Author: staff
About 90 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict with Iran. The country continues to export millions of barrels of oil despite the waterway being effectively closed — and Iran claiming it will attack tankers attempting to cross — according to maritime and trade data. Many of the vessels were engaged in so-called “dark” transits, evading Western sanctions and oversight, and are likely to have links to Iran, maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said. More recently, vessels linked to India and Pakistan have also crossed the strait, as governments step…
In the last few weeks, months, and even years, wars have dominated headlines. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Israel–Hamas conflict, and now the escalation of the United States–Israel war with Iran have all contributed to bringing defence and security back into the political debate. This tense environment has deeply influenced discussions in the European Union, with countries increasing defence spending and the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen proposing, in March 2025, the ReArm Europe/Readiness plan to support member states’ defence investments. But is the European defence system ready to counter space threats? To answer this and more…
With a full-on pointed and personal attack at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – is Angela Rayner beginning to position herself for something bigger? The former deputy prime minister ramped up the rhetoric – claiming the future of the Labour Party was at stake if mistakes continued, and that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms were “un-British”. Sam and Anne pore over her explosive comments, assessing what an ‘Ange-Britain’ could look like, where she differs from the current approach being taken by Sir Keir, and what the overall strategy is. In Holyrood, MSPs have voted against assisted dying in Scotland…
Climate change, trade restrictions, and global conflicts in recent years have shown how challenging it can be for food production and distribution to continue as usual. Yet some countries are showing their tenacity: Portugal leads the list with the most resilient food systems globally, followed by France and the UK, according to a new 60-country index from Economist Impact. The study analysed countries across four pillars: the affordability of food, its availability, its quality and safety, and climate risk responsiveness. However, the report highlights that even the most resilient systems in the index do not score more than 80 out…
Updated: 18/03/2026 – 9:13 GMT+1 A meteor streaking across the sky over Ohio triggered a loud boom that shook homes and startled residents. NASA confirmed the event, while sightings of the bright fireball were reported across several states. … More
By Una Hajdari with AP Published on 18/03/2026 – 9:46 GMT+1 A key question hangs over the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting that concludes on Wednesday. Will policymakers still cut interest rates this year, now that the Iran war has sent oil prices higher and petrol prices spiking? Or will they hold steady for months to see how the conflict plays out? Fed chair Jerome Powell is almost certain to announce on Wednesday that the central bank has kept its key rate unchanged for the second consecutive meeting, at around 3.6%. But the Fed will also release its quarterly projections, and officials could revise…
Published on 18/03/2026 – 8:41 GMT+1 Players chasing down a rare Snorlax or trying to pin a Pikachu to their pavement in Pokémon Go may have been doing more than just “catching them all” – they’ve also been unknowingly helping train real life delivery robots. Since the augmented reality game exploded into popularity in 2016, Pokémon Go has built up a huge database of more than 30 billion real-world images, captured as players explored parks, streets and landmarks with their cameras. Now that data is being put to work by Niantic Spatial, a division of Niantic (the developer behind Pokémon…
Scandinavian airline SAS has said that it will cancel at least a thousand flights in April after the conflict in the Middle East sent fuel prices surging. “The price of jet fuel has doubled in ten days,” CEO Anko van der Werff told Swedish business daily Dagens Industri. “Even if we try to absorb cost increases as much as possible, this is a shock that directly hits the airline industry.” SAS had been one of the first carriers to announce fare increases to account for soaring jet fuel prices. “We are cancelling a few hundred flights in March, but trying…
Published on 18/03/2026 – 9:17 GMT+1 The figures are in, and they’re not great… The number of people in the US who tuned in live to watch the 98th Oscars ceremony on Sunday evening dropped by nine per cent from last year, according to Nielsen. Around 17.9 million people saw One Battle After Another take home the top prize at Hollywood’s premier awards gala on the ABC broadcast network and streamer Hulu, both of which are owned by Disney. Despite being one of the best Academy Awards ceremonies in recent years – with Conan O’Brien acing hosting duties, Sinners bagging…
Vier Tage vor der Landtagswahl in Rheinland-Pfalz steht für die SPD weit mehr als nur eine Staatskanzlei auf dem Spiel. Nach dem Desaster im Ländle droht Ministerpräsident Alexander Schweitzer im Duell gegen Herausforderer Gordon Schnieder (CDU) der „Baden-Württemberg-Effekt“. Gordon Repinski analysiert, warum ein Verlust der Bastion Mainz die Bundes-SPD in eine existenzielle Depression stürzen würde und weshalb der Kurs der Parteispitze am Kernwähler vorbeigeht. Ausgerechnet zum zehnten Todestag von Guido Westerwelle kämpft die FDP um ihre nackte Relevanz. In Rheinland-Pfalz wird die Partei in Umfragen nicht einmal mehr ausgewiesen. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview spricht FDP-Chef Christian Dürr über den harten Reformkurs, die…