Russia oil and gas revenues up 40% in May on Iran war pressures

Russia’s oil and gas revenues are expected to jump 39% year on year in May to about RUB700bn ($9.8bn), buoyed by higher global crude prices driven by the conflict involving Iran, according to Reuters calculations published on May 20.

Top Lithuanian officials take shelter after air alert after suspected drone approaches from Belarus

Defence ministry declared a “Red” alert in Vilnius county, ordering residents to take shelter.

Putin and Xi deepen anti-West axis

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the presence of the Russian president is intended to introduce stability into an unpredictable international landscape.

Argentina in talks to extend China currency swap even as repayments near completion

Argentina is negotiating an extension of its currency swap agreement with China even as it moves to repay most of the activated funds under the facility by mid-2026, according to statements from the country’s central bank.

Somaliland to open Israeli embassy in Jerusalem

Somaliland will establish its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem, following the US, as Hargeisa seeks closer relations with the Mediterranean country.

Autonomous trucks clock 250,000 km a week on Russian highways

Autonomous freight trucks are travelling around 250,000 kilometres each week on Russian federal highways, according to Alexey Raikevich, chief executive of JSC GLONASS, as Moscow accelerates plans to expand driverless logistics operations.

French AI giant acquires startup co-founded by Latvian entrepreneur

French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI has agreed to acquire Austrian startup Emmi AI, an industrial engineering technology firm co-founded by Latvian entrepreneur Miks Miksons.

Israel's Decart secures $300mn in funding following Nvidia and Amazon deals

Israeli AI company Decart has raised $300mn in a new funding round less than a year after its previous raise, lifting its valuation to $4bn.

Iraqi SIM card trade emerges in Iran's western border regions

A market for Iraqi SIM cards has emerged in towns along Iran's western border as internet restrictions push traders and residents towards foreign mobile networks to reach messaging apps blocked inside the country.

Astana finally has its light rail metro system

Corruption, cost overruns and fires dogged the project for much of the 20 years it took to construct. Chinese-built automated service is driverless.

Energy, transit and geopolitics reshape ties between EU and Azerbaijan

The European Union and Azerbaijan are rebuilding relations after years of strain, says a Carnegie Politika analysis.

COMMENT: What to expect from the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum

The fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) will take place on June 16–18, 2026 just as the government floated the Uzbekistan National Investment Fund (UzNIF) on the London Stock Exchange. The economy is booming and FDI is rising fast.

COMMENT: Did Trump ruin the Abraham Accords?

Trump has seemingly ruined his much hyped Abraham Accords after backing Israel's war on Iran. Now what?

RAGOZIN: From reform to relapse, Ukraine’s corruption problems resurface

Charges brought against president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, focus on four mansion houses in the luxury estate co-op called Dynasty. But corruption has long been an intimate feature of Ukrainian politics.

US–China Summit: A strategic moment for stabilizing bilateral relations

US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on May 13 for a new round of face-to-face talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping from May 14 to 15, a meeting arriving at a particularly delicate moment in global politics and the international economy.

Russia’s ruble best performing currency in the world in 1Q26

The Russian ruble has become the world’s best-performing currency for a second consecutive year, buoyed by high oil revenues, capital controls and tight monetary policy that analysts say have entrenched structural imbalances in the economy.

Polish bourse's blue-chip index seen approaching all-time high, if banks continue to soar

The Warsaw Stock Exchange's blue-chip WIG20 index could approach its all-time highest level set in 2007 if positive sentiment towards banks, fuelled by interest rate hike expectations, steps up, a brokerage director said.

Iran's fertility rate falls to 1.35 as births drop below 900,000

Iran's fertility rate has fallen to 1.35 children per woman, well below the replacement level, with annual births dropping below 900,000 for the first time, the Health Ministry has said.

Russia’s small businesses buckle under taxes, weak demand and wartime disruption

Russia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing their most difficult year since the invasion of Ukraine, squeezed by higher taxes, falling consumer demand, elevated borrowing costs and mounting internet disruptions.

Moldova raises inflation forecast amid Middle East tensions and higher energy costs

Upward revision reflects higher expected prices for food, fuels and regulated utility tariffs, as well as the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on international markets.

Why Afghanistan dreams of opening up Wakhan Corridor, the mountain valley that connects three worlds

Likely once trodden by Alexander the Great and Marco Polo, its potential is fascinating.

Peru's run-off offers voters a choice between two constitutional crises

Two legally embattled candidates. A Senate neither controls. Peru isn't choosing a president on June 7 — it's choosing the shape of its next crisis.

MACRO ADVISORY: Uzbekistan clearer opportunities and challenges

President Mirizoyev recently declared that the latest program of reforms has been completed. That focused on reforming the system of government, the state bureaucracy and improving both economic and physical infrastructure.

Azerbaijan's graduate glut

Most of the new jobs created in Azerbaijan are in construction, but over 50% of the new graduate workforce is humanities-trained.

Trump-Xi summit sparks Taiwan headlines, but raises doubts over US grasp of bigger picture

MOSCOW BLOG: Trump eats humble pie in Beijing

US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing ends today and he has been forced to eat humble pie after coming out of the gate last year with an extremely aggressive policy on China.

VISEGRAD BLOG: Hungary’s post-Orban reckoning

PM Peter Magyar pledged to dismantle the institutional and financial legacy of Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule, with implications beyond Hungary’s borders.

MOSCOW BLOG: Russia's social contract has broken down

Something has quietly shifted in Russia. Not the social and economic meltdown Western pundits have been confidently predicting almost continuously for the last two decades. But something has changed and the people are not happy.

BALKAN BLOG: Wave of Trump-linked Balkan investments sparks transparency concerns

Mega deals announced by Trump-linked companies brings up concerns over corruption and environmental impact similar to those raised over Chinese and Middle Eastern investments in the past.

MOSCOW BLOG: EU unblocks Ukrainian loan, twentieth sanctions package, as Kyiv builds a robot army

Phew. That was an effort. EU leaders met in Brussels yesterday and signed off on releasing the €90bn loan for Ukraine that will keep it in the fight with Russia for another two years. They also passed the twentieth sanctions package on Russia,

Vietnam plans 270MW floating solar across hydropower reservoirs

Vietnam’s state-owned power producer EVNGENCO1 has proposed adding 270MW of floating solar capacity across three hydropower reservoirs in southern Vietnam

Taiwan’s renewable energy push is a combination of ambition, delays, and dependence

The government originally targeted a 2025 electricity mix of 20% renewables, 50% LNG and 30% coal. That target has since quietly slipped, with officials now acknowledging that the 20% renewables goal will likely not be reached until after 2026.

China added a Germany-sized electricity grid last year - OWID

We’ll often see headlines quoting how many gigawatts of new solar farms or coal plants China is building. But it’s hard to get a meaningful sense of scale for how electricity generation in China is changing.

Montenegro advances climate reforms as EU accession prospects strengthen

Podgorica steps to align national climate change legislation with European Union standards, and advancing the EU integration process.

Germany revamps its energy laws, but risks locking itself into decades of costly gas import dependence

Germany risks locking itself into decades of costly gas import dependence unless policymakers give battery storage equal treatment in upcoming power market reforms, energy think-tank Ember has warned.