Global events and international developments affecting markets.
Reporting on international affairs, geopolitical developments, and global economic trends. This category connects world events to their potential impact on financial markets, trade flows, and investor risk perception.
1,442 total articles
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has initiated a formal review into how advanced artificial intelligence could reshape retail financial markets and affect consumers. Led by FCA Executive Director Sheldon Mills, the review will probe potential changes to competition and market structure as AI technologies develop, and will consider these shifts al…
China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun told his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov in a video call that Beijing wants to strengthen strategic coordination, implement top-level consensus, expand cooperation substance and improve exchange mechanisms. Dong said China is prepared to work with Russia to boost their joint capacity to respond to unspecified r…
North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward waters off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korean and Japanese authorities reported. The projectiles, assessed as likely short-range, were launched from near Pyongyang in the mid-afternoon and travelled roughly 350 km. The episode occurred as senior U.S. and South Korean officials meet to discuss…
One year after the executive order creating the Golden Dome missile-defense initiative, the program has spent little of the $25 billion appropriated and remains stalled while officials and industry stakeholders debate classified elements of its space-based architecture. Small prototype contracts have been awarded, but major procurement and broad fu…
Hamas is pushing to integrate its roughly 10,000-strong police force and more than 40,000 civil and security employees into a U.S.-backed transitional administration for Gaza, even as international plans link further Israeli withdrawals to the militant group's disarmament. The proposal highlights deep divisions between Hamas and Israel over governa…
A countdown clock in a Tel Aviv square that has marked the days since hostages were seized in the October 2023 Hamas attack will be turned off after 844 days, following the Israeli military’s announcement that the body of the final hostage was recovered in Gaza. The return of the last captive, identified as 24-year-old off-duty police officer Ran G…
U.S. President Donald Trump announced raised tariffs on South Korean autos and other imports on Jan. 26, 2026, citing delays in implementing a $350 billion investment package. The latest move is the most recent episode in a year-long sequence of negotiations, partial agreements and disruptive events between Washington and Seoul that began with Trum…
Israel is preparing to open negotiations with the U.S. administration on a new 10-year security arrangement. Senior Israeli defence finance officials say the government will press for greater emphasis on joint military and defence projects while planning for a possible gradual reduction in annual direct cash grants used to buy U.S. equipment.
A report says U.S. officials have indicated that formal security guarantees for Ukraine hinge on a peace agreement that would likely require Kyiv to relinquish control of the Donbas. Washington has also reportedly tied further arms deliveries to Ukrainian withdrawal from areas it currently controls in the east. Kyiv maintains it wants guarantees se…
Philippine and U.S. military units conducted a coordinated sail at the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea this week, part of a series of bilateral maritime activities aimed at strengthening interoperability between the treaty allies. The operation, held inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and contested by China, marked the 11th ma…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, sought to distance himself from remarks he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Bessent described the reversal as forceful and said the Canadian leader had previously been applauded at Davos for urging nations to ac…
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a nationally televised program that Japan's strategic partnership with the United States would collapse if Tokyo failed to stand by U.S. forces in a crisis over Taiwan. She clarified that her earlier remarks about a possible military response should not be read as Japan proactively initiating combat, saying action…
Japanese authorities have privately asked some local fishermen to avoid waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands - also claimed by China as Diaoyu - amid heightened tensions following political remarks and increased Chinese coast guard activity. The guidance reflects a tension between using fishing activity to demonstrate Japan’s administrative c…
Pop star Katy Perry and a range of U.S. public figures have urged citizens to contact elected officials and protest federal immigration enforcement following the deaths of two Minnesota residents during a recent surge of federal agents. Social media appeals, prominent statements and union backing have amplified demonstrations demanding accountabili…
Hezbollah reported that an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed television presenter Ali Nour al-Din of Al-Manar. The group warned the incident signals a widening threat to media workers. The Israeli military countered that al-Din was a Hezbollah militant recently engaged in restoring the group's artillery capabilities. The episode comes after…
Mexico's state oil company has taken a scheduled crude oil cargo bound for Cuba off its calendar, with documents showing the shipment - due to load in mid-January and arrive before month-end - has been removed. The move comes amid intensifying pressure from the Trump administration on Cuba and follows public statements declaring an end to oil and m…
Ryan Wedding, a 44-year-old former Olympic snowboarder who represented Canada in 2002, pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court in Santa Ana to charges alleging he led a transnational cocaine trafficking organization tied to multiple drug-related murders. Arrested in Mexico City and flown to California, Wedding faces counts including conspiracy t…
A U.S. official told reporters that American policymakers expect any disarmament by Hamas to include some form of amnesty for members of the group, a position presented as part of a broader plan for Gaza's redevelopment. The remarks were made as Israel confirmed the identification and return of the remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza.
On Jan 26, Russian forces carried out drone and missile strikes on Kharkiv, injuring at least two people and damaging residential buildings, a school and a kindergarten. Unofficial Telegram channels posted images showing parts of the city without power. Separate drone strikes were reported in Kryvyi Rih, where a high-rise apartment block was struck…
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has named a 232-athlete delegation to the Milano Cortina Winter Games, the largest in U.S. Winter Olympic history. The roster includes 98 veteran Olympians such as Mikaela Shiffrin and a mix of high-profile multi-medalists, with officials citing sustained investment in winter sports as a driver of the team’…
U.S. security personnel assisting American delegations at the upcoming Winter Olympics are intensifying preparations to counter drone-related incidents that range from unauthorised filming to the possibility of explosive payloads. Working with Italian police and military, the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service has convened specialists and established…
The White House described the weekend killing of a Minnesota man by federal officers as a tragedy during a Monday briefing. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump does not want people harmed in public and attributed the incident to what she called sustained, hostile resistance from Minnesota Democratic leaders.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says hundreds of people may be dead or missing after several boats went missing in the Central Mediterranean during a violent storm over the last ten days. Confirmed deaths include twin infants and an adult in Lampedusa; other incidents include a possible wreck near Malta with dozens unaccounted fo…
At a speech in Brussels, NATO chief Mark Rutte dismissed proposals from some European leaders to form a defence force separate from NATO, arguing that such a move would be costly, duplicative and strategically damaging. He urged European states to assume greater security responsibility within the transatlantic alliance and warned that Russian Presi…
A United Nations special rapporteur on Iran says she has received reports that security forces have removed injured protesters from hospitals and detained them, a practice that violates international protections for medical care. The rapporteur also reported families facing ransom demands of $5,000 to $7,000 to recover the bodies of relatives. Inde…
