The latest searches in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann concluded as planned, German prosecutors say.

Head prosecutor in Braunschweig, Hans Christian Wolters, said the co-operation between the Portuguese and German authorities during the operation was “very constructive”.

His words came after The Sun newspaper reported that samples had been taken from last week’s searches after claims that bones and clothing fibres were found.

The newspaper reported that the bones were initially deemed to be animal remains but have been retained by prosecutors to be forensically examined.

The latest hunt for evidence came 18 years after three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007.

She was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and vanished as they went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.

Search teams concluded their operation in neighbouring Atalaia, near the city of Lagos, after three days of scouring scrubland and abandoned structures.

German prosecutors requested the search as part of their continued attempts to source evidence to implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner.

He is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005 and is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought.

According to reports, Brueckner sent a letter to police saying “decisive questions can never be answered”.

Another letter shows the suspect telling Mr Wolters that “the investigation will be dropped”, The Sun reported.

In October 2024, he was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

An Islamist preacher being sued for referring to Jewish people as “treacherous” has previously stirred up controversy over Christmas greetings.

Sydney-based Al Madina Dawah Centre cleric Wissam Haddad has been accused of racial discrimination during a series of fiery sermons from November 2023, which have racked up thousands of views online. 

He was quizzed in the Federal Court on Wednesday on a 2022 lecture in which he said that Christmas greetings were worse than congratulating someone for murder. 

The preacher denied the speech was “highly offensive” and that he delighted in media controversy by repeating it on his social media page.

Peter Braham SC, acting for two Jewish plaintiffs, made those accusations and suggested it was one “highly offensive” example of how Mr Haddad previously sought to amplify his views. 

“Everything that happens at the Al Madina Dawah Centre is designed and calculated for public consumption and to create or attract controversy,” Mr Braham said. 

Mr Haddad’s barrister has argued the allegedly anti-Semitic speeches were intended for a small private Muslim audience and weren’t reasonably likely to attract the attention of the broader community. 

“That is absolutely not how this man has run his life,” Mr Braham said. 

Mr Haddad told the Federal Court he wasn’t responsible for uploading the allegedly racist videos to social media, but he knew they were being recorded and would be published online. 

He agreed that recordings of his lectures were likely to appear on YouTube, Rumble, Telegram and SoundCloud in 2023. 

His lawyer argued the allegedly racist lectures have been selectively edited and would not have been seen by Jewish people if not reported on by the media. 

But Mr Braham said the speeches did not need to be immediately witnessed by Jewish people to be viewed as threatening, humiliating and denigrating. 

Mr Haddad, who is also known as Abu Ousayd, denies breaching anti-discrimination laws and claims he was delivering historical and religious lectures on events from the Koran to contextualise the war in Gaza. 

He is being sued by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim and deputy president Robert Goot, who want the published speeches brought down and Mr Haddad banned from making similar comments. 

They claim the speeches are offensive and intimidating, and could normalise anti-Semitic prejudices or encourage violence towards Jewish people. 

“Making derogatory generalisations, calling Jews a vile and treacherous people, calling them rats and cowards … are things which I think would be experienced by most Jews as dehumanising,”  Mr Wertheim told the court on Tuesday.

The hearing continues. 

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The price of domestic airfares could come down as Qantas shuts its struggling intra-Asia carrier to cash in on strong demand for flights in Australia and New Zealand.

Some 500 Singapore-based Jetstar Asia workers will lose their jobs when the budget airline ceases flights on 16 routes from July 31.

There are no changes to Jetstar flights connecting Australia to destinations in Asia or Jetstar Japan services.

Jetstar Asia’s 13 Airbus A320 planes will replace older or leased aircraft in Australia and New Zealand, which the airline claims will create 100 new jobs.

The shift is a smart move and good news for domestic passengers who may benefit from newer aircraft and lower fares, Sydney University transport professor Rico Merkert says.

“More capacity added to the market has even more competition, say with Virgin or other domestic carriers,” Prof Merkert told AAP.

“Airfares should come down in Australia somewhat.”

Jetstar Asia is on track to make a $35 million loss by the end of the 2024/25 financial year, while Qantas Group recorded $1.5 billion in earnings in the last six months of 2024.

“Yields here in Australia and demand are very healthy. Qantas would be silly not to try and make use of that and deploy as much capacity as they can,” Prof Merkert said.

“It’s not easy to come by new aircraft at the moment, so even if they go to Airbus or Boeing, those aircraft wouldn’t become available before 2027, 2028 or something like that.

