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The KOF Employment Indicator for the second quarter of 2026 remains close to last quarter's figure. Despite the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran since the end of February and the associated rise in oil and gas prices, the employment outlook for Swiss firms has not deteriorated overall.

The KOF Employment Indicator for the second quarter of 2026 stands at 2.2 points, compared with 2.1 points in the first quarter of the year. The Q1 figure was revised downwards from an initial 2.4 points to 2.1. The initially published figure was based on the January survey.

04 MAY 2026 – Equinor is extending key supplier agreements for drilling and well services with a combined value of around NOK 17 billion. The agreements will maintain production from the Norwegian continental shelf, ensure high activity and contribute to stable energy supplies to Europe.

Equinor is exercising one-year options under the three contracts for integrated drilling and well services, as well as two-year options under the 18 corporate framework agreements for specialist services linked to these deliveries.

The integrated drilling and well services agreements are valued at NOK 8.3 billion, while the corporate framework agreements for specialist services are estimated at approximately NOK 4.3 billion per year over two years.

Baker Hughes Norge AS, Halliburton AS and SLB Norge AS have been awarded the contracts for integrated drilling and well services.

The same companies, together with a further 15 suppliers, have also been awarded corporate framework agreements for specialist services. The framework agreements for specialist services will ensure access to the necessary expertise and technology to carry out well operations more efficiently and adapt to changing needs on the shelf.

“These agreements are among the largest we have, and they are crucial for activity on the Norwegian continental shelf. New wells enable us to maintain high production and deliver stable energy to Europe. This is particularly important at a time of turbulence in the energy markets,” says Jannicke Nilsson, chief procurement officer.

The agreements will employ around 2,500 people and cover activity on both fixed installations and mobile rigs on the Norwegian continental shelf.

On a more mature shelf, drilling and wells operations are becoming increasingly important to sustain production. Equinor’s ambition is to maintain production towards 2035 at around 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

“New wells are expected to account for around 70 percent of Equinor’s production in 2035. This involves both more wells and more well interventions, which must be delivered faster and significantly more cost-efficiently than today. That requires closer collaboration with the supplier industry and increased use of technology and standardisation,” says Rune Nedregaard, Equinor’s senior vice president for Wells.

“We are now moving to a greater extent towards industry standards. Together with our suppliers, we will use this to simplify work processes, reduce costs and increase pace, while maintaining safety,” Nedregaard continues.

Drilling and well service agreements

Baker Hughes: Grane, Oseberg B – C – Øst – Sør, Visund A*, Heidrun*, Askepott*, Johan Sverdrup DP, Shelf Drilling Barsk*, Deepsea Bergen, Transocean Encourage, COSL Promoter, Transocean Norge* and Transocean Spitsbergen*

Halliburton: Askepott*, Njord A, Heidrun*, Snorre A – B, Kvitebjørn*, Shelf Drilling Barsk*, Transocean Enabler*, Transocean Spitsbergen* and Transocean Enabler

SLB: Gullfaks A – B – C, Kvitebjørn*, Statfjord A – B – C, Visund A*, Deepsea Stavanger, Askeladden, Shelf Drilling Barsk*, Deepsea Aberdeen, COSL Innovator, Transocean Norge* and Transocean Spitsbergen*

* Shared delivery

Awarded corporate framework agreements for specialist services:

Weatherford Norge AS, Roxar Flow Measurement AS, Archer Oiltools AS, Interwell Norway AS, NOV Wellbore Technologies NUF, Welltec Oilfield Services AS, Ramex AS, TCO AS, Silixa Limited, Tendeka AS, Sekal AS, Expro Norway AS, Enventure Global Technology LLC, Coretrax Americas Limited and Corpro Systems Ltd.

Facts about the agreements

The integrated drilling and well services contracts include the following services for well construction:

Integrated drilling services
Cementing and pumping
Drilling and completion fluids
Electrical logging
Completion

The specialist services include electrical submersible pumps, downhole monitoring, tubing conveyed perforation, wired drill pipe, liner hanger, additional completion equipment and services, sand screens, fibre optics, fishing services, downhole mechanical isolation, multilateral technology, coring services, one trip steerable drilling liner system, and expandable hydraulic screens.

