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Yen hits three-month high after Trump helps prop up currency
The yen has climbed to a three-month high after Japan and the US carried out a rare joint intervention to support the currency, marking the first such collaboration between the two countries since 2011. The move matters because it signals growing alarm in Washington and Tokyo over the yen’s persistent weakness, driven by a gap…
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UEFA warns Infantino over document destruction as Wales withdraws backing
Wales has become the first national football association to publicly withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino’s bid to remain FIFA president from 2027 to 2031, marking the culmination of the fallout from his abandoned plan to sell equity in FIFA competitions. The dispute escalated from an internal governance disagreement into open political opposition to Infantino’s…
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Coordinated dollar-yen intervention by US and Japan first since 2011
Japan and the United States carried out a coordinated intervention in currency markets on 3 August 2026, the first joint action of its kind between the two countries since 2011, after the yen fell to a forty-year low against the dollar. The Japanese Finance Ministry and the US Treasury jointly bought yen to arrest its…
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Furious UEFA warned Gianni Infantino NOT to destroy botched World Cup plan documents with lawsuit threatened before FIFA president abandoned his plot
UEFA formally warned FIFA president Gianni Infantino not to destroy any documents relating to a botched, now-abandoned World Cup plan, threatening legal action had evidence been tampered with. The episode marks a serious escalation between European football’s governing body and FIFA, reflecting UEFA’s fury both at the substance of the scheme and at how Infantino…
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Israel says it has serious concerns with Hamas disarmament deal
Israel has voiced “serious security concerns” about a proposed Hamas disarmament deal announced last week by US President Donald Trump, even as Israeli forces continue strikes in Gaza. Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said Israeli intelligence suggests Hamas remains committed to rebuilding its military rather than genuinely disarming, warning that…
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South Korea ditches ‘denuclearization-first’ strategy. What will Pyongyang do next?
South Korea has formally abandoned its long-standing “denuclearization-first” approach to North Korea, shifting instead towards a strategy that prioritises freezing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme through reciprocal concessions rather than insisting on the immediate dismantlement of existing weapons. The change, announced by Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on 23 July 2026 and acknowledged by President Lee Jae Myung…
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UK economy faces recession if strait of Hormuz remains closed, EY warns – business live
EY has warned that the UK economy could tip into recession next year if the strait of Hormuz remains closed, as the conflict-hit waterway continues to disrupt global energy markets. The consultancy’s latest outlook says GDP growth could slow sharply to 0.5% this year and contract by 0.2% in 2027 if the closure persists into…
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Trump’s hypocritical new tariffs are a chance for the world to fight back | Joseph Stiglitz
Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs, imposed under the pretext of curbing forced labour abroad, is actually a disguised attempt to seize a greater share of global trade for the United States. He notes the new tariffs closely mirror those Trump previously justified on the basis of bilateral…
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Alan Joyce released a memoir about his time as Qantas CEO… but there’s a question that remains unanswered about Albo and his son
Alan Joyce, the former Qantas chief executive who resigned in 2023 amid a series of scandals, has released a memoir reflecting on his time leading the airline. Buried within the book is an unresolved question surrounding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his son Nathan, adding a fresh angle of intrigue to Joyce’s controversial tenure and…
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U.S. dollar weakens sharply against the Japanese yen after market interventions
The US dollar dropped sharply against the Japanese yen on Monday, 3 August 2026, after Japan’s Finance Ministry and the US Treasury carried out confirmed, coordinated market interventions to buy yen. The move matters because Japan’s persistently weak currency has been fuelling domestic inflation by pushing up the cost of imports, and open acknowledgement of…