World

Hong Wang and Yu Deng are among four winners of the 2026 Fields Medal, announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians. They're being celebrated as the first Chinese nationals ever to claim the discipline's highest honor — and Wang's win rests on cracking a century-old geometry puzzle.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis say they struck the tankers Encelia and Layla with missiles and drones to enforce a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh confirmed one ship was hit, with its crew safe — and the target now is one of the last open routes for Gulf oil.

Péter Szijjártó helped land BYD's multibillion-forint push into Hungary — subsidies, permits and a new factory — while serving as foreign minister. Days after he resigned his seat to take an executive job at the company, the new government launched a probe into the whole arrangement.

In an open letter to Britain's brand-new prime minister, a group of wealthy Britons — from footballer Gary Lineker to musician Brian Eno — is pressing for a tax on large fortunes. The government is politely non-committal, and the opposition says they can simply write a cheque.

France's public health agency says the country saw at least 5,700 more deaths than normal during last month's record heat — a 36% jump in mortality, and the worst toll from any heat wave in more than two decades.

Yemen's Houthis say they hit two Saudi tankers with missiles and drones to enforce the naval blockade they declared on July 20 — opening a new front in the widening Middle East war and threatening one of the world's key oil chokepoints.

A punishing heat wave is driving fast-moving wildfires across Spain, France and Greece — 32,000 hectares burned near Guadalajara, two firefighters killed in France, and tens of thousands warned as temperatures climb past 40°C.