Natural gas market: LNG trade disruptions and market rebalancing Paolo AgnolucciNikita Makarenko June 04, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/strait-of-hormuz-disruption-sends-natural-gas-prices-surging This blog post is part of a special series based on the April 2026 Commodity Markets Outlook, a flagship report published by the World Bank. This series features concise summaries of commodity-specific sections extracted from the report. © 2026 The World Bank Group, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9ce7cc02-3c2b-4578-b0cb-f35992a9004e/content

Why aggregate numbers fail Pakistan's out-of-school children Ayesha TahirAmer HasanKoen Geven June 04, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/why-aggregate-numbers-fail-pakistan-s-out-of-school-children Pakistan has roughly 25 million children between the ages of 5 and 16 who are not in school — the second largest out-of-school population in the world. However, this figure alone does not guide action. Policymakers need to know where these children are and why they are out of school. Aggregate data do not explain whether these children lack access or face issues in attending nearby schools . And that matters a lot, because a child who lives two hours from the nearest school and a child who lives two blocks from three different schools but still isn't enrolled faces very different obstacles. One is a crisis of supply; the other a crisis of demand. For decades, local government officials have lacked the tools to tell these two problems apart. © 2026 The World Bank Group,

The Arithmetic of Destruction: How Conflict Compounds Human Capital Loss Caroline Vagneron June 04, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/investinpeople/the-arithmetic-of-destruction--how-conflict-compounds-human-capi Think of a neighborhood where the school is open, but children are too afraid to walk to it. Where the health clinic exists, but staff have fled. Where a parent wants to work but businesses are closed. Now ask yourself: are these issues independent or cumulative? Is each one making the others worse? This is what this blog is about: the ways fragility, conflict, and violence interact to erode human capital across homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. © 2026 The World Bank Group,

What Three Decades of Advancing Clean Air Taught Us—and Where We Go from Here Valerie Hickey June 04, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/climatechange/what-three-decades-of-advancing-clean-air-taught-us-and-where-we In 1990, facing a public health crisis, Mexico City initiated its first multiyear air quality management strategy, significantly reducing lead and sulfur emissions. These results were driven by a regional-focused approach, key regulatory reforms, and investments in data monitoring – all geared toward ensuring sustained and measurable impact. © 2026 The World Bank Group,

Weekly links June 5: aggregating noisy evidence, standard deviations are a terrible way of comparing effect sizes redux, services-led development, and more… David McKenzie June 05, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/impactevaluations/weekly-links-june-5--aggregating-noisy-evidence--standard-deviat VoxDev interviews Rafe Meager on aggregating evidence. “There’s just very little serious attempt to deal with noise. People do these power calculations that are mostly, to be honest, made up or kind of reverse engineered.”…” Rafe worries about ‘cookie cutter’ approaches that apply meta-analytic recipes without care – more methodological progress is required for these aggregation methods.” © 2026 The World Bank Group,

Energy prices eased in May; non-energy edged up—Pink Sheet John BaffesMaria Hazel Macadangdang June 03, 2026 This page in: English © 2026 The World Bank Group,

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/energy-prices-eased-in-may--non-energy-edged-up-pink-sheet The energy price index fell 5.4% in May, driven by a 10.7% decline in Brent crude oil prices, partly offset by a 6.1% increase in U.S. natural gas, according to the World Bank Group's Pink Sheet. The non-energy index gained 2.5%. Agricultural prices rose 2.5% in May, with food prices edging up 1.9% while fertilizers eased 4.3%. Beverage prices increased 5.3%, and raw materials gained 2.1%. © 2026 The World Bank Group,

Harnessing AI and private innovation to close health gaps Mamta MurthiSarvesh Suri June 01, 2026 This page in: English Français Español العربية Русский © 2026 The World Bank Group,

Harnessing AI and private innovation to close health gaps Mamta MurthiSarvesh Suri June 01, 2026 This page in: English Français Español العربية Русский https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/harnessing-ai-and-private-innovation-to-close-health-gaps Good health fuels human potential — supporting education, work, and productivity. For people in emerging markets, it is essential to participating in a growing economy. Yet the scale of the global health challenge remains daunting: an estimated 4.5 billion people still lack access to essential health services. Health systems worldwide face worker shortages, weak infrastructure, rising demand, and financial barriers. In these constrained environments, AI offers real promise. © 2026 The World Bank Group,