Bank’s chief knowledge officer says the tech could speed up economic development from centuries to decades

The World Bank is urging developing countries to kickstart the creation of “small AI” models, which can run on a mobile phone with low connectivity, to reap the full benefits of artificial intelligence.

While Silicon Valley big tech firms are focused on ever more sophisticated consumer products, Paschal Donohoe, the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer, said AI could also accelerate development for emerging economies – but only if it was adapted to local needs.

Sky-high oil prices and geopolitical turmoil have made less of a dent than feared … just don’t bank on it to last

Inside the vast, glass-walled Queen Sirikit conference centre in Bangkok, the air-conditioned atmosphere was calm as policymakers from more than 100 countries gathered this week for the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting – and contemplated the surprising strength of the global economy.

A small army of smiling, uniformed Thai staff were on hand to explain the baffling geography of the heavily guarded building, where lunch options were as cosmopolitan as the delegates – including, improbably, a Burger King.

Chancellor says government will study responses to public consultation, with airports being ‘big part of jobs and growth’

John Healey has said there is a pro-growth case for going ahead with a third runway at Heathrow despite the prime minister declining to back it.

Healey’s predecessor as chancellor, Rachel Reeves, put approval of the long-planned runway at the heart of her “growth speech” last year, saying it would “make Britain the world’s best-connected place to do business”.

Kristalina Georgieva says online fraud could lead people to opt out of system and turn to ‘shoeboxes under their bed’

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The heads of the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund have issued a stark warning that rising cyber-attacks risk undermining trust in the financial system.

Speaking on a panel about online fraud at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, pointed to alarming headlines about self-replicating AI agents hijacking personal devices, and the French supermarket hack that heated fridges up to 50C.

UK foreign secretary will call for World Bank and others to help governments trapped by hefty borrowing costs

The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, will claim the global financial system is failing developing countries, as he calls for a “new deal” for governments struggling under the burden of debt.

Promising to throw the UK’s diplomatic weight behind urgent reform, he will evoke the example of the Gleneagles summit under the last Labour government in 2005 – the culmination of the Make Poverty History campaign.

High valuations and debt put sector in danger, while fund also warns on government borrowing and cyber-attacks

• IMF warns global economy ‘could soon test the limits of resilience’

The threat of an AI share price crash rippling out across global markets is putting world financial stability at risk, the International Monetary fund has warned.

In its twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report, the IMF highlighted the sky-high valuations for AI companies along with their increasing debt pile as one reason that risks in the system are “elevated”.

World Economic Outlook says states’ oil stocks are low and budgets are overstretched, as it upgrades UK GDP growth forecast for 2026

• Threat of AI share crash puts world financial stability at risk, says IMF

The global economy “could soon test the limits of resilience”, as emergency oil stocks run low and government budgets become overstretched, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the IMF said global growth had withstood the Middle East conflict better than feared over the past six months.