This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 15, 2026 – June 21, 2026 We are in crisis mode, and Malaysians must bite the bullet. That was the central message of my previous article (Issue 1623, April 20) on the Middle East crisis and the Israeli-led US-Iran war that erupted on…
Israel’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2026, following a downwardly revised 2.9% growth in Q4 2025, according to secondary estimates. The quarter’s results were significantly affected by the “Harry’s Roar” war, which disrupted economic activity and weighed on domestic demand. Private consumption declined 5.0%, while public consumption…
BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 16. Azerbaijan strengthens the role of transport-logistics hub and develops green energy, Advisor to the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Huseyn Huseynov, said at the 14th Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Private Sector Forum in Baku, Trend‘s correspondent reports from the event. According to Huseynov, the geographical position of Azerbaijan at the…
Show Fullscreen As the Gulf crisis eases into a fragile stalemate, it might be considered a mark of progress that the EU Commission is once again examining the issue of fresh produce from illegal settlements in the West Bank being mislabelled as ‘Product of Israel’ on European retail shelves. Businesses throughout the fresh produce supply…
Kaja Kallas has again been rebuffed by her colleagues at the European Commission after calling for new measures to prevent trade with illegal Israeli settlements. In a humiliation for Kallas, who is both the EU foreign affairs chief and a vice-president of the Commission, officials ruled out new restrictive trade measures, which have the support…
Tensions have continued in French-Israeli relations, with France recognising Palestinian statehood last year and two far-right Israeli ministers recently being banned from entering the country. The stands at the Eurosatory arms and security trade show were “closed due to non-compliance with participation conditions set by the French authorities,” the organiser, Coges Events, said in a statement to French…
The so-called ‘Turnberry deal’ was widely characterised as a humiliating capitulation by the EU in the face of furious tariff threats dished out by Donald Trump. But what was presented last July as a grand victory for the US leader was, in fact, only the start of a series of negotiations that pitched the European…
Melike Pala 16 June 2026•Update: 16 June 2026 Several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called on the EU on Tuesday to halt trade with illegal Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory, as pressure grows on Brussels to take concrete action against settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. During a plenary debate with…
Follow our live coverage here. No region of the world produces more oil and gas than the countries straddling the Persian Gulf. Most of this energy can only be exported aboard tankers that cross the Strait of Hormuz – a waterway that’s effectively been closed for more than three months since the US and Israel…
Israel Ports Company Chairman Chazi Chalaweya addressed the importance of trade to the country’s national security, saying that if Israel cannot create alternatives for itself, “we will lose the war.” In an interview with the Ynet studio, he explained: “We talk a lot about Israel’s security, what worries us is the missiles – and I…
