Articles about Global

• SpaceX launched 83 Starlink satellites across March 2026, including 29 from Cape Canaveral on March 4, 25 from Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 8, and 29 from SLC-40 on March 19. • These deployments increased the Starlink constellation to over 6,700 operational satellites, targeting internet access for remote regions, aviation, and maritime sectors. • The expansion bridges the digital divide in underserved areas and enhances U.S. Space Force defense infrastructure amid evolving aerospace demands.

Campaigner criticises ‘shortsighted and self-defeating’ decision and says it increases risk to the UK publicThe polio virus was detected in London sewage for the second time this year, days before ministers withdrew funding for global polio eradication efforts.Its detection reveals the spending cuts to be “shortsighted and self-defeating”, campaigners said. Polio is an extremely infectious viral disease, which typically affects young children under-five. It can cause paralysis by damaging nerves in the spine and base of the brain, and can be life-threatening if it affects muscles used for breathing. Continue reading...

His remarks come as foreign secretary Yvette Cooper meets her counterparts at a G7 meeting in FranceHello and welcome to the UK politics blog, follow along to get the latest updates.Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is in France today for the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Vaux-de-Cernay, near Paris, where she is expected to speak with US secretary of state Marco Rubio. On top of the agenda is the conflict in the Middle East, with reports suggesting Rubio will ask ministers for help reopening the strait of Hormuz.Starmer is visiting a school in London this morning, as new government guidance advices parents to limit screen time for children under the age of five to one hour a day, while under-twos should not be watching screens alone.Peter Mandelson will reportedly be asked to hand over messages from his personal phone as part of the government’s disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US. The government has so far only had access to his work phone. Starmer told Sky News that he “beats himself up” over Mandelson’s appointment, saying it was a mistake he would never repeat. Continue reading...

• Taiwan-based DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology secured NT$78.72 billion (US$2.47 billion) through private share placements from SK Hynix subsidiary Solidigm, Japan's Kioxia, and U.S. companies Cisco Systems and SanDisk Technologies. • Following the investment, SK Hynix will hold a 2 percent stake, Kioxia 2 percent, SanDisk 4 percent, and Cisco 2 percent in Nanya Technology, positioning the company strategically amid the AI boom. • The capital will be directed toward investing in advanced memory manufacturing facilities and production equipment, strengthening Nanya's competitive position in the high-demand semiconductor market.

Donald Trump says he was ‘a little surprised’ at Australia’s lack of support, echoing comments from a week beforeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDonald Trump has taken another swipe at Australia, alongside Nato, the UK and most of the rest of the world, for not getting more involved in the US-Israel war against Iran.At a press conference on Thursday at the White House, the US president was asked to reflect on phone calls with the UK prime minister Keir Starmer. He began by describing Starmer as a “lovely man”. Continue reading...

Critics have mocked Mike Johnson and Republicans for presenting the president with the newly concocted awardSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAmid an aggressive war in Iran, heightening and devastating pressure on Cuba, immigration enforcement operations throughout the country and a partial government shutdown, the lead Republican in the House has given Donald Trump a newly concocted award.Democrats, lawmakers and commentators are criticizing and ridiculing the “America First” award given to Trump on Wednesday evening during the National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser. Continue reading...

OECD says the Middle East war will test the world’s resilience with Australia expected to suffer from higher rates and inflationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe world economy is on the brink of a major inflationary spike as soaring fuel prices threaten growth in European and Asian nations, the OECD has warned, and local economists are slashing Australia’s growth prospects for this year and the next amid the ongoing US-Israel attack on Iran.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest interim outlook said the US-Israel war on Iran will “test the resilience of the global economy”, and warned of the “significant downside risk” to their forecasts should the oil supply disruptions prove more persistent and push energy prices even higher. Continue reading...

Australian counterterrorism experts observe December shooting came amid years of messaging from terror group urging followers to act ‘on their own initiative’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Bondi beach terror attack occurred amid an international spike of anti-western plots in December last year that appeared to be “inspired or instigated” by Islamic State, a new report has found, with many of them targeting holiday events such as Christmas markets.In research published by the West Point Combating Terrorism Center in its publication Sentinel on Thursday, Australian counterterrorism experts Andrew Zammit and Levi West examined Islamic State’s strategic shifts and jihadi tactics in Australia prior to the alleged antisemitic terrorist attack. Continue reading...

• China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi engaged in direct communications with Iranian officials regarding the Middle East situation, signaling Beijing's involvement in diplomatic efforts surrounding the US-Iran conflict and ceasefire negotiations. • The Chinese diplomatic move reflects broader international efforts to stabilize the region, with multiple nations—including Pakistan, Qatar, and Gulf states—positioning themselves as potential mediators or supporters of de-escalation amid escalating military operations. • International organizations and nations are preparing for prolonged Middle East tensions, with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi requesting the International Energy Agency consider additional coordinated global oil reserve releases if tensions persist beyond mid-April.

