Latest Updates

North Korea fires 10 missiles as Seoul doubles Trump's warhead estimate

North Korea fired about 10 ballistic missiles hours after Seoul put its nuclear arsenal at up to 120 warheads, twice the number Donald Trump cites.

Read Story

KYIV BLOG: Corruption is the system in Ukraine

A fresh corruption scandal broke out in Ukraine – this time, it was racketeering by relative junior members of the Zelenskiy administration. Corruption is not a problem of the system in Ukraine; corruption is the system.

Read Story

Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau accuses presidential office officials of a raiding scheme

Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies have accused a sitting MP, a former MP and senior officials in the Presidential Office of running an organised scheme to seize companies and property with forged documents.

Read Story

US-China proxy battle at the canal turns into a $3.5bn nightmare for Panama

CK Hutchison opens a second legal front against Panama City, taking its total claims past $3.5bn, as Washington, Beijing and the Mulino government each add fuel to a dispute none of them can fully control.

Read Story

Should Kazakhs bother voting in the upcoming parliamentary election?

A sense of fatigue is hanging over August 23 election, with analysts pointing to voter disengagement, the absence of a genuine opposition and growing self-censorship as evidence of a widening gap between society and the political system.

Read Story

Asia's nuclear arms race stops being hypothetical

China has told Japan not to test its patience over nuclear weapons, in an exchange that has moved an Asian arms race from something strategists war-game to something foreign ministries now argue about in public. Beijing's warning followed months...

Read Story

Sahel lithium boom risks opening new revenue streams for African jihadist groups

King’s College London researcher warns rapid lithium expansion in Mali, Nigeria and the wider Sahel risks creating new revenue streams for jihadist and criminal groups through informal mining, extortion and smuggling.

Read Story

Public media dossier sheds light on how Fidesz maintained political control over Hungary’s state news agency

Journalists and editors document more than a decade of political interference at Hungarian news agency MTI by former Fidesz government.

Read Story

Moldova renewable auction raises questions over ownership transparency

Balkans turn to Asian workers in response to shrinking workforces

Extreme heat, drought and wildfires expose Southeast Europe's climate risks

Moldova renewable auction raises questions over ownership transparency

Moldova is carrying out one of the fastest energy market reforms in Europe, but concerns have been raised over both transparency and the grid's ability to absorb additional electricity.

Balkans turn to Asian workers in response to shrinking workforces

For three decades, the Balkans exported workers. Now countries across the region are increasingly importing them from Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere.

Extreme heat, drought and wildfires expose Southeast Europe's climate risks

Southeast Europe is at the sharp end of this summer’s extreme weather crisis, with firefighters battling active blazes in counties across the region.

News

Slovenia's NLB loses Addiko but keeps hunting across the Balkans

Slovenia's biggest bank has lost its year-long fight for Austria's Addiko, but the defeat has done nothing to dim its appetite for deals across the former Yugoslavia.

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers deserted from German training camp

Under Ukrainian law they are deserters and face up to 12 years in prison if they go home.

Iran's South Khorasan issues first Spanish mining investment licence

Iran's South Khorasan has issued its first investment licence to a Spanish mining company, one of four countries entering the province recently, even as the UAE halts all trade with Iran.

Kazakhstan’s Freedom Holding receives first foreign brokerage house license in Turkey since 1992

Freedom Holding operates through more than 200 offices in over 20 countries across North America, Europe and Asia.

Naval drone carrying explosives destroyed near Romania’s Neptun Alpha platform

Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu directly linked the incident to the broader security threat posed by Russia's war against Ukraine, but did not explicitly state that Russia had launched the drone.

Slovenia's NLB loses Addiko but keeps hunting across the Balkans

2 hours ago

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers deserted from German training camp

2 hours ago

Iran's South Khorasan issues first Spanish mining investment licence

6 hours ago

Kazakhstan’s Freedom Holding receives first foreign brokerage house license in Turkey since 1992

11 hours ago

Naval drone carrying explosives destroyed near Romania’s Neptun Alpha platform

11 hours ago

More News

Tech

Zain Bahrain and tech firm Text enter AI-driven partnership

Zain Bahrain announced that it signed a deal with service technology firm Text, integrating the company's platform into its OneCX system.

Dubai Chambers and NASSCOM sign deal to bring Indian AI and deeptech firms to Dubai

Dubai Chambers has signed an agreement with India's Nasscom to draw Indian agentic AI and deeptech firms to the emirate, opening a channel to an industry worth $315bn across 3,500 companies.

Kazakhstan to enrol first students at AI university as schools expand AI education

The Qazaq AI Research University in Astana aims to train engineers capable of developing AI systems.

