When politics Trump prices, markets are no longer free Opinion In any other context, a system where a single individual can move markets so abruptly would raise serious questions about resilience and fairness. With Donald Trump, it is simply accepted, says Tim Focas The most striking thing about this week’s oil market moves is not that traders placed half a billion dollars of bets ahead [...]
Iran war: blood, sweat, toil and Keir Opinion Trump is right: weak, vacillating and indecisive Keir Starmer, overly influenced by his worst cabinet minister Ed Miliband, is no Winston Churchill, says Alys Denby In war, Britain once offered blood, toil and tears – now we must make do with blood, toil and Keir. There is a case to be made that America and [...]
Oil prices surge after Israel attacks Iran Politics Oil prices spiked by more than nine per cent following Israeli strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear programme, in the most dramatic jump in more than three years. Meanwhile, the price of gold hit $3,427 – up 1.2 per cent during Asian trading hours. Israel launched strikes on Tehran early on Friday, rekindling fears of a full-scale [...]
Iran and US prepare for second round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme April 19, 2025 Iran and the US are preparing for a second round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme. The talks in Rome over Easter weekend will again hinge on US billionaire Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. That talks are even happening represents a historic moment, given [...]
FTSE 100: BP, Shell and oil prices surge on assassination of Hamas leader in Iran July 31, 2024 The FTSE 100 jumped over a hundred points on Wednesday morning, after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders caused the index’s energy and commodities constituents to surge. Shares in BP and Shell both rose by between two and three per cent in early morning trading, helping the index as a whole to jump [...]
London-based broadcaster where stabbed journalist worked faced ‘heavy threats’ from Tehran March 30, 2024 The London-based channel aims to provide independent coverage of Iran, but the Tehran regime has declared it a terrorist organisation.