Category: World

Egypt’s Suez Canal recorded its strongest monthly revenue since early 2024 as oil tankers turned increasingly to the Red Sea route after the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted Gulf energy flows.Revenue from the waterway reached about $419 million in April, up 27 per cent from a year earlier, supported by a sharp rise in tanker crossings and higher net tonnage. The canal handled 1,182 vessels during the month, a 13.9 per cent increase from April 2025, while

Somali football supporters have reacted with fury after World Cup referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was denied entry to the United States despite holding a valid visa, turning what had been celebrated as a landmark moment for Somali sport into a wider dispute over immigration policy and football’s global reach.Artan, regarded as one of Africa’s leading match officials, had been due to take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. His selection carried

Chinese investors shut out of SpaceX’s planned blockbuster share sale are turning to indirect routes, fuelling speculative demand for offshore vehicles, supplier stocks and domestic space-sector names as Elon Musk’s rocket company prepares for one of the largest market debuts on record.Underwriters handling the offering have been told not to accept orders from investors in mainland China and Hong Kong, with the restriction linked to US controls on sensitive aerospace and defence technology. Access to SpaceX’s website and IPO marketing

Iran’s football federation says its World Cup ticket allocation has been withdrawn days before the 2026 tournament opens, leaving supporters who had begun arranging travel unable to buy seats through the official national federation channel.The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran said it had already started the ticket sales process for group-stage matches when access to its quota was removed. The federation said the move meant it could no longer provide tickets to fans for Iran’s fixtures in the United

Iran and Israel moved back from direct confrontation on Monday after a sharp exchange of missile and air attacks threatened to rupture fragile diplomacy across the Middle East, with both sides saying they had halted strikes for now after a public appeal by U. S. President Donald Trump.Tehran said its offensive operations against Israel had stopped, but warned that attacks would resume if Israel continued to target Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel, while signalling a pause in direct action against Iran,

Facebook’s creator payment system has become entangled in Alberta’s separatist politics after an investigation identified overseas-run accounts impersonating local activists and publishing content that promoted breaking away from Canada.The accounts presented themselves as voices from inside Alberta’s independence movement, using names, profile images and language designed to appear local. Several were linked to operators outside Canada who appeared to be using divisive political material to attract views, engagement and possible platform earnings. The activity raises fresh questions about how Meta’s

A powerful offshore earthquake struck the southern Philippines early Monday, killing at least 12 people, damaging buildings in General Santos City and sending coastal residents racing to higher ground after tsunami waves hit parts of Mindanao.The magnitude was placed at 7.8 by global monitors, while domestic bulletins initially listed the tremor at 7.4. The quake struck at 7.37am local time, with its centre at sea near Sarangani province, south-west of General Santos, at a shallow depth that intensified the shaking

Britain is preparing to use public procurement to support domestic artificial intelligence chipmakers, offering to buy semiconductor equipment from UK-based technology companies as ministers seek to stop promising hardware firms from shifting capital, talent and production plans overseas.Technology Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to outline the plan at London Tech Week, where the government will position strategic purchases as part of a broader effort to give early-stage chip designers a credible first customer. The proposal is aimed at companies developing

Air France-KLM has left open the possibility of taking a role in any takeover approach for easyJet, adding a strategic airline dimension to Castlelake’s early-stage interest in the Luton-based low-cost carrier.Chief Executive Ben Smith indicated that the Franco-Dutch airline group would consider contact from Castlelake if the investment firm sought a partner for a possible offer. His comments come as the US-based asset manager studies whether to proceed with a bid for easyJet before a 26 June deadline under UK

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to travel to North Korea on June 8 for a two-day state visit aimed at reinforcing Beijing’s leverage over Kim Jong Un at a moment when Pyongyang has expanded its nuclear posture, tightened defence ties with Russia and shown less dependence on its long-standing patron.The trip, Xi’s first to North Korea in nearly seven years, places China at the centre of a shifting security landscape in north-east Asia. It comes after Kim used the

Côte d’Ivoire is set to extend electricity access to more than 100,000 households after the African Development Bank Group approved €103.14 million in financing for a major grid-expansion programme aimed at strengthening the country’s power system and narrowing remaining access gaps.The financing, approved by the bank’s Board of Directors in Abidjan on 15 May 2026, will support the second phase of the Project to Strengthen the Structures of the Electricity System and Access to Electricity, known as PROSER II. The

A second New World screwworm case has been confirmed in a Texas calf, sharpening concern among ranchers and animal-health officials over the first domestic livestock detections of the deadly parasite in about six decades.The US Department of Agriculture identified the latest infection in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, about 5.6 miles from the first confirmed case near La Pryor, south Texas. The first calf, about three weeks old, had larvae in the umbilical area, indicating the parasite had entered

Iran’s World Cup players have been granted visas to enter the United States, easing a major logistical and diplomatic obstacle 10 days before their opening match against New Zealand in Los Angeles.A White House official said the players’ entry documents had been approved overnight after Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said the squad was still waiting for US visas. The clearance removes the most immediate threat to Iran’s participation in its scheduled US-based group-stage fixtures, although some members of

Washington has moved to close a sensitive gap in its China technology controls after Trump administration officials concluded that overseas units of Chinese companies may have been able to buy Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips without the export licences required for direct shipments to China.The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security issued guidance on 31 May clarifying that licence requirements for advanced computing items apply to companies headquartered in China and Macau even when purchases are made through

FIFA has barred supporters from bringing refillable water bottles into 2026 World Cup stadiums, turning fan safety and match-day costs into a flashpoint days before the tournament opens across the United States, Canada and Mexico.The governing body has revised its Stadium Code of Conduct to prohibit bottles, cups, jars and cans, including empty transparent reusable plastic bottles that had earlier been allowed. FIFA said the change was made “to prevent risk and injury to players and attendees”, arguing that containers

Jersey is facing a defining test over whether its finance-led prosperity can keep pace with faster, technology-driven rivals without eroding the small-island character that has long set it apart.The British Crown Dependency, once widely labelled a tax haven, has spent decades recasting itself as a regulated international financial centre. That shift has helped turn a 45-square-mile island of just over 100,000 people into one of the world’s more influential offshore hubs, serving banks, fund managers, private wealth advisers, trust companies