The fastest way of boosting capacity was redeploying aircraft from Asia, he said.

In a statement to the ASX, Qantas Group attributed Jetstar Asia’s closure to greater competition, rising supplier costs and high airport fees.

Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson said it was a “very tough day” for staff and the airline had made low-cost travel accessible to millions of customers over more than 20 years.

“We have seen some of Jetstar Asia’s supplier costs increase by up to 200 per cent, which has materially changed its costs base,” Ms Hudson said.

Qantas’s share price slid almost one per cent after the announcement.

Passengers with bookings for cancelled flights will be entitled to refunds or moved onto other flights.

The airline said Jetstar Asia employees were entitled to redundancy benefits and would be re-employed within Qantas where possible.

Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long didn’t expect Jetstar Asia’s closure to affect many local customers.

“Primarily the markets where Australians are wanting to travel to, there’s already been direct connectivity so we actually haven’t had to use any of the subsidiary airlines,” Mr Long said.

Qantas owns 49 per cent of Jetstar Asia, while Singapore company Westbrook Investment is the majority owner.

The airline said the move would “unlock” up to $500 million in capital, which would be reinvested into its core businesses.

Ms Hudson said the airline was focusing on growth areas including ultra long-haul flights, under its “Project Sunrise” initiative, with the first plane capable of flying direct from Sydney to London and New York due to arrive in July.

Qantas is also launching new routes in the second half of 2025, including Adelaide to Auckland and Perth to Auckland and Johannesburg.

The price of Australian domestic economy airfares were 12 per cent cheaper in January and February 2025 than the same time in 2024, according to corporate travel advisers FCM Consulting.

That’s despite the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warning the dominance of Qantas and Virgin had limited local market competition.

More flights between Australia and Europe will be unveiled in the second half of 2025 due to Virgin Australia’s new partnership with Qatar Airways, which the airlines claim will put downward pressure on international prices.

The US has decried Australia’s decision to sanction two Israeli government ministers, adding to uncertainty over the relationship between the allies.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday unveiled targeted sanctions against Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

The announcement was made in a joint statement alongside Senator Wong’s counterparts from Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and has been met with scorn from politicians in the US – one of Australia’s closest allies.

Australia’s sanctions align with its previous stance on the region, University of Sydney associate professor and US expert David Smith said.

“Australia has always had differences with the US on this issue, so I don’t see it affecting the relationship,” he told AAP.

But the tension they create adds to a growing list of issues – such as concerns over an Australian journalist shot with a rubber bullet by Los Angeles police – that makes the two nation’s future more precarious.

“From Australia’s point of view, they’re creating a lot of uncertainty about what areas of co-operation there are going to be in the future,” he said.

Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir are prominent members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government and are West Bank settlers.

The sanctions will prevent them from travelling to Australia, freeze any assets they hold in the country and mean they will be denied financial support.

In a pointed statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the actions by the five nation states, saying they wouldn’t help the US achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and bring home the last Israeli hostages held by Hamas .

“We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is,” he wrote on social media platform X.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held firm and labelled the response as “predictable”.

“Sometimes friends have to be clear with each other,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“We support Israel’s right to live and to exist in secure borders, but we also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians.”

Mr Albanese is hoping to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada next week.

Senator Wong said while Australia “can’t shift the dial” on the crisis in Gaza and the West Bank by itself, it can take action with others.

The sanctions were announced just days ahead of a United Nations conference aimed at advancing Palestinian statehood.

The joint statement on the sanctions said the two ministers’ extremist rhetoric pushing for the “forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions “outrageous” and said his government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the “unacceptable decision” made by the five countries.

Opposition frontbencher Dan Tehan said Labor needed to explain why it decided to proceed with the sanctions.

The Australian Centre for International Justice said the decision was a significant step and would send a clear message, while ActionAid said it was glad to see the government heeding community calls to take action.

Israel’s violence in Gaza restarted after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded the nation and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023.

Its bombardment, aid blockages and military action has killed more than 40,000 people in the strip and left many more on the brink of starvation.

Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank.

with Reuters

The number of industrial disputes has fallen to a two-year low, new figures reveal, despite major work outages affecting public transport commuters.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed there were 44 disputes during the first three months of 2025, 34 of those being new ones.

It’s the lowest number of total industrial disputes in a three-month period since the March quarter of 2023.

