The war in Iran has exposed our dependencies. Europe, including the UK, must be bold about change, so nobody can blackmail us Lars Klingbeil is Germany’s finance minister and vice-chancellor Wars and crises are draining our economies, our sense of security and our emotional wellbeing. They are affecting our daily lives: supply chains are becoming less reliable, energy prices are soaring, and trade...
The war in Iran has exposed our dependencies. Europe, including the UK, must be bold about change, so nobody can blackmail us Lars Klingbeil is Germany’s finance minister and vice-chancellor Wars and crises are draining our economies, our sense of security and our emotional wellbeing. They are affecting our daily lives: supply chains are becoming less reliable, energy prices are soaring, and trade dependencies on fossil-fuel energy and critical minerals pose risks to national security. Tariffs, industrial overcapacities and export restrictions threaten jobs and prosperity. Taken together, all this is exposing Europe’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities. At the same time, we have shown how strengthening our alliances and our economic and military capacities can increase our scope for action. Forming a united European political front is helping to safeguard the sovereignty of Greenland , for instance. And despite all the recent turmoil, Europe remains one of the most attractive places in the world to live and work. Continue reading...
Elderly people take advantage of courses on how to navigate mobile devices and avoid ‘analogue isolation’ It’s not only young people whose gaze is fixed on tiny screens. But for these users in Tokyo, clicking and scrolling is anything but second nature. “I can’t deal with all of the apps that jump out at me,” says one. “How do I know if I’ve definitely ended a call?” asks another. Continue reading...
Elderly people take advantage of courses on how to navigate mobile devices and avoid ‘analogue isolation’ It’s not only young people whose gaze is fixed on tiny screens. But for these users in Tokyo, clicking and scrolling is anything but second nature. “I can’t deal with all of the apps that jump out at me,” says one. “How do I know if I’ve definitely ended a call?” asks another. Continue reading...
I tried not to think about the 1,300 metres of solid rock over my head Running has always been a passion of mine. I started as a child in the Yorkshire Dales, moving to cross-country at university, then graduating to marathons. I loved the challenge. After my wife, Stephanie, and I married in 2012, and went on to have two daughters, Grace and Rose, I still ran for pleasure, but competitive events ...
I tried not to think about the 1,300 metres of solid rock over my head Running has always been a passion of mine. I started as a child in the Yorkshire Dales, moving to cross-country at university, then graduating to marathons. I loved the challenge. After my wife, Stephanie, and I married in 2012, and went on to have two daughters, Grace and Rose, I still ran for pleasure, but competitive events took a back seat as I focused on my family and career. Then one day I heard about a marathon my company had been invited to join. It had been over 10 years since my last big race, but I put my name forward. “I’m surprised,” a colleague said. “You do realise it’s totally underground?” It turned out the race was in a Swedish zinc mine, 1,120 metres below sea level. That made it the world’s deepest marathon, and everyone who completed it would be a Guinness World Record holder. Continue reading...
From lurid pranks and late-night drives, to why playing in the Revolution was like joining the marines – Prince’s friends and collaborators recount their memories of one of the music world’s most majestic and mercurial performers George Clinton, singer and leader of Parliament-Funkadelic Continue reading...
From lurid pranks and late-night drives, to why playing in the Revolution was like joining the marines – Prince’s friends and collaborators recount their memories of one of the music world’s most majestic and mercurial performers George Clinton, singer and leader of Parliament-Funkadelic Continue reading...
Seven deaths and 15 injuries have been recorded in the past year as crocodiles move their habitats closer to human settlements • Warning: contains graphic descriptions of crocodile attacks Ng’ikalei Loito was walking out of the warm waters of Lake Turkana on a sunny afternoon, having just finished swimming with her two sisters-in-law, when she suddenly felt the crushing force of a crocodile’s bite...
Seven deaths and 15 injuries have been recorded in the past year as crocodiles move their habitats closer to human settlements • Warning: contains graphic descriptions of crocodile attacks Ng’ikalei Loito was walking out of the warm waters of Lake Turkana on a sunny afternoon, having just finished swimming with her two sisters-in-law, when she suddenly felt the crushing force of a crocodile’s bite on her legs. In excruciating pain, she instinctively clung to a partially submerged tree that was within reach and screamed for help, as the crocodile tried to drag her under the water. Ng’ikalei Loito sits on her tricycle outside her house in Kalokol town in Turkana Continue reading...
It costs the UK economy £700m a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates By Stuart McGurk. Read by Nicholas Camm Continue reading...
It costs the UK economy £700m a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates By Stuart McGurk. Read by Nicholas Camm Continue reading...
In late 2023, Ann Budge, then president of Edinburgh-based club Heart of Midlothian Football Club, was facing another season of mid-table mediocrity. The last time a team other than Glasgow giants Celtic or Rangers were Scottish champions was the mid 1980s, when legendary manager Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to the title. Budge, a Scottish businesswoman and co-founder of an IT firm, helped save Hear...
