Greece is already in talks with Israel to provide a big part of the missile systems for the dome, called “Achilles Shield” with an estimated cost of about 3 billion euros
International News via Reuters:
A Greek parliamentary committee approved on Monday the purchase of a three-billion euro multi-layer air and drone defence system and the upgrade of 38 F-16 fighter jets, with the total cost estimated at about 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion), two sources told Reuters.
Greece is already in talks with Israel to provide a big part of the missile systems for the dome, called “Achilles Shield” with an estimated cost of about 3 billion euros.
“The parliament committee approved the project and also the upgrade of the F-16s,” said a senior source with direct knowledge of the issue. The session took place behind closed doors.
Greece plans to upgrade an additional 38 F-16 Block 50 jets, dating back to the 1990s, to the modern “Viper” version at an estimated cost of about one billion euros, the source added.
A second person confirmed the information.
Greece has a fleet of about 150 F-16s and has already upgraded about 40 of them.
The Greek government has said that it plans to spend in total about 28 billion euros ($32 billion) by 2036 to modernize its armed forces as it emerges from a 2009-2018 debt crisis and tries to keep pace with its historic rival Turkey.
The new purchase will also need to be approved by the country’s top decision-making body on foreign affairs and defense matters, KYSEA.
The committee on Monday also gave the green light for the upgrade of four old MEKO 200 frigates and a maintenance agreement for C29J military transport aircraft.
($1 = 0.8718 euros)
Reporting by Lefteris PapadimasEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Peter Graff
The historic gymnasium at Bermuda College was the scene of a poignant sporting milestone this weekend as Leroy “Curly Joe” Wilson officially launched his much-anticipated Walking Football League.
West Ham United legend Clyde Best joined Wilson and Polaris CEO Randy Rochester to cut the ribbon, marking a new chapter for veteran athletes on the island. The league transforms the “beautiful game” into a low-impact pursuit for men over 50 and women over 40, focusing on fitness and joint safety.
The initiative serves as the cornerstone of Wilson’s vision to field a Bermudian national team at the 2027 FIFWA Walking Football World Nations Cup. Following a successful 4–2 victory on a tour to Liverpool last November, this domestic structure aims to sharpen the island’s elite talent through six-a-side matches with strictly enforced non-running rules.
Matches will take place every Saturday morning, alternating between Bermuda College and CedarBridge Academy. As the first whistles blew, it was clear that the competitive fire still burns brightly among Bermuda’s veterans—only now, it’s being channeled one step at a time.
Kamau Leverock produced a “swashbuckling” individual masterclass in Haldwani today, though his India Tigers side eventually fell to a 17-run defeat in the Legends League Cricket.
The Mumbai Spartans posted a competitive 160 for 8 at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium, anchored by a fluent 42 from Bharath Chipli. Despite disciplined bowling from the Tigers—led by Shadab Jakati’s 3 for 24—the target proved just out of reach on a surface that became increasingly difficult to navigate.
In pursuit of 161, the Tigers slumped early before Leverock ignited the chase with a defiant 49 off 37 balls. The Bermudian all-rounder struck eight boundaries and a towering six, forcing the Spartans into defensive field sets. However, his dismissal by veteran seamer Sreesanth proved the turning point.
The Tigers finished on 143 for 6, falling short despite Leverock’s heroics. While the result is a setback, Leverock’s explosive form remains a major positive for the franchise as the tour continues.
Fresh from being crowned Bermuda’s Junior Male Athlete of the Year, Elijah Daley has delivered a record-breaking tour de force at the 2026 U Sports Swimming Championships.
Representing the University of Toronto, Daley systematically dismantled his own national short course benchmarks across a grueling weekend of elite collegiate competition. The onslaught began in the 100m butterfly, where he clocked 52.81 seconds in the heats before finding another gear in the final to touch the wall in 52.56 seconds.
The records continued to tumble in the 200m butterfly, as Daley surged to a fourth-place finish in a blistering 1:57.32, shattering the previous mark he had established only hours earlier in the morning session. Not content with a single discipline, he also navigated a world-class field in the 200m individual medley, lowering his own national record to 1:58.91 in the A Final.
Daley’s ability to peak for major finals cements his status as the island’s premier junior prospect heading into a massive international summer season.
