Global events and international developments affecting markets.
Reporting on international affairs, geopolitical developments, and global economic trends. This category connects world events to their potential impact on financial markets, trade flows, and investor risk perception.
4,376 total articles
In closed-door briefings, Pentagon officials told congressional staff there was no intelligence that Iran intended to attack U.S. forces first, a point that appears to contradict public statements by senior administration figures. The U.S. and Israel have carried out extensive strikes on Iran, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali K…
Israel widened its military operations on Monday to include strikes against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon after the group acknowledged launching missiles and drones toward Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israeli forces also carried out strikes on targets in Tehran that the military described as intelligence…
Russian authorities strongly criticised recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, saying the operation - which targeted Iran’s leadership - risks plunging the Middle East into widespread escalation. Moscow’s foreign ministry warned of potential humanitarian, economic and radiological consequences, while Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s S…
Senior U.S. officials and intelligence analysts remain unconvinced that the U.S. and Israeli military operation that resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will produce a near-term collapse of the Islamic Republic’s ruling structure. Agencies have flagged a high likelihood that hard-line clerics or Islamic Revolutiona…
Australia has formally declared it will not participate in military operations in Iran or deploy troops to the Middle East should the confrontation widen. The announcement follows renewed strikes on Tehran and reciprocal missile attacks by Iran, the reported killing of Iran's Supreme Leader and U.S. reports of casualties. Canberra is focusing on co…
Argentina reports that Nahuel Gallo, a member of the national Gendarmerie held in Venezuela since late 2024, has been released and has already left the country. His detention had intensified diplomatic tensions between Argentine President Javier Milei and Venezuela's then-President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured in January by the United States an…
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK has approved a U.S. request to use British bases for narrowly defined defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers. He stressed the decision follows sustained Iranian attacks across the region that have hit airports and hotels where British nationals were staying, and fram…
On March 1, President Donald Trump indicated that the current conflict with Iran could continue for roughly four weeks, telling the Daily Mail that the campaign historically follows a four-week pattern. He said he remained open to further discussions with Iranian officials but offered no timeline for such talks, responding "I don't know" when asked…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on March 1 that the disruptions in Iran produced by recent U.S. and Israeli strikes present an opportunity that should be used to benefit the Iranian people, who he said have endured significant violence from their authorities. Zelenskiy reiterated accusations that Iran supplied drones to Russia and that…
The European Union’s 27 member states have issued a joint appeal for maximum restraint, protection of civilians and full adherence to international law following a sequence of military strikes involving the United States, Israel and Iran. The statement, released by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas after an emergency video conference of EU foreig…
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has produced a multifaceted crisis: a wounded command structure under fire, an unsettled succession process, and pressure on the cohesion of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Regional officials and analysts say the state was designed to withstand the loss of a single leader, b…
President Donald Trump declared that U.S. forces have sunk nine Iranian warships and are targeting the remainder, as U.S. bombardment of Iranian military positions intensified. The Pentagon deployed B-2 stealth bombers to strike hardened, underground missile facilities with 2,000-lb bombs, and Mr. Trump said Iran's naval headquarters was largely de…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the United States, European allies and regional partners to begin planning a post-crisis approach for Iran and the wider Middle East following U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader. While endorsing U.S. aims to halt Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Merz warned of escalation risks and outlined f…
U.S. President Donald Trump told the Atlantic that Iran’s new leadership has expressed a desire to negotiate and that he has agreed to speak with them. He did not name who he would talk to or provide timing. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said a temporary leadership council has taken on the supreme leader’s duties following Ayatollah Ali Khamen…
Early on Saturday, coordinated cyber-enabled operations coincided with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on targets across Iran. Multiple news sites were defaced and the widely used religious calendar app BadeSaba, with more than 5 million downloads, was hacked to display messages urging a reckoning and calling for members of the armed forces to lay down …
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a defining moment, saying it opens a possible path for the people of Iran to shape their future. Kallas said she is coordinating with partners - including countries facing the effects of Iran's military actions - to pursue practica…
North Korea's foreign ministry denounced recent Israeli attacks on Iran and a U.S. military operation as illegal violations of sovereignty, calling the U.S. action predictable and blaming perceived U.S. hegemonic behavior. Pyongyang urged regional states and like-minded actors to act to restore peace and stability amid reports of strikes in Tehran …
State media in Iran confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in strikes attributed to the United States and Israel as a new round of attacks struck the country on Sunday. Reactions from international figures and bodies ranged from sharp condemnation to sober warnings about the potential for increased violence in the region.
Iran has been sharply divided following the reported death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. State media said he was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack, prompting scenes of grief at large public funerary gatherings and, elsewhere, jubilant celebrations and the toppling of monuments. The reaction reveals deep fault lines in Iranian society afte…
Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey declined to explicitly endorse strikes by the United States and Israel that Iran says killed its Supreme Leader, saying the United States should set out the legal rationale for the action. Healey said the UK had no role in the strikes but supported the objective that Iran should not acquire a nuclear weapon. …
Following reports that U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pro-Iranian demonstrators in Pakistan and Iraq staged large protests outside U.S. diplomatic missions. In Karachi, crowds breached the outer wall of the U.S. consulate before being repelled by security forces using tear gas; footage from the scene showed b…
Following an air strike that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, veteran politician Ali Larijani has emerged as a key figure in Iran’s security architecture. Appointed last August as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Larijani has overseen a wide array of re…
Widespread airspace closures across the Gulf have left passengers, crews and aircraft stranded after a fresh round of U.S., Israeli and Iranian strikes. Major transfer hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have been shut or heavily restricted, producing cascading schedule disruptions and forcing airlines worldwide to reroute or cancel services.
Explosions and gunfire broke out across Kabul as Afghan authorities reported air defence strikes against Pakistani aircraft over the capital. The violence follows a week of Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan, accusations over militant safe havens, and growing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate a confrontation that has intensified along the 2,600-k…
A recently published book by two veteran Vatican correspondents recounts a startling security lapse during the closed conclave of May 7-8 that elected Pope Leo. As cardinals gathered to cast their first ballots in the Sistine Chapel, which had been fitted with equipment intended to block outside communications, security personnel detected an active…
