Category: Semafor

Oil prices rose to around $111 a barrel after the US and Iran rejected a ceasefire deal, but stocks also edged higher, breaking with the “oil up, stocks down” trend. Though there was a “noticeable uptick” in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, most ships remained blocked, ...

Nations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East remain reliant on a Washington they no longer trust. Many “wonder if they are even allies anymore,” The Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign affairs correspondent reported, as US President Donald Trump insults their leaders, withdraws from international institutions, and presses on with ...

US economists predict substantial economic gains, but also significant job losses, as AI takes off. A survey found that experts — tech workers, economists, and professional forecasters — expect significant AI capability advances by 2030. Under the fastest scenarios, it could drive GDP growth up to levels not seen since ...

Cuba’s energy crisis is making the island more reliant on Chinese solar power. US President Donald Trump’s oil blockade on Cuba has led to widespread and frequent blackouts in the communist nation; the gigawatt of photovoltaic panels China provided last year has become a lifeline, the Financial Times reported. The ...

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose to its highest level in weeks, as more countries negotiated with Iran for safe transit. “Passage is still at Iran’s mercy,” a Kpler analyst said, with nations striking opaque deals with the Islamic Republic to get through the strait; ships linked to India, ...

The Iran war risks pushing US inflation and interest rates up, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned Monday. In his closely watched annual letter to shareholders, the head of the country’s largest bank said the world could face “significant ongoing oil and commodity price shocks,” though the US economy continues ...

Iran on Monday rejected the US’ ceasefire plan, as President Donald Trump renewed his threats against Tehran’s civilian infrastructure. Trump said the “entire country can be taken out in one night” if the Islamic Republic doesn’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening. The chances of a ...

DR Congo struck a deal with the US to receive “third-country” deportees, days after Uganda received eight people under a similar deal. The agreements are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, though rights groups and legal scholars have criticized the deals, questioning whether Washington can send individuals to ...

South Africa is preparing the most sweeping overhaul of its migration laws in three decades in a bid to attract skilled migrants as part of efforts to boost moribund growth in Africa’s biggest economy. The country’s cabinet endorsed folding three separate laws into a single statute, a move officials say ...

Africa accounted for a third of global democratic declines between 2019 and 2024, while also producing nearly a quarter of global improvements, a new report by an intergovernmental watchdog found. The sharpest setbacks were linked to a wave of military takeovers in the Sahel and parts of central Africa, the ...