The Bermuda Road Safety Council have drafted a new road safety strategy to address attiudes and possibly, amending laws governing the roadways
The rate of collisions and chaos on the roads has been branded a ‘national crisis’ by the Bermuda Road Safety Council, an advisory board that has drafted a new strategy to deter poor driving.
Transport Minister Owen Darrell told us their recommendations will likely include amendments to traffic laws that could curb the high rate of collisions on the roads.
Bermuda Football Association (BFA) and Head Coach Michael Findlay have mutually decided to part ways, effective today.
Coach Findlay oversaw the senior men’s national team activities as well as provided support to the U23 and U20 teams over the course of his tenure. During his time with the Gombey Warriors, Coach Findlay has been a part of some firsts for Bermuda, and we are grateful for his experience. The team reached the Concacaf Gold Cup Prelims and the final round of the Concacaf Qualifiers Road to the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Warriors also participated in the first FIFA Series in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Senior Men’s team programming and commitments through the FIFA March International window will be overseen by Maurice Lowe, BFA Technical Development Director, while the Player Development Committee completes its work to appoint a new head coach.
Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude
International News via Reuters:
Oil loading operations have resumed at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, two sources told Reuters on Monday, after it was halted earlier following a drone attack that triggered a fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone.
Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude – a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.
Civil defense teams were working to control the blaze, the Fujairah government media office said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.
The suspension of loading operations marks the second major disruption at the vital bunkering hub in recent days. Operations at Fujairah had resumed on Sunday following a separate drone strike over the weekend.
The attacks come as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran strangles shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally handles a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Reporting by Yousef Saba and Maha El Dahan, Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Writing by Yousef Saba, Editing by Bernadette Baum and Jan Harvey
As of 1011 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 was 0.08% up after logging a second consecutIve week of losses
International News via Reuters:
London’s FTSE 100 was little changed on Monday, as gains in energy shares offset weakness in other sectors amid Middle East tensions, while investors awaited a rate decision from the Bank of England later this week.
As of 1011 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 was 0.08% up after logging a second consecutIve week of losses.
Now in its third week, the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continues to create turmoil across the Middle East and rattle global energy markets.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that nations heavily reliant on Gulf oil have a responsibility to help protect the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s energy transits.
Energy sector rose 1.2%, with oil major BP and Shell up more than 1%.
On the flip side, the travel and leisure sector fell nearly 2%.
Metal miners were also among the top losers as gold prices were steady, and copper prices fell.
Britain’s mid-cap index was on track for deeper losses on Monday, down 0.6%, weighed down by weakness in industrials and financial stocks.
Investors’ focus this week will be on interest rate decisions in the UK, the U.S., and Europe, with central banks holding their first full meetings since the start of the war and widely expected to pause further rate cuts for now.
Economists polled by Reuters mostly expect a 7-2 vote by the BoE’s MPC to keep bank rate at 3.75%. Before the start of the war on February 28, a cut to 3.5% was seen as a near certainty.
Data on Monday showed that the asking price for British homes held steady in the four weeks to March 7.
Among other movers, insurer Standard Life fell 2.4% despite reporting a better-than-expected rise in annual profit.
CAB Payments jumped 13.4% after the financial services firm StoneX Group proposed an all‑cash acquisition of the cross‑border payments provider at 241.4 million pounds ($319.7 million).
($1 = 0.7554 pounds)
Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
The offbeat tale of political resistance traded wins with the vampire story “Sinners,” setting up a fight to the end at the Dolby Theatre
International News via Reuters:
The darkly comic thriller “One Battle After Another” won best picture at the Academy Awards, leading a haul of six trophies on a Sunday night when Hollywood handed its top movie honors to unconventional stories.
The offbeat tale of political resistance traded wins with the vampire story “Sinners,” setting up a fight to the end at the Dolby Theatre.
“Let’s have a martini! This is pretty amazing,” director Paul Thomas Anderson said on stage after his “One Battle” was announced the recipient of the top award.
The Warner Bros movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a one-time revolutionary who becomes a weed-smoking single father of a teenager.
Before this year Anderson had 11 career Oscar nominations and no wins. In addition to best picture, he won best director and best adapted screenplay on Sunday.
“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world,” Anderson said while accepting the screenplay honor. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”
SEAN PENN A WINNER BUT A NO-SHOW”One Battle” star Sean Penn, who plays an obsessed military officer in “One Battle,” was named best supporting actor. It was the third Oscar for Penn, who frequently skips movie industry awards shows and was not in the Dolby Theatre audience.
