Prosecutors Drop All Charges Against Actor Jussie Smollett; Uber Buys Biggest Ride-Hailing App in Middle East
VANIER: A reminder of the breaking news that we're following. We are waiting for actor Jussie Smollett to speak after prosecutors have dropped all charges against him. Now you'll remember he was accused of staging a hate crime and then filing a false police report after he claimed that he was the victim of an attack back in January. In a statement just a short time ago, his attorneys said Smollett was the victim of an inappropriate rush to judgment and that he's relieved to have the situation behind him. We are waiting for Smollett himself to make remarks. We'll bring you those as soon as he begins speaking. The ride hailing app Uber is buying its biggest rival in the Middle East. Uber is shelling out more than $3 billion to acquire Careem. A Dubai based company with millions of users in the region. Uber is gearing up for an initial public offering expected later this year. Buying out Careem would give Uber dominance in the Middle East and help the American business expand overseas. John Defterios joins us from London. He's been following this. John, the biggest tech deal in Middle East history. Is this a total validation for what Dubai has been doing over years if not decades now?</s>JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNMONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well I think that's in the affirmative, Cyril. This is the first tech unicorn to get bought out. That means a valuation of over $1.0 billion. And just over two years' time we've seen two major tech acquisitions. This being Uber for Careem. It's a premium price at $3.1 billion and five times the size of the major takeout by Amazon of Souq.com. Which is an online digital retailer for just under $600 million. So kudos for Dubai that these two major tech deals as the financial center of the region and expanded to become the technology center. And the ruler of Dubai singled this out in his Twitter and Instagram feeds today, suggesting people laughed back in 1999 when they decided to launch Dubai Internet City. But nobody is laughing anymore and that these two tech companies flourished in the desert of Dubai -- with a little bit of sarcasm from him. He put the deals there in dirhams but they are sizable. One of the thing that stood out for me, Uber is making the acquisition of Careem but will remain a wholly owned subsidiary and have its own CEO -- one of the cofounders of the group. Number two, as I suggested before, didn't go out cheaply at over $3 billion. This company was evaluated at $2 billion just six months ago. So Uber looking to expand. Get its own $120 billion valuation with a mixed track record in emerging markets -- having pulled out of China and Russia and Southeast Asia -- decided the Middle East, North Africa and stretching to South Asia and Pakistan was very important for its IPO later in 2019.</s>VANIER: Yes, I suppose their motto is, if you can't them -- or if you can't totally beat them, buy them.</s>DEFTERIOS: Yes.</s>VANIER: Look, there's one thing worth noting about Careem, it's interesting they taut their local advantage. Right. They know the ground, they know the region in the Middle East. But it's actually run by foreigners.</s>DEFTERIOS: Yes, run by foreigners -- but this is an interesting point that you raise, Cyril, because in the Dubai vernacular -- and I've talked to all the people that are running this division, including the minister of artificial intelligence. They have a minister of the future. They don't care where the person is from. They want it developed in Dubai. So they want the global citizen. This is an unusual combination. We have a photo here of the cofounders. In the center is one from Karachi, Pakistan and other is from the Nordic region educated in Sweden. And the third was born in Saudi Arabia but actually raised in Germany. The one at the center, Mudassir Sheikha, is going to be remaining as the CEO going forward. That's Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson, lives in Abu Dhabi and commutes to Dubai, will remain very involved in the company going forward. So indeed you are correct, neither one of them from Dubai or Abu Dhabi originally. But wanted to set up a base there and use it as a reason to expand through the broader region. This is a company that has exposure from Morocco all the way to Saudi Arabia. And it's also important for Uber to have one that has this local knowledge, can feel their way through what is a complex region. And these two consultants, formerly of Mackenzie, made it work with Careem and now selling out for $3 billion not bad after seven years in business I'd say -- Cyril.</s>VANIER: Not bad at all. John Defterios, live from London, thank you very much, John. And a first ever all female spacewalk at the International Space Station has been delayed because there aren't enough space suits onboard that fit them. Anne McClain and Christina Koch were supposed to go out on Friday to continue stalling the lithium ion batteries for on pair of the station's solar arrays. But because there is only one medium sized space on board, Nick Hague will accompany Koch to complete the work. All right, thanks for being with us today. I'm Cyril Vanier. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. See you tomorrow.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: It's 4:00 in London. Now, let me bring you up to date with events that we're expecting to happen. END