Category: World

Gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world’s largest reserve asset by market value, marking a significant change in the composition of official reserves and underlining how central banks are adjusting to geopolitical risk, high debt levels and uncertainty over the dollar-based financial system.The European Central Bank’s latest review of the international monetary system shows gold accounted for 27 per cent of total official foreign reserves at the end of 2025, ahead of US Treasuries at 22 per cent and

Swiss watch exports fell sharply in April as shipments to the United States slumped from a distorted high base created last year, when brands and distributors rushed inventory across the Atlantic before higher US tariffs took effect.Exports dropped 16.6 per cent year on year to CHF2.13 billion, with the United States accounting for the largest drag on the industry’s monthly performance. Shipments to the US, still the sector’s biggest market, fell 56.4 per cent to CHF372.3 million, reversing the exceptional

Swiss watch exports fell sharply in April as shipments to the United States slumped from a distorted high base created last year, when brands and distributors rushed inventory across the Atlantic before higher US tariffs took effect.Exports dropped 16.6 per cent year on year to CHF2.13 billion, with the United States accounting for the largest drag on the industry’s monthly performance. Shipments to the US, still the sector’s biggest market, fell 56.4 per cent to CHF372.3 million, reversing the exceptional

Swiss watch exports fell sharply in April as shipments to the United States slumped from a distorted high base created last year, when brands and distributors rushed inventory across the Atlantic before higher US tariffs took effect.Exports dropped 16.6 per cent year on year to CHF2.13 billion, with the United States accounting for the largest drag on the industry’s monthly performance. Shipments to the US, still the sector’s biggest market, fell 56.4 per cent to CHF372.3 million, reversing the exceptional

Moscow’s main security agency said it had uncovered a foreign intelligence operation that placed spyware on mobile phones used by senior officials, intensifying Russia’s long-running confrontation with Western governments over cyber espionage, communications security and control of digital infrastructure.Russia’s Federal Security Service said the operation involved the compromise of thousands of devices, including phones used by officials, diplomats and people linked to government agencies. The agency alleged that foreign intelligence services had used sophisticated surveillance software to infiltrate mobile devices

Mette Frederiksen has secured a third consecutive term as Denmark’s prime minister after reaching a coalition agreement that ends nearly 10 weeks of political deadlock following the March 24 parliamentary election.The Social Democratic leader will head a centre-left minority administration made up of the Social Democrats, the Moderates, the Green Left and the Social Liberal Party. The deal keeps Frederiksen in power despite a weakened election performance and marks a shift away from the broad cross-bloc government that defined her

Johannesburg has become the opening stage for a European Union push to turn a pledged €12 billion investment package for South Africa into bankable projects, with about 200 companies joining the bloc’s first investment roadshow in the country as competition intensifies over critical minerals.The event, hosted at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, marked the first major effort to mobilise private capital under the EU-South Africa Clean Trade and Investment Partnership signed in 2025. The roadshow is aimed at connecting

KLM has cancelled flights to and from Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport after Ebola-related travel controls made crew movements difficult, adding pressure on East Africa’s aviation links as governments tighten health screening for travellers connected to affected areas.The Dutch carrier halted Entebbe services scheduled for May 30 and June 1, saying passengers would be contacted for rebooking or refunds. The affected flights linked Amsterdam with Entebbe via Kigali, a route used by business travellers, aid workers, diplomats and Ugandans travelling through

Florida has filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, accusing the artificial intelligence company of knowingly releasing ChatGPT to the public despite safety warnings and alleged risks to children, vulnerable users and wider public safety.The complaint, filed in state court by Attorney General James Uthmeier, marks the first lawsuit brought by a US state against OpenAI over alleged harms linked to its chatbot. It accuses the company of deceptive and unfair trade practices, negligence and

Shareholders of ČEZ have approved a far-reaching plan to separate key customer and network assets from the Czech Republic’s dominant power utility, advancing a government-backed strategy to secure full control over the company’s core electricity generation business.The vote at the group’s general meeting marks a pivotal step in one of Central Europe’s most closely watched energy restructurings. The plan will carve out electricity and gas distribution networks, trading operations and customer sales into a separate subsidiary, creating a structure that

Video assistant referees will have wider authority at the 2026 World Cup after football’s lawmakers approved a clarification allowing intervention for clear attacking fouls committed before the ball is put into play at corners and free kicks.The change means a goal, penalty decision or disciplinary sanction can be reviewed if an attacking player blocks, holds, impedes or otherwise fouls an opponent before the set-piece is taken, provided the offence has a direct impact on what follows. It closes a gap

French police detained 780 people after celebrations over Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph turned violent across Paris and several other cities, leaving officers injured, shops damaged and vehicles set on fire during a night of disorder that overshadowed the club’s second successive European title.The unrest broke out after PSG defeated Arsenal 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Saturday, retaining the Champions League trophy and confirming their status as Europe’s dominant club side.

