The extraordinary clash at the Federal Reserve between Jerome Powell and Donald Trump entered new territory on Wednesday when the outgoing US central bank chairman said he would remain on as a governor – and the president lashed him with another insult. Powell said that while his term at the head of the Fed was ending May 15, he would exercise his right to remain on the board “for a period of time to be determined”. Powell appeared concerned about the Fed maintaining its independence in the face...

The Cambridge International Education (CIE) said on Wednesday it was “aware of news about a reported paper leak of a question paper”, as several users on social media expressed ire.

“We investigate such reports thoroughly and will provide more information to centres, if required, during or after the end of timetabled exams for the June 2026 series,” the CIE said in its official statement.

The CIE, part of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, offers internationally recognised exams to over scores of schools in 160-plus countries. In Pakistan, O Levels (grades 9–10) cover a broad subject range, while A and AS Levels (grades 11–12) are more specialised and advanced, providing pathways to higher education in Pakistan and abroad.

According to reports, the leaked paper was of AS mathematics.

As reports circulated on social media, irked users pointed out the high examination fees and that Cambridge question papers had leaked in the previous years as well.

In June last year, question papers of three AS and A Level examinations were partially leaked across Pakistan in 2025.

“We have written to our schools in Pakistan to tell them that, against our regulations, some content from three question papers was available before the timetabled exam dates in Pakistan,” the CIE said in a statement at the time.

The leaked papers were AS/A Level Mathematics Paper 12, AS/A Level Mathematics Paper 42 and AS/A Level Computer Science Paper 22.

The CIE had offered free November 2025 resits for candidates who took the three impacted June 2025 exam papers.

In 2024, the CIE had launched an inquiry following an uproar over reports of online leak of the A-Level mathematics paper.

The probe had confirmed that the paper was indeed leaked. “We have reviewed evidence from multiple sources and concluded that this specific paper was seen by a significant number of students in Pakistan before the start of the exam,” a CIE letter had stated, adding that the CIE would give “assessed marks” to students in this particular paper.

CIE exams are typically held twice a year, in June and November, with results released in August and January, respectively. This year, June series papers are being held from April 23-June 9.

Oil prices shot higher Wednesday on concerns of an extended blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, while Wall Street stocks mostly slid as investors awaited a US Fed rate decision and a slew of tech firm earnings.

Both main oil contracts jumped nearly six per cent after President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Wednesday that it should “get smart soon” and capitulate to Washington’s demands for tight controls on its nuclear programme, as a US naval blockade turned the screws on Iran’s economy.

Meanwhile, the United States could extend its naval blockade of Iran for months more, oil executives were told in a meeting with Trump, an administration official said.

Analysts warned that such a move would prompt Iran to maintain its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the vital oil shipping route at a near standstill.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged later in the day, with markets closely watching its guidance on inflation as energy costs soar.

The dollar drifted higher against its main peers.

“The longer the conflict persists and the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, the more pronounced the inflationary pressures are likely to become,” said Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown.

International benchmark oil contract Brent crude for June delivery rose to $117.81 a barrel, its highest level since the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect.

“The market is increasingly shifting towards a view that no longer expects a quick and lasting peace, nor an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, warned: “This is a new phase of the war in Iran, and we could now see oil prices go back to the March highs around $120 per barrel for Brent.”

With talks to end the Middle East war appearing to be at a standstill, investors’ attention turned to earnings updates.

Wall Street’s main stock indices were mostly lower in late morning trade.

“As with other financial markets, investors appear to be happy to sit on their hands ahead of tonight’s monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve’s FOMC, and as four constituents of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ prepare to release their latest earnings updates after the close,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Investors will be paying particular attention to spending on artificial intelligence by Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft — and whether it is translating into revenue.

“Given the outsized weighting of these companies in the index, and the enormous capital expenditure they have announced to build AI capabilities, these results will be closely watched by investors,” Hargreaves Lansdown’s Macdonald added.

Tech stocks took a hit on Tuesday following a report in the Wall Street Journal that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI had missed targets on user numbers and revenue.

Stock markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt finished in the red, despite some major companies spiking on strong earnings reports.

Shares in Swiss banking giant UBS jumped more than three percent as its net profit rose 80pc in the first quarter, beating expectations.

Strong quarterly profit growth led shares in German sportswear giant Adidas to jump more than eight percent in Frankfurt.

After a weak lead from Wall Street, Asian stock markets mostly rose Wednesday, with Hong Kong up more than one percent.

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its ...

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its ...

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN LOWER: Mortar shells fired from across the Pak-Afghan border injured five people — four children and a woman — in the Angoor Adda village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district, security sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said that the shells struck the homes of two residents of the village and that the injured children were between the ages of three and 13.

