Category: Semafor

A heatwave swept across Europe on Sunday, prompting a partial alcohol ban in France, the cancellation of public World Cup watch parties in Spain, and urgent weather alerts in Germany and Italy. Temperatures were expected to top 40° Celsius across parts of France and Spain, as a powerful “heat dome” ...

Colombia’s voters on Sunday elected a Donald Trump-endorsed right-wing businessman in a presidential runoff, ending a period of left-wing rule that coincided with the country’s worst security crisis in decades. Abelardo de la Espriella proposed bombing gang-held territory and building 10 El Salvador-style megaprisons, while his opponent, the leftist ruling-party ...

Taiwan’s defense ministry on Sunday announced a five-day combat readiness exercise as China intensifies military activity around the island. The announcement came as Taiwanese authorities said 21 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets and surveillance planes, were operating near Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province. Taipei’s drills will simulate a ...

Ukraine is hammering Russia’s oil infrastructure, triggering fuel shortages and increasing gas prices. Ukrainian drones on Saturday struck a major oil refinery in western Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, as Kyiv touted a new generation of long-range drones driving the campaign. The recent attacks on Russia’s ...

Kenya is close to agreeing a critical minerals deal with Washington, its president said on the sidelines of the G7 summit. William Ruto told Reuters that minerals would be processed in Kenya as part of the agreement, while calling for a wider reset of ties between Western countries and Africa ...

The world’s leading cocoa producers, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, agreed to harmonize purchasing prices and harvesting calendars in order to build a buffer from volatility in global markets that has seen the cost of chocolate soar. The countries’ leaders, at a summit in Abidjan this week, said they would revive ...

African mobile operators are planning to invest $76 billion in network capital expenditure through 2030, a new report showed. The investment pipeline will support an industry that is expected to add $290 billion a year to the continent’s economy by the end of the decade, up from $240 billion in ...

New buildings featuring old designs are sprouting up across Africa, using traditional materials and methods in a bid to build more sustainably. An Accra office building features “vertical fins” to offer natural shade, Dakar’s new Goethe-Institut boasts perforated walls for ventilation, and in southern Burkina Faso, a health center’s central ...

Cuba moved to privatize swaths of its state-run economy as it looked to boost moribund growth and assuage the US, which has repeatedly threatened to replace the island’s communist leadership. The measures mark the single biggest change to the country’s economic system since Fidel Castro took over after the 1950s ...

Trade between Africa and China surged in 2025, new data showed, helping drive increased use of the yuan in international commerce, a key priority for Beijing. China’s recent decision to scrap tariffs on African imports led to an 18% jump in bilateral trade, a surge that comes as both China ...