Oil prices have climbed above $108 a barrel after a series of drone attacks from Iraq’s territory forced Saudi Arabia to close its east-west crude pipeline.
asserted
series → climb → pipeline
Saudi traders said the kingdom would run out of oil stocks for export if it did not reopen within days.
asserted
it → say → days
Gas prices also climbed higher.
asserted
prices → climb → ?
Energy prices have surged this year, as the US-Israel war with Iran has disrupted oil and gas supply across the Middle East.
asserted
war → surge → East
The spike came as the Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen launched several attacks against Saudi Arabia and captured the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait on Sunday, expanding their control of the waterway.
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Where did the attack on Saudi Arabia come from?
asserted
attack → come → Arabia
Iraq’s government confirmed the attacks were launched from its territory and ordered an investigation.
asserted
attacks → confirm → investigation
Baghdad is under mounting pressure to stop militant groups – including those backed by Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran – launching attacks on Gulf countries from Iraqi soil.
asserted
groups → mount → soil
The US president, Donald Trump, said he believed Tehran was responsible.
asserted
Tehran → say → ?
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Why has Saudi Arabia been relying on its east-west pipeline?
asserted
Arabia → rely → pipeline
Riyadh has increased the use of the 745-mile pipeline since the start of the war on Iran in order to bypass the strait of Hormuz’s closure.
asserted
Riyadh → increase → closure
The world’s biggest exporter has used the pipeline to reroute about 4m barrels a day – about 4% of global supply – but with the pipeline out of service, the Red Sea port of Yanbu now has stocks to maintain exports for just five to seven days.
asserted
port → use → days
AI-linked stocks take hit as leading US tech CEOs back calls to put brakes on ‘reckless’ AI development
AI-linked stocks have tumbled after the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX called for a slowdown in “reckless” development, citing fears the technology could soon run out of control.
uncertain
technology → link → control
The market swings come after the chief executive of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, appealed for the AI industry to “slow down”.
asserted
industry → come → Anthropic
Last week, a former Anthropic employee had warned that AI could precipitate human extinction by 2030.
uncertain
AI → warn → 2030
The respective CEOs of OpenAI and SpaceX, Sam Altman and Elon Musk, have backed Amodei’s call.
asserted
CEOs → back → call
The US president, Donald Trump, on a visit to his golf course in Ireland, played down the warnings and said “very negative forces” were “bringing up things that won’t happen”.
asserted
that → play → things
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What is the Anthropic CEO proposing?
asserted
CEO → propose → What
Robert Booth explains Amodei’s suggestion: first, each US AI company grants access to third-party evaluators; second, all companies in democratic countries establish common safety standards; and third, the world’s democratic AI powers coordinate with autocracies – notably China – to control the race.
asserted
powers → explain → race
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How has Barack Obama intervened over AI?
asserted
Obama → intervene → AI
The former US president made a direct appeal to Democrats to coalesce around a unified AI safety policy, arguing that waiting for voluntary compliance from tech firms was a recipe for governance failure.
asserted
waiting → make → failure
Israel accused of trying to ‘eliminate’ living conditions for Palestinians in West Bank
Israel is working towards the systematic “elimination” of the conditions that sustain Palestinian collective life in the occupied West Bank, according to a report published by the human rights group B’Tselem.
uncertain
that → accuse → group
The Israeli organisation says Israel is “dramatically intensifying its attacks on every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank”.
asserted
Israel → say → Bank
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How does the report say Israel is making life intolerable?
asserted
life → say → ?
“Palestinian communities are being pushed out in an accelerating process of ethnic cleansing, while an ever-expanding Israeli presence is being established …
asserted
presence → push → cleansing
Elimination in this context means sustained harm to the conditions that enable Palestinians to exist as a people with land, institutions, language, culture, social ties, leadership, shared memory and history, and a social and political horizon.
asserted
that → mean → land
Wisconsin congressman swims to safety after plane makes emergency landing in lake
A Republican congressman said he had to swim to safety after a plane he was traveling in made an emergency landing in a lake late Saturday.
asserted
he → swim → lake
Tom Tiffany is running for governor on the Republican ticket in Wisconsin and has been endorsed by Donald Trump.
asserted
Tiffany → run → Trump
Tiffany says he was returning from the La Crosse county Lincoln Day Dinner when the light aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau downtown airport.
asserted
it → say → airport
He said the pilot made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau and they ended up in the water and swam to safety.
asserted
they → say → safety
Emergency responders got Tiffany and the pilot to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries.
asserted
they → get → injuries
In other news …
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Sweden’s centre-left parties lead the country’s national election by just a single seat with most votes counted.
asserted
votes → lead → seat
The election authority said a preliminary vote count may not be ready until Thursday.
uncertain
count → say → Thursday
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Donald Trump has doubled down on his controversial pledge to give US adults a $5,000 “dividend” if the Republican party keeps control of Congress after the midterms.
asserted
party → double → midterms
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A San Jose police officer has been fired for using his department’s Flock license plate tracking system to share the location of a woman with the suspect accused of abusing her.
asserted
officer → fire → her
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A coroner in Pennsylvania has announced the death of a 40-year-old woman associated with the state’s ongoing measles outbreak.
asserted
coroner → announce → outbreak
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A newly unveiled statue of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was vandalized at the Turning Point USA headquarters.
asserted
statue → unveil → headquarters
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Sydney Sweeney has been accused of “sexualising women’s sport” by appearing naked in a sports betting prediction ad.
asserted
Sweeney → accuse → ad
Stat of the day: Who are the 514 people accused of starting French wildfires and what motivates them?
asserted
what → accuse → them
Jon Henley reports from France where experts believe one-third of wildfires are set deliberately, with arson the biggest single cause of forest fires last year.
asserted
arson → report → fires
While Puerto Ricans protest for reliable access to water, the governor washes her hands
Coral Murphy Marcos speaks to members of the Coalición Exigimos Agua (We Demand Water Coalition), residents of the San Juan neighborhood of Santurce, who are campaigning over the island’s water issues.
asserted
who → protest → issues
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
