NEW YORK -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2026 to 3.1 percent in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday, while keeping its projection for 2027 at 3.2 percent.
This marks a deceleration from the estimated 3.4 percent growth achieved in 2025. Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the bottom-up forecasts for global growth would have been 3.4 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027. (IMF-World Economic Outlook)
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NEW DELHI -- At least 10 people were killed and 40 others injured on Tuesday after a boiler exploded inside a power plant in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, multiple local media reports said.
The blast took place at the Vedanta power plant in Singhitarai village of Sakti district, about 228 km northeast of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh. (India-Boiler Explosion)
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GAZA -- Hamas-run media office said on Tuesday that the Israeli army has committed 2,400 violations, resulting in 754 Palestinians deaths and 2,100 injuries, six months after the ceasefire in Gaza took effect.
In a statement, the office said that from Oct. 10, 2025, when the ceasefire began, to April 14, 2026, the Israeli army has committed "serious violations of the agreement, constituting a blatant breach of international humanitarian law and a deliberate undermining of the essence of the ceasefire and the provisions of the attached humanitarian protocol." During this period, the Israeli army also arrested 50 people, added the statement. (Gaza Strip-Hamas-Israel)
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BEIRUT -- At least 14 people were killed and five others injured in Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon since early Tuesday, according to local reports.
In the south, Israeli warplanes hit multiple areas, killing three in the coastal town of Adloun, two people in the municipality of Arab Salim, one person in the village of Shabriha, and another two in a drone strike targeting a car shortly after midnight near Nabatieh. Three more were killed in a pre-dawn strike in the Bint Jbeil district. (Lebanon-Israel-Deaths)
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ROME -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday she was suspending the country's defense agreement with Israel, which involves the exchange of military equipment and technology research, media reports said.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported that Meloni made the remarks to the press while attending an event in Verona. "We have decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel in consideration of the current situation," she said. (Italy-Israel-Defense Agreement) ■
