Category: Semafor

US President Donald Trump said Monday he is suspending planned strikes on Iran at the behest of Middle East allies who cited ongoing “serious negotiations” for a deal. Oil prices dropped, capping a day of wild swings: Prices dipped earlier after reports that Washington had offered to temporarily lift sanctions ...

US energy exports have hit record highs, at the cost of higher fuel prices at home. The country shipped 14.2 million barrels of crude and products daily in April, equivalent to typically one out of seven barrels consumed globally, The Wall Street Journal reported: “No other nation in the world’s ...

The Scoop President Donald Trump aired his displeasure with the Senate rules referee during a Monday call with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, criticizing her decision to block a filibuster-proof vote on security money for his East Wing renovation and ballroom, according to multiple people familiar with the conversation. The ...

Mubadala Energy backed a $13 billion liquefied natural gas export project on the US Gulf Coast, the latest sign of growing Arab Gulf interest in America’s energy industry. The LNG project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, is expected to produce 9.5 million tons of LNG a year when it starts commercial ...

Doha has launched a new technology fund and signed up a slate of five partners from Asia, the Gulf, and the US — part of a long-running strategy of pursuing an impact investment niche alongside the Qatar Investment Authority’s large deals. The $30 million Tech Venture Fund is being run ...

Germany overtook the US as the second-largest buyer of South African goods after US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs took effect, new data showed. The South African Reserve Bank said the tariffs hit South Africa’s value-added goods the hardest, with the country’s vehicle and transport equipment sector absorbing the ...

Intra-African commerce could reach 53% if the African Continental Free Trade Area was fully implemented, up from 18% currently. The AfCFTA, which aims to create the world’s largest single market by progressively eliminating tariffs on most goods, came into force in May 2019. But major mobility and connectivity hurdles remain, ...

Yinka’s view The debate about who controls Africa’s resources has expanded considerably in recent years, from critical minerals to domestic capital to the terms on which foreign investors operate. But one frontier remains underweighted in that conversation, despite being among the most consequential: digital public infrastructure. Control of digital infrastructure ...

A UK government adviser said too many young people were being pushed toward university, part of a wider global backlash against the turn-of-the-millennium drive to expand college education. Britain set, and met, a target of 50% of school graduates attending university. But Alan Milburn said thousands are not finding work, ...

A leading candidate to be Britain’s next prime minister called for the country to rejoin the EU. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last week to challenge Keir Starmer after disastrous election results this month, said Brexit had been a “catastrophic mistake.” The UK is facing systemic challenges; inflation ...