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.
743 total articles
Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media entrepreneur and prominent critic of Beijing, received a 20-year prison sentence on Monday under the city’s national security law. The punishment is the harshest available under the legislation that followed the 2019 protests. Lai’s career as a self-made businessman turned media proprietor, his role funding and suppor…
Bhumjaithai secured a commanding lead in last weekend’s Thai general election, winning roughly 192 of 500 parliamentary seats from nearly 95% of polling stations and displacing expected favourites. While the party falls short of an outright majority, its seat haul gives leader Anutin Charnvirakul considerable bargaining power to assemble a governme…
China's highest court has annulled a death sentence handed to Canadian national Robert Schellenberg on drug-related charges and ordered the case returned to a provincial high court for retrial, his Beijing-based lawyer said. The development arrives amid a recent thaw in Canada-China relations following a four-day visit to China by Canadian Prime Mi…
Brenton Tarrant, the Australian-born perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, has asked New Zealand's appellate court to set aside the guilty pleas he entered a year after the attacks. Appearing by video link, Tarrant told the court that harsh prison conditions damaged his mental health and rendered him incapable of making rational, v…
On Feb. 9, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai received a combined 20-year prison sentence on three national security-related charges: two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. The ruling prompted sharp condemnation from press freedom advocates, human rights groups and supporters, who desc…
Thailand’s political landscape shifted after the Bhumjaithai Party, led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, secured a larger-than-anticipated result in a recent general election. With most votes counted, Bhumjaithai emerged well ahead of rivals and is preparing to begin coalition discussions. Voters also supported a proposal to replace the post-…
Bad Bunny converted the Super Bowl halftime stage at Levi's Stadium into an extended tribute to Puerto Rico, moving through scenes of everyday island life and performing a sequence of his and reggaeton classics. The set featured a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga, a salute from reggaeton pioneer Daddy Yankee and a guest turn from Ricky Martin. The …
Bangladesh goes to the polls in an election shift that has seen the long-ruling Awami League sidelined and opposition forces, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami and a new Gen‑Z‑led grouping, contesting a highly consequential vote. Analysts say a clear outcome is essential to restore stability after months…
Pro-Palestine demonstrators intend to rally in central Sydney to protest Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit, prompting authorities to declare the trip a major event and deploy about 3,000 police. Disagreement over the permitted protest location, the authorisation of rarely used policing powers and legal challenges by activist groups have height…
Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai is due to be sentenced following convictions under the national security law. Convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials, Lai — who has been detained since August 2020 — faces a possible sentence ranging from a decade to life in prison. International f…
U.S. President Donald Trump did not attend the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara but issued a presidential message wishing both teams well and celebrating the game as a national tradition. He reiterated that the Super Bowl reflects American passion and perseverance, expressed displeasure about certain p…
Sinisa Karan, aligned with Bosnian Serb separatist figure Milorad Dodik, declared victory in a partial rerun of the presidential election in the Serb Republic after a November vote was annulled for irregularities. The repeat ballot covered a limited electorate of 85,000 voters across 136 polling stations. Karan's opponent conceded but accused the r…
Under clear skies at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8, fans arrived hours before kickoff for Super Bowl LX, where the Seattle Seahawks will face the New England Patriots. Both teams entered the season as extreme long shots yet find themselves in the NFL title game. The Seahawks arrive favored by 4-1/2 points, while the Patriots pursue a reco…
Exit polls released on Feb 8 in Lisbon show moderate Socialist Antonio José Seguro leading decisively in Portugal's presidential runoff, with forecasts placing him between 67% and 73% of the vote. His opponent, far-right challenger André Ventura, is projected at 27% to 33%, a stronger performance than the 22.8% achieved last year by his Chega party…
Norway's foreign ministry said a senior diplomat will vacate her post after an internal inquiry found links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a set of files released by the United States government. The development has prompted a review of past grants to a New York think tank tied to the diplomat's husband and widened scrutiny o…
Iranian activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been handed a new sentence of 7-1/2 years in prison, plus two years of internal exile and a two-year travel ban, a foundation supporting her said. The verdict came after a week-long hunger strike that ended on Sunday, according to the Narges Foundation. Mohammadi was arrested…
After nearly two years away, 29-year-old Eatedal Rayyan and her three children returned to Gaza through a narrowly reopened Rafah crossing. The small convoy of returnees confronted widespread destruction, loss of housing and the absence of basic utilities in areas devastated during the two-year war. The limited crossings remain constrained by multi…
President Donald Trump took aim at American freestyle skier Hunter Hess after the athlete said he felt conflicted about representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in northern Italy. The exchange came amid wider political tensions at the Milano Cortina Games, including protests related to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enfor…
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended a right-leaning comedian who pulled out of the Sanremo music festival following insults and threats, framing the episode as evidence of an 'illiberal drift' by the left. The episode has intensified scrutiny of state broadcaster RAI, amid accusations from the centre-left that the ruling right-wing coalition is …
Israel's security cabinet has approved a package of measures, reported by Israeli media, that would ease land purchases by settlers in the occupied West Bank and give Israeli authorities increased enforcement powers in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority. The changes were described as removing decades-old limits on private Jewish purcha…
Thailand’s Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, built his snap election campaign on a nationalist appeal tied to recent border clashes with Cambodia and emerged with a strong early showing for his Bhumjaithai Party in preliminary vote counts. The result positions him to attempt to form a government and, if successful, to become the first Thai leade…
Breezy Johnson won the women's downhill at the Milano Cortina Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, posting a time of 1:36.10 to earn the United States its first women's Olympic downhill gold since Lindsey Vonn in 2010. Germany's Emma Aicher finished 0.04 seconds behind for silver and Italy's Sofia Goggia took bronze. The event was overshadowed when veter…
On the first full day of competition at the Winter Games hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, clashes between a breakaway group of protesters and police in Milan and suspected sabotage to the national rail network near Bologna prompted sharp criticism from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the International Olympic Committee. Authorities have ope…
Ethiopia's foreign minister has formally accused Eritrea of occupying sections of the shared border and supplying material support to armed groups within Ethiopia. The accusation, contained in a February 7 letter, calls for an immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and an end to cooperation with militants while leaving open the possibility of talk…
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is confronting acute political pressure after appointing Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States. New information about Mandelson’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein and claims he may have leaked government business have reopened wounds within the Labour Party. Senior figures have publicly and privately …