The US is recklessly spreading economic havoc among global friends and foes while suffering little harm itselfTo shield ordinary Indians from the war in Iran, the government in Delhi redirected supplies of liquefied gas to Indian families, for which it is the main cooking fuel, limiting supplies to the plastics industry. The Nepalese government rationed gas and the Philippines trimmed the government workweek to four days. Bangladesh closed universities and rationed fuel.They have been hardest hit by Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz. Economies in Asia import over a third of the energy they consume, on average. Korea imports four-fifths; Japan nine-tenths; Thailand 55%. Most of this comes from the Gulf. About 80% of oil and oil products transiting through the strait in 2025 was destined for Asia, according to the International Energy Agency. But traffic through its waters has collapsed by 90%. Continue reading...

• KFF published an update on March 24, 2026, to its tracker monitoring bilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) under the US America First Global Health Strategy launched September 18, 2025. • These five-year plans (2026-2030) with partner countries aim to transition from US aid to domestic health spending, with implementation starting later in 2026. • The tracker, based on State Department releases and MOU documents, tracks signed agreements to build resilient health systems globally while affecting US policy.

February annual rate in line with analysts’ expectations but outlook has shifted because of effects of conflictThe UK inflation rate was unchanged at 3% in February, before Donald Trump’s Iran war drove up global energy costs, threatening a renewed price jump.Official figures showed the consumer prices index (CPI) remained at 3%, in line with economists’ expectations but still well above the government’s 2% target. Continue reading...

Policy begins on 1 April and is aimed to ease financial pressure as the price of fuel surges due to conflict in the Middle EastNearly 150,000 New Zealand families will soon receive a weekly cash payment to help them afford petrol, the government has announced, in what is believed to be the world’s first fuel relief package that directly pays citizens since the Iran war began.On Tuesday, prime minister Christopher Luxon and finance minister Nicola Willis announced roughly 143,000 families with children will get an extra NZ$50 ($29.20; £21.80) a week through a boost to the in-work tax credit – a payment to families with dependent children where at least one parent is in paid employment and neither parent receives benefits. Another 14,000 families on slightly higher incomes will also be eligible for payments, but will receive less than $50 per week. Continue reading...

Iranian parliament speaker says ‘no negotiations’ held with US, as Trump postpones energy strikes for five days; European Commission chief says war must come to negotiated endTrump claims ‘productive’ talks with Iran but Tehran denies contactIsrael launches new strikes on Tehran as Trump pauses Iran energy attacksWelcome to our ongoing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its wider repercussions in the Middle East and globally.Donald Trump has claimed the US and Iran have held talks in which the two sides had “major points of agreement”, and speculated that a deal could soon be done to end the war, a claim contradicted by Tehran.Trump said the threatened US strikes on Iranian power plants had been postponed after “very good and productive” discussions with Iran about a “complete and total resolution of our hostilities” in the Middle East. After hitting a four-year high, the price of oil fell dramatically following Trump’s comments, while stocks in Asia rallied.Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he had spoken with Trump, who saw a chance of an agreement with Iran, but added that Israel would continue its strikes against Iran and Lebanon. Trump believed there was a possibility of “leveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the Israeli and the US military, in order to realise the goals of the war in a deal – a deal that will preserve our vital interests”, the Israeli prime minister claimed in a video statement released by his office.Israel said it had launched “wide-scale” strikes on Iran on Monday morning, while Tehran continued to fire missiles at the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli military also claimed to have hit struck the main security headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as part of a “wave of strikes that was completed a short while ago in the heart of Tehran”.An Israeli strike also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, Agence France-Presse quoted state media as saying, hours after the Israeli army issued an order for residents of the area to evacuate. An AFPTV live broadcast showed a cloud of smoke over the densely populated southern suburbs, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold and have not been hit since Friday night. Continue reading...

• Forrester Research forecasts global technology spending will grow 7.8% in 2026 to $5.6 trillion, up from $5.2 trillion in 2025, driven primarily by continued AI investment across defense, financial services, healthcare, industry, and retail sectors. • Computer equipment will see the highest growth at 16.8% due to rising AI server demand, with AI-specialized computers expected to capture more than 80% of computer equipment spending by 2030, up from 43% in 2024. • Financial services and healthcare sectors will see robust technology spending in 2026, driven by investments in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, AI, data storage, and AI literacy training despite broader economic volatility.

• The United States hosts nearly 5,500 data centers and accounts for three-quarters of the world's computing power as of May 2025, providing a substantial advantage over China in the global AI race according to EpochAI research. • America's semiconductor superiority remains the primary AI advantage, with Nvidia chips significantly outperforming China's most powerful Huawei-produced chips in both processing power and bandwidth memory, and the performance gap will increase substantially in coming years. • ByteDance plans to invest $23 billion this year on AI infrastructure including chips, while US companies are coordinating with the White House to secure additional grid capacity for data centers to prevent consumer price hikes.

