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News

The written statement, published on the official Khamenei.ir website and broadcast on state television, sets out the ideological and strategic contours of Iran’s leadership transition.

The Dubai Media Office confirmed that a drone crashed into a building in Dubai Creek in the early hours of Thursday, March 12, at approximately 2:45 a.m.

Observation and intelligence-gathering systems, as well as logistical support equipment such as aerial refuelling aircraft, will be deployed in Romania.

Critics of the bill say it imitates Russian legislation aimed at restricting the activities of NGOs.

Brent crude rose almost 9% in early Asian trading, surpassing $100 a barrel, despite the International Energy Agency (IEA) announcing late on March 11 that all 32 member countries would release up to 400mn barrels of oil.

Tech

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.

If completed, the complex would become Estonia’s largest electricity consumer and is expected to create more than 150 new jobs.

Existing international investors VR Capital, Tencent and FinSight Ventures also participated in the funding.

Opinion

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.

Armenia is navigating one of its most consequential geopolitical transitions since independence in 1991, says a report published by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

Hungary’s decision to block a €90bn EU loan to Ukraine has exposed deepening tensions between Budapest and Kyiv, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban escalates a confrontation that analysts say is increasingly tied to domestic politics.

Data

Households reduced spending amid rising energy bills, slower wage growth and a deteriorating outlook.

Ministry of Finance Chief Economist Dr Shmuel Abramson reduced Israel's 2026 GDP growth forecast from 5.2% to 4.7%.

Around 1.9mn people last year came to the country for leisure and recreational tourism. Figure rose by around 740,000 year on year.

EBRD projects Montenegro’s GDP to expand by 3.2% in 2026, up by 0.5 percentage points from the estimate issued in September.

Annual inflation fell from the 3.2% recorded in January.

Features

The combined wealth of Russia’s billionaires is now $696.5bn, more than the combined savings of the entire Russian population and almost double what it was at the start of the Ukraine war, Forbes reported on March 11.

The Iran conflict is costing the Middle East tourism economy $600mn a day, WTTC said, with 4mn passengers stranded, 80,000 Dubai bookings cancelled and the region's $207bn annual visitor spending forecast now at serious risk.

The price of Russian crude rose above the level assumed in the country’s federal budget for the first time in more than a year on the back of turmoil on the international energy markets as the Middle East conflict reshapes Moscow’s finances.

Where is the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei? Since he was appointed on March 8 he has issued no statements, made no public appearances, and in fact has been totally invisible.

COSCO halts Panama Canal port calls after government seizes terminals, triggering $2bn arbitration, shipping reroutes, and a flashpoint in China-US maritime competition.

Blogs

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".

Asian economies, heavily dependent on energy imports, stand to gain the most as Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the Khuzestan region, and is the second-largest in terms of natural gas deposits.

bneGREEN

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.

Officials struggle to convince inhabitants that the science shows Israeli bomb strikes on Iranian oil depots cannot lead to such a nightmare.

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