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He added that the US will continue to blockade Iran's ports until Tehran presents a "unified proposal". After opening higher in Asia, the global benchmark wholesale oil price dipped to $97.60 (£72.14) a barrel. But the price rose again as reports of ships being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz emerged , with the price briefly hitting $100 a barrel before falling back slightly. Energy markets have been volatile since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February and Tehran responded with threats to target vessels in the key Strait of Hormuz waterway .  The initial two-week ceasefire had been due to expire on Wednesday evening Washington time. Trump did not give a new deadline for the ceasefire extension. Trump said on Truth Social that the Iranian government has been "seriously fractured" and that the US will hold off from launching new attacks after Pakistan called for more time for Tehran to agree a deal. Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the...

New York  —    The Gates Foundation has launched an independent investigation into ties between the philanthropic organization and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The foundation, which provides billions of dollars in charitable donations, said in a statement  Tuesday that it has “commissioned an external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein” and is examining its policies for “vetting and developing new philanthropic partnerships.” Employees of the foundation were informed in March, adding that the review process will be completed in the summer. The firm didn’t comment if the results of the investigation will be made public. The Wall Street Journal  first reported the news. The Gates Foundation is also laying off 500 employees in the next few years in a cost-cutting move, a change originally announced in January   Epstein-related documents released by the Justice Department, totaling more than 3 million pages, con...

Apple has named John Ternus as its new chief executive to replace Tim Cook who will become executive chairman at the technology giant. Ternus, currently the head of hardware engineering who has been at Apple for 25 years, will take over from Cook on 1 September. Cook has led Apple since 2011 after the late Steve Jobs resigned for health reasons. He will stay as chief executive through the summer to work with Ternus on the transition after which he will "assist with certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world". Cook's decision to step away from the chief executive role follows months of speculation that Apple was looking for a successor. He described the job as "the greatest privilege of my life" and during his tenure he led the company to become one of the most valuable in the world. In 2018, Apple became the first public company to be valued at $1 trillion (£740bn). It is now worth $4 trillion. Cook describe...

This year’s El Nino  could increase the global demand for fossil fuels and worsen the price rises caused by the Iran crisis, Chinese government scientists have said. The climate phenomenon happens every two to seven years and causes an increase in average global temperatures. A strong El Nino can bring either droughts or torrential rains and flooding, both of which may force hydropower stations to reduce their output or shut down entirely – increasing the need for other power sources, including oil and gas. “El Nino could hit hydropower-dependent regions hard, pushing them to burn more fossil fuels for electricity instead. That would raise both carbon emissions and the cost of imported energy, creating a damaging loop that worsens climate change and strains economies,” said Wang Yaqi, a senior engineer at the National Climate Centre. The China Meteorological Administration said on Saturday that moderate-to-strong El Nino conditions were forecast to emerge globally next ...

A senior US delegation met with Cuba government  officials in Cuba as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to pressure Havana into a deal as it continues to exert its economic chokehold on the island. It was the one of the highest-level visits of US officials in roughly a decade and comes as President Donald Trump continues to raise the specter of potential military action. It also comes as Cuba’s economic crisis continues to deepen amid sharp restrictions, including on fuel, from the US administration. Cuba’s president, meanwhile, has made increasingly defiant calls to resist US military aggression in recent days. The senior State Department delegation, which visited the island in recent weeks, stressed that time was running out for Havana “to make key US backed reforms before circumstances irreversibly worsen,” a US State Department official told CNN. It was the first time a US government aircraft touched down in Cuba – other than at the US base in Guantanamo...

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned a US decision to extend the period during which Russia is allowed to sell oil despite Western sanctions. The move means countries can purchase Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded on vessels at sea until 16 May. The US argues that the waiver is meant to ease the energy supply crunch sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran. But in his remarks on Sunday, Zelensky said "every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war" in Ukraine. Widespread sanctions have been in place against Russia since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. The devastating US and Israel attacks against Iran have prompted it to retaliate not only against Israel and US military bases in the Gulf, but also against energy fatalities and other civilian sites across Arab allies of the US in the region. Additionally, Iran has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow p...

With not one, but two ceasefires in place across the Middle East, is the scene now set for a pair of historic breakthroughs? The ceasefires - in Iran and Lebanon - are both described as "shaky" (ceasefires generally are), but as the din of war fades away once more, this is a moment pregnant with opportunity. And risk. On the face of it, Thursday night's announcement of a 10-day pause in the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah, is a win for Iran. The regime in Tehran had demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying talks with the US could not be expected to progress without it. With the pause now in place, Iran has responded, declaring the Strait of Hormuz "completely open". As last weekend's marathon negotiating session in Islamabad showed, progress was in fact possible, even as the fighting in Lebanon continued (with Israel merely avoiding further attacks on Beirut). But Iran and Pakistan both insisted that Lebanon must b...

It’s not their war. But it’s becoming their political and economic nightmare. World leaders who opposed the US-Israeli attack on Iran  are being torn between Donald Trump’s ire at their failure to join the conflict and electorates who are deeply hostile to the war and America’s president. Their dilemma is shifting the dynamic between the US and its allies. Leaders who once tried to appease and flatter the world’s most powerful man are now daring to criticize him and seeking distance. They are doing so not just out of antipathy to American foreign policy, but also because of war-related pressures threatening the livelihoods of their people, and therefore their own governments and careers. Even leaders who tried to shape Trump’s second-term behavior are reacting to his contempt. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday said Trump’s attacks on on Pope Leo XIV  were “unacceptable.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose friendship with Trump shattered over t...

The UK is providing 120,000 drones to Ukraine in what the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said is the largest delivery of its kind. Drones have increasingly come to dominate both sides of the war in Ukraine, which entered its fifth year in February. Defence Secretary John Healey said "with eyes on the Middle East in recent weeks, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants us to be distracted", as he announced the "big boost" ahead of co-chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin later on Wednesday. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had captured a Russian position using ground-based and aerial drones alone for the first time. The UK drones announcement follows Zelensky's suggestion that US peace negotiators "have no time for Ukraine" because of the war with Iran, AFP reports. The package will include long-range strike drones, reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and those with maritime capab...

Britain’s King Charles III will address a joint meeting of Congress and meet privately with US President Donald Trump during his state visit to the United States later this month, Buckingham Palace announced Tuesday. Between April 27 and 30, Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Washington, DC, New York and Virginia, undertaking a variety of public engagements to mark the 250 th  anniversary of US independence. Their long-planned visit coincides with an unusually delicate time for the “special relationship” between the US and the UK following weeks of Trump repeatedly attacking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government for not offering their full-throated support for the US offensive against Iran. Some British lawmakers even questioned whether Charles should still go to the US under such circumstances, before the palace confirmed the visit last month. As the monarch, however, Charles is constitutionally bound to remain above politics, able only to represent ...