Iran's former foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi dies following Israeli strike on home

Kamal Kharrazi, Iran's former foreign minister and head of its Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, has died from injuries sustained when his home was hit in a US-Israeli strike. His wife was killed in the same attack.

US-Iran ceasefire eases oil prices but Gulf economies showing strain – Oxford Economics

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran has led to a sharp fall in oil prices, but fresh data points to mounting economic damage across Gulf economies and rising uncertainty in Egypt.

China's Xi hosts Taiwan's KMT chair in landmark Beijing meeting

Cheng is visiting China at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee and Xi. She is the first KMT chair to lead a delegation to China in a decade.

Uzbekistan’s National Investment Fund eyes IPOs in London and Tashkent

Managed by a Franklin Templeton company, UzNIF at end-2025 held minority stakes across aviation, energy, banking and telecoms with a $2.4bn net asset value.

Lebanon on the brink as government moves against Hezbollah

Lebanon on the brink as government moves against Hezbollah In one of the most consequential moments in Lebanon’s modern history, this could be the moment the country crossed a dangerous threshold.

CEVF 2026 provides window on Central Asia’s growing venture ecosystem

Held for the first time in Uzbekistan, event offered 800 investors, founders and tech leaders insights into innovation landscape.

Iranian hackers leak personal photos of former Israeli military chief

The Handala Hack Team has leaked photographs and videos from former IDF Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi's electronic devices, uploading the material to Telegram and other social media platforms.

UK ranks 15th globally for tech salaries as AI augments roles rather than replacing them, Hays report finds

UK tech professionals rank 15th out of 34 countries for salaries, with AI augmenting roles rather than replacing them, Hays finds. Security engineers rank fourth globally for pay while Java contractor rates place third.

Verne launches Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb

Rollout positions Verne among early movers in Europe’s nascent robotaxi market.

Yandex captures 70% of Russia’s search market, outpacing Google

Yandex (YNDX) holds around 70% of all search queries in Russia, consolidating its position as the dominant domestic search engine and outpacing global rival Google, according to motoram.ru.

Did America just hand the Gulf to Russia?

The Iran war has turned Russia from a sanctioned energy pariah into an indispensable supplier for half the planet. With Urals crude at 13-year highs and sanctioned LNG going at 40% discounts, Moscow may be the war's real winner.

US-Europe relations strains bring Nato alliance close to breaking point

The West is discussing a new defence alliance format to replace Nato that would include Ukraine. Nato's current form is ineffective, so it is worth creating a new defence structure.

COMMENT: Should the ceasefire fail, we could expect a ‘digital Hormuz’ scenario

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait have collectively attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in technology investment, transforming themselves from hydrocarbon exporters to AI powerhouses. It could all unravel if peace is fleeting.

Georgia's economic boom was built on temporary factors and is now fading, analysts warn

Georgia's headline GDP growth figures conceal a more troubling reality: the factors that drove the economy's expansion since 2022 were largely temporary and are already beginning to fade.

COMMENT: Win or lose, Orban has broken Hungary’s democracy

Hungary’s parliamentary elections on April 12 would, under normal democratic conditions, point towards a change of government, but the country’s political system no longer operates on conventional terms.

Czech industrial output grows 1.3% in February as slowdown continues for third month

Czech industrial output rises 1.3% in February, slowing for the third straight month but staying in positive territory on the back of car production. Construction returns to 4.1% growth with housing starts up 46%.

Serbia holds key rate at 5.75% following global energy shock

Despite the global uncertainty, the NBS still expects inflation to remain within its target band of 3% plus or minus 1.5 percentage points by the end of the year.

Russia budget deficit widens as oil revenues slump despite expected windfall

Russia’s federal budget deficit widened sharply in the first quarter as oil and gas revenues fell steeply, with economists warning that a price surge linked to the Iran conflict has yet to feed through into state finances.

North Macedonia’s FX reserves up 9.6% y/y in March

US public opinion turns sharply against Israel and Netanyahu, Pew says

Americans’ views of Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have grown markedly more negative over the past four years, with disapproval now spanning age groups and widening across political divides.

Naphtha shortages leading to petrochemical plants force majeures and record prices

Petrochemical producers across Asia have begun shutting down operations after disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz reduced supplies of the critical naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) feedstocks.

Peru vote puts new Senate, not presidency, at centre of democracy battle

With polls open on April 12, Peru enters its most consequential vote in a generation — defined less by the presidency than by who captures a powerful new Senate and whether fragile democratic institutions can survive those seeking to control them.

Oil price spike: How does the Kremlin tax its oil industry?

Oil prices have spiked and that should produce a huge windfall for the Kremlin which has been desperately short of cash to fund its war machine in Ukraine since the start of this year.

Russia emerges as 'strategic energy partner' for Global South thanks to Iran

Russian oil hit a 13-year high before the ceasefire as Moscow pivots to "strategic energy partner" for the Global South. Kremlin says it is fielding "an enormous number" of requests for energy supplies as trade flows shift.

Windfall tax delay exposes Indonesia’s challenge in capturing commodity gains

Indonesia recently announced that it had delayed the rollout of its windfall tax proposal on coal and nickel exports. The country noted that the complexity of balancing fiscal needs with industrial policy is behind the delay

ASIA BLOG: How Taiwan’s KMT risks the nation’s sovereignty

As Taiwan’s opposition leader, Cheng Li-wun leads a delegation across China the fine line between opposition outreach and quasi-diplomacy is being blurred. It is an issue that should concern anyone with a stake in Taiwan’s democratic integrity.

TEHRAN BLOG: Ceasefire brings quiet relief to Iran, but few believe it will hold

Iranians remain split in the early hours of the two-week ceasefire between their government and US and Israel on the otherside, but as things stand any return to normality is better than nothing.

CAUCASUS BLOG: Armenian PM’s Moscow pushback plays to a domestic audience pre-election

Nikol Pashinyan made unusually blunt comments to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow.

MOSCOW BLOG: Pax Americana exposed as a paper tiger

Superficially the war in Iran has dealt Ukraine a huge blow. The White House is now completely distracted, and the Trump administration seems to have abandoned, or at least paused, the ceasefire negotiations with Russia.

BALKAN BLOG: The connection between the Middle East conflict and Slovenia’s closely fought election

Strong pro-Palestine sentiment in Slovenia causes alleged interference by Israeli private security firm ahead of general election to backfire.

Battery costs have declined by 99% in the last three decades, making electrified transport a reality – OWID

Over 20mn electric cars were sold globally in 2025 — some for as little as $10,000. Even just two decades ago, that would have been impossible. The reason it's possible now? Batteries have gotten much cheaper.

Peru scales up solar capacity as Sunny complex reaches 345 MW

Peru accelerates solar deployment as Kallpa’s Sunny complex reaches 345 MW, signalling a broader expansion pipeline of 1.42 GW set to reshape the country’s renewable energy landscape by 2028.

Grid constraints threaten Europe’s energy security ambitions

Europe risks undermining its energy security and industrial competitiveness due to insufficient electricity grid capacity, with at least 120 GW of planned renewable projects facing delays, according to a report by Ember.

Greenpeace says gas flaring persists in eastern EU despite methane ban

Fossil fuel operators in parts of eastern Europe are continuing to burn methane in potential breach of new EU rules banning routine flaring.

Falling electrotech costs create a fast catch up path for Global South

A new energy pathway is emerging for developing economies, one that challenges the assumption that fossil fuels are a prerequisite for growth, according to a new report by Ember.