and they cannot compete with the speed or sensational pull of a synthetic nature.

The more we learn to tell the difference, the more clearly we can see what is at stake. Real conservation begins with deep respect and understanding, and that starts with knowing which moments in our feeds come from living landscapes and which ones come from a machine.

This study was published in the Conservation Biology

Source: University of Córdoba

Challenging the Client

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Challenging the Client



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Cuts to Aid Budgets Impact Child Mortality Rates, Study Finds – Al Jazeera

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Cuts to Aid Budgets Impact Child Mortality Rates, Study Finds – Al Jazeera

Bill Gates tells Al Jazeera about setbacks slowing efforts to reduce the global child mortality rate, as child deaths are projected to rise for the first time this century.

Published On 7 Dec 2025

Benin government reports successful prevention of coup attempt by armed forces

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Benin government reports successful prevention of coup attempt by armed forces

Benin government says armed forces foil coup attempt

Soldiers claim to have removed President Talon from office

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Soldiers claim to have removed President Talon from office

Soldiers in the West African nation of Benin have announced on national TV that they have ousted President Patrice Talon and seized power.

A message from the French embassy in Benin said gunfire had been reported near the residence of the president in the main city of Cotonou.

The soldiers also announced a suspension of the constitution, the closure of all land borders as well as the country’s airspace.

But officials close to the president say he is fine and that the small group of soldiers at the TV station did not have the backing of the regular army.

“The situation is under control. A large part of the army is still loyalist – and we are taking over the situation,” Foreign Minister Shegun Adjadi Bakari told Reuters news agency.

An unnamed person in the presidency told the AFP news agency: “This is a small group of people who only control the television. The city and the country are completely secure.”

According to the statement read out by the soldiers, Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal will be leading a military transition council.

They justified their actions by criticising President Talon’s management of the country.

Talon, 67, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.

A businessman known as the “king of cotton”, he first came to power in an election in 2016. He had promised not to seek a third term and had already named a successor.

The French Embassy has urged its citizens to stay indoors for their safety.

Benin has been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies. It is the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.

This apparent coup in Benin comes just over a week after Umaro Sissoco Embaló was overthrown as president in nearby Guinea-Bissau.

In recent years, there have been several coups in West Africa, including in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.

Benin has seen a rise in jihadist activity in recent years, as groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread to the south.

Europe is Facing a Serious Issue, According to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon

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Europe is Facing a Serious Issue, According to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon called out slow bureaucracy in Europe in a warning that a “weak” continent poses a major economic risk to the US.

“Europe has a real problem,” Dimon said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “They do some wonderful things on their safety nets. But they’ve driven business out, they’ve driven investment out, they’ve driven innovation out. It’s kind of coming back.”

While he praised some European leaders who he said were aware of the issues, he cautioned politics is “really hard.” 

Dimon, leader of the biggest US bank, has long said that the risk of a fragmented Europe is among the major challenges facing the world. In his letter to shareholders released earlier this year, he said that Europe has “some serious issues to fix.”

On Saturday, he praised the creation of the euro and Europe’s push for peace. But he warned that a reduction in military efforts and challenges trying to reach agreement within the European Union are threatening the continent.

“If they fragment, then you can say that America first will not be around anymore,” Dimon said. “It will hurt us more than anybody else because they are a major ally in every single way, including common values, which are really important.”

He said the US should help.

“We need a long-term strategy to help them become strong,” Dimon said. “A weak Europe is bad for us.”

The administration of President Donald Trump issued a new national security strategy that directed US interests toward the Western Hemisphere and protection of the homeland while dismissing Europe as a continent headed toward “civilizational erasure.”

Read More: Trump’s National Security Strategy Veers Inward in Telling Shift

JPMorgan has been ramping up its push to spur more investments in the national defense sector. In October, the bank announced that it would funnel $1.5 trillion into industries that bolster US economic security and resiliency over the next 10 years — as much as $500 billion more than what it would’ve provided anyway. 

Dimon said in the statement that it’s “painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing.”

Investment banker Jay Horine oversees the effort, which Dimon called “100% commercial.” It will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence and resilience; and frontier and strategic technologies. 

The bank will also invest as much as $10 billion of its own capital to help certain companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic manufacturing.

Separately on Saturday, Dimon praised Trump for finding ways to roll back bureaucracy in the government.

“There is no question that this administration is trying to bring an axe to some of the bureaucracy that held back America,” Dimon said. “That is a good thing and we can do it and still keep the world safe, for safe food and safe banks and all the stuff like that.”

Neo-Nazis in Sweden’s capital stage a resurgent march against multiculturalism | Al Jazeera

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Neo-Nazis in Sweden’s capital stage a resurgent march against multiculturalism | Al Jazeera

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A neo-Nazi march has been held in Sweden’s capital for the first time in 15 years, bringing together far-right white supremacist groups. Police gave permission for the rally to go ahead, to commemorate the killing of a 17-year-old with extremist ties, that used to be held annually in the early 2000s. Al Jazeera’s Nils Adler was there.

Published On 7 Dec 2025

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