Ukraine continues drone attack on Russian oil infrastructure

Ukraine launched overnight drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, damaging an oil pipeline near the Baltic port of Primorsk in Leningrad Oblast and striking facilities deeper inside the country, according to regional authorities.

Rosatom warns of nuclear risk after reported strike near Iran's Bushehr plant

Rosatom says a strike breached the protection circuit of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, warning the risk of a catastrophic nuclear incident is rising sharply as Russian personnel are evacuated from the site.

Russia to increase energy supplies to India

Russia has indicated it is prepared to increase deliveries of oil and LNG to India, in order to maintain support for New Delhi’s fertiliser requirements, as global energy markets remain unsettled.

Taiwan secures LNG supply assurances from a ‘major’ country

Taiwan has received assurances over LNG supplies from a major producing country, according to the island’s economy minister, as concerns grow over the impact of the Iran war on energy imports from the Middle East.

Emirates Global Aluminium won’t be fixed for a year

Russia orders major websites to block VPN traffic from April 15

Russia ordered major websites to block VPN traffic from April 15 or face penalties, tightening internet controls that mirror Iran's wartime blackout as Moscow positions itself as a mediator in the Gulf conflict.

Iran's NZ embassy fires back at Trump 'stone age' taunt with AI-generated mockery

Iran's NZ embassy mocked Trump's "stone age" threat with AI images of the US president as a caveman beside an ancient Persian king, the latest in a social media information war running alongside the military conflict.

Iran-linked hackers claim breach of Israeli air defence contractor PSK Wind

Iran-linked hackers Handala claimed to have breached Israeli air defence contractor PSK Wind Technologies and passed classified command and control data to resistance missile units, though the claims remain unverified.

IRGC threatens to strike US tech companies in retaliation for assassinations

Iran's IRGC named 18 US tech and AI firms including Google, Microsoft, Palantir and G42 as targets for retaliation

Saudi Arabia launches new self-driving vehicle route in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia has launched a new autonomous vehicle passenger route between two Riyadh malls.

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.

COMMENT: Taiwan’s worship of America could be its downfall

Public discourse can appear disproportionately animated by US culture wars, US electoral cycles and US policy fashions. Foreign sports coverage on local media essentially means NBA or Major League baseball reports.

Europe gets “strategic window” in its periphery amid Russian retreat

Erosion of Moscow’s influence in Balkans and South Caucasus creates an opportunity for Europe to expand its strategic role, says Carnegie Europe paper, but authors warn retreat is unlikely to be permanent.

COMMENT: An Iran embargo won't send oil to $200

A chorus of analysts and traders have spent recent weeks warning that oil prices will spike. But market is foward-looking and has already priced in the worst case. $200 oil won't happen.

IMF: How the war in the Middle East is affecting energy, trade, and finance

Energy prices, supply chains, and financial markets are the main transmission channels, but the regional effects will vary significantly. The world faces yet another shock.

Kazakhstan service sector saw green shoots of recovery in March, PMI shows

Inflationary pressures recede further, marginal growth in new business recorded.

Arched brows as Turkey releases official inflation at 2% m/m despite war effects

Country’s economic managers working with expected average price of $85/barrel for Brent oil in 2026.

Russia’s services sector slips back into contraction posting 49.5 as demand softens

Russia’s services sector returned to contraction in March, as weaker demand weighed on activity despite a modest improvement in business confidence, according to data published by S&P Global on April 3.

Gold overtakes US Treasuries in central bank reserves

Gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the largest component of global central bank reserves for the first time since the mid-1990s, marking a significant shift in the structure of the international monetary system, Bloomberg reports.

Tokyo stocks slide following Trump remarks

Tokyo equities fell sharply on April 2, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 ending more than 2% lower as a sell-off gathered pace following remarks by US President Donald Trump that reignited concerns on the Iran war.

Cost of living shock deepens as energy crisis hits G7 spending – Oxford Economics

A surge in energy prices following the escalation of the Iran conflict is intensifying the cost-of-living crisis across the G7, dragging consumer spending growth to its weakest level since 2022.

A long Iran war will lead to severe shortages, says Oxford Economics

A sustained escalation of the US/Israel-Iran conflict could push global oil markets beyond a price shock into severe physical shortages, with rationing, supply chain disruption and recessionary pressures becoming increasingly likely.

Venezuela opens for business, but investors weigh promise against reality

Reforms to oil, mining and financial laws have accelerated since the fall of Maduro, but legal ambiguity, institutional weakness and unresolved questions over democracy are tempering enthusiasm among investors, Orinoco Research says.

Tisza needs supermajority victory in Hungarian elections to unlock EU frozen funds

Hungary’s ability to unlock billions in frozen EU funding will depend heavily on the outcome of its parliamentary election on April 12. The opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar will need to win a supermajority to unlock the money.

Africa’s ports and airlines gain as Red Sea crisis reshapes global trade routes

Some African economies are winners from the Iran war. From Kenya to Nigeria, they are registering sharp gains in trade, aviation and energy revenues as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran disrupts traditional shipping.

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.

TEHRAN BLOG: Iran's new year Nowruz is not the same this year

For more than 3,000 years, Nowruz has been Iran's national festival, but this year's war has darkened the mood.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Bedtime reading for Trump. Condemnation and denunciation from Arab and Islamic countries affirmed

US Commander-in-Chief, meanwhile, says he told Netanyahu “don’t do that”. But he did do that.

TEHRAN BLOG: Operation Epic FUBAR: Command of the Reload

America and Iran have two very strategies for fighting this war.The US is still using the old school approach of building extremely powerful and incredibly accurate flying bombs that will definitely destroy anything they hit and are hard to stop.

Spain cuts the link between gas and power and has Europe’s cheapest power

A year ago this week, Spain’s grid ran entirely on renewable power for a full day for the first time ever. Wind, solar, and hydro met all the peninsula’s electricity demand on April 16.

Aircon: from comfort to matter of life and death

The last three years were the hottest ever recorded and it’s only going to get worse – to the point where people will start to die from overheating. Unless you have an air conditioner.

Iran pushes ahead with solar and wind plants

Iran is building four solar plants and a wind farm targeting 100MW as the war batters the power grid, with the first phase due online by July 2026 amid repeated strikes on electricity infrastructure.

Sany of China plans €1bn green energy and data centre project in Romania

Chinese industrial conglomerate Sany Group plans to invest more than €1bn in a large-scale hybrid energy and data centre project in western Romania.

Singapore’s path towards nuclear energy use

Singapore is taking another step toward the possible deployment of nuclear power, with the National Environment Agency announcing plans to commission three studies focused on nuclear safety standards and environmental safeguards.