All the injured were take to the district headquarters hospital in Wana, they added.

They said that the Afghan Taliban and affiliated elements had repeatedly targeted civilians across the border, adding that after the Angoor Adda attack, the Pakistan Army promptly retaliated by targeting their firing positions along the border.

As a result, the Afghan Taliban abandoned their posts and fled, the sources said.

The attack came two days after the Afghan Taliban opened unprovoked firing at civilians in South Waziristan, leaving three injured.

Security sources said at the time that the Afghan Taliban’s posts were destroyed in retaliatory action.

The sources said that Afghan Taliban had been making attempts to help a group of Fitna-Al-Khawarij — a term used by the state for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — cross into Pakistan. However, due to the prompt action by the military, the infiltration attempt was thwarted, they added.

“Out of frustration, following several failed attempts to infiltrate into Pakistan, [the] Afghan Taliban targeted civilian population in Angoor Adda today,” they said.

They had added that previously, the Afghan Taliban repeatedly targeted Pakistani civilians in Dir, Bajaur, Orakzai, Torkham and North Waziristan districts.

The attacks have taken place as Pakistan continues to carry out Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban and terrorists operating from its soil. It was lau­nched on the night of Feb 26, following unprovoked cross-border attacks by the Afghan Taliban.

(END)

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday sharply limited the use of race in drawing electoral districts, in a decision that could reshape congressional maps nationwide and boost Republican prospects ahead of midterm elections. In a 6-3 ruling split along ideological lines, the conservative-dominated court struck down a map that creates a second majority-black district in Louisiana, finding it amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander despite being drawn to comply with the 1965 Voting Rights...

The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill US President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife, authorities said on Wednesday in a new court filing. Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a...

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesda...

US President Donald Trump said that a US naval blockade against Iran could last months, leading oil prices to spike to their highest level in more than four years which held into Thursday. With diplomacy between Iran and the United States at a standstill after false starts, Trump spoke by phone Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned him of “damaging consequences” if the United States and Israel resume their war on Iran. Meeting oil executives, Trump contended that the...

Two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday in north London, an attack police declared a “terrorist incident” and which follows a series of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites.

King Charles III, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan led the condemnation of the “appalling” assaults in Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish population.

Police said a 45-year-old man had been arrested after having also tried to stab officers. The two victims — aged 76 and 34 — were in a stable condition in hospital.

Speaking from the scene and facing heckles from some in the local community, Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley said the suspect has “a history of serious violence and mental health issues”.

“Let me be clear: this is an attack on one community (and) an attack on one community is an attack on all London’s communities,” Rowley added.

Starmer echoed the sentiment, saying on X that “attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain” while vowing “those responsible will be brought to justice”.

King Charles III, who is on a state visit to the United States, said he was “deeply concerned” in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

The stabbings come after a spate of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in north London in recent weeks that have heightened security fears for the community.

‘Horrific attack’

Israel’s foreign ministry condemned Starmer’s government shortly following Wednesday’s incident.

“After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the UK government can no longer claim this is under control,” it said on X.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is also head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said the stabbings had “now formally been declared a terrorist incident”.

Counter-terror officers and the capital’s Metropolitan police were “also working with the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture”, he added.

“One of the lines of enquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community,” Taylor noted, standing outside the Met’s New Scotland Yard headquarters in central London.

The incident unfolded shortly after 1000 GMT, with the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch group first reporting that a knife-wielding man was “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”.

Shomrim members helped detain the suspect before police arrived and subdued him using an electroshock weapon. The response of the Jewish volunteers earned widespread praise.

The victims were also treated at the scene by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer ambulance service.

The stabbings follow a deadly assault on a synagogue in Manchester last October on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. That attack killed two people and seriously injured three, prompting increased anxiety among Jewish communities.

“Why do we have to live in fear? We’re doing our best to live our lives as normal as possible but everyday is a struggle,” Shomrim volunteer Stephen Bak told AFP at the Golders Green scene on Wednesday.

‘Shocking’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called the spate of anti-Semitic attacks “shocking”.

“There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society,” he added on X.

Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s chief rabbi, said the community was “strong” and “resilient” but “such attacks need to stop now”.

“Zero tolerance — that’s what our community wants,” he told reporters from the scene.

“Our society needs to know this is intolerable… We would like to see actions added to words.”

The first London attack in late March saw four ambulances belonging to Hatzola set ablaze.

Other incidents have followed, including an attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow as well as the premises of a Jewish charity.

Last week, the Finchley Reform Synagogue was targeted.

Police have arrested at least 26 people for the various attacks, launched since the start of the US-Iran war on Iran on February 28.