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World Bank cuts Middle East growth forecast after energy sector turmoil

DUBAI: The World Bank has slashed its 2026 growth forecast for Middle East economies as a consequence of the US-Israel war against Iran , and warned of pervasive risks in a report published on Wednesday. President Donald Tru­mp late on Tuesday announced a two-week ceasefire in the conflict. Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran would stop counter-attacks and provide safe passage through the waterway. The closure of the strategic strait, and destruction of energy and public infrastructure, had disrupted markets, increased financial volatility, and weakened the 2026 growth outlook, the World Bank Group said in its Economic Update for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan. “Risks are firmly tilted to the downside. Uncertainty is pervasive, and the economic outlook could shift significantly if the conflict intensifies or protracts,” the report said. Overall GDP growth in the region, excluding Iran, is expected to slow from an estimated four per cent in 2025 to 1.8pc fo...
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War in Middle East fails to dent remittances in March

KARACHI: Despite turbulence stemming from the ongoing Middle East conflict, the country received 17 per cent higher remittances in March compared to February, the State Bank of Pakistan announced on Wednesday. The $3.8bn inflow was the highest so far this fiscal year, but it was 5pc lower compared to $4bn in March FY25. The war did not impact remittances from the Middle East, as inflows from almost all countries experienced positive growth. Currency experts said that the higher inflow in March was also due to Ramazan, but the war in the Gulf was more significant than anything else. Pakistanis working in the Gulf countries did not return home; instead, hundreds of Pakistanis have been applying for UAE visas. Pakistan gets fiscal year’s highest inflow of $3.8bn The SBP data showed that the country received a total of $30.321bn during July-March FY26, indicating an increase of 8.2pc or $2.29bn. The country received $28bn in 9MFY25. Remittances are the backbone of the country, a...
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Democrats call on Republicans to prioritise patriotic duty over party loyalty and stop Trump’s ‘madness’

Democrats lawmakers in the US House of Representatives called on Republicans on Tuesday “to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and stop what they called “madness” after President Donald Trump, in his latest threat to Iran, warned of decimating an entire civilisation. Trump has given Iran until 8pm in Washington — 3:30am in Tehran — to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and enter a deal with Washington or see the US destroy every bridge ‌and power plant in Iran. Earlier in the day, Trump renewed his threat, stating in a Truth Social post: “A whole ​civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” In a joint statement, the House Democrats said that Trump’s threat that he will destroy “a whole civilisation” in Iran required a “decisive Congressional response”. “Donald Trump is completely unhinged. His statement, threatening to eradicate an entire civilisation, shocks the conscience and requires a decisive ...
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Indian billionaire Gautam Adani will seek to dismiss fraud case in US

Gautam Adani, India’s second richest person, will ask a US judge to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil fraud case stemming from an alleged bribery scheme, his lawyers said on Tuesday. Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani were charged by the SEC in November 2024 with orchestrating a scheme to pay or promise to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials to benefit Adani Green Energy, where both men are executives and directors. The securities fraud case is tied to Adani Green’s alleged failure to disclose the scheme in documents for a $750 million bond offering in 2021. In a filing in the Brooklyn, New York federal court, the Adanis’ lawyers said their clients disputed that there was any credible evidence supporting the alleged bribery scheme. The lawyers said the Adanis’ lack of involvement in the offering, and the absence of any intent to defraud or negligence, supported a dismissal. They also called the SEC claims “impermis...
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Israeli strikes leave 15 more dead in Lebanon

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BEIRUT: Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, including a local official from a Christian political party, a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close. Israel has launched airstrikes across Lebanon as well as a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran. One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese health ministry said. A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta, far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said. Christian political party official, his wife among deceased The Lebanese Forces Party identified two of the dead as Pierre Moawad, a local party official, a...
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Punjab Assembly committee calls for abolishing colonial-era law that ‘criminalises poverty’

LAHORE: A high-level committee of the Punjab Assembly has declared that a controversial colonial-era law effectively criminalises poverty and must be abolished, it emerged on Monday. The Committee on Law Reforms and Delegated Legislation met on Monday at the Punjab Assembly under the chairmanship of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, taking up critical issues ranging from outdated criminal laws to police accountability. A major highlight of the sitting was the review of Section 55(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, which allows police to arrest individuals without warrant if they have “no ostensible means of subsistence.” The committee described the provision as an outdated colonial relic that criminalised poverty instead of criminal conduct, and conflicted with fundamental constitutional rights. A detailed reform proposal recommends complete omission of this clause, along with related provisions, to prevent misuse. The proposed reforms also suggest tightening another ...
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Trump says Vance, Witkoff, Kushner talking with intermediaries in Pakistan; could ‘take down Iran tomorrow’

US President Donald Trump asserted on Monday that Iran could be taken out in one night, “and that night might be tomorrow night”, even as he said shortly afterwards that US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, was talking to intermediaries in Pakistan. His statements from two different events came ahead of a looming Tuesday night deadline he gave to Tehran to agree to a ceasefire deal with Washington, warning of wider bombing on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway. Iranian media reported on Monday that Tehran had rejected the US ceasefire proposal through intermediary Pakistan, and had instead shared a 10-point proposal, demanding an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction. Addressing a White House press conference on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran could be taken ...
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