🇻🇳 🇹🇭 🇵🇭 Vietnam, Thailand to suffer most among ASEAN-5 in 2026: World Bank

Vietnam likely will take the biggest hit to growth among Southeast Asia's major economies in 2026, followed by Thailand, as the Iran war adds to the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs, the World Bank says.

Aaditya Mattoo, director of development research at the World Bank, said the combination of tariff uncertainty and the Middle East oil shock is expected to do greater harm to economies such as Vietnam, "which depends a lot on its exports."

Oil and gas supply disruptions due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S. and Israeli strikes are "not a temporary shock," he said, while the two-week ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday "doesn't dispel the climate of uncertainty."

The Philippines also risks a further hit to its economy after a graft scandal along with typhoons and floods last year limited gross domestic product growth to just 4.4% in 2025. This year, the economy is forecast to expand 3.7%, as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency last month over fuel price hikes and supply concerns.

Challenges for the region include higher energy costs for manufacturing as well as rising fertilizer and food prices, he said, along with "higher transport costs, which will hit the chip industry, which will permeate the entire production chain." Investment also is expected to come under pressure from rising borrowing costs and weak business sentiment.

https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/vietnam-thailand-to-suffer-most-among-asean-5-in-2026-world-bank

https://archive.ph/nPQZG

Tucker Carlson: "Why can't this president, or any president, say no to Israel?"

"Why does this tiny country have so much control over our government?"

Tucker Carlson: "The United States has to detach from Israel."

"This distancing should begin with a total end of aid of any kind—military or economic—to Israel."

📢 🇺🇸 🇮🇷 Trump, posting about US troops remaining around Iran, says the U.S. military is “looking forward” to its “next conquest.”

📎 Faytuks Network

—❗️🇮🇱/🇶🇦 NEW: Iran’s ‘Handala’ hackers have managed to breach the phone of former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, confirming for the first time that he secretly visited Qatar and met with Emir Hamad Bin Al-Thani

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇷/🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇱🇧 Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:

‘A delegation from Iran will travel to the peace talks in Islamabad today, but will participate only if Israel stops its attacks on Lebanon.

Any peace in the region must include Lebanon, and the coming hours will be decisive to see if Israel can be restrained.

Iran was on the verge of responding last night but refrained to make room for additional diplomacy.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇮🇱 NEW: Oil prices are starting to rise again, after it became clear to the market that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and amid fears of a ceasefire collapse

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇷/🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇱🇧 NEW: Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, outlines 3 points for Iran to continue negotiations:

1. Lebanon and the ENTIRE Resistance Axis (including Yemen, Iraq etc.) are an inseperable part of the ceasefire.

2. There must be no backtracking on the issue of Lebanon being included.

3. Ceasefire violations carry explicit costs and strong responses from now on; calling upon the U.S. to compel Israel to ‘extinguish the fire immediately’.

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇮🇷/🇱🇧 BREAKING: In what can now only be interpreted as a deliberate act aimed at sabotaging the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, Israel orders an evacuation order for the ENTIRETY of southern Beirut

@Middle_East_Spectator

🇪🇸 🤝 🇮🇷 Spain will reopen its embassy in Tehran in hopes of helping to achieve peace amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

📎 Al Jazeera