News about World markets
The Hungarian real estate market and under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the fastest growing in the EU: according to Eurostat, in 2025 it grew by 23.7%.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19 in three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Vatican has once again found itself at the center of fashion discussions. The new pope – Pope Leo XIV – has suddenly attracted attention not by preaching, but by wearing shoes. In the trailer of the documentary “Leone a Roma” published by Vatican News, the pontiff appeared in traditional white vestments… and vintage Nike sneakers.
One of the largest aluminum producers in the world has taken an interest in the Nikolaev alumina refinery in Ukraine, which was nationalized from Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.
After weeks of Russian Urals crude benefiting from a global supply shortage, the market has suddenly changed direction. The Urals discount to benchmark Brent crude increased for the first time since the start of the war in Iran.
The European Union could send Ukraine the first tranche from a 90 billion euro loan package as early as next week.
The National Energy Regulatory Agency (NERA) has released the new maximum fuel prices that will be in effect tomorrow, May 12.
Germany’s Puma is going through a difficult period, with the company recording a loss in 2025 and warning that 2026 could remain unprofitable due to weak demand and business restructuring.
Potato acreage in Moldova has decreased by 10-20% this year, according to potato seed suppliers. The reasons are many – from radical cost reduction due to the rise in the price of all inputs, to the relatively low selling price of this product throughout the 2025/26 marketing season.
European oil and gas companies have benefited from rising energy prices. Shell on Thursday reported a 24% rise in first-quarter profit. BP also reported higher profits, while France’s TotalEnergies said its net profit jumped 51% to $5.8 billion.
American Kontoor Brands has started the process of selling the Lee jeans brand. The bidding procedure started in the first quarter of 2026 and has already attracted the interest of a number of potential buyers. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.
The main flight routes were in the vicinity of Havana and Santiago de Cuba. The operations involved P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft designed for maritime reconnaissance and surveillance, as well as RC-135V Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft and MQ-4C Triton high-altitude drones. The Pentagon declined to comment on the developments.
The decision of the German authorities to introduce a tax on sweet drinks as part of a package of health care reforms has sparked a debate about government interference in the diet of citizens. However, a number of countries around the world already levy such a tax for one reason or another. But is this a sufficient argument and are these reasons so objective?
Romania may face not a technical recession, but a full-fledged economic crisis in case of a new decline in GDP. This was stated by the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, against the background of the deterioration of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.
AI company Anthropic has closed one of the largest infrastructure deals in the history of the industry, gaining access to the entire computing power of SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center. This includes more than 220,000 Nvidia GPUs and over 300 megawatts of computing power, a resource that was recently used to develop Ilon Musk’s rival xAI project.
The European Union intends to hold a meeting of foreign ministers of member states by the end of May to determine the topics and formats of possible negotiations with Russia. This was announced by the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, on 11 May.
US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s response to the American plan to end the war. Trump’s quick response led to a sharp rise in oil prices.
Bitcoin stabilized on Monday, squandering much of the weekend’s gains amid escalating tensions over Iran, which offset optimism over progress on the U.S. regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
The European Union is preparing a 21st package of sanctions against Moscow, within which it intends to increase pressure on the “shadow fleet,” Russian banks and the Russian Orthodox Church, Politico writes, citing European officials and diplomats.
In Latvia, illegal operators have a significant share in the online gambling segment. According to the H2 Gambling Capital (H2GC) agency, in 2025 the gross revenue from gambling in the unlicensed market of the country reached 62 million euros.
