India
Toyota Middle East exports nosedive
Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) said on May 28 that exports from Japan to the Middle East plunged 91.7% in April from a year earlier to 2,418 vehicles, as conflict in the region disrupted demand.
India’s Morbi ceramic cluster hit by supply chain disruptions linked to Middle East conflict
The Indian ceramic and tiles industry, which maintains a deep trade link with the countries in the Middle East region, has been severely affected by the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.
India as a rising pharmaceutical power
India’s ace in the hole is mainly generic drug manufacturing, a sub-sector of pharmaceutical manufacturing where it holds over 20% of the market by volume. This translates into manufacturing for over 60,000 brands in 60 distinct categories.
India blocks parody ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ website
India’s viral parody political movement, the “Cockroach Janta Party”, says its website has been blocked just days after launching, as its online following continues to surge past 20mn.
The baby bust: how a global demographic crisis crept up on everyone
Just a decade ago, the dominant demographic narrative was of "dying Russia" — a population hollowed out by the chaos that followed the Soviet collapse, shrinking through a combination of low birth rates, high mortality and mass emigration.
Can a satirical social media movement change Indian politics?
While not a new concept, the Cockroach Janta Party, has a similar aesthetic quality to the Gen-Z movements that led to political regime changes in India’s neighbouring countries, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Surprise 50 bps Bank Indonesia hike signals hawkish tilt toward currency defence
The move caught the broader market off guard. A majority of 29 analysts predicted a milder 25 bps increase, while the remaining 13 expected the central bank to maintain its pause.
Fuel prices cast a dark shadow over Asia travel season
There will be no real winners in traditional tourism this summer – only airlines, tourist destinations and central banks left counting the cost.
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Did Trump just sell the world in Beijing?
Trump's two-day Beijing summit was sold as stabilisation. From Riyadh to Warsaw and from Caracas to Astana, it has been read as something else: the spectacle of Washington and Beijing dividing up the world without the consent of those affected by it.
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.
IMF: Extreme inequality is fuelling a global debt crisis
During the Great Depression, as he saw ordinary people’s purchasing power collapse, Federal Reserve Chairman Marriner Eccles warned that excessive saving by the rich was draining demand and deepening the downturn.
Indian markets snap four day losing streak
The BSE Sensex added 50 points to settle at 74,609, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 33 points to close at 23,413, with both indices oscillating through positive and negative territory before securing modest gains into the close.
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Sri Lanka’s economy rebounds in 2025, but risks persist
The country’s agriculture grew by 1.4% and industry witnessed robust expansion of 7.8%, albeit slower than the year before, reflecting normalisation from the crisis-era lows.
World oil inventories falling fast towards hard operational floor
The world's oil buffer is disappearing faster than at any point in recorded history. Two months into the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, global inventories are drawing down at a pace that has already exceeded the previous quarterly record.
Global biofuel production up sevenfold in the last two decades - OWID
In the late 20th century, a handful of countries — led by Brazil and the United States — turned to liquid biofuels to reduce their dependence on foreign oil markets, producing transport fuels from cheap crops instead.
The world's piracy hotspots – Statista
A fourth vessel has been hijacked by Somali pirates, this time off the coast of Yemen. The oil tanker MT Eureka was captured in the Gulf of Aden on May 2 and reportedly taken toward Somalia, marking the latest incident in a renewed wave of piracy.
A world more afraid: Wars fuelling rising fears of foreign attacks
The world is simultaneously more afraid of war and less willing to fight one, according to the 2026 Democracy Perception Index. Governments are spending more on defence, but in the Western world the citizens are increasingly unwilling to go to war.
Global democracy perception of US collapses, behind Russia and China for first time
A survey of nearly 100,000 people across 98 countries has found that global perception of the US has collapsed to its lowest recorded level — placing it among the five most negatively perceived countries in the world, behind both Russia and China,
India's Gujarat state commissions 870-MW battery storage capacity across five locations
India’s western state of Gujarat has rolled out battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 870 MW at five sites as part of its push to strengthen renewable energy integration and grid reliability.
Solar-plus-storage fall below those of fossil fuels - IRENA
wRenewable power paired with battery storage is becoming cost-competitive with fossil fuels for around-the-clock electricity supply, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).