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French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to assert itself on the world stage, saying it is time to start acting like a "power". In the face of growing threats from China, Russia and now the US, he told a group of European newspapers that the continent faced a "wake-up call". "Are we ready to become a power? This is the question in the field of economy and finance, in defence and security, and in our democratic systems. "In another era we might have said it is the moment to 'assume our majority'," he said ahead of an EU summit in Brussels later this week. Macron repeated his call for EU-wide mutualised loans in order to raise hundreds of billions of euros needed for industrial investment. "The time has come to launch a shared debt capacity to fund our future expense - eurobonds for the future. We need big European programmes to finance the best projects," he said. Similar calls in the past have met scepticism from...

China is quietly accelerating its pullback from U.S. Treasuries, pushing state-linked banks to slash exposure amid rising volatility and geopolitical risk. The shift, paired with aggressive gold accumulation, adds weight to de-dollarization trends and strengthens Bitcoin’s appeal as a neutral hedge. Crypto markets see the move less as a short-term shock and more as a long-term tailwind in a world drifting toward multipolar finance. China’s de-dollarization push  is gaining momentum in early 2026. Reports of faster U.S. Treasury sales by state-linked Chinese banks, alongside a renewed pivot toward gold, the yuan (renminbi), and alternative financial systems, suggest Beijing is becoming increasingly cautious about how much of its financial future remains tied to the U.S. dollar. The move has already rippled through global markets. U.S. Treasury prices slipped, yields climbed, and the benchmark 10-year yield rose toward the 4.24–4.25% range shortly after the news surfaced....

The United States and Armenia have struck an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, amid a push by Washington to strengthen ties with the West Asian country that was once a close ally of Moscow. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US Vice President JD ⁠Vance, who is on a two-day visit to the country, signed the multibillion-dollar nuclear energy deal on Monday. The deal, known as a 123 Agreement, sees the US entering a sector previously dominated by Russia, which had supplied the technology for the only nuclear power plant in the republic. “This agreement will open a new chapter in the deepening energy partnership between Armenia and the United States,” Pashinyan said at a joint news conference with Vance. Vance said the agreement, which allows the US to legally license nuclear technology and equipment to other countries, would enable up to $5bn in initial US exports to Armenia, plus an additional $4bn in longer-term fuel and maintenance contracts. The deal related...

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled more than 1% higher on Monday after the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an advisory to U.S.-flagged vessels to stay as far as possible from Iranian territory while passing through the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. Brent crude oil futures settled up 99 cents, or 1.5%, at $69.04 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 81 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $64.36. The U.S. DOT's Maritime Administration on Monday noted that vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman have historically faced the risk of being boarded by Iranian forces, including as recently as February 3. The agency advised U.S.-flagged ships  to stay close to Oman while eastbound in the Strait of Hormuz. The move renewed concerns that tensions between the U.S. and Iran could lead to oil supply disruptions. About a fifth of the oil consumed globally passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran. "This week's...

KYIV, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he was imposing sanctions on some foreign manufacturers of components for Russian drones and missiles used against Ukraine. "Producing this weaponry would be impossible without critical foreign components, which the Russians continue to obtain by circumventing sanctions," Zelenskiy said on X. We are introducing new sanctions precisely against such companies – component suppliers, as well as missile and drone manufacturers. I have signed the relevant decisions." According to two decrees published by the Ukrainian presidency, targets of the sanctions include several Chinese companies as well as companies from the former Soviet Union, the United Arab Emirates and Panama. Despite negotiations to end  the four-year war , Russia has sharply increased the scale and number of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in recent months, focusing its attacks on the energy and logistics se...

Bad Bunny's Super Bowl half-time show was one big love letter to his native Puerto Rico ,  culminating in a message of pride in his home and the Americas, and an appeal for unity with the US. The 14-minute set included guest performances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, along with cameos from the likes of Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G and Jessica Alba, who could be seen dancing on the porch of his famous casita, a staple of his shows designed to look like a traditional Puerto Rican home. The 31-year-old, who was the world's most-played artist in 2025 according to Spotify , made history by becoming the first musician to perform entirely in Spanish at a Super Bowl, which is normally the most-watched event on US TV. He did choose to say one line in English, "God bless America", before listing nations of Central, South and North America as dancers carried their flags. Behind them, a billboard message read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love...