Millions of Ethiopians began voting on Monday in the country’s 7th General Election, a high-stakes parliamentary and regional contest expected to consolidate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party while testing public confidence in the electoral process.More than 50 million people are registered to vote across Africa’s second most populous country, where polling stations opened after months of voter registration, candidate nominations, political campaigns, public debates and logistical preparations led by the National Election Board of Ethiopia. The vote will

Copper prices advanced in New York and London as traders moved into a decisive month for the US tariff review that could reshape global flows of the metal used across power grids, construction, electronics and defence manufacturing.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 per cent to $13,687.50 a tonne on Monday morning in Shanghai trading, while the US Comex contract climbed 1 per cent to $6.45 a pound, putting it on course for its highest close since mid-May.

Paris Hilton and journalist Laurie Segall have launched a 14-part TikTok investigation that names a Canadian pharmacist linked to MrDeepFakes, the shuttered website that became one of the world’s largest hubs for non-consensual AI-generated explicit videos.The series, Searching for Mr. Deepfakes, began streaming on Hilton’s TikTok channel on 27 May and follows Segall’s multi-year effort to identify the people behind the site. It places fresh public attention on David Do, a former pharmacist in the Greater Toronto Area who was

Congo has widened Ebola testing in its eastern provinces after laboratory results showed about 260 positive samples, sharpening concern that the outbreak’s true scale remains unclear despite intensified surveillance.Health authorities are working through expanded diagnostics, case tracing and community screening after suspected infections crossed 1,000, with more than 220 deaths still under investigation. The outbreak, declared on 15 May in Ituri province, has spread into North Kivu and South Kivu, while Uganda has confirmed linked cases, underscoring the risk posed

Thousands of households across southeast England were left without water or struggling with low pressure after record-breaking temperatures collided with a dry spring, placing renewed scrutiny on the resilience of Britain’s ageing water network and the performance of South East Water.The disruption reached more than 20,000 people at its height, with about 8,000 affected in Whitstable, Kent, where residents queued for bottled water and some businesses shut their doors during a busy holiday period. Areas of Kent and Sussex also

Authorities in northern Italy have barred two July concerts by Kanye West and Travis Scott in Reggio Emilia, citing risks to public order and security after objections from civic and Jewish community groups over the planned appearances.The decision by Reggio Emilia prefect Salvatore Angieri halts two of the most prominent events planned for the Pulse of Gaia Festival at the RCF Arena, one of Europe’s largest open-air concert venues. Scott had been scheduled to perform on 17 July, with West,

Global energy markets face mounting strain heading into the northern hemisphere summer as the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatens fuel availability, price stability and wider economic resilience across oil-importing economies.Warnings from the International Monetary Fund, the International Energy Agency and the World Bank have sharpened concern that emergency inventories are being depleted at an unusually rapid pace after weeks of disruption to one of the world’s most important maritime energy corridors. The strait normally carries about a

Washington has sharply criticised a United Nations decision to place Israel’s armed and security forces on a blacklist linked to conflict-related sexual violence, calling the move “ridiculous” as the report deepened tensions between Israel, the UN leadership and Western capitals over the conduct of the Gaza war.The annual report by UN Secretary-General António Guterres added Israeli forces to a list of parties “credibly suspected” of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in

Portugal’s economy expanded 2.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter, accelerating from 1.9 per cent at the end of last year as domestic demand offset pressure from trade and weather-related disruption.The first-quarter reading confirmed that the economy entered 2026 with firmer underlying demand than much of the euro area, even though output was flat compared with the previous quarter. The annual pace matched the preliminary estimate released at the end of April and marked the strongest yearly

Australia’s Fair Work Commission is overhauling its procedures after generative AI tools helped fuel a sharp rise in workplace claims, adding pressure to a tribunal already dealing with record demand across dismissal and general protections matters.The national workplace tribunal has moved to review how applications are filed, screened and managed as self-represented workers increasingly use AI systems to prepare claims, submissions, witness statements and appeal notices. The shift has widened access to the legal process, but it has also increased

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by about 2% over the past year, marking a sharper shift in the country’s climate trajectory as renewable electricity, lower fossil-fuel generation and faster electric vehicle adoption begin to reshape two of its most carbon-intensive sectors.National emissions were estimated at 436 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the year to September 2025, down 2.8% from a year earlier. For the year to June 2025, emissions were 28.5% below the 2005 baseline used for

Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old speller from California, won the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee after a high-speed tiebreaker that capped one of the competition’s most dramatic finals, correctly spelling 32 words in 90 seconds to defeat 12-year-old Ishaan Gupta of Jersey City, New Jersey.The eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga secured the title at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington after the two finalists reached a spell-off following a long run of error-free conventional rounds. His official winning word was “bromocriptine”, a medical

Brussels has warned that Europe’s aviation fuel market could tighten further within weeks if disruption around the Strait of Hormuz continues, raising the prospect of higher fuel costs, pressure on airline schedules and fresh strain across the bloc’s energy supply chain before the peak summer travel season.The warning, issued after meetings of the European Commission’s oil and gas coordination groups, marks a sharper assessment of the risks facing the European Union’s fuel system. Officials said the closure of the Strait

Paris Saint-Germain stand one match from retaining the UEFA Champions League title as they face Arsenal at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna on Saturday in a final that brings together the French champions and the Premier League winners.The 2025/26 European club season reaches its decisive point with PSG attempting to become only the second club of the Champions League era to defend the trophy, after Real Madrid’s run of three successive titles from 2016 to 2018. Arsenal, by contrast, are seeking their