Category: World

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

Liberia’s push to link women’s livelihoods with protection from violence has moved into a new phase after UN Women Liberia and its partners convened an inception meeting in Monrovia for the Spotlight Initiative 2.0 Women’s Economic Empowerment component. The meeting, held at the One UN House, brought together government representatives, civil society organisations, private sector actors and development partners to align implementation plans for a programme designed to support vulnerable women and girls, including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, former

Congo’s Ebola outbreak has widened to 1,077 suspected cases and 246 deaths, intensifying pressure on health authorities as responders struggle to contain transmission in conflict-hit eastern provinces. Health officials are treating the outbreak as one of the most serious Ebola emergencies faced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in years, with cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain, a less common form of the virus for which no licensed vaccine or specific treatment is widely available. The figures mark a sharp

Global investment in oil projects is set to fall for a third consecutive year as the Middle East conflict forces governments and companies to redirect capital towards gas, alternative supply routes and cleaner energy systems. The International Energy Agency’s latest investment assessment points to a sharp reordering of global energy priorities, with upstream oil spending weakening even as overall energy security concerns intensify. The shift reflects both immediate disruption from the war involving Iran and longer-term caution over committing large sums

Italy has placed Rome, Florence, Bologna and Turin under its highest heat warning as an early-season heatwave pushes temperatures well above normal and raises health risks for residents, workers and visitors. The Ministry of Health’s Level 3 red alert applies on Thursday, signalling conditions that can affect not only vulnerable people but also healthy and active adults. The alert marks the first peak of the 2026 heat bulletin season, which began this week and covers 27 urban centres monitored for temperature,

Africa’s top continental body has launched a new humanitarian coordination platform aimed at tightening crisis response across a region facing widening displacement, hunger, conflict and climate-linked disasters. The African Humanitarian Coordination Platform was unveiled by the African Union Commission through its Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development after a continental engagement in Mahé, Seychelles, held from 18 to 19 May 2026. The meeting endorsed the platform’s terms of reference and adopted a draft 2026–2027 Joint Implementation Plan designed to

Brussels faces resistance from Germany and Spain over a proposed EU-wide move to force telecom operators to remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from critical networks, exposing a rift between the European Commission’s security agenda and national concerns over cost, timing and market disruption. Officials in Berlin and Madrid are pushing back against plans that would turn the EU’s existing 5G security guidance into binding law, arguing that member states should retain discretion over how they manage high-risk suppliers in domestic telecom

Jazeera Airways has launched a limited Eid and summer fare campaign, offering one-way tickets from KD15, or about $48.75, as Kuwait’s low-cost carrier moves to capture holiday demand across leisure, family and business routes. Bookings under the Special Eid and beyond sale are open until 31 May 2026, with travel valid from 27 May to 30 September 2026. The campaign covers selected destinations on the airline’s network and is aimed at travellers planning Eid breaks, school-holiday trips and summer visits across

Britain’s May temperature record has been broken for the second time in 24 hours as a powerful spring heatwave tightened its grip on Western Europe, pushing authorities to issue health warnings, restrict outdoor activity in some areas and urge vulnerable people to avoid prolonged exposure. The temperature reached 35.1C at Kew Gardens in London and Heathrow on Tuesday, surpassing the 34.8C recorded at Kew Gardens a day earlier. Both readings exceeded the previous UK May record of 32.8C, set in 1922

South Africa’s diesel shock has turned a distant Middle East conflict into a domestic economic threat, exposing how sharply the country’s transport, mining, farming and power systems now depend on imported refined fuel. The Iran war and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed global energy markets into a new phase of volatility, but South Africa’s vulnerability is not driven by crude oil alone. The deeper weakness lies in diesel, the fuel that moves freight, powers generators, supports mechanised agriculture

Forty high-performing schoolgirls from underprivileged communities in Ghana will receive annual scholarships under the newly launched Educating Linda programme, a joint initiative of Merck Foundation, Ghana’s First Lady Lordina Dramani Mahama and the Lordina Foundation aimed at keeping girls in classrooms until graduation. The programme, formally launched in Accra, is designed to remove financial barriers that often force girls out of school, including tuition costs, uniforms, stationery and other basic learning needs. It marks a new phase in Merck Foundation’s partnership

Donald Trump has urged Saudi Arabia and Qatar to move first in a renewed push to expand the Abraham Accords, linking wider recognition of Israel to US efforts to secure a deal with Iran and recast the Middle East diplomatic order. The US president said countries involved in the Iran negotiations should join the normalisation framework, naming Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan among those he wants brought into the accords. He described such participation as “mandatory” and

Wes Streeting has intensified pressure on Keir Starmer to impose tougher curbs on children’s access to social media, warning that Britain’s current approach to mobile phones and online platforms amounts to “giving children a hammer and saw” without enough protection from the harm they can cause. The former health secretary, who quit government this month after accusing Starmer of lacking the ambition needed to improve Britain, said ministers had been too cautious in responding to evidence of harm linked to addictive

Pope Leo XIV has used the first encyclical of his papacy to call for tighter regulation, transparency and human oversight of artificial intelligence, warning that unchecked systems could intensify misinformation, deepen inequality and make war easier to wage. The document, Magnifica Humanitas, places AI at the centre of the new pontificate’s social agenda, treating the technology not as a narrow technical issue but as a test of human dignity, democratic accountability and peace. Released at the Vatican on May 25, the