Financial insights
US consumer prices likely rose in February ahead of Iran conflict
US consumer prices likely increased in February, according to economists’ forecasts, reflecting steady inflation pressures in the American economy before...
Iranian stock market opens cautiously amid war uncertainty
Iran’s main stock market opened Wednesday with cautious trading as investors assessed the economic impact of the ongoing conflict involving...
Asian markets open mixed as investors weigh global tensions and oil volatility
Major Asian stock markets opened Wednesday with mixed performance as investors assessed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, volatile energy...
MSTRpay
MSTRpay records rapid global app adoption as platform enters operational phase
MSTRpay AB today announced that its mobile application is experiencing strong early download momentum across multiple emerging markets, marking the...
Banking
Revolut seeks US banking foothold with OCC charter application
Fintech company Revolut has applied for a national bank charter from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the...
Iran
Second ship hit in Strait of Hormuz as crew evacuates amid escalating maritime attacks
A second commercial vessel has been struck in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, forcing the crew to evacuate after a...
Iran launches wave of regional strikes as Israel pounds Lebanon
Iran launched a broad wave of missile and drone attacks across the Gulf on Wednesday, targeting energy infrastructure and shipping...
US politics
Hegseth says Trump will decide when Iran war ends
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump will ultimately determine when the United States ends its war with...
Ukraine
Zelenskyy accuses Hungary of ‘banditry’ after seizure of $82m in gold
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Hungary of “banditry” after authorities ordered the seizure of a shipment containing approximately $82...
Africa
Nigeria to host Intra-African Trade Fair 2027
Nigeria has signed the official hosting agreement for the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2027, marking a major step in the...
Blockchain
Strategy doubles down with $1.3B Bitcoin purchase as holdings near 739,000 BTC
Strategy has expanded its already massive Bitcoin treasury with a new $1.3 billion purchase, pushing the company’s total holdings to...
AI
Agentic AI accelerates automation across financial operations
Agentic artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the financial industry, enabling banks, asset managers and fintech firms to automate complex operational...
Climate & Energy
Extreme heat now affects one in three people worldwide, study warns
Extreme heat conditions are now affecting roughly one in three people across the globe, according to new research highlighting the...
On this day
In this day in 2020: The World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, marking a historic moment in modern public...
Business of the week
Dangote Group: from small trading firm to Africa’s industrial powerhouse
Few business stories in Africa illustrate entrepreneurial scale as clearly as the rise of the Dangote Group. What began as...
Newshub long read
Iran and the world: a long history of empire, faith, and geopolitical power
Iran, historically known as Persia, is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilisations, with political and cultural traditions stretching back...
Hidden financial giants
HDFC Bank: India’s hidden financial giant powering a banking revolution
While global attention often focuses on India’s technology sector, one of the country’s most powerful financial institutions has quietly grown...
Hidden giants: The Rabiu family and Nigeria’s quiet financial powerhouse
While Africa’s billionaire class is often associated with headline names and high-profile conglomerates, one family has built a vast financial-industrial...
Hidden Giants in Finance: Euronet and the invisible rails moving US$200bn a year
Every day, trillions of digital signals move quietly between banks, wallets, ATMs, and payment apps — and behind much of...
America’s quietly powerful Pritzker dynasty
Few families shape global capital as discreetly as the Pritzkers. Best known publicly for building the hotel empire behind Hyatt...
Europe’s hidden financial giant: the foundation behind IKEA
Behind one of the world’s most recognisable retail brands sits a little-known Dutch foundation that quietly controls assets worth tens...
The Grosvenor family (Duke of Westminster)
Few fortunes in Britain are as substantial — or as discreet — as that of the Grosvenor family, headed today...
Sweden’s hidden giants: How Wallenberg and Rausing compare on the global ownership stage
Two Swedish industrial spheres — the Wallenberg network and the Rausing family — quietly control capital measured in trillions of...