Author: staff
The UK bond market is currently experiencing a period of intense volatility, with the yield on 30-year government bonds, known as gilts, climbing to its highest point since 1998. On Tuesday, 30-year gilt yields rose as much as 0.14% to 5.79%, their highest level this century, before dipping slightly to around 5.6% at the time of writing. The yield on the 10-year gilt also climbed as much as 0.15% to 5.11%, very close to the 18-year high of 5.12% hit earlier in the Iran war. It has since lowered somewhat to roughly 4.93% on Thursday. Bond prices and yields have…
A Chinese military court has handed two former defense ministers suspended death sentences following their convictions on graft charges. Wei Fenghe, who served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023, and his successor Li Shangfu, who held the post for several months in 2023, were convicted on Thursday of accepting bribes. Li was also found guilty of offering bribes. Both were given a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve and no parole, which is often automatically commuted to life imprisonment after that period. According to China’s Xinhua state news agency, both men were stripped of their political rights for life…
By Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth, Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group Published on 07/05/2026 – 12:00 GMT+2 In April 2026, I celebrated my 91st birthday. At the end of World War II, I was 10 years old, which gave me the opportunity to experience the golden years of the German Federal Republic from day one. Future generations will refer to the period from 1945 to at least 2026 as Germany’s Golden 80 Years: a Germany at peace for 80 years, annual growth in prosperity, a functioning democracy. I am grateful that I was born…
Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s comments come in response to the Commission chief’s recent controversial statement that Europe should not “fall under Russian, Turkish or Chinese influence.” May 5 2 mins read
Published on 07/05/2026 – 12:27 GMT+2•Updated 12:28 Voters across Britain are casting their ballots in local elections today, choosing councils and mayors in parts of England, and parliaments in Scotland and Wales. The vote comes at a tumultuous time in British politics, with the long-standing dominance of Labour and the Conservatives increasingly under threat from two insurgent parties: Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Greens, under leader Zack Polanski. Despite limited experience in the day-to-day mechanics of local government — from waste collection to road maintenance — both parties have built support by capitalising on national and international issues. Reform…
New recruits to the Pontifical Swiss Guard swore loyalty to Pope Leo XIV on 6 May, during a ceremony in Vatican City. 28 new halberdiers took their oath in the presence of the Pope, the first time in over 50 years that a pontiff has personally presided over the swearing-in. The ceremony commemorates the Sack of Rome in 1527, when 147 Swiss Guards died defending Pope Clement VII. During the oath, each recruit placed their hand on the Guard’s flag and swore loyalty in their native language, pledging to defend the Pope and his legitimate successors even at the cost…
By euronews Published on 07/05/2026 – 13:14 GMT+2•Updated 13:16 Kylian Mbappé is facing growing backlash from some Real Madrid supporters after being spotted on holiday in Sardinia while recovering from a hamstring injury, just days before Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona. The controversy intensified after an online petition calling for ‘Mbappe out’ spread rapidly across social media. The campaign, which initially aimed to collect 200,000 signatures, has now approached 30 million signatures, although it remains unclear how many signatories are genuine Real Madrid fans. The petition urges Madrid fans to “make their voices heard”. “If you believe change is necessary, do not…
Published on 07/05/2026 – 12:17 GMT+2 Social media giant Meta has asked a United States judge to throw out a verdict that found the company liable for a woman’s depression and addiction, according to court filings and media reports. In March, a jury found that Meta and Google, the parent company of YouTube, had been negligent in how they designed their platforms and failed to warn their users of the dangers of using them. The jury decided the companies owed the 20-year-old plaintiff identified as KGM, $6 million (€5.1 million). KGM testified that she spent up to 16 hours a…
Published on 07/05/2026 – 12:31 GMT+2•Updated 12:42 The long-running holiday ritual known as the “sunbed wars” has now reached the courts. A German tourist has won compensation after claiming he and his family were unable to use poolside loungers during a holiday in Greece, because other guests repeatedly reserved them with towels before sunrise. The unidentified tourist won a payout of more than €900 following a trip to Greece with his family in 2024. He claims he spent around 20 minutes a day hunting for sun loungers – despite getting up at 6 am to secure them – and that…
Published on 07/05/2026 – 12:12 GMT+2 Nobel laureate and renowned author JM Coetzee has refused to attend the Jerusalem International Writers Festival, taking place from 25 to 28 May, citing Israel’s “genocidal campaign” in Gaza as the main reason. The festival has previously hosted authors like Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Joyce Carol Oates. Coetzee communicated his refusal in a letter sent to the Israeli festival’s artistic director, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler. “For the past two years the state of Israel has been conducting a genocidal campaign in Gaza that has been vastly disproportionate to the murderous provocation of 7 October 2023,”…