Ukraine tops the world for crypto use per person as volumes hit $206bn

Ukrainians trade more cryptocurrency per head than anyone else on earth. What they mostly do not do is trade it under Ukrainian law.

Iranian mobile roaming cut in UAE, disrupting banking access for expatriates

Iranian mobile operators' roaming has reportedly been cut in the UAE, leaving Iranian residents and travellers unable to receive calls.

Zain Bahrain and tech firm Text enter AI-driven partnership

1 day ago

Dubai Chambers and NASSCOM sign deal to bring Indian AI and deeptech firms to Dubai

1 day ago

Kazakhstan to enrol first students at AI university as schools expand AI education

1 day ago

Ukraine tops the world for crypto use per person as volumes hit $206bn

2 days ago

Iranian mobile roaming cut in UAE, disrupting banking access for expatriates

2 days ago

More Tech

Opinion

Bosnia high representative dispute exposes US-EU rift

Failure to agree on a successor to Bosnia & Herzegovina's international high representative exposes differences over the future of the country's postwar political order, says Atlantic Council commentary.

RAGOZIN: Ukraine’s “tide is turning” PR push has backfired

The PR surge which heralded that the “tide is turning” in the Ukrainian conflict is ending up in a debacle. Ukraine can inflict tangible damage on the Russian economy but Russia can take it and give it back in spades.

Turkey’s economy still struggling to rebalance, says Capital Economics

Attempt to steer economy toward sustainable growth running into increasingly difficult terrain with economic policy facing sharp trade-off between fighting stubborn inflation and fixing external imbalances.

ORYNBAYEV: US STEM talent is up for grabs – the EU must poach it

America's retreat from research funding and openness to skilled immigration has handed Europe an unexpected strategic advantage. If Brussels can remove visa barriers and back scientists, it has a rare chance to narrow the innovation gap.

COMMENT: Thailand's new government is squandering a rare chance for reform

Capital Economics says Thailand's Anutin Charnvirakul government is squandering a rare post-election reform mandate, leaning instead on a poorly targeted 175bn baht subsidy scheme, centralised power and rising industrial protectionism.

Bosnia high representative dispute exposes US-EU rift

22 hours ago

RAGOZIN: Ukraine’s “tide is turning” PR push has backfired

7 days ago

Turkey’s economy still struggling to rebalance, says Capital Economics

9 days ago

ORYNBAYEV: US STEM talent is up for grabs – the EU must poach it

10 days ago

COMMENT: Thailand's new government is squandering a rare chance for reform

11 days ago

More Opinion

Data

Romania’s construction activity surges 18.3% y/y in Q2 on new projects

In the first half of 2026, construction work volume increased by 13.9% y/y, making the sector one of the main positive contributors to economic activity amid a contraction in Romanian GDP.

South Korea's top banks post record KRW11.3 trillion profit as household-loan curbs bite

South Korea's four biggest banking groups booked a record KRW11.34 trillion net profit in the first half of 2026 even as regulators forced them to choke off lending to the country's heavily indebted households.

South Korea bank loyalty market expanding to $2.6bn

South Korea’s retail bank loyalty market will grow to $2.6bn by 2035, Spherical Insights & Consulting reported.

Romania faces tighter spending rules after public debt exceeds 60% of GDP

Acting Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare says crossing the 60% debt threshold means Bucharest has a "very clear limit" on new budget commitments.

Bulgaria inflation slows in July but remains among eurozone’s highest

Bulgaria, which adopted the euro on January 1, remained among the eurozone countries with the fastest price growth in July.

Romania’s construction activity surges 18.3% y/y in Q2 on new projects

11 hours ago

South Korea's top banks post record KRW11.3 trillion profit as household-loan curbs bite

12 hours ago

South Korea bank loyalty market expanding to $2.6bn

14 hours ago

Romania faces tighter spending rules after public debt exceeds 60% of GDP

1 day ago

Bulgaria inflation slows in July but remains among eurozone’s highest

1 day ago

More Data

Features

Nepal ends its IMF programme with inflation at 1.7% and reserves at a record

Nepal has completed its first IMF-supported programme in almost two decades, ending it with inflation down to 1.7%, more than a year's worth of import cover in reserve and a fiscal deficit it can defend.

Russia's economic plan is hitting its targets, but growth is still only 1%

Russia's structural transformation plan has hit 12 of its 14 targets for the first half of this year, eight of them ahead of schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development

Croatia's foreign-owned banks face a 50% profit tax after their euro boom

Croatia's banks, almost all owned from Milan, Vienna or Budapest, are among the most profitable in Europe, and a new 50% tax on excess profit is aimed squarely at them.