In late 2023, Ann Budge, then president of Edinburgh-based club Heart of Midlothian Football Club, was facing another season of mid-table mediocrity. The last time a team other than Glasgow giants Celtic or Rangers were Scottish champions was the mid 1980s, when legendary manager Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to the title. Budge, a Scottish businesswoman and co-founder of an IT firm, helped save Hearts from financial collapse in 2014, and implemented a rare structure giving 75% of the 152-year-old club over to a fan-led group. In a sport increasingly dominated by hard cash, it was improbable that Hearts would discover a new Ferguson to take them to a title, or find a wealthy investor willing to let the fans stay in charge. Then, Budge heard that Brighton & Hove Albion FC owner, Tony Bloom, was looking to invest in a Scottish club. Bloom, a professional gambler and football investor, took Brighton from a lower tier team to a mainstay in the English Premier League. And his success wasn’t down to massive spending, it was powered by data. Bloom, and his data machine, has helped Hearts lead the Scottish league for much of the season. The club is top with just five games to go, on a budget far less than its rivals. Hearts’ latest accounts show a turnover of £24.4 million, compared to Rangers at £83.5 million and Celtic at £143.4 million. In last summer’s transfer window, Hearts spent just €5 million (£4.35 million) on new players, compared with €43.66 million (£37.96 million) at Rangers, according to transfermarkt.com, which reports in euros. Behind the recent success is Jamestown Analytics, a firm that assists clubs in player acquisition and player rankings. Clubs that use Jamestown often pay a small retainer, with a far larger payment in the millions if they hit targets like promotion, qualification for Europe or silverware, according to a person familiar with the matter. A number of teams have hired Jamestown across Europe, yielding notable improvements in team performanc...
Hello, this is Allen Wan at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou. The specter of the Iran war hung heavy like the banners inside the gigantic exhibition halls of the country’s oldest and biggest trade show this week. The bi-annual fair in the southern city offered an ominous glimpse of how the US-Israel war against Iran is dimming the outlook for an economy that remains dependent on manufacturing and expo...
Hello, this is Allen Wan at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou. The specter of the Iran war hung heavy like the banners inside the gigantic exhibition halls of the country’s oldest and biggest trade show this week. The bi-annual fair in the southern city offered an ominous glimpse of how the US-Israel war against Iran is dimming the outlook for an economy that remains dependent on manufacturing and exports for growth. Some exporters said orders are drying up due to fewer visitors from the key Middle East market. One businessman who did make it — Egyptian Abdul Rahman El Sharqawy — said he’d struggled to find flights as the war has led to skyrocketing fares. In recent years, fewer visitors have been coming from the US and Europe — first due to the pandemic and then because of US tariffs — but they’d been replaced by customers from the Middle East and Africa. It’s a geographical diversification that’s helped companies like Guangdong Baiyin Cleaning Co., which depends on exports for more than half of its business, ride out US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But not this year. “We have fewer Middle East buyers due to the conflict,” said Huang Gui Feng, area manager for the maker of scrubber machines and other cleaning equipment, who added that her company has been coming to the fair for over two decades and fears this year may be the worst. “At first, it was the tariffs and now we have to deal with the war,” she said. “There is nothing we can do about it.” But perhaps President Xi Jinping can. Beijing has been more active on the diplomatic front in recent weeks, aiming to end a conflict that has squeezed its Middle East oil supplies and risks a deeper global economic slowdown that would harm China’s export-led growth momentum. While export growth slowed sharply in March, economic growth as a whole rebounded more than expected in the first quarter, with GDP expanding 5% from a year ago. Watch this video on how the economy is revving up. High-tech exports surged nearly 30% in...
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kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 11:30 AM Mary Daly Speaks San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly participates in a moderated conversation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the University of California at Berkeley Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics Spring 2026 Policy Advisory Board meeting. 12:15 PM Thomas Barkin Speaks Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President ...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 11:30 AM Mary Daly Speaks San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly participates in a moderated conversation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the University of California at Berkeley Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics Spring 2026 Policy Advisory Board meeting. 12:15 PM Thomas Barkin Speaks Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin speaks before the 2026 CDI Citadel Directors Institute hosted by the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business at The Citadel. 1:00 PM Baker Hughes Rig Count The Baker Hughes North American rig count tracks weekly changes in the number of active operating oil & gas rigs. 2:00 PM Christopher Waller Speaks Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller speaks on the economic outlook before the Auburn University Department of Economics David Kaserman Memorial Lecture event. More on U.S. Markets Gold Vs. Debt: Navigating The Historical Shift In Global Central Bank Reserves Iran War May Widen 10-Year Yield's Market Premium Vs. Fair Value Weak Dollar Is The Real Threat To The U.S. Stock Market Trump vs. Powell on Fed chairmanship - what to know BTIG’s Krinsky: ‘Now is the time to buy bonds’
Malaysia’s economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter as the Middle East conflict began to weigh on the nation’s major industries, including manufacturing and services. Gross domestic product rose 5.3% in the January-March period from a year earlier, according to advance estimates from the Department of Statistics Malaysia on Friday. That compares to the 5.5% median estim...
Malaysia’s economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter as the Middle East conflict began to weigh on the nation’s major industries, including manufacturing and services. Gross domestic product rose 5.3% in the January-March period from a year earlier, according to advance estimates from the Department of Statistics Malaysia on Friday. That compares to the 5.5% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and 6.3% growth in the last quarter of 2025. The ringgit held a 0.1% drop from earlier Friday against the dollar. The data serves as an early barometer as Asia assesses the extent of the economic fallout from the Iran war, which is now in its seventh week. Singapore reported on Monday that its GDP growth slowed considerably in the first quarter, and warned that the conflict would continue to weigh on economic activity in the coming months. “The slower growth-marginally higher inflation mix shows that Malaysia’s economy, while resilient, is not immune to external shocks,” said Lavanya Venkateswaran , economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., though she noted that the country is still maintaining growth faster than 5%. Indeed, Malaysia’s first-quarter print comes in well above the government’s full-year forecast of 4%-4.5% and the expected performance of most major Asian economies. The statistics department cited the boom in artificial intelligence as a bright spot, noting rising demand for data center and generative AI-related activities. The mining sector saw a contraction amid lower production of crude oil, condensate and natural gas. “Malaysia’s first quarter of 2026 reflects an economy that remains fundamentally resilient, even with the rising global uncertainties, particularly elevated oil prices following the geopolitical tensions,” Malaysia’s chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement. The advance GDP estimate will be followed by the May 15 release of preliminary data, which will provide a comprehensive analysis of economic pe...