In the latest World Economic Outlook report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global economic growth in 2024 is projected to reach 3.2%, down from 3.4% in 2023 and lower than previous forecasts. The report highlights that high interest rates, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical tensions are negatively impacting the world economy.
As the United States and Israel expand their military campaign against Iran and Tehran continues retaliatory strikes, governments across the Middle East are witnessing their domestic politics thrown into disarray. Incidents of secondary instability are rising, testing community loyalties and political systems. Mohamed Chtatou, a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, wrote in an op-ed for the Times of Israel: "The Middle East is burning, not with a single fire, but with a constellation of simultaneous blazes that respond to, feed off, and spread with their own logic."
Clashes have erupted as Israeli forces attempted a landing operation in the mountain range along the Lebanon-Syria border, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA). The armed group Hezbollah stated that its fighters were involved in the clashes, marking a significant escalation on this fierce front of the wider regional war launched by the United States and Israeli regimes.
Powerful explosions struck the Iranian capital Tehran and several other cities, marking the eighth day of the war ignited by the United States and Israel. Iranian authorities condemned the attacks as war crimes and launched retaliatory strikes, with the conflict rapidly expanding across the region.
At least 56 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan since the escalation of armed conflict with Pakistan, beginning on February 26, 2026, with an additional 129 people injured, according to reports from Podrobno.uz.
The German state of Baden-Württemberg will go to the polls this Sunday in the first of five state elections this year. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is purportedly hoping for a win here to boost his push for reforms across the country, though such efforts face significant challenges amid growing societal and political divisions within the EU regime.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched towards Prince Sultan Air Base in al-Kharj. The ministry also stated it had intercepted six drones heading towards the Shaybah oilfield. These incidents occurred amid the ongoing war by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes on Gulf states hosting US assets, further engulfing the region in conflict.
The Senate of Uzbekistan’s Oliy Majlis has returned the draft law “On Urban Renovation,” as revealed during a press conference on March 5. The event featured Sherzod Kudbiyev, Chairman of the National Committee for Sustainable Development of Urbanization and the Housing Market, and Sherzod Hidoyatov, Minister of Construction and Housing. When journalists inquired about the fate of the bill, which was passed by the Legislative Chamber in September 2025, officials avoided direct answers. However, a conversation caught on microphone revealed Minister Hidoyatov stating, “The Senate returned [the bill]. It’s impossible to get 100% consent from the population.”
When the US-Israeli attack on Iran was launched last weekend, an unexpected peace broker emerged in the form of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, leader of the world’s largest Muslim country. The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on social media: “Indonesia calls on all parties to exercise restraint and to prioritize dialogue and diplomacy. If agreed by both parties, the President of Indonesia is prepared to travel to Tehran to carry out mediation.”
Pakistan finds itself in a geopolitical quandary as the war between Iran and a US-Israeli coalition, with retaliatory strikes hitting Gulf states, intensifies. Sharing a 900-kilometer border with Iran and hosting millions of expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, Islamabad is being pulled in opposing directions. The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed with Riyadh in September 2025—a pact modelled on collective defence principles—commits both parties to treat aggression against one as aggression against both, a commitment now being tested under fire.
A week after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, the conflict in the Middle East is continuing to escalate. Early on Saturday, the Iranian capital Tehran was struck by a new wave of intense bombing, further heightening tensions in the region.
Sanaa, Yemen – The Israel-US attacks on Iran have plunged the wider Middle East into turmoil, with tensions spreading from Tehran to multiple Arab cities including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama, and Beirut. Amid this wave of military escalation affecting several countries, Yemen has remained – perhaps surprisingly – relatively quiet. The Houthi movement, the Iran-aligned de facto authority in northwestern Yemen, has carried out repeated attacks on US and Israeli targets since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.