Category: Semafor

Andy’s view China has long been a nation of techno-optimists, and not just because software and engineering — from smartphones to high-speed trains to drone deliveries — have radically improved life across the country in the span of a single generation. Faith in technology as a force for progress is ...

The UN warned of a “catastrophe” unfolding in el-Obeid, Sudan. The Human Rights Council passed a motion condemning escalating violence and setting up an inquiry; its chief said the besieged town has been subject to “relentless” drone strikes as well as executions, torture, abductions, and sexual violence. Save the Children ...

US officials said Iran had struck two tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz, testing a ceasefire that has helped almost halve oil prices from their recent April peak. While some Gulf countries have ramped up oil shipments to near pre-Iran war levels — Saudi Arabia has exported 34 million barrels ...

A French court will rule today on whether the hard-right leader Marine Le Pen can run in next year’s presidential elections, a decision that will reverberate well beyond Paris. Le Pen is appealing a 2025 conviction for embezzling public funds, resulting in a jail sentence and a five-year ban on ...

War has changed, and NATO is struggling to keep up. Apart from the need to bolster European leadership as the US backs off, the alliance “has the wrong technology” and its “doctrine is outmoded,” analysts told the Financial Times. “Our tactical/operational conceptual thinking rather stopped in about 1991,” a NATO ...

Dell shares jumped Monday after US President Donald Trump encouraged Americans to “go out and buy a Dell computer,” underscoring the growing proximity of Big Tech and US executive power. Trump promoted the company during the first-ever Wall Street opening bell held at the White House, marking the launch of ...

A US federal judge granted Alibaba a legal reprieve that would allow the Chinese e-commerce giant to temporarily resume lobbying in the US, the latest development in a closely watched case with implications for the countries’ technological rivalry. Washington lobbyists dropped Alibaba as a client following a US law barring ...

A Democratic 2028 presidential hopeful’s speech in Israel this week is expected to convey that “the era of absolute US support for Israel’s government is over,” Politico reported. Rahm Emanuel, an Israel supporter and critic of the Netanyahu government, plans to say that Israel should view US support as “expressly ...

Saudi Arabia slashed its main crude oil price for Asian customers, as a resumption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz and OPEC+’s decision to boost output intensifies the competition for buyers. Despite the discount, Asian buyers said Saudi supplies were still more expensive than those from other regional producers, ...

US President Donald Trump has changed his mind about the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, ahead of a meeting between the two on the NATO summit’s sidelines. The US president “wants to be where there’s success,” Zelenskyy told the Financial Times, adding that Trump said Kyiv was ...