“Sean Penn couldn’t be here, or didn’t want to, so I’ll accept the award on his behalf,” said presenter Kieran Culkin, last year’s supporting actor winner.
“Sinners” had entered the ceremony with 16 nominations, more than any other film in the nearly 100-year-old history of the Oscars. The movie finished with four awards including a best actor trophy for Michael B. Jordan, who played the dual roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack. Set in the Segregation-era U.S. South, the movie was a celebration of blues and Black culture told with a supernatural twist.
“I stand here because of the people that came before me,” Jordan said as he named previous Black Oscar winners including Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry. “I’m going to keep stepping up and I’m going to keep being the best version of myself.”
Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first Black cinematographer to win the cinematography honor for “Sinners.”
Irish actor Jessie Buckley landed the best actress accolade for playing William Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes Hathaway, in “Hamnet.” The movie explores how the couple navigates the death of their 11-year-old son “Hamnet.”
“I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart,” Buckley said.
The 75-year-old Amy Madigan was named best supporting actress for her role as the wacky Aunt Gladys in horror film “Weapons.” She earned her first Oscar 40 years after her first nomination.
‘KPOP DEMON HUNTERS’ TAKES BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“KPop Demon Hunters,” a Netflix movie that became a global phenomenon, was named best animated feature. Its catchy song, “Golden,” won the award for best original song.
Amid the celebration, the Oscars took on a serious tone to honor two major losses in the film world – the deaths of directors Robert Redford and Rob Reiner.
Billy Crystal, star of “When Harry Met Sally,” said Reiner’s films including “A Few Good Men” and “This Is Spinal Tap” would “last for lifetimes.” He was joined on stage by Demi Moore, Meg Ryan and other cast members from Reiner classics.
Barbra Streisand, who played opposite Redford in “The Way We Were,” called Redford a “brilliant, subtle actor” and an “intellectual cowboy.” She finished her remarks by singing a few lines from the movie’s well-known title song.
“Sentimental Value,” directed by Joachim Trier, won for best international feature film on Sunday, the first Norwegian film to win in this category after six previous nominations.
Host Conan O’Brien opened the festivities by joking that he was honored to be “the last human host” of the awards at a time when Hollywood is worried about artificial intelligence taking over jobs.
The glitzy celebration, Hollywood’s most over-the-top gala of the year, took place as the U.S. wages war on Iran.
Security was tight in and around the ceremony after a federal warning of a possible Iranian threat against California.
The festivities masked the unease in the film business over where movies are being made as studios chase tax incentives and lower costs elsewhere in the U.S. and overseas, weakening Hollywood’s grip on production.
Warner Bros., the biggest winner of the night with 11 Oscars, is in the process of being sold to Paramount Skydance in a deal that will narrow the ranks of major film distributors. A media watchdog group, Free Press, circulated a roving billboard around Hollywood over the weekend airing its opposition to the merger.
Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes are chosen by the roughly 10,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Howard Goller
Baku had accused the man, Martin Ryan – who was arrested in December 2023 – of collecting secret information about its military cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan
International News via Reuters:
A court in Azerbaijan sentenced a French citizen to ten years in jail on Monday after finding him guilty of spying on behalf of Paris, a charge he partially pleaded guilty to, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported.
Baku had accused the man, Martin Ryan – who was arrested in December 2023 – of collecting secret information about its military cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan. It had also accused him of helping to recruit French-speaking Azerbaijanis to cooperate with French intelligence.
Prior to his arrest, Ryan had been working in Azerbaijan for a food importing company that also offered consulting services. Prosecutors alleged he had facilitated contact between French intelligence and Azad Mammadli, an Azerbaijani citizen who went on trial alongside Ryan and was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday.
Mammadli denied any guilt at the start of the trial.
Ties between Baku and Paris have been strained over France’s close ties to Armenia, against whom Azerbaijan fought several wars in the last four decades. France has a large Armenian diaspora and supplies arms to Yerevan.
Last May, Azerbaijan pardoned another French citizen, Theo Hugo Clerc, who had been jailed for three years for drawing graffiti in the Baku metro.
Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn
UniCredit said it does not expect to take control of the lender in which it already holds a 26% equity stake and an additional 4% through total return swap contracts
International News via Reuters:
Europe’s STOXX 600 edged lower on Monday, as the economic fallout from the Middle East war weighed, while Commerzbank rose after UniCredit launched a bid for an additional stake in the German lender.
