Category: Semafor

The News Zambia signed a $1.5 billion health financing agreement with the US after separating it from a critical minerals deal that is still being negotiated. The health pact had been jeopardized by privacy concerns over sharing citizens’ data. Zambia is among several African countries that have signed bilateral health ...

Faisal’s view Two statements by US Senator Chris Murphy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio signal that Washington takes Gulf security seriously. They have come at a critical juncture for Saudi Arabia and the region. Senator Murphy’s comments carry weight because he has long criticized Saudi policy. Yet he traveled ...

China pushed back against claims that it manipulates its currency to boost the country’s exports, as Beijing and Brussels spar in trade negotiations. China’s central bank published a paper Thursday arguing that past experience did not suggest a stronger yuan hurt China’s trade expansion, or that a weaker yuan boosted ...

Elon Musk blamed “certain oligarchs” for keeping Starlink out of India, comments New Delhi called “baseless,” escalating a yearslong feud over market access for the satellite operator. Mukesh Ambani’s Jio — which recently announced plans for low-orbit satellite communications — and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel together control 80% of India’s telecom ...

Oil markets largely shrugged off US President Donald Trump’s pledge on Thursday not to strike Iran before November’s midterm elections, amid intensifying attacks on ships in the Gulf and an escalating Saudi-Houthi conflict. Trump said Washington and Tehran were having “productive” talks, as the president contends with voters who are ...

Global trade in goods is expected to grow by 3.9% this year, The World Trade Organization said Thursday, as conflict-fueled disruptions in the Middle East are more than offset by the booming AI trade. AI-related goods and materials accounted for 47% of growth in the first half of 2026 while ...

Top US and Russian officials have discussed selling part of the suspended Nord Stream pipeline to an American investor, Reuters reported, in talks spearheaded by White House envoy Jared Kushner. Though the pipeline hasn’t transported gas to Germany since 2022, the country’s far-right AfD supports resuming flows, which could allow ...

There’s a mini-scandal brewing in Dubai’s elite food scene. The latest Michelin Guide awarded stars or distinctions to 11 restaurants that have temporarily or permanently closed because of the war. Food writer Samantha Wood questioned why shuttered restaurants made the cut. Michelin told her it was “fully aware that due ...

The News The co-CEOs of Blue Owl say the stock market misunderstands them — but they aren’t leaving it. “We went public for a reason and that reason stands,” Marc Lipschultz said on the latest episode of Compound Interest, where he was a guest alongside Doug Ostrover in a rare ...

, directed by Shuichi Okita. This comedy follows three strangers who share a name — and apparently little else — in a “wonderfully woven screenplay” that includes “numerous pleasures … from hearty belly-laughs to heartbreaking melodrama,” a Hong Kong-based film critic wrote for Variety. The combination of tales results in ...