China's hospital ship makes maiden visit to Mauritania

Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark, which is on the Mission Harmony-2024, arrived in Mauritania on Thursday for a seven-day goodwill visit.

This is the hospital ship's first visit to Mauritania and also the first time a Chinese naval ship has paid a visit to the country since China and Mauritania established diplomatic relations in 1965.

During the visit, the Peace Ark will use its main platform to provide medical services, and dispatch medical teams to local hospitals and Mauritanian military installations.

Members of the ship will also carry out cultural exchange activities in local schools.

The World Bank predicted Tuesday that energy prices may surge 24 percent in 2026 to their highest level since the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in 2022 due to the war in the Middle East, while overall commodity prices are projected to increase 16 percent.

In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook released on Tuesday, the World Bank said that attacks on energy infrastructure and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 35 percent of global seaborne crude oil trade, have triggered the largest oil supply shock on record, with an initial reduction in global oil supply of about 10 million barrels per day.

Fertilizer prices are projected to increase by 31 percent in 2026, driven by a 60-percent jump in urea prices, while prices for base metals, including aluminum, copper and tin, are expected to reach all-time highs.

Precious metals prices are forecast to increase 42 percent as geopolitical uncertainty fuels demand for safe-haven assets.

Commodity prices could rise even higher if hostilities escalate or supply disruptions from the Iran war last longer than projected, the report said.

Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group's chief economist and senior vice president for Development Economics, said the war is hitting the global economy in cumulative waves, warning that poorer populations will be hardest hit.