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host Nigeria's president in the country's first state visit to the UK in 37 years, Buckingham Palace has announced. Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu have accepted an invitation to be guests of the King at Windsor Castle from 18 to 19 March. State visits are considered a form of soft-power diplomacy, using the pomp of royal hospitality to strengthen relations with important international partners. The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, when military ruler Gen Ibrahim Babangida travelled to meet the late Queen Elizabeth II for a four-day trip. Although this will be Tinubu's first formal state visit to the UK, he has already met the King since taking office following Nigeria's disputed election in 2023. Tinubu and his wife were received at Buckingham Palace in September 2024 and also held a bilateral meeting with the King on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai. But a state visit allows...

China criticized the United States on Friday for withdrawing from the World Organization ,  saying countries should not place domestic politics ahead of international law. The country’s representative, attending a meeting of the WHO’s executive board, made the comments during discussions about the withdrawal of the U.S. and Argentina from the global health agency.  Though the Trump administration has made clear the U.S. withdrawal is complete, the WHO has little precedent for the mechanics of such an exit. The executive board agreed to refer  the issue to the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of the WHO’s member states held every year in May. On the issue of Argentina, the executive board adopted a draft resolution to recommend the WHA acknowledge the country’s withdrawal. “Major countries in particular should lead by example,” the Chinese representative said during the portion of the weeklong meeting that dealt with the U.S. withdrawal. Chi...

Google executives are facing pressure from staff over the company's ties to the federal government's crackdown on immigration enforcement, which in recent months turned violent and deadly.   In an open letter published on Friday, nearly 900 full-time Google employees demanded more transparency over what the company's technology is being used for inside the US government. Google has contracts to provide federal agencies with cloud services and also has links to work being done on federal immigration enforcement. In a call after the letter was published, a Google employee of seven years said he found it "mind-boggling" that Google was maintaining its ties with the immigration enforcement bodies. The letter from Google employees follows a separate letter  published two weeks ago and signed by hundreds of workers at various companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, calling for all tech companies to stop their work supporting the federal immigration ...

A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that the Trump administration must unfreeze more than $16 billion earmarked for a major New York infrastructure project and allow construction to continue, saying that public interest would be “harmed by a delay.” The temporary restraining order granted by US District Judge Jeanette Vargas in the Southern District of New York comes as President Donald Trump has withheld the funding meant for the long-planned project connecting New York and New Jersey through a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River. Vargas said in a court filing that the states of New York and New Jersey would “suffer irreparable harm” if the Trump administration continued to withhold the funding for the project. “Plaintiffs have adequately shown that the public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project,” she wrote. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. CNN  previously reported   Trump told Senate Minority ...

Fast-food giant McDonald’s has declined to take up its option to provide food and beverages at FIFA Fan Fests across North America this summer during the World Cup. McDonald’s has a long-standing partnership with soccer’s world governing body to sponsor its flagship tournaments, including this summer’s men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The agreement includes access to LED advertising within venues and naming rights to the Fair Play Trophy (presented to the team with the best fair play record during the tournament), while McDonald’s is the “official restaurant sponsor” of this year’s World Cup. McDonald’s also had an option to take up a right of first negotiation, as well as last refusal, to sell its products at FIFA Fan Fests this summer. McDonald’s had considered selling a limited menu, including ice creams, at fan festivals, but it has now taken the decision that it will not do so. Its branding will remain visible on the main stage of Fan Fests, and...

The US and Russia have agreed to re-establish high-level dialogue between their armed forces. The announcement came after a meeting of senior US and Russian military officers in Abu Dhabi in the margins of talks about the war in Ukraine. In a statement, US European Command said the renewed dialogue would "provide consistent military to military contact as the parties work towards a lasting peace". This marks a significant rapprochement between the world's two largest nuclear powers and comes after President Donald Trump repeatedly voiced his desire to normalise relations between both countries. The announcement also came amid reports the US and Russia were negotiating a deal to extend a nuclear arms reduction treaty due to expire on Thursday. Throughout decades of crisis and confrontation, the US and Russia have often kept channels of communication open between their armed forces. The aim was to avoid misunderstanding and escalation. But those contacts were su...

Delegations from the United States and Iran concluded indirect talks in the Gulf Arab   state of Oman Friday. It was the first round of negotiations between the two sides since the US and Israel struck the Islamic Republic last summer .  The US and Iran have agreed to hold follow-on discussions after consultations with their capitals, an outcome cautiously viewed as a positive result by both sides, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The talks took place amid an American military buildup in the Middle East, and after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran if it used lethal force against protesters  or refuses to sign a nuclear deal. Ahead of the talks, Iran’s foreign minister said his country “enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.” “We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. Still, sharp language has persisted on both sides, with Trump saying on Thur...