The quarter had 10,300 employees involved in industrial disputes, a reduction of more than half from the previous quarter, which had 25,200 workers taking part in workplace stoppages.

The bureau said 13,900 working days were lost during the period, down from nearly 54,000 in the final three months of 2024.

The most industrial disputes happened in the manufacturing sector, which made up 42 per cent of all action for the March quarter.

It was followed by construction which accounted for 24 per cent, transport and postal services with 19 per cent and other industries making up for seven per cent.

Among the notable industrial actions taking place at the start of the year were train strikes in Sydney due to pay negotiations between rail unions and the NSW government breaking down.

The strikes caused major disruptions to Sydney’s train network, but an agreement between the parties was eventually reached in May.

The first three months of the year saw Victoria register the most working days lost to industrial action with 6000, followed by Queensland with 4200 and NSW with 2600.

South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory had 600, 500 and 100 working days lost, respectively, during the period.

The prime minister is confident unions and business groups will find common ground in dealing with flagging rates of productivity.

Anthony Albanese announced a productivity roundtable would be held in Canberra in August to find ways on lifting economic output.

Experts are concerned about Australia’s lagging rate of productivity – a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards.

The prime minister dismissed suggestions the roundtable would amount to little more than a talkfest.

“It’s a good idea to bring people together and to get dialogue,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

“It is not unreasonable to bring people together … business and unions have common interests, we have a national interest in boosting productivity.”

The Productivity Commissioner’s most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year.

The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years.

Mr Albanese said while fixing the issue of low productivity growth would be challenging, it was important to bring major players together.

“This has been something that has been around for decades. If the solution was easy, then perhaps someone would have grasped it a decade ago,” he said.

“We want to engage directly, constructively, rather than people shouting at each other.”

Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien said the coalition had given the government a partial tick on hosting the summit.

“A round table. Yay!” Mr O’Brien joked during an interview on Nine’s Today program on Wednesday.

“But look … to be fair, at least they’re recognising the problem … so let’s take that as a partial tick.”

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew McKellar said he would go into the summit with an open mind.

“What we will be looking to see is some practical, quick wins, some changes that can be made and implemented quickly to get things going,” he told Sky News.

“Obviously, we do want a longer term, more ambitious agenda, but I think let’s take the first step.”

Mr McKellar said tax reform should be considered to boost productivity, as well as expanding instant asset write-offs for businesses.

“We say act now, make it a longer term or permanent feature of the tax system, and you’ll get credit for doing that,” he said.

“Let’s make some practical changes that make it easier for small business to create jobs and employ more people to promote productivity.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable.

“We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less,” she said.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3 per cent.

The downgrade was driven by higher US tariffs on foreign imports and heightened uncertainty posed a “significant headwind” for nearly all economies.

The World Bank is the latest body to cut its growth forecast as a result of President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies.

But it stopped short of forecasting a recession, despite predicting global economic growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008.

with Reuters

Australia’s share market surged in morning trading to a new record, lifting past the high-water mark set in February.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 34.2 points, or 0.40 per cent to 8,621.4 by midday on Wednesday, topping the Valentine’s Day record of 8,615.2 points and building on the previous day’s record close.

The broader All Ordinaries was up 34.9 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 8,847.4, just 35 points shy of its intraday record of 8,882 points, also set on February 14.

The uptick followed a positive session on Wall Street and came after officials from the US and China agreed on an in-principle framework to resolve export restrictions on rare earths and magnets.

Details on the agreement remained light, and it still required approval from US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jingping, IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.

“If the two presidents review and approve the outcome of today’s trade talks, it will likely include maintaining the reduction in US tariffs on Chinese goods at 30 per cent (down from 145 per cent) and Chinese tariffs on US goods at 10 per cent (down from 125 per cent),” he said.

The de-escalation in US-China tensions helped lift large cap miners Fortescue (up two per cent) and BHP (up 1.8 per cent), but Rio Tinto continued to be the laggard of the iron ore giants, grinding 0.3 per cent higher.

Materials stocks were among the best performing sectors, up 0.7 per cent, as energy stocks pushed 0.8 per cent higher and real estate lifted one per cent.

Only two of 11 local sectors – IT and utilities stocks – were in the red by midday.

Gold miners were down again as the precious metal continued to consolidate at around $US3,350 ($A5,140) an ounce.

The US-China rare earths “agreement” weighed on local miners of the minerals, with Lynas Rare Earths the top-200’s worst performer and down more than six per cent in early trade. 

