• Hank Paulson on Iran War, Inflation, and Market Risk | 2026-04-18
  The war in Iran is putting pressure on global energy markets, but its broader economic impact could be even farther-reaching. Former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson says the conflict is likely to push inflation higher, keep interest rates elevated, and strain industries from airlines to agriculture. At the same time, Paulson highlights rising sovereign debt and a fragile US-China relationship as key vulnerabilities, arguing that while the US economy remains resilient, the longer-term risks are mounting. (Source: Bloomberg)
• Goldman Sachs lowers EUR/HUF forecast on fiscal, inflation outlook | 2026-04-18
  
• Nigeria Maintains Single-Digit Inflation Target Despite Iran War Pains | 2026-04-18
  Nigeria’s central bank will stay focused on driving down inflation even as the oil price shock caused by the Iran war pushed monthly prices to the highest in more than two decades in March.
• Trading Desks Boom While Big Oil Output Stalls | 2026-04-18
  Europe’s oil majors are set for strong earnings, driven by exceptional trading profits amid extreme volatility in global oil and gas markets.
• Mazzucato on the Iran war’s economic shock: Who pays the price? | 2026-04-18
  Redi Tlhabi speaks to economist Mariana Mazzucato on the Iran war’s economic fallout and who’s really paying the price.
• Charting the Global Economy: IMF Trims World Growth Projections | 2026-04-18
  The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecast for 2026 as the oil-price shock from war in the Middle East rippled across economies worldwide.
• US renews Russian oil waiver after pressure from countries dealing with Iran war price shocks  | 2026-04-18
  The Trump administration on Friday renewed a waiver allowing countries ‌to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for about a month, even as lawmakers accused the government of going easy on Moscow as its war on Ukraine grinds on.
• North Korea fires ballistic missile, Yonhap News says | 2026-04-18
  North Korea fired ‌a ballistic missile towards the east, ​Yonhap News ​Agency said on Sunday, ⁠citing South ​Korea's Joint Chiefs ​of Staff (JCS).
• North Korea Tests Unidentified Ballistic Missile, Yonhap Says | 2026-04-18
  North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile eastward, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military.
• Ethereum Foundation-Backed Program Exposes 100 Nort Korea Operatives Infiltrating Crypto Firms | 2026-04-18
  The Ketman Project, operating under the Ethereum Foundation’s ETH Rangers security program, has in the latest Ethereum news, identified approximately 100 North Korea Crypto IT operatives embedded inside Web3 companies using fabricated identities, the result of a six-month investigation that ended with one of the most detailed public tallies of ...
• Construction on Trump’s White House ballroom can continue for now, US appeals court says | 2026-04-18
  A U.S. appeals court is allowing construction to continue on President Donald Trump's $400 million ballroom.
• Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on? | 2026-04-18
  Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers
• Trump ballroom construction allowed for now, US appeals court says | 2026-04-18
  A U.S. appeals court allowed President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday night to continue construction of a $400 million ballroom ​on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, ‌setting a June hearing to review a Washington judge’s order halting the project.
• Investigators examine whether Ukraine terrorist attack was directed by Russia | 2026-04-18
  The attacker, who killed six people in Kyiv before police shot him dead, was a Ukrainian citizen born in Moscow
• Robin Brooks Warns Europe Must Block Russian Oil Exports To Impact War Financing | 2026-04-18
  In a recent post on X, Robin Brooks argued Europe has the tools to squeeze Russia's war finances by stopping seaborne crude shipments leaving the Baltic, saying a U.S.-style cutoff has a track record of forcing exporters to bend.
• Ukraine strikes industrial targets in Volga river towns, Samara governor says | 2026-04-18
  Ukrainian drones struck ​industrial targets overnight ‌in the Volga river cities ​of Syzran ​and Novokuibyshevsk in Russia's ⁠Samara region, ​local governor Vyacheslav ​Fedorischev said on Saturday, adding that the ​attack was ​continuing.
• Russia has looted thousands of Ukrainian cultural objects in the war. Finding them is a challenge | 2026-04-18
  Ukraine is struggling to recover thousands of artworks and other cultural objects lost during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
• The Iran war has revealed Trump's pressure point: the economy | 2026-04-18
  Seven weeks of war have failed to topple Iran’s theocratic rulers or force them to meet all of President Donald Trump's demands, but for U.S. adversaries and allies it has cast a spotlight on one of his central vulnerabilities: economic pressure.
• Record Highs in the S&P 500 Show Selling on War Headlines Is Usually a Mistake | 2026-04-18
  The stock market has gone up despite the Iran war -- this shows the value of buy-and-hold investing.
• US extends waiver on Russian oil sanctions to ease Iran war shortages despite Bessent denial | 2026-04-18
  The U.S. Treasury Department has extended its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments to ease shortages from the Iran war, days after Secretary Scott Bessent ruled out such a move.

News source: finlight