2026-05-01 15:00:18
Shortly before Japan seemingly intervened to strengthen the yen, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama issued an unusual warning for traders preparing to go on national holidays.
2026-05-01 12:00:21
Should central bankers be in the business of saying that the stock market will fall or that private markets are in a credit crunch? In a BBC interview last week, Sarah Breeden, the Bank of England deputy governor responsible for financial stability, said: “There’s a lot of risk out there and yet asset prices are at all-time highs. We expect there will be an adjustment at some point.” This strikes me as mission creep.
2026-05-01 12:00:20
Among the many videos from reseller Love Luxury are posts featuring a woman searching for an exotic Hermes bag to “look rich” while going out with a billionaire; a man buying a Birkin as a gift for his first date; and even a customer searching for a super-sized Hermes bag to carry her cat. (Sorry, I love my cat, but she’d be lucky to get a Tesco bag.)
2026-05-01 12:00:20
The confrontation between the US and Iran has bogged down into a tale of dueling blockades. The US military is enforcing a comprehensive blockade of Iran’s roughly 1,000 miles of southern coastline along the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, including the critical Strait of Hormuz. Iran, in turn, has restricted traffic on its side of the narrow waterway, allowing only a small trickle of commercial vessels to transit — and charging tolls to those permitted through.
2026-05-01 12:00:18
Though I am a lifelong member of the cult of Godzilla, I am a know-nothing neophyte next to some of my fellow enthusiasts. I’m mesmerized by their YouTube deconstructions of a recent movie trailer starring the classic Japanese monster who first stomped through Tokyo in November 1954. They’ve calculated the increased size of Godzilla in his next film by scaling the latest incarnation as it strolls along the Statue of Liberty. It’s work worthy of medieval theologians counting the number of angels
2026-05-01 11:00:18
A giant English flag dangles over the highway about two miles outside Clacton. More flutter in the sunshine from lamp posts and in front gardens across this Essex seaside resort in the southeast of the country. Aptly, I’m visiting on St. George’s Day, which celebrates the patron saint of England — whose flag featuring a red cross on a white background has become a shibboleth for a patriotism that borders on jingoism.