Established legal entity and growing in-region team strengthen support for customers and partners as organisations across the region look to deploy AI with greater business impact

SYDNEY – Work AI leader Glean today announced a deeper investment in Australia, formalising its local presence with an established entity as AI momentum continues to build. As organisations across Australia and New Zealand move from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide adoption, Glean is expanding its support for customers and partners in the region. With a local legal entity and plans to nearly double its in-market team this year, Glean is helping enterprises across ANZ deepen AI adoption in ways that deliver meaningful business impact and make AI more useful in the flow of work.

Australia is one of the most mature technology markets in APAC, but many organisations are still navigating the harder second act of the AI journey: moving from pilots to secure, governed deployment at scale. Across ANZ, enterprises are managing sprawling application environments, siloed information, rising expectations around data sovereignty, and the need for AI that can work across the business, not just within a single tool or workflow.

Glean's expansion in Australia reflects both the market opportunity in ANZ and the company's broader international growth strategy. By strengthening its foundation in-market, Glean is better positioned to support regional customers and partners as enterprises look for AI they can deploy with confidence.

“We're expanding in Australia because the demand is real, and we believe this market will be one of the defining markets for enterprise AI globally. Organisations across Australia and New Zealand know what AI can deliver, and they're moving quickly to make it useful inside the enterprise. But they need more than access to models. They need AI grounded in their company's own context, connected across their existing systems, and built with security and governance at the core.” – Arvind Jain, Founder & CEO, Glean

Glean's expansion in Australia builds on broader company momentum. The company surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue in December 2025, just nine months after reaching $100 million ARR, and has more than tripled its enterprise customer base in the past two years. That growth reflects a broader market shift as enterprises move beyond pilot programs and make AI a core part of how work gets done.

This momentum is playing out across key ANZ industries including technology, financial services, telecommunications, and media, where organisations are looking for AI that can operate securely at scale. Glean already supports leading organisations in the region, including Optus, Canva, Xero, and REA Group, having grown its ANZ customer base by more than 60 percent in the past year.

Building on this customer momentum, Glean's expanded presence in the region will help customers and partners scale AI adoption more effectively.

“We're seeing strong appetite across ANZ for AI that can work across the enterprise, not just within a single application or workflow. This is a market with high SaaS maturity, but also real complexity, from fragmented environments to rising expectations around trust and data sovereignty. Glean's context-aware Work AI platform is designed for that reality, bringing enterprise knowledge, permissions, and workflows together in a secure AI layer. With our growing local presence, we can work more closely with customers and partners as they turn AI from experimentation into scaled business impact.” – Amar Maletira, Chief Operating Officer, Glean

In ANZ, Glean is working with ecosystem partners including AWS, Snowflake, and Mantel to help enterprises deploy AI on top of their existing data, cloud, and technology environments.

About Glean

Glean is the Work AI platform that helps everyone work smarter with AI. Glean Assistant gives every employee a powerful enterprise AI assistant that connects to and understands company data via Glean's Enterprise Graph, and Glean Agents empowers everyone to create, use, and manage AI agents using natural language. Powered by Glean's search and agentic engine, Glean's agents automate work across the organisation at scale, while ensuring permissions enforcement, full referenceability, governance, and security. With over 100 connectors, LLM choice, APIs for customisation, and no need for costly professional services, Glean delivers scalable, turnkey implementation of a complex AI ecosystem on one horizontal platform.

Cox’s Bazar, 1st May 2026 – Following a nationwide surge in measles cases in Bangladesh, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has increased its medical response in Cox’s Bazar. MSF teams are providing care to affected children from Rohingya refugee camps and surrounding host communities, while also supporting an ongoing vaccination campaign.

Since January 2026, measles cases have risen sharply across Bangladesh, affecting nearly all 64 