David Gross emphasizes the existence of a final, unified theory of nature, which would reconcile electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces, and gravity. He believes this theory is waiting to be discovered, yet he is pessimistic about humanity's chances of achieving this before potential self-destruction through nuclear warfare.
Roughly 20 million barrels per day of oil moved through Hormuz in 2024, equivalent to about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption. When that waterway closed, oil prices spiked to $126 per barrel in what the U.S. Energy Information Administration has described as the largest supply disruption in global oil market history.
The dollar index edged slightly higher on Tuesday as concerns about the lack of progress in the diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran reinforced safe-haven demand.
Famine was confirmed in two places in 2025: areas of the Gaza Strip and Sudan, marking the first dual confirmation since formal famine reporting began. The Global Report on Food Crises indicated that acute food insecurity remained widespread in 2025, affecting nearly 150 million people.
Fatih Birol, president of the International Energy Agency, warned that the war in Iran is the greatest threat to energy security in history, with analysts describing the situation as an Armageddon.
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, inspired a wave of enthusiastic nodding among the cosmopolitan crowd gathered in Davos last month when he took to the podium and proclaimed that the world order underwritten by the United States, which prevailed in the west throughout the postwar era, was over. The organizing principle that emerged from the ashes of the second world war, that interdependence would promote world peace by knitting nations' interests together in a drive for common security and prosperity, no longer works.
Ministers from the US, EU, UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance over critical minerals. The summit is being seen as a step to repair transatlantic ties fractured by a year of conflict with Donald Trump and pave the way for other alliances to help countries de-risk from China, including one centred on steel.
