Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is reportedly considering early elections, as her popularity dips amid a rising challenge from the far right. Italy must vote by the end of 2027, but Meloni is reportedly eyeing an April date. Meloni, a sharp-tongued right-wing populist, won in 2022 on promises to tighten immigration, promote conservative values, and…
Riot police over the weekend raided the headquarters of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), following a court order to remove party leader Özgur Özel. There were subsequent demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara against the move by the government of President Recep Tayyip****Erdoğan , one that protesters…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday of the risks to global financial stability posed by cyberattacks powered by advanced artificial intelligence tools, calling for greater international cooperation on the issue. “IMF analysis suggests that extreme cyber-incident losses could trigger funding strains, raise solvency concerns, and disrupt broader markets,” the lender warned in a…
At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, CFA Institute former President and CEO Margaret Franklin joined GZERO’s Tony Maciulis to discuss how investors are adapting to a world where disruption has become the baseline.
Franklin said today’s environment is defined by increasingly frequent “shock moments,” noting that recent years have brought a rapid sequence of crises including…
The IMF and World Bank said Thursday they are restoring relations with Venezuela, further legitimizing the interim government and opening new doors to financial support. “Guided by the views of International Monetary Fund members representing a majority of the IMF’s total voting power, and consistent with long standing practice, the Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva today […]
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IMF economists warned Thursday that the war in Iran could have “very, certainly severe” consequences far outside the region – especially for energy-importing countries. Countries in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are among the countries most affected now — and who could suffer the most — outside the region, as the conflict stretches on. Ironically, […]
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At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, World Bank Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer Paschal Donohoe joined GZERO’s Tony Maciulis to discuss how development institutions balance immediate crises with long-term goals.
With conflicts, economic shocks, and shrinking development budgets putting pressure on global systems, Donohoe emphasized the need to stay focused on…
The Middle East war has created an “unprecedented shock” for the region’s economies with no guarantee of a quick recovery, a senior International Monetary Fund official has told AFP. Five of the Gulf’s eight oil- and gas-producing countries face a contraction this year, the IMF said in a regional report published on Thursday. Growth in […]
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At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, Eurasia Group’s Rob Kahn joined GZERO’s Tony Maciulis to assess why the IMF has downgraded global growth to 3.1%.
“I think it’s bigger than that,” Kahn says, arguing the global economy is absorbing multiple shocks at once. While last year’s resilience surprised many, he warns that the war in Iran “and all the disruption that comes from…
At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke with Microsoft’s Vickie Robinson and the World Bank Group’s German Cufré on why AI readiness depends on closing the digital access gap.
Despite progress, 2.2 billion people remain offline. “You need to cross the Rubicon from access to actual adoption,” Robinson said, noting that connectivity alone won’t…
While the world’s attention for the last month and a half has been on the Strait of Hormuz, it may soon switch to another vital shipping lane in the Middle East: the Red Sea. Why? On Wednesday, Tehran threatened to halt shipping there if the United States continued its blockade of ships that stopped at Iranian ports before exiting via Hormuz. Iran…
In the end, it wasn’t even close: Péter Magyar ’s Tisza party stormed to victory in yesterday’s Hungarian election, ousting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power. The result sparked scenes of jubilation on the streets of Budapest. Tisza is set to win 138 of Hungary’s 199 parliamentary seats, enough to enact constitutional changes…
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it was monitoring the impacts of the war in Iran on global inflation and output, but that no countries had so far approached it for emergency assistance related to the conflict. “If prolonged, higher energy prices will lead to higher headline inflation,” said IMF chief spokesperson Julie Kozack […]
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