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China Shipping Giant Cosco Resumes Bookings to Some Gulf Countries

A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
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China Shipping Giant Cosco Resumes Bookings to Some Gulf Countries

A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)

Chinese shipping giant Cosco said on Wednesday that it was resuming new bookings for container shipments to some Gulf countries, after a three-week suspension in response to the Middle East war.

The state-owned, Shanghai-based firm was among several major shipping groups to pause operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passes normally.

Tehran has said several times it was not targeting friendly nations, but transits through the Strait had nevertheless largely ground to a halt.

Iran said in a statement circulated by the International Maritime Organization on Tuesday that "non-hostile vessels" would be granted safe passage through the waterway.

Cosco "resumed new bookings for general cargo containers for shipments" from the "Far East" to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq "with immediate effect", according to a company statement.

It did not mention shipments travelling in the opposite direction, from the Gulf.

"New booking arrangements and the actual carriage are subject to change due to the volatile situation in the Middle East region," it added.

Cosco, which operates one of the world's largest oil tanker fleets, announced on March 4 that it would suspend new bookings for services for routes through the Strait of Hormuz owing to the "escalating conflicts in the Middle East region and resultant restrictions on maritime traffic".

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Türkiye Raises End-2026 Inflation Target to 24%

FILE PHOTO: A view of the city's business and financial districts, from the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge, known as the Bosphorus Bridge, which links the city's Asian and European sides, in Istanbul, Türkiye, November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the city's business and financial districts, from the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge, known as the Bosphorus Bridge, which links the city's Asian and European sides, in Istanbul, Türkiye, November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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Türkiye Raises End-2026 Inflation Target to 24%

FILE PHOTO: A view of the city's business and financial districts, from the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge, known as the Bosphorus Bridge, which links the city's Asian and European sides, in Istanbul, Türkiye, November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the city's business and financial districts, from the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge, known as the Bosphorus Bridge, which links the city's Asian and European sides, in Istanbul, Türkiye, November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Türkiye's central bank raised its end-2026 interim inflation target to 24% from 16% Governor Fatih Karahan said on Thursday, forecasting that the inflationary effects related to the Iran war would remain pronounced in the short term.

Presenting the central bank's quarterly inflation report in Istanbul, Karahan said the bank also lifted its end-2027 interim inflation target ⁠to 15% from ⁠9%, setting its end-2028 interim target at 9%.

"While the central question before us is how long the regional tensions and pressures on energy supply will persist, we assess that the related inflationary effects ⁠will remain pronounced in the short term," Reuters quoted Karahan as saying.

He said that how long the tension lasts is a critical risk factor in terms of the inflation outlook, adding that there would be no compromise on the bank's determination to bring down inflation and it will continue to use all available tools for disinflation.

In the previous quarterly inflation report ⁠in ⁠February, the bank raised its year-end inflation forecast range by two percentage points to 15-21% and maintained its interim 16% target, despite market doubts about whether the downward trend seen throughout 2025 is on track.

The war-related surge in energy prices has rattled import-heavy economies like Türkiye. Monthly inflation surged to 4.18% in April and 32.37% on the year.

Business

UK Economy Shows Unexpected Growth of 0.3% in March

Union flags flutter in the breeze close to the Victoria Tower and Palace of Westminster, home to the two houses of Parliament, after the State Opening of Parliament in London on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Union flags flutter in the breeze close to the Victoria Tower and Palace of Westminster, home to the two houses of Parliament, after the State Opening of Parliament in London on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
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UK Economy Shows Unexpected Growth of 0.3% in March

Union flags flutter in the breeze close to the Victoria Tower and Palace of Westminster, home to the two houses of Parliament, after the State Opening of Parliament in London on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Union flags flutter in the breeze close to the Victoria Tower and Palace of Westminster, home to the two houses of Parliament, after the State Opening of Parliament in London on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Britain's economy expanded unexpectedly in March to cap another strong first quarter, suggesting the economy was in slightly better shape as the Iran war escalated than many feared, official data showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product increased by 0.3% month-on-month in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, against expectations in a Reuters poll of economists for a 0.2% contraction.

The ⁠services sector, construction ⁠output and manufacturing all grew strongly.

"Many will be unconvinced that this momentum can be sustained throughout this year," said Scott Gardner, investment strategist at J.P. Morgan Personal Investing.

"The risk is that ⁠the energy price spike following the start of the Iran conflict will persist and lead to a rebound in inflation."

Recent business surveys point to a rapid increase in cost pressures that is likely to weigh on corporate activity.

For the first quarter as a whole, the economy expanded by 0.6% - marking the third year ⁠running ⁠of conspicuously strong growth in the first quarter.

The ONS on Thursday published a blog that acknowledged there may be post-pandemic shifts in the timing of spending in the economy, and nudged down its readings for the first quarters of 2024 and 2025.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the data showed she had the right economic plan.

Business

SoftBank Profit More Than Triples on OpenAI Stake Gains

A man walks past a Softbank branch in Tokyo on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
A man walks past a Softbank branch in Tokyo on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
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SoftBank Profit More Than Triples on OpenAI Stake Gains

A man walks past a Softbank branch in Tokyo on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
A man walks past a Softbank branch in Tokyo on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Technology investor SoftBank Group reported on Wednesday that its net profit more than tripled to 1.83 trillion yen ($11.60 billion) in the January-March quarter, as it booked gains on the value of its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

It was SoftBank's fifth consecutive quarterly profit, with the Vision Fund investing arm booking an OpenAI-driven gain of 3.1 trillion yen in the quarter, according to Reuters.

Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is one of OpenAI's most enthusiastic backers, with the group saying its cumulative gains on the investment total $45 billion.

SoftBank has sold off stakes in holdings such as T-Mobile and Nvidia, issued bonds and taken out loans, backed by its holdings in chip designer Arm and its domestic telecommunications arm SoftBank Corp.

SoftBank arranged ⁠a bridge loan agreement totaling $40 billion in March.

On Wednesday, it said $20 billion was drawn down in April, primarily for the OpenAI investment, and $2.5 billion had already been repaid.

SoftBank had previously said it had agreed to invest a further $30 billion in OpenAI over the course of 2026, which would bring its cumulative investment to $64.6 billion for a 13% stake.

Beyond OpenAI, the group booked a 278.6 billion yen gain on its investment in chipmaker Intel, which is led by former SoftBank board member Lip-Bu Tan.

SoftBank has ⁠also sought to build a portfolio of robotics firms, looking to gain a foothold in an industry that is in its infancy but is seen by analysts and investors as having potential to drive profits into the future.

It agreed to acquire the robotics business of Swiss engineering group ABB in a $5.4 ⁠billion deal last year, and created a new subsidiary within the group to hold its robotics-related stakes.