Global oil prices jumped to a four-year high of more than US$122 a barrel on Thursday, on concerns that the US-Iran war could worsen and lead to a protracted Middle East oil supply disruption that could hurt global economic growth. The market moved higher after Axios, citing unidentified sources, reported late on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump was slated to receive a briefing on Thursday on plans for a series of military strikes on Iran in hopes it would return ‌to negotiations on its...

The British government on Thursday called antisemitism in the UK an “emergency”, and said it would spend millions increasing security around Jewish sites after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing. The government announced £25 million (US$34 million) for more police patrols and protection around synagogues, schools and community centres after two Jewish men were stabbed and seriously injured in London’s Golders Green neighbourhood on Wednesday. The victims, aged 34 and 76, are in...

Subscribers: The Daily Pulse won’t be published on May 1 because of China’s Labour Day holiday. We will resume publication on Monday, May 4. Crude oil prices jumped to a four-year high after US President Donald Trump suggested that a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could last for “months”. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged as much as 7.3 per cent, surpassing US$126 a barrel, following reports that Trump met oil executives on Tuesday to discuss ways of extending the blockade and...

Activists sailing on dozens of boats attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid say Israeli forces intercepted them overnight Wednesday into Thursday, detaining the crews while the flotilla was sailing hundreds of kilometres from Gaza near the southern Greek island of Crete. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona. Organisers have said more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world would be participating,...

A series ⁠of reversals suffered by Mali’s Moscow-backed military government has dented Russia’s image as ⁠a self-styled security guarantor in Africa and threatens its strategic and economic interests on the continent. The military junta, which turned to Russia for support after expelling French and UN troops following coups in 2020 and 2021, was rocked at the weekend by an offensive by West Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group. Mali’s Russia-trained defence...

R&B singer D4vd used chainsaws he bought from Amazon to cut up the body of the teenage girl he murdered and left to rot in the trunk of his Tesla, prosecution documents claimed on Wednesday. The internet breakout star killed Celeste Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to reveal their long-standing and illegal sexual relationship, which began when she was just 13, charging papers allege. He then hacked up her corpse, using a plastic paddling pool to contain the blood, and stuffed it into bags...

Ant International, the overseas spin-off of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, has connected more than 150 million merchants with over 2 billion consumer accounts around the world, as it positions its payments network as core infrastructure for the emerging AI commerce economy. The figures, disclosed at the company’s MoMents 2026 forum in Kuala Lumpur, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, underscore the scale Ant is seeking to leverage amid the rising adoption of artificial intelligence agents. Ant...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States is considering reducing the number of its troops in Germany, amid a row with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war. “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said on social media. The United States had more than 35,000 troops in Germany in 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service,...

The United Nations is bloated, costly, badly in need of reform, and too often works against US interests, but pulling out of the international organisation would see China expand its influence and leave Washington at a major disadvantage, according to testimony before a House oversight committee on Wednesday. The hearing came as the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed an “America first” overhaul of international funding, leaving the UN, over the past 18 months, at what...

Federal investigators say they believe the man who carried out a mass shooting at Brown University and later killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor did not act randomly. Instead, former Brown student Claudio Neves Valente, 48, appeared to target places and people for what they represented in his own life – institutions and individuals he associated with personal failure, missed opportunity and perceived injustice. In a detailed behavioural assessment released on Wednesday, the...

Can tourism be considered successful if arrivals increase, but the local communities – the very soul of the destination – feel strained and excluded? Too often, tourism success is measured in arrivals, occupancy and revenue. These numbers matter. But they tell only a fraction of the story. We must ask: who is this success really for? Traditional growth metrics are no longer sufficient to protect the residents who host the world or the workers who power the experience. To prevent cultural...

Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla commemorated victims of the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attack on New York on Wednesday, laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the World Trade Centre’s twin towers once stood. The royal visit to lower Manhattan came at a time of tensions between Britain and the US, with President Donald Trump having criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for what he says is his lack of help in ‌the US and Israel’s war with Iran. Michael Bloomberg, a former New...