Russia trying to systematically destroy Ukraine's retail sector

Ukraine's government went looking for warehouse space to hand to companies bombed out of their own. On its own experts' best case, it can cover about a fifth of what business needs.

Kremlin think tank warns Putin Russia faces 1.6% growth without reform

Everything that has kept the Russian economy growing since 2020 has now been used up, a think tank the Kremlin created itself has told Vladimir Putin.

Nepal ends its IMF programme with inflation at 1.7% and reserves at a record

1 day ago

Russia's economic plan is hitting its targets, but growth is still only 1%

1 day ago

Croatia's foreign-owned banks face a 50% profit tax after their euro boom

1 day ago

Russia trying to systematically destroy Ukraine's retail sector

1 day ago

Kremlin think tank warns Putin Russia faces 1.6% growth without reform

2 days ago

More Features

Blogs

ISTANBUL BLOG: Turkey then VS Turkey now

At the ancient Egyptian obelisk outside the Blue Mosque, looking along what was once the Hippodrome of Constantinople, I found myself thinking about a tent.

Russia will try and destroy the rest of Ukraine's power generation capacity: how bad could it get?

Ukraine's power generation capacity has fallen from 60GW before the war to 12GW today, and a renewed Russian bombing campaign this winter could push the shortfall toward 10GW, even as European gas storage sits near a 15-year low.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Turkey probes TV presenter who called Syria’s al-Sharaa a “terrorist with a tie”

Dubious rise to the top is questioned. Watchdog says remarks “incompatible with foreign policy vision”.

CENTRAL ASIA BLOG: Unjust bureaucratic hurdles are wrecking legit UK travel dreams

Tourist visas denied based on highly subjective assessments of financial means and intentions to use “return” section of plane ticket.

MOSCOW BLOG: The Nato-Russia clash mission creep

The stochastic war continues to escalate into a brutal tit-for-tat missile war with both sides continuously rolling out new and improved weapons that could eventually lead to a direct clash between Nato and Russia.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Turkey then VS Turkey now

9 days ago

Russia will try and destroy the rest of Ukraine's power generation capacity: how bad could it get?

9 days ago

ISTANBUL BLOG: Turkey probes TV presenter who called Syria’s al-Sharaa a “terrorist with a tie”

24 days ago

CENTRAL ASIA BLOG: Unjust bureaucratic hurdles are wrecking legit UK travel dreams

26 days ago

MOSCOW BLOG: The Nato-Russia clash mission creep

29 days ago

More Blogs

bneGREEN

Uzbekistan targets 620mn kWh annual output from small hydropower by 2030

HPPs are expected to generate 620mn kWh of electricity annually, supply around 350,000 households, save 187mn cubic metres of natural gas and prevent 311,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Transboundary haze from Indonesian peatland fires crosses into Malaysia, threatens biodiversity

The cross-border crisis follows a rapid surge in satellite-detected hotspots and burnt territory across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo.

Number of mapped sinkholes in Turkey’s Konya basin reaches 739

380 of the sinkholes in Konya are "well-type" cylindrical collapses. They are deep and sheer-walled shafts that have appeared almost entirely within the past three to four decades, directly tracing the surge in deep-well industrial farming.

Istanbul-listed cement maker Cimsa to build Ireland’s largest rooftop solar plant at Mannok facility

The company has already commenced construction of the 6-MW project, which will cover approximately 38,800 square metres, equivalent to around 5.5 football pitches, and will comprise approximately 10,000 solar panels.

Solar overtakes hydropower in the EU electricity mix for the first time

Solar panels generated more electricity in the European Union than dams did in 2025, the first time that has happened.

Uzbekistan targets 620mn kWh annual output from small hydropower by 2030

11 hours ago

Transboundary haze from Indonesian peatland fires crosses into Malaysia, threatens biodiversity

13 hours ago

Number of mapped sinkholes in Turkey’s Konya basin reaches 739

19 hours ago

Istanbul-listed cement maker Cimsa to build Ireland’s largest rooftop solar plant at Mannok facility

1 day ago

Solar overtakes hydropower in the EU electricity mix for the first time

2 days ago

More bneGREEN

Latest Updates

News

Slovenia's biggest bank has lost its year-long fight for Austria's Addiko, but the defeat has done nothing to dim its appetite for deals across the former Yugoslavia.

Under Ukrainian law they are deserters and face up to 12 years in prison if they go home.

Iran's South Khorasan has issued its first investment licence to a Spanish mining company, one of four countries entering the province recently, even as the UAE halts all trade with Iran.

Freedom Holding operates through more than 200 offices in over 20 countries across North America, Europe and Asia.

Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu directly linked the incident to the broader security threat posed by Russia's war against Ukraine, but did not explicitly state that Russia had launched the drone.

Tech

Zain Bahrain announced that it signed a deal with service technology firm Text, integrating the company's platform into its OneCX system.

Dubai Chambers has signed an agreement with India's Nasscom to draw Indian agentic AI and deeptech firms to the emirate, opening a channel to an industry worth $315bn across 3,500 companies.

The Qazaq AI Research University in Astana aims to train engineers capable of developing AI systems.

Ukrainians trade more cryptocurrency per head than anyone else on earth. What they mostly do not do is trade it under Ukrainian law.

Iranian mobile operators' roaming has reportedly been cut in the UAE, leaving Iranian residents and travellers unable to receive calls.

Opinion

Failure to agree on a successor to Bosnia & Herzegovina's international high representative exposes differences over the future of the country's postwar political order, says Atlantic Council commentary.

The PR surge which heralded that the “tide is turning” in the Ukrainian conflict is ending up in a debacle. Ukraine can inflict tangible damage on the Russian economy but Russia can take it and give it back in spades.

Attempt to steer economy toward sustainable growth running into increasingly difficult terrain with economic policy facing sharp trade-off between fighting stubborn inflation and fixing external imbalances.

America's retreat from research funding and openness to skilled immigration has handed Europe an unexpected strategic advantage. If Brussels can remove visa barriers and back scientists, it has a rare chance to narrow the innovation gap.

Capital Economics says Thailand's Anutin Charnvirakul government is squandering a rare post-election reform mandate, leaning instead on a poorly targeted 175bn baht subsidy scheme, centralised power and rising industrial protectionism.

Data

In the first half of 2026, construction work volume increased by 13.9% y/y, making the sector one of the main positive contributors to economic activity amid a contraction in Romanian GDP.

South Korea's four biggest banking groups booked a record KRW11.34 trillion net profit in the first half of 2026 even as regulators forced them to choke off lending to the country's heavily indebted households.

South Korea’s retail bank loyalty market will grow to $2.6bn by 2035, Spherical Insights & Consulting reported.

Acting Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare says crossing the 60% debt threshold means Bucharest has a "very clear limit" on new budget commitments.

Bulgaria, which adopted the euro on January 1, remained among the eurozone countries with the fastest price growth in July.

Features

Nepal has completed its first IMF-supported programme in almost two decades, ending it with inflation down to 1.7%, more than a year's worth of import cover in reserve and a fiscal deficit it can defend.

Russia's structural transformation plan has hit 12 of its 14 targets for the first half of this year, eight of them ahead of schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development

Croatia's banks, almost all owned from Milan, Vienna or Budapest, are among the most profitable in Europe, and a new 50% tax on excess profit is aimed squarely at them.

Ukraine's government went looking for warehouse space to hand to companies bombed out of their own. On its own experts' best case, it can cover about a fifth of what business needs.

Everything that has kept the Russian economy growing since 2020 has now been used up, a think tank the Kremlin created itself has told Vladimir Putin.

Blogs

At the ancient Egyptian obelisk outside the Blue Mosque, looking along what was once the Hippodrome of Constantinople, I found myself thinking about a tent.

Ukraine's power generation capacity has fallen from 60GW before the war to 12GW today, and a renewed Russian bombing campaign this winter could push the shortfall toward 10GW, even as European gas storage sits near a 15-year low.

Dubious rise to the top is questioned. Watchdog says remarks “incompatible with foreign policy vision”.

Tourist visas denied based on highly subjective assessments of financial means and intentions to use “return” section of plane ticket.

The stochastic war continues to escalate into a brutal tit-for-tat missile war with both sides continuously rolling out new and improved weapons that could eventually lead to a direct clash between Nato and Russia.

bneGREEN

HPPs are expected to generate 620mn kWh of electricity annually, supply around 350,000 households, save 187mn cubic metres of natural gas and prevent 311,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The cross-border crisis follows a rapid surge in satellite-detected hotspots and burnt territory across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo.

380 of the sinkholes in Konya are "well-type" cylindrical collapses. They are deep and sheer-walled shafts that have appeared almost entirely within the past three to four decades, directly tracing the surge in deep-well industrial farming.

The company has already commenced construction of the 6-MW project, which will cover approximately 38,800 square metres, equivalent to around 5.5 football pitches, and will comprise approximately 10,000 solar panels.

Solar panels generated more electricity in the European Union than dams did in 2025, the first time that has happened.

Follow Us On

Most Read

Podcasts

Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte warned that the West needs to prepare of the possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping will ....

Reports

Cookies on the bne IntelliNews website