Emirates Global Aluminium won’t be fixed for a year

Middle East conflict pushes global food prices up in March, FAO says

UN agency highlights broader economic impact of disruptions in key energy routes, as Strait of Hormuz closure “sent shockwaves across the global economy, with notable spillovers to the agricultural sector”.

IRGC has denied any link to the reported attack on US Embassy in Riyadh

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has denied involvement in an ആക്രമ on the US embassy in Riyadh, describing the incident as an Israeli “false-flag operation”.

US and Israel strike Iranian petrochemical hub, raising fears of supply shocks

The US and Israel struck Iran’s major petrochemical complex on April 4, damaging multiple facilities in the southern Mahshahr region and raising concerns over global supply disruptions in plastics and fertilisers.

Three tankers exit Hormuz hugging Omani coast

In what appears to be the first exit from the Persian Gulf by oil tankers without permission from Iran, three large vessels linked to Oman left the Strait of Hormuz by hugging the sultanate’s coastline, Bloomberg reported on April 3.

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: 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.

TCHAKAROV: Shockwaves from Tehran in the Caucasus and Central Asia

The spillover effects of recent developments in Iran have already begun to manifest themselves in ways that demand investor attention.

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.

Kazakhstan’s manufacturing output fell at fastest pace in four years in March, PMI shows

Companies pull back on operations in response to muted demand.

Polish manufacturers signal optimism despite Middle East scare, new PMI reading suggests

Poland’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 48.7 points in March from 47.1 in February, signalling a slower deterioration in manufacturing conditions but remaining below the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction.

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.

ASIA BLOG: China wins while Iran burns

The world needs a stable Asia – East and West – and would be better served by the removal of the current Iranian regime. Only in the removal of said regime will Beijing be forced back into a more constrained, less opportunistic global role.

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.

TEHRAN BLOG: Permits-for-passage system emerges as the US heads towards a strategic defeat in Iran

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.

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.