Donald Trump’s ‘little excursion’ is likely to have long-term effects, from oil prices to inflation to growth, say expertsIn the days after the US and Israel first bombed Iran, financial markets bet the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s “little excursion” in the Middle East would be short-lived.“There are risks from higher oil prices longer term. But this is a tail risk,” one US-based fund manger said after the airstrike killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “History has shown time and time again that geopolitical flare-ups like this tend to be short-lived. This one should prove to be no exception.’’ Continue reading...

• Tech sector layoffs have surpassed 45,000 jobs in the first months of 2026, with the US accounting for the majority of global cuts announced so far this year. • Job reductions in Europe have been limited but noticeable, reflecting broader industry pressures amid economic shifts. • The wave of cuts highlights ongoing challenges in tech hiring post-boom, affecting major firms across the US.

As other Asian economies race to conserve energy, China has huge reserves of oil and gas as well as alternative energy sources like wind and solarMiddle East crisis – live updates Xi Jinping has been preparing for a crisis like this for years. China must secure its energy supply “in its own hands”, its president was reported to have said during a visit to one of its vast oilfields in 2021.The US-Israel war on Iran plunged the Middle East into a deep conflict, with the strait of Hormuz – one of the most important waterways in global trade – all but closed and key energy facilities across the region under attack. Continue reading...

Nigeria had largest increase in terrorism-related deaths, ranking fourth in global index behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso and NigerJihadist violence rose sharply in Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo last year, even as global deaths from terrorism dropped to their lowest level in a decade, according to a new report.Nigeria recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2025, with fatalities rising by 46% from 513 in 2024 to 750, placing it fourth in the Global Terrorism Index, behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Niger. Continue reading...

New Zealand economic growth tipped to overtake Australia’s this year but Middle East conflict casts a shadow over outlookJust as New Zealand’s fragile economic recovery shows flickers of improvement – with economists predicting its annual growth could surpass that of its larger neighbour Australia – it is facing a new threat: the war in the Middle East.New Zealand is particularly exposed to the energy shocks produced by the conflict – and to economic crises generally – with the small, isolated nation highly dependent on global trade and tourism. It is susceptible to disruptions in supply chains and shipping. Continue reading...

Carmaker reduces office-based roles and will not fill vacancies ‘to ensure long-term competitiveness of business’Bentley is to cut 275 jobs in the UK as the carmaker faces a “challenging global market environment”.The luxury brand, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, is preparing to launch its first all-electric model but acknowledged it had some work to do to convince consumers to switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles. Continue reading...

• A new study published in the journal Science documents that climate change is making fish smaller, posing significant threats to global food security and fishery productivity. • The research warns that the shift toward smaller fish species could worsen fishery losses by as much as 50%, impacting both commercial fishing industries and food availability worldwide. • The findings highlight the cascading ecological effects of climate change on marine ecosystems and underscore the urgency of addressing global warming to protect food systems.

• Eight leading tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, signed a voluntary accord on March 16, 2026, to share threat intelligence against fraudsters misusing their services. • The initiative precedes the UN Global Fraud Summit in Austria, focusing on AI-accelerated scams and cross-platform fraud syndicates. • Participants commit to enhancing user security features and supporting law enforcement, amid soaring U.S. fraud losses.

• IDC forecasts global security spending will hit $308 billion in 2026, up from prior years, with the U.S. leading at $150 billion fueled by financial services, healthcare, and government sectors. • Software will account for over 50% of spending, including identity and access management, endpoint security, and analytics, growing 14% year-over-year amid AI-powered threats. • Fastest-growing categories like CNAPP and data security software address AI workloads and non-human identities, as companies prioritize integrated architectures for resilience.

• The global security market is projected to grow 11.8% in 2026, with the United States leading worldwide spending at $150 billion, driven by investments from Financial Services, Healthcare, and Government sectors. • Software will account for over half of security spending, with Identity and Access Management, Endpoint Security, and Security Analytics comprising more than 50% of global Security Software expenditures, growing at 14% year-over-year. • AI-driven threats and sophisticated cyberattacks are prompting companies to prioritize integrated, intelligence-driven security architectures for better visibility and automated responses, amid geopolitical tensions.

• Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz and destroy oil tankers in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on its oil infrastructure, creating unprecedented pressure on global oil supplies. • The world's oil supply is now under intensifying pressure, with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz representing a critical chokepoint for international energy commerce. • President Trump is calling on U.S. allies to deploy warships to maintain the strait's openness, with 2,200 Marines and a quick reaction force being deployed aboard three Navy amphibious ships.

• The El Niño weather pattern is likely to develop this summer and persist through 2026, elevating global temperatures and disrupting regional weather worldwide. • Scientists indicate this event could exacerbate warming trends, following a new study addressing whether global warming is accelerating. • The pattern matters for US agriculture, water resources, and extreme weather risks, with potential for hotter summers across the nation.