An 0.8 per cent lift in energy stocks was helped by a more than two per cent charge from Woodside to $23.56, as oil prices rolled over after hitting seven week highs on Tuesday.

Commonwealth Bank hit a fresh record high for a second day in a row, reaching $183.19 before easing to $182.46 and taking its value to $305 billion.

CBA’s big three competitors traded either side of flat as investors tempered their appetite for Australian banks’ famously lofty valuations.

The financial sector is trading at record levels, up 0.2 per cent for the day and up by more than 25 per cent since early April’s post-“liberation day” lows.

Buy now, pay later provider Zip Co was leading the top-200, rallying 14.4 per cent after upgrading forward guidance on the back of strong growth in its US business.

Qantas has slipped 1.2 per cent to $10.52 after announcing it will close Jetstar Asia, its Singapore-based intra-Asia airline, due to weak earnings.

The airline will redeploy 13 aircraft to Australian and NZ.

The call comes two weeks before its domestic rival Virgin Australia relists on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Local technology stocks took a breather after rallying on Tuesday, shedding 0.2 per cent, but data centre plays were still pushing higher, with Megaport and NextDC both up more than 1.7 per cent each.

The Australian Dollar is buying 65.04 US cents, up from 65.12 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

Australia is doubling down on its decision to impose tough sanctions on two “extremist” Israeli government ministers in defiance of the US, which has urged a reversal.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Wednesday the targeted sanctions in a joint statement alongside her counterparts from Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The measures – which include travel bans and financial sanctions – are against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have been accused of inciting “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

Mr Ben-Gvir, from the Jewish Power party, and Mr Smotrich, of the Religious Zionism Party, are members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. They are also West Bank settlers.

The sanctions mean any assets held in Australia will be frozen, they will be denied the provision of financial support, and they won’t be able to travel to the country.

In a pointed statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the sanctions by the five nation states, saying they wouldn’t help US efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the last Israeli hostages held by Hamas home.

“We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

“The United States urges the reversal of the sanctions and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the response was “predictable”.

“The Israeli government does need to uphold its obligations under international law, and some of the expansionist rhetoric that we’ve seen is clearly in contradiction of that from these hardline right-wing members of the Netanyahu government,” he told ABC radio.

Mr Albanese is hoping to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada next week.

Senator Wong said while Australia “can’t shift the dial” on the crisis in Gaza and the West Bank by itself, it can take action with others.

The sanctions were announced just days ahead of a United Nations conference aimed at advancing Palestinian statehood.

The joint statement on the sanctions said the two ministers’ extremist rhetoric pushing for the “forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions “outrageous” and said his government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the “unacceptable decision” made by the five countries.

Although the sanctions focus on the West Bank, the foreign ministers said “this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza”.

Opposition frontbencher Dan Tehan said Labor needed to explain why it decided to proceed with the sanctions.

“This is a very serious move to sanction two ministers from a democratically elected government,” he told ABC radio.

“What we need to know is why this decision was made and how the government thinks it will help when the US, who’s leading the peace process, has said that it’s likely to be unhelpful.”

The Australian Centre for International Justice said the decision was a significant step and would send a clear message.

“These measures directly respond to the compelling evidence implicating Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in inciting extremist violence and serious human rights violations against Palestinians,” acting executive director Lara Khider said.

The current war in Gaza was sparked after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded Israel and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023.

The aftermath has resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 people in the strip.

with Reuters

Australia has banned two “extremist, hardline” senior Israeli government ministers after accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Wednesday the targeted sanctions in a joint statement alongside her counterparts from Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The measures – which include travel bans and financial sanctions – are against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have been accused of inciting “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

Mr Ben-Gvir, from the Jewish Power party, and Mr Smotrich, of the Religious Zionism Party, are members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

“These two ministers have been the most extremist and hard line of an extremist settler enterprise, which is both unlawful and violent,” Senator Wong told ABC television.

“Australia can’t shift the dial on the Middle East by ourselves. 

“What we can do is act with others, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Asked about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s condemnation of the sanctions, the foreign minister said that despite their differences Australia and the US remained aligned on strategic interests.

“We will continue to be part of the international call for aid to enter (Gaza) unhindered, unimpeded,” Senator Wong said. 

“That is Israel’s obligation. 

“We will continue to advocate for a ceasefire and the return of hostages, and we will continue to condemn Hamas and its terrorist ideology.”

The joint statement on the sanctions said the two ministers’ extremist rhetoric pushing for the “forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous”.

