Author: ALJAZEERA

City-state’s GDP expands 5.4 percent in July-September quarter, according to advance government estimates.Published On 14 Oct 202614 Oct 2026Singapore’s economy grew more than 5 percent in the most recent quarter, continuing an AI-fuelled boom that has made the city-state one of the fastest-growing advanced economies.Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.4 percent year-on-year between July and September, down from a 6.2 percent expansion in the second quarter, according to advance government estimates released on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listManufacturing, which is dominated by the city-state’s semiconductor industry, grew 7.5 percent, according to the estimates from the Ministry of…

Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar face double-digit declines in GDP amid the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran.Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026The economy of the Middle East and Central Asia is set to shrink in 2026 amid the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran, with countries such as Kuwait and Qatar facing double-digit contractions, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to contract by 0.3 percent this year, a sharp downgrade from the 1.9 percent expansion projected in April, the IMF said in its latest economic outlook on Tuesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe IMF cited…

Russia to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately, followed by 1.5 million more, as prices soar amid the Iran war.United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace, another 500,000 tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his…

Rising fuel prices push Delta’s annual fuel expenses up by $6bn, affecting its profit outlook for 2026.Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026Delta Air Lines cut its profit forecast despite heightened demand as fuel costs surge across the air travel sector.The Atlanta-based air carrier said in its third-quarter earnings report released on Friday that it expects its annual fuel costs to jump by $6bn, as ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran have sent fuel prices surging across the global aviation sector.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listOverall, US airlines spent nearly $43bn on fuel in the first…

At least 81 United States military aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, have been lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury, the code name for Washington’s military campaign against Iran launched earlier this year.The statistic comes as part of a report released on Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan government agency that provides budget-related research to the legislature.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt estimated that, as of August 1, the cost of the American aircraft losses during the US-Israeli war against Iran was between $1.9bn and $3.3bn.The report this week highlights the growing price tag…

Anna Gomez, the Democratic member of the United States Federal Communications Commission, has urged the federal agency not to allow robocalls generated with artificial intelligence in the lead-up to the midterm elections in early November.On Wednesday, the commissioner pushed back against a petition from Club for Growth, a national conservative fiscal policy organisation, to allow AI-generated robocalls.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe petition, filed on August 31, requested that the federal agency allow political groups to make automated phone calls to people without their prior permission. The group said it would limit calls so that the same person…

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin ⁠Salman says capacity restored after major attack last month.Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026Saudi Arabia’s energy minister has said that oil pumped through the key East-West Pipeline reached a capacity of 5.8 million barrels ⁠a day (bpd).Prince Abdulaziz bin ⁠Salman made the comments during a panel discussion at the GCC 2026 Forum in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, on Tuesday.“Not everyone knows that within five or six days, we began using the pipeline again after the major attack that struck it,” he said according to Saudi media, referring to drone strikes blamed on Iraqi militia last…

Singapore – Nur Aisyah, a 30-year-old civil servant, has spent the past couple of years looking for a partner, with little to show for it.Nur rarely meets men through work or her hobbies and finds dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble “terrible”, with potential suitors either putting scant effort into their profile or struggling to hold a conversation over text.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listNur is open to having children but also struggles to imagine raising them in a city where housing and childcare costs are high, and where the burden of childcare typically falls hardest on…

A historic collapseOne factor in the widespread disillusionment has been the Banco Master scandal. The financial imbroglio has delivered a black eye to both ends of Brazil’s political spectrum.A range of business leaders, political figures, regulators and judges have been swept up in the scandal.A mid-sized lender, Banco Master grew aggressively over the last decade by selling high-yield deposit certificates. Some of those certificates offered returns of up to 140 percent relative to Brazil’s benchmark interbank rate.But Banco Master did not have the assets needed to sustain that output.It lacked the money to pay back its risky loans, and what…

Lawsuit alleges NHTSA contravenes its congressional mandate to set fuel-economy standards at ‘maximum feasible’ .Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026Twenty-six states, including California and New York, have filed a lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump’s administration after the US Department of Transportation lowered fuel economy standards for petrol-powered vehicles.The lawsuit, filed on Friday, challenges the Department of Transportation’s rollback of fuel economy standards to a fleet average fuel economy of 34.9 miles (56km) per gallon (3.78 litres) by model year 2031. Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, fuel economy standards were set at 50.4 miles (81km)…