World news

World news

On 4 November, a student demonstration outside the US embassy in Tehran erupted into an all-out assault on the compound, and 66 Americans were taken hostage. It was the culmination of decades of tension, beginning with the US and Britain's role in installing the Shah of Iran to safeguard energy interests, and ending with a popular uprising that toppled his oppressive regime and drove him into exile.

Voters in the Bahamas head to the polls on Tuesday in a hotly contested general election featuring high-profile candidates such as the former basketball champion Rick Fox. Voters in the Caribbean archipelago are divided over concerns about immigration, especially from neighbouring Haiti, and the rising cost of living, with significant spikes in gas prices caused by war in the Middle East.

We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state, said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday. The action that brought on his comments: Israel's uprooting of 3,000 Palestinian-planted trees in the occupied West Bank. The destruction of the trees so that illegal Israeli settlements can expand was one of a number of Israeli actions this week that emphasised Israel's continued push to expand its dominance over the West Bank.

At least 100 civilians have been killed in a Nigerian military airstrike on a crowded market in the country's northwest, Amnesty International said. The rights group's Nigerian office said the attack hit Tumfa market in Zamfara State on Sunday and is calling for an immediate investigation. "The authorities must investigate these deadly strikes, and put an end to reckless attacks on civilians," Amnesty said on social media. The Red Cross also confirmed the strike.

At least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 injured as a result of cross-border violence between Taliban forces and the Pakistani military in the first three months of 2026, the United Nations has reported, with more than half the deaths attributed to air raids on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul.

Governments in the Global South are among the least prepared to respond to the oil shock caused by the Iran war. As the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz drives the worst energy crunch in modern history, leading governments to scramble to unload their emergency oil stockpiles, developing countries are among the least prepared to mitigate the shock. Although surging fuel prices due to the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran have impacted most of the world, import-reliant poorer countries are among the worst affected and the most lacking in energy reserves to cushion the blow.

“Growth at any cost leaves us all poorer.” Those were the words of United Nations secretary-general António Guterres last week at the launch of a landmark report, Counting What Counts, which he commissioned from a team of researchers and policymakers ( www.un.org/beyondgdp). It proposes how countries can move beyond gross domestic product (GDP), the world's main indicator for the health of economies.

Police said the man was considered a so-called "high value target" in the Swedish-led operation "Grimm" countering the surge of "violence as a service", referring to the online recruitment of individuals often minors to carry out violent acts. Those orchestrating the acts are often located abroad. The Foxtrot criminal network was formed in the late 2010s around Majid and has been connected to dozens of violent crimes in Sweden.

Efforts between Washington and Tehran to reach an agreement continue to fall short, fueling concerns of return to war. Donald Trump says the ceasefire with Iran is on life support, after dismissing Tehran's response to a US peace proposal as stupid. The US president's swift rejection of Iran's response on Sunday has fuelled concerns that the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, and continue to paralyse shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

In the light of what transpired last time at Chogm, and the progress which has been made since then, and the activist agenda for the reparations movement, both in the Caribbean and Africa it would be absolutely inconceivable that you wouldn't have this being front and centre of the summit.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, citing people familiar with the matter. The explosive report is the first time since the war began that the UAE has been implicated as an active combatant in the war, joining the U.S., Iran, and Israel as a primary actor.

The US dollar index was relatively volatile on Monday amid renewed concerns about the geopolitical situation in the Middle East. Markets remained focused on the lack of progress in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal. The diplomatic deadlock has kept concerns over energy supply disruptions elevated, supporting higher oil prices and reinforcing inflation expectations. This pushed Treasury yields higher across maturities, underpinning the dollar.

Aramco, the world's largest oil company, said Sunday its first quarter profit jumped 25% as the Iran war disrupted oil supplies and raised prices. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia-based Aramco said it successfully shifted some oil exports to a pipeline to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, which has been disrupted by the war.

The official narrative in these countries is that this economic crisis will be like covid, and climbing out of it will be quick. But there are structural breaks that cannot be easily undone. Both the oil and non-oil sectors are getting hit equally hard and are facing damage that is potentially long term.

Washington floated a 14-point proposal earlier this week, which requires Iran to end its nuclear programme for at least 12 years and open the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil and gas passes. The US proposal includes lifting the decades-long sanctions. The Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear programme have emerged as the biggest sticking points in the talks initiated after a ceasefire came into effect on April 8.