Top World News

May 5, 2026 - World

Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in Middle East and Asia less than year before wealthy began to flee GulfThe embattled luxury concierge service co-founded by Queen Camilla’s nephew Ben Elliot embarked on what appeared to be an inopportune hiring spree in the Middle East and Asia before wealthy individuals began fleeing the region because of the US-Israel war on Iran.Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in the regions from 22 to 84 during its financial year to 30 April 2025, according to newly released annual accounts, which again reported multimillion-pound losses and warned of “material uncertainty” about its future. Continue reading...

May 5, 2026 - World

This blog is now closed Trump threatens to blow Iran ‘off the face of the earth’ if it attacks US vesselsTrump sends warships to break Iran’s strait of Hormuz blockadeWe have a bit more of the statement from Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, who said earlier that the US or any other foreign armed forces would be attacked if they entered the strait of Hormuz (see post at 07.39 for more details). Abdollahi also said:We will maintain and vigorously manage the security of the strait of Hormuz with all our might, and we inform all commercial ships and tankers to refrain from any attempt to transit without the coordination of the armed forces stationed in the strait of Hormuz, so as not to jeopardise their security. Continue reading...

May 5, 2026 - World

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said state visits are a basic right of governments after returning from a three-day trip to Eswatini that Taiwan's government says China tried to block

May 5, 2026 - World

Ashley MacIsaac, who is seeking $1.5m in civil lawsuit, says inaccurate information led to concert cancellationAn acclaimed Canadian fiddle player has launched a $1.5m civil lawsuit against Google, alleging that the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary of his life and career.Ashley MacIsaac, a three-time Juno award-winning musician, filed the claim in the Ontario superior court of justice, asserting that Google was liable for the “foreseeable republication” of its AI-generated Overview feature, which previously published defamatory claims that he had been convicted of multiple criminal offences, including the sexual assault of a woman, internet luring involving a child with the intention of sexual assaulting the child, and assault causing bodily harm. Continue reading...

May 5, 2026 - World

A cruise ship with nearly 150 people is waiting for help off Cape Verde's coast in the Atlantic Ocean after three passengers died and three others were left seriously ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak