Light News (LN)

  US President Trump meets with oil firms over ways to minimise impact on fuel supplies amid US blockade of Iranian ports. Oil prices soared more than 6 percent on worries about prolonged supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and fears of a lengthy US siege of Iranian ports, settling at their highest levels in weeks. US crude settled up 6.95 percent at $106.88 per barrel on Wednesday, and Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 6.08 percent, or $6.77, at $118.03 after earlier touching its highest price since June 2022, the Reuters news agency reports. Brent crude futures for June continued to rise on Thursday to $119.94 per barrel as of 00:57 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were at $107.51, Reuters said. Oil prices continue to surge with no resolution in sight to the two-month-long US-Israel war on Iran, and as supplies of fuel remain snarled in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces have imposed a blockade on the transit of vessels and the US is besieg...

  In a new age of revolt, it took a king to remind America of its republican values: the rule of law, democracy and the power of its international example. King Charles III chooses his words with precision — as did his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Royal meaning must often be inferred. But by regal standards, his speech to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday was strikingly direct. Charles neither rebuked nor criticized the Trump administration. But the monarch implicitly frowned on America’s current political direction and defended pillars of Western democracy: domestic checks and balances, alliances and interfaith tolerance. Charles further called for the strong defense of Ukraine. And “nature,” he said, must be protected — in a coded call for tackling climate change, which  President Donald Trump has called  a “con job.” And the king stressed that friends can disagree without fracturing forever bonds, an occluded reference to the “ special relationship ,” which...

  Britain’s King Charles III will emphasize the long history and democratic values his country shares with the United States in an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, delivered while relations between the two nations are at an unusually low ebb. He will start his speech, which is expected to last around 20 minutes, by expressing solidarity and talk about how the US and United Kingdom stand shoulder-to-shoulder. He will say that he brings “the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States” as the nation marks its 250th anniversary of independence, and is expected to reference Saturday’s shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Charles must strike a delicate balance on this state visit. British monarchs are constitutionally bound to remain above politics, able only to represent the UK rather than speak for its government. At the same time, his presence projects a soft power the British government is attemptin...

  A second round of US-Iran peace talks was due to take place in Islamabad at the weekend, but Trump abruptly ordered his envoys not to attend. US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday to "get smart soon" and agree to a peace deal as efforts by Washington and Tehran to end hostilities appeared to still be at an impasse. "Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!" Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform, alongside an illustration of Trump holding an assault rifle, with the caption "No more Mr Nice Guy". A second round of peace talks was due to take place in Islamabad at the weekend, but Trump abruptly ordered his envoys not to attend. Speaking to Fox News, Trump said, "I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18-hour flight to go there.'" "We have all the cards...

  The nine-goal thriller in Paris is being hailed as one of the best football matches across all competitions. A football match that produced five goals in the first half, four more in the second, and delivered the most exhilarating end-to-end action seen in recent years is being hailed as the greatest UEFA Champions League semifinal of all time. Even before kickoff, the  Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich semifinal  on Tuesday was predicted to be a goalfest, but experts and fans have been left dumbfounded by the quality of football that bookended those nine goals. Football great Thierry Henry termed the game, which ended in a 5-4 win for PSG, “pure cinema” in his post-match analysis on CBS Sports. “Rest in peace to anyone who missed this game,” the former France talisman said. “This is football at its absolute peak. Pure cinema. End to end, no breaks, no breathing space… you blink and you miss something.” It took in-form striker Harry Kane 17 minutes to open the scorin...