Finance news

Syria’s Sharaa holds phone call with Trump, Syrian presidency says

Syrian President ⁠Ahmed al-Sharaa held a phone ⁠call with US President Donald Trump in which they discussed supporting the Syrian economy and the latest regional developments, the Syrian presidency said ‌on Sunday. During the call, Sharaa said lifting the remaining US sanctions on Syria was essential to reviving the economy and attracting investments, according to the statement. The United States says some sanctions remain in ⁠place despite dismantling most of its Syria sanctions regime and...

+++ Iran War +++: Iranian Revolutionary Guards attack bases in northern Iraq

Wadephul concerned about Israeli advance in Lebanon +++ Tehran demands frozen billions back +++ US military stops merchant ship on route to Iran +++ The news blog.

Iran says does not trust US as Trump toughens terms

Iran’s chief negotiator warned on Sunday the United States was not to be trusted, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secured Iranian rights. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that US President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close. Any tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of...

French museum reports theft of banana from Italian artist’s multimillion-dollar work

A museum in eastern France on Sunday reported to police the theft of a banana that forms a core part of a multimillion-dollar artwork by Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan. The missing fruit – which was taped to a wall to form the provocative work by Cattelan called “Comedian” – was noticed by a guard on Saturday to have gone missing. An iteration of the artwork was bought by Chinese-born cryptocurrency founder Justin Sun in 2024. He forked out US$6.2 million for the work, then days later..

Italy bans Kanye West concert over security concerns

A concert by the US rapper Kanye West, who was supposed to perform on July 18 in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, has been banned on public safety grounds, the authorities said. The prefect of the province, Salvatore Angieri, said the decision was made following requests from bodies including the local Jewish community. They had “expressed reservations” about the appearance of the rapper as part of the Pulse of Gaia Festival, the statement released on Friday evening said. Another concert by the.

United Airlines flight to Spain turns back to Newark, US after possible security threat

A United Airlines flight bound for Spain from Newark Liberty International Airport turned around mid-flight on Saturday due to a possible security threat in-flight. The flight departed at around 6pm local time for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, but landed back at Newark at 9.37pm, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airline said there were 190 passengers and 12 crew members on the Boeing 767 aircraft. According to air traffic control audio, security came to inspect the...

Colombia votes in presidential election that could redefine relations with US

submitted by /u/Beginning-Wish-4273 [link] [comments]

Column: Inside America: Fake videos and AI clips: Reality is becoming increasingly blurred in the US election campaign

Computer-generated fake videos are being used on a large scale in the fight for the midterm elections. In one case, that might even have led a Republican to victory.

Philippines, Japan seek to strengthen defense ties amid US-China thaw

How are you investing in US Markets now?

Hi Folks, The US market just keeps grinding higher. A few months ago, I felt valuations were getting stretched and decided to hold off deploying some cash, expecting a pullback. Instead, the market has continued to rally and is now significantly higher. I was tied up with a job change for a couple of months, and by the time I looked back at the market, it had already moved sharply higher. I currently have about 15% of my net worth sitting in cash. Every time I think the market has run too far an

Israeli Settler Council Issues Unprecedented Admission of Ritualistic Child Sexual Abuse After Broadcaster Exposes Cover-Up

U.S. societal culture is not aligned with this, and any military alliance with Israel has not panned out for US interests….This would good event to end any alliance going forward. Thoughts? submitted by /u/BeAr_cosmicLy [link] [comments]

Student recalls eye-opening trip with American peers that drew praise from Xi

A university student in Hong Kong who recently received a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that an ocean voyage, a food delivery app and having a curious mind helped break stereotypes and bridge gaps between Chinese and American young people. Liu Runjie, a fourth-year electronic engineering student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), was among 20 young people who joined a China-US youth friendship programme and shared their experiences with Xi, prompting a reply from.

US President: Trump's name must disappear from the Kennedy Center

The US President wants to immortalize his name in many places, but a court has put a stop to it. His name must be removed from the cultural institution.

US quietly plays the long game on energy dominance against China

Sun Tzu wrote that “fighting and winning all your battles is not the height of skill; subduing the enemy without fighting is the height of skill”. That maxim offers perhaps the clearest lens to interpret the logic of American grand strategy under US President Donald Trump. What many dismiss as inconsistency may conceal a patient strategic deception. The aim is not direct confrontation, but the quiet reshaping of the global economy in support of long-term US power. The US wants to improve its...

Shangri-La Dialogue: can Asia do ‘less Shangri-La, more ships, more subs’?

As the Shangri-La Dialogue drew to a close on Sunday, two issues dominated discussions throughout the event: defence spending and the varying level of commitment of countries to maintain peace in the region after calls by Washington for its allies and others to pull their weight. Analysts said the 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product for defence spending proposed by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was not something that most Asean countries – aside from Singapore – could commit to. Hegseth..

Can Hongkong Post be saved or should it become a taxpayer-funded public service?

Hongkong Post’s worsening financial situation may require not only an injection of funds but also a return to being a government-funded department providing basic public services, observers have said. The analysts’ views follow the authorities’ plan to inject HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) as a lifeline to support Hongkong Post’s operations over the next three years, amid similar losses faced by postal operators worldwide. Hongkong Post has operated on a self-funding basis since 1995, following

TECH in Heilbronn: Schwarz-Digits boss calls for industrial policy for the cloud

Sovereign clouds are becoming a billion-dollar business. Schwarz Digits calls for a “Buy European” approach. But the US providers AWS and Microsoft also attract customers with their own offers.

Human-shaped object in US military UFO files intrigues Chinese expert

Amid a flurry of interest in newly declassified US government UFO files, a Chinese researcher has expressed intrigue in an apparent video of a fast-moving, human-shaped object. Zhang Nan, a Beijing-based researcher into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), said he was particularly fascinated by a nearly five-minute video, captured by a sky-facing US military infrared sensor in Florida in 2020. In the footage labelled “NAG UAP 1 Jun 20”, a humanoid-like shape hovered for a long time before...

Armament: Bundeswehr chief demands clear announcements on US troop levels in Europe

Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer wants a clear plan from the USA regarding its troop plans in Europe. Arming the continent takes time.

Security: Japan warns against China's arms buildup at Shangri-La dialogue

The tensions between the two countries became clear at the conference. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is calling on Asian allies to increase military spending.

Indebted company: This woman is supposed to put Bayer's finances in order

Judith Hartmann, the new CFO at Bayer, has one of the most important jobs in the company. Whether it is successful depends primarily on US courts.

For SpaceX, global dominance may not be written in the stars

The excitement around SpaceX, fuelled by the targeted US$1.8 trillion valuation for its initial public offering and its promising Starship rocket development, has revived a familiar claim: that SpaceX is on course to dominate the space market. Commercially, that view is understandable. SpaceX conducts more space launches than anyone and at very competitive costs, its Starlink satellite internet company provides strong in-house demand, and it has a scale advantage unmatched by any other private..

Peter Thiel: After criticism – Vienna Festival weeks invite IT investor Thiel out

A planned discussion evening with the controversial US billionaire Peter Thiel leads to boycotts and criticism - although many visitors would also have liked to debate with the influential investor.

+++ USA +++: US military kills alleged drug smugglers on the high seas again

Billions in damage feared due to stop of international flights +++ White House: US President Trump in excellent health +++ The news blog.

NGO offers HK$30,000 to residents of blaze-hit Tai Po blocks who transfer ownership

Hong Kong’s largest non-profit organisation, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, will give HK$30,000 (US$3,827) to residents displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire who agree to transfer ownership of their flats to the government, its chief executive has said. Albert Su Yau-on also revealed on Sunday that more than 1,000 inquiries had been received regarding the group’s legal aid scheme for Wang Fuk Court residents, following the November blaze that killed 168 people and displaced about 5,000...

+++ Iran War +++: Tehran demands frozen billions back for agreement with Washington

US military stops merchant ship on the way to Iran +++ Hegseth – Are ready for renewed attacks on Iran +++ No decision at Iran meeting in the White House +++ The news blog.

What happens if growth stops?

When watching personal finance videos I’ve seen commentators claim that if global/US index funds don’t continue growing over the long term then you’ll have a lot more to worry about than investments not growing - aka it would be an event that would cause multiple crises across the world and you’d be worrying about buying fresh water instead of the S&P 500. They use it as a way to reassure long term investors of the security of the market/index funds as a whole. My question is, what would realist

Why the US Navy must look to allies if it wants to catch up to China at sea

Washington’s plans to work with allies on warship design and construction face steep opposition at home, but analysts warn that the US must outsource shipbuilding to South Korea and Japan if it wants to close its gap in fleet size with China. The US budget submission for the next financial year includes US$1.85 billion for a study on outsourcing parts of the design and construction of frigates and destroyers, according to media reports last month. USNI News, the news service of the US Naval...

From nuclear submarines to trade, South Korea and US remain deadlocked ahead of talks

South Korea and the United States are heading into talks in Seoul next week with different priorities over the implementation of last year’s summit agreement, with President Lee Jae Myung pushing for the supply of nuclear-powered submarines and Washington seeking progress on a major investment pledge by the Lee administration. US approval on the use of nuclear fuel for South Korea’s submarines is a key goal for Lee, while Washington wants Seoul’s US$350 billion investment promise it previously..

New Zealand tells US it lacks billions ‘under the couch’ to raise defence spending

New Zealand does not have the fiscal headroom to increase defence spending to the levels the US might expect, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told delegates at an Asia security forum in Singapore on Saturday that New Zealand’s target of raising defence spending to 2 per cent of the economy is not enough and was an example of “freeloading”. He hinted that nations should aspire to a target as high as 3.5 per cent. “That would be extremely challenging,” Willis