Author: staff
Halfway through a turbulent year, a clear pattern has emerged across global markets: anything tied to the physical build-out of AI has soared, while several other assets that investors traditionally turn to in uncertain times have stumbled. War in the Middle East, political upheaval and an oil-price spike formed the backdrop, yet stock markets in several regions still pushed to fresh record highs. According to Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, companies on the receiving end of the AI spending boom were the standout investments of the first half, while Bitcoin proved “a shocker” and gold lost its…
In Britain, JMW Turner’s Picturesque Views in England and Wales romanticised the country’s coasts and castles. For Japan, Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji helped make the stratovolcano a must-visit among international tourists. And in China, it is the shanshui paintings depicting the nation’s mountains and rivers that have captured the imagination of travellers for centuries. Far from the glittering skyscrapers of Shanghai (but not so far – in actuality it’s less than a three-hour flight) you’ll be able to find lofty cloud-shrouded peaks and flowing waterways that feel like something out of an ink wash painting in Guilin.…
Uzbekistan’s largest-ever public market transaction has highlighted growing investor interest in the country and its economic reforms, while shifting attention to the next stage of developing its financial markets. The listing of the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan, managed by Franklin Templeton, raised more money than all previous IPOs in the country combined over the past 30 years, according to Marius Dan, Central Asia CEO at Templeton Global Investments. For investors and market operators, the transaction has drawn attention to a wider issue: how Uzbekistan develops the rules, institutions and market depth needed to support capital markets, debt financing, venture…
There have been “drone sightings in proximity to offshore energy structures,” reported Offshore Energies UK in April. “Our platforms are 100, 150 miles out in the middle of the sea, so you don’t typically have many neighbors — you don’t have people coming and visiting unless they are there for a very good reason,” Graham Skinner, the trade body’s health and safety manager for offshore infrastructure, told the BBC. “When the crews spot lights in the sky, or things moving around, suspicious activity in general — it’s very obvious that it’s out of place. It may well be that they…
Morning Brussels. Angela Skujins here ringing out the hopefully penultimate day of this heatwave in the Belgian capital, and the final day of the working week. Here’s what’s driving your Friday: Discussion on the 21st package of sanctions fires up, Commissioner McGrath’s trip to Malta prompts questions, and an environment council’s first infantile guest. Negotiating the blacklist. EU ambassadors are set to discuss today a revised compromise for the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, my colleague Jorge Liboreiro writes in to report. The proposal, unveiled earlier this month, still contains some points that need to be ironed out before…
Published on 26/06/2026 – 11:48 GMT+2 A deadly heatwave is straining hospitals, transport systems and public services across Europe, as authorities from France to Poland warn that the continent is struggling to cope with days of punishing temperatures. At least 101 million Europeans have endured temperatures above 35C, according to AFP, with several hundred people thought to have died, including a three-year-old found dead in a car in Paris and people who drowned while trying to cool off. The heat has hit health systems particularly hard. In France, emergency rooms have reported a fourfold increase in heat-related visits, while cardiac…
Published on 26/06/2026 – 13:38 GMT+2•Updated 13:39 The deadly rampage at the Magdeburg Christmas market on 20 December 2024 shocked the whole of Germany. The perpetrator Taleb al Abdulmohsen was arrested at the scene and on Friday was sentenced to life imprisonment. The 51-year-old was found guilty of six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder, as well as causing grievous bodily harm. He was ordered to be detained for the purpose of preventing reoffending. During the trial, Abdulmohsen admitted to driving the BMW X3 compact SUV through the crowd but denied deliberately running people over. Prosecutors described…
The assessment by the Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Carlo Buontempo, on the current heatwave hitting Europe is clear. “There’s a clear need to develop strategies to cope with these extremes (as) they have the potential to kill us,” Buontempo warned. He made the comments on Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today on Friday — a day where extreme weather warnings have been issued for France, Belgium, Germany and Britain, following half-a-week of soaring temperatures sizzling capitals and citizens. These increased temperatures are “a natural consequence of the fact that the world is warming up”, Buontempo said. These…
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon, announced on Friday a framework agreement described as an initial step toward peace after months of conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. The officials did not disclose details of the deal, which was signed by Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, and Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States. Hamadeh said the framework marks “a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to return to…
The World Cup has officially kicked off, and with it so has a wave of AI-generated misinformation — ranging from fake fans in the stands, fabricated political appearances and false quotes attributed to players. One viral image, which garnered more than 3 million views in one post on X, showed a football supporter resembling Adolf Hitler, who allegedly attended the Germany-Curaçao game on 14 June. The image spread across Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Reddit, accompanied by posts in English, Spanish and Russian, some gaining thousands of views. But in fact, it was digitally manipulated: a review of the original footage…