RBGPF
-13.5000
Bangladesh launched fuel rationing on Sunday as the war in the Middle East deepened an energy crunch, creating long queues at filling stations and boiling over into anger.
New mother Zhang Xiaofei wanted to be financially secure before having a baby, wary of high childcare costs that have been softened only a little by Chinese government cash incentives to boost record-low births.
Japanese entertainment giant Sony will face a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) class action lawsuit starting Tuesday in London, accused of allegedly breaching competition law by overcharging millions of UK PlayStation users.
For years India's economy was driven by its vast services sector that saw millions of people working away in low-cost back offices providing consultancy for predominantly western companies.
An Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people Sunday, Lebanese officials said, underscoring the widening reach of the US-backed war against Iran as missiles, drones and air strikes pounded targets across the region.
The global positioning system (GPS) capabilities of cargo ships, oil tankers and other vessels stuck in the Middle East because of the widening war are likely worse than those in your cell phone.
On a deserted road not too far from the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan, Satar Barsirini looked up at the sky, now streaked with jets and drones.
Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks on its Gulf neighbours hosting US forces on Saturday and vowed no surrender despite threats from President Donald Trump to widen the conflict.
President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the bombing of Iran on Saturday as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that he would never surrender, despite a fresh blitz of US and Israeli air strikes that set a Tehran airport ablaze.
Nepal's rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah won a dramatic parliamentary contest on Saturday, defeating veteran leader KP Sharma Oli in the former prime minister's own constituency after staking his political future on the challenge.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed Saturday that his country would never surrender, as Israel announced a fresh blitz led by 80 fighter jets which set one of Tehran's main airports on fire.
The latest bout of fighting between the United States, Israel and Iran has seen AI deployed as never before to sift intelligence and select targets, although the technology's use in war remains hotly debated.
Israel announced a new wave of "broad-scale" strikes on Tehran on Saturday as US President Donald Trump said only Iran's unconditional surrender would bring an end to the escalating Middle East war.
Venezuelan inflation soared to 475 percent in 2025, the highest in the world, driven by a tightening of US sanctions in the lead up to the ouster of leader Nicolas Maduro.
Only nine oil tankers, cargo and container ships, some of which at times concealed their position, have been recorded crossing the Strait of Hormuz since Monday, according to MarineTraffic data analysed by AFP.
The outbreak of war in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through financial markets, with energy prices soaring and stocks sliding, just a year after US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught rattled investors.
Only nine oil tankers, cargo and container ships, some of which at times concealed their position, have been recorded crossing the Strait of Hormuz since Monday, according to MarineTraffic data analysed by AFP.
Switzerland announced Friday it wanted to buy 30 US F-35A fighter jets rather than 36 after Washington hiked the price, and said its broader defence set-up needed repurposing to face current threats.
Crude prices surged higher Friday as oil fields in Iraq came under attack and US Donald Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender, while stocks slumped after data showed a surprise drop in jobs in the United States.
The United States and France have promised to secure oil shipping threatened by the Middle East war, but experts warn warship availability and Iran's wide range of weaponry could make this complicated.
Crude prices surged higher Friday as oil fields in Iraq came under attack and US Donald Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender, while stocks slumped after data showed a surprise drop in jobs in the United States.
US retail sales declined by 0.2 percent in January, according to delayed government data released on Friday, missing some analysts' expectations amid persistent concerns that consumption in the world's biggest economy is slowing.
Global energy prices have shot upwards after the US and Israel unleashed war in the Middle East, but just how far those shocks will ripple across the economy remains unclear.
A surge in natural gas prices since the Middle East war erupted has sparked renewed debate about Europe's electricity market, where prices are still linked to gas.
German media group Axel Springer said Friday it had agreed to buy right-wing British newspaper The Telegraph in a surprise move, as the UK government investigates a rival bid.
The United States unexpectedly lost jobs in February while unemployment edged up, government data showed Friday, piling pressure on President Donald Trump's economic agenda as key midterm elections approach.
Iranian drone strikes on Azerbaijan have raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus, as Baku, an ally of Israel, vows to respond.
Hungary will expel seven detained Ukrainians, the government said Friday, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traded threats in a row over stalled Russian oil supplies.
Global stock markets fluctuated and oil prices jumped Friday at the end of a volatile week's trading unleashed by the Middle East conflict.
China's leaders are "clearly aware" of challenges facing growth, the head of the country's top economic planning body said on Friday, vowing to boost sluggish domestic consumption.
Asian markets mostly down Friday as the war in the Middle East showed no sign of ending, though there was some reprieve from the surge in oil prices after the United States looked to ease supply concerns.
Asian markets were mixed Friday as the war in the Middle East showed no sign of ending, though there was some reprieve from the surge in oil prices after the United States looked to ease supply concerns.