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News

Russia's foreign ministry accuses the US and Israel of unleashing unprecedented violence in the Middle East and calls on all sides to halt hostilities as Hormuz shipping remains paralysed.

Iran's IRGC says it struck Israeli missile stockpiles, the US Al Udeid base in Qatar and Kurdish opposition positions in Erbil in wave 56 of its "True Promise 4" operation.

The IRGC announced an attack on an American financial institution in the Middle East over the weekend in retaliation for a hit on an Iranian bank in Tehran last week and warned all US businesses could become legitimate targets.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called for the EU to restart talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, calling it “the only option.”

The Trump administration restricted access to real time commercial satellite images of the Middle East after images showed the effectiveness and extent of the damage Iranian powerful precision missile strikes have done to key US assets.

Tech

Central Asian countries commit to multiple plans and investments. Some observers, however, say Russian sanctions dodgers are exploiting their cryptocurrency networks.

Hungarian lender K&H Group is deepening its push into integrated digital services and artificial intelligence as customers increasingly expect banking to match the speed and simplicity of major online platforms.

The email system of the Albanian parliament has been targeted by a cyberattack allegedly carried out by a hacking group linked to Iran, according to Albania’s National Cyber Security Authority.

Hacker group Handala claimed on March 11 it breached Stryker Corporation's systems, saying it extracted 50 terabytes of data and forced office closures in 79 countries in retaliation for attacks on Iranian infrastructure.

International payments company PAYSTRAX is preparing a major recruitment drive in Lithuania, with plans to create up to 150 new fintech jobs over the next three years.

Opinion

Gulf oil producers have lost an estimated $15.1bn in energy revenues since the war with Iran began, with $10.7bn in crude and LNG cargoes stranded inside the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington appears increasingly uninterested in Tbilisi, turning instead to Armenia and Azerbaijan as it reshapes its strategy in the South Caucasus.

A proposed record release of emergency strategic oil reserves from the International Energy Agency (IEA) could offer temporary relief to global markets if Middle Eastern supply disruptions deepen, but it will not prevent prices from rising again.

Escalating conflict in the Middle East could push the Gulf economies into recession this year, with the scale of the downturn depending largely on how long the fighting lasts and whether energy infrastructure suffers lasting damage.

Ukraine’s reconstruction debate often centres on infrastructure, security guarantees and the scale of international financing. One worker is now supporting one pensioner - the lowest ratio in Europe.

Data

Outlook for February indicates further deterioration as manufacturing PMI index declines.

The outbreak of what has been called “the worst energy disruption in history” by the IEA International Energy Agency (IEA) has sent the global geopolitical risk index to levels not seen since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York.

Iran’s oil exports have bounced back to surpass pre-war levels, data from analytics firm Kpler show, as regional producers have scaled back production due to difficulties exporting the commodity through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

Moldova’s economy expanded by 2.4% y/y in 2025, supported by a strong recovery in the second half of the year after a weak start.

For nine consecutive months, Romania’s exports have performed comparatively better than imports, resulting in a gradual narrowing of the trade deficit.

Features

Russia is poised to reap a major financial windfall from rising global oil prices due to the war in the Gulf, after the discounts on the Urals blend of oil fell to zero in the last week

Brussels is again considering a cap on gas prices to shield consumers from soaring energy costs, but the policy risks weakening Europe’s ability to attract LNG cargoes just as the bloc faces a difficult storage refill ahead of next winter.

Mass rallies held by Hungary’s two leading political blocs are widely seen as a measure of their capacity to rally voters ahead of the April 12 elections.

Economic impacts of the Iran conflict could threaten the broader macro-financial stability of a country that has a $50bn energy bill.

“He who can destroy a thing, controls the thing,” said Paul Atreides, the protagonist, played by Kyle MacLachlan in David Lynch’s version of Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi film Dune. “He who controls the spice controls the universe!”

Blogs

A “permits-for-passage" system emerges as the US heads towards a strategic defeat in Iran after the White House makes a string of strategic blunders.

Caracas stands to gain from surging crude prices triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but Washington's control over its oil income means the bonanza may consolidate authoritarian rule rather than rebuild a broken state.

Life in wartime Tehran has shifted to a neighbourhood-centric pattern as residents stay put, unable to afford evacuation. Field reporting reveals how economic pressure, not defiance, keeps millions in a city under sustained air strikes.

The Kremlin is looking on with concern as Operation Epic Fury unfolds in the Middle East. The US has gone in with its standard “shock and awe” strategy of attacking with overwhelming force. But Putin probably sees this as another Libya.

Albanian PM Edi Rama has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken backers of the US-Israeli military action against "murderers in Tehran".

bneGREEN

Under the complaint, OCBC is said to have failed to disclose its exposure to high-carbon assets fully. This put them in a position of potentially breaching disclosure rules set by the Singapore Exchange.

The number of days where extreme heat makes it too dangerously hot to go outside or engage in ordinary activities has doubled over the past 75 years, according to according to a paper published in the journal Environmental Research: Health.

South Korea has taken a formal step towards supporting the Philippines’ return to nuclear energy, with three major institutions signing an agreement to cooperate on future atomic power projects.

Global temperatures in 2025 ranked as the third-highest on record, according to analyses released by three major climate monitoring agencies, highlighting the continued acceleration of human-driven warming despite cooling influences from La Nina.

Missile strikes on fuel storage facilities in and around Tehran on March 8 triggered massive fires and sent toxic smoke across the Iranian capital, raising health concerns for millions of residents, as the cloud drifts towards Central Asia.

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