Commerzbank shares advanced 1.4%, among the top gainers, while Italian bank UniCredit slipped 2.2%.
UniCredit said it does not expect to take control of the lender in which it already holds a 26% equity stake and an additional 4% through total return swap contracts.
The pan-European benchmark STOXX 600 was down 0.3% at 593.58 points, as of 0931 GMT, set for its fourth session of decline.
The index has dropped more than 6% from a record high hit in February, before the outbreak of U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
With Iranian actions constraining traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for around one‑fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, they pose a significant risk to the global economy and roiling markets.
Central banks are in focus this week, with Europe among those expected to pause further rate cuts at meetings held for the first time since the war began.
“Given that the conflict is only two weeks old, policy will be on hold, and therefore the focus will be on updated economic forecasts from the Federal Reserve and from the European Central Bank,” said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, European strategist at Raymond James.
Supply concerns have driven crude prices higher, and sustained elevated prices could weigh on Europe’s import-dependent economy by adding to inflation pressures while growth remains sluggish.
“More particularly, the market’s focus will be on the accompanying statement and the tenor of the press conferences undertaken by (Fed Chair) Jerome Powell and (ECB) President Lagarde and (Bank of England Governor) Andrew Bailey,” Batstone-Carr said.
The banking sector extended its three-week slump with a 0.6% decline on Monday, weighing heavily on the European benchmark.
On the flip side, the broader energy added 0.8% with majors Shell and BP adding 1.4% each, as oil prices remained above $100 a barrel.
Separately, Goldman Sachs raised its target for Britain’s FTSE 100 for the next 12 months to 10,800 points from 10,400 points.
Among other moves, Italian hearing aid group Amplifon shares declined 10.3% after they announced plans to buy Denmark’s GN Store Nord’s hearing business for 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion).
Carlsberg added 1.4% after Berenberg upgraded Danish brewer to “buy” from “hold”.
Later in the day, European Union foreign ministers will meet to discuss strengthening a small naval mission in the Middle East, but are not expected to decide on extending its role to the choked-off Strait of Hormuz, diplomats and officials say.
Reporting by Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.2%, to $105.44 a barrel by 0903 GMT
International News via Reuters:
Oil prices rose on Monday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continued to disrupt oil production and shipping in the Middle East, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for global efforts to secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.2%, to $105.44 a barrel by 0903 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.29, or 1.3%, to $100 a barrel.
Both contracts have surged more than 40% this month to their highest since 2022, after the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran prompted Tehran to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for energy shipments, choking off a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies.
Oil-loading operations have been suspended at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah on Monday, two sources told Reuters, after a drone attack sparked a fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone.
Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, is the outlet for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s flagship Murban crude oil – a volume equal to about 1% of world demand.
The war in the Middle East is creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, as major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE reduced production since the conflict.
Investors seem to recognise that if just two weeks of disruption at the Strait of Hormuz have inflicted this level of damage on production, exports and refining, the consequences of a prolonged conflict would be severe, especially as inventories are steadily depleted, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.
“U.S. strikes over the weekend on Kharg Island raised supply concerns, as most of Iran’s oil exports pass through it,” ING analysts said on Monday.
While the strikes appear to have targeted the military, rather than energy, infrastructure, they still pose supply risks since Iranian oil is about the only oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz for now, ING said.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened further strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of its exports, after hitting military targets there, spurring further retaliation from Tehran.
On Sunday, Trump said he was demanding that other countries help to protect the key energy route, adding that Washington was in talks with several nations about policing the strait.
The U.S. is also in contact with Iran, Trump said, but expressed doubt that Tehran was prepared for serious talks to end the conflict.
On Sunday, the International Energy Agency said more than 400 million barrels of oil reserves will begin flowing to the market soon, a record draw aimed at combating price spikes caused by the Middle East war.
Stocks from countries in Asia and Oceania will be released immediately, while those from Europe and the Americas would be available at the end of March, the agency said.
“As the conflict enters its third week, the lack of a clear denouement has left global markets increasingly worried about an uncontrollable escalatory spiral,” SEB’s Meyersson said.
Still, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday he expected an end to the war within “the next few weeks,” with oil supplies rebounding and energy costs falling afterwards.
Reporting by Enes Tunagur in London, Florence Tan and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Shri Navaratnam, Clarence Fernandez and Pooja Desai
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