“These actions are not acceptable,” the ministers said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions “outrageous” and said his government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the “unacceptable decision” made by the five countries.

Although the sanctions focus on the West Bank, the foreign ministers said “this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza”.

The Australian Jewish Association said it was appalled by the federal government’s actions and accused it of anti-Semitism.

“This action represents a hostile and unjustified attack on a democratic ally and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” the association said in a statement.

“This government’s willingness to engage with authoritarian regimes, including Holocaust deniers like Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while targeting the world’s only Jewish state, exposes a disturbing double standard.

“There is no other explanation for this disparity than blatant anti-semitism.”

The Australian Centre for International Justice said the decision was a significant step and would send a clear message.

“These measures directly respond to the compelling evidence implicating Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in inciting extremist violence and serious human rights violations against Palestinians,” acting executive director Lara Khider said.

with Reuters

The World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3 per cent, saying that higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a “significant headwind” for nearly all economies.

In its Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender lowered its forecasts for nearly 70 per cent of all economies – including the US, China and Europe, as well as six emerging market regions – from the levels it projected six months ago before US President Donald Trump took office. 

Trump has upended global trade with a series of on-again, off-again tariff hikes that have increased the effective US tariff rate from below three per cent to the mid-teens – its highest level in almost a century – and triggered retaliation by China and other countries. 

The World Bank is the latest body to cut its growth forecast as a result of Trump’s erratic trade policies, although US officials insist the negative consequences will be offset by a surge in investment and still-to-be approved tax cuts.

It stopped short of forecasting a recession, but said global economic growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008. 

By 2027, global gross domestic product growth was expected to average just 2.5 per cent, the slowest pace of any decade since the 1960s. 

The report forecast that global trade would grow by 1.8 per cent in 2025, down from 3.4 per cent in 2024 and roughly a third of its 5.9 per cent level in the 2000s. 

The forecast is based on tariffs in effect as of late May, including a 10 per cent US tariff on imports from most countries. 

It excludes increases that were announced by Trump in April and then postponed until July 9 to allow for negotiations.

 The World Bank said global inflation was expected to reach 2.9 per cent in 2025, remaining above pre-COVID-19 levels, given tariff increases and tight labour markets. 

“Risks to the global outlook remain tilted decidedly to the downside,” it wrote. 

The lender said its models showed that a further increase of 10 percentage points in average US tariffs, on top of the 10 per cent rate already implemented, and proportional retaliation by other countries, could shave another half of a percentage point off the outlook for 2025.

Such an escalation in trade barriers would result “in global trade seizing up in the second half of this year … accompanied by a widespread collapse in confidence, surging uncertainty and turmoil in financial markets,” the report said.

Nonetheless, it said the risk of a global recession was less than 10 per cent.

Top officials from the US and China are meeting in London this week to try to defuse a trade dispute that has widened from tariffs to restrictions over rare earth minerals, threatening a global supply chain shock and slower growth.

“Uncertainty remains a powerful drag, like fog on a runway.”

It slows investment and clouds the outlook,” World Bank Deputy Chief Economist Ayhan Kose told Reuters in an interview. 

But Kose said there were signs of increased dialogue on trade that could help dispel uncertainty and supply chains were adapting to a new global trade map, not collapsing.

Global trade growth could modestly rebound in 2026 to 2.4 per cent, and developments in artificial intelligence could also boost growth, he said. 

“We think that eventually the uncertainty will decline,” Kose said.

“Once the type of fog we have lifts, the trade engine may start running again, but at a slower pace.”

Kose said while things could get worse, trade was continuing and China, India and others were still delivering robust growth. Many countries were also discussing new trade partnerships that could pay dividends later, he said.

The World Bank said the global outlook had “deteriorated substantially” since January, mainly due to advanced economies, which are now seen growing by just 1.2 per cent, down half a percentage point, after expanding by 1.7 per cent in 2024.

The US forecast was slashed by nine-tenths of a percentage point from its January forecast to 1.4 per cent, and the 2026 outlook was lowered by four-tenths of a percentage point to 1.6 per cent.

Rising trade barriers, “record-high uncertainty” and a spike in financial market volatility were expected to weigh on private consumption, trade and investment, it said.

Poor countries would suffer the most, the report said. By 2027, developing economies’ per capita GDP would be six per cent below pre-pandemic levels, and it could take these countries – minus China – two decades to recoup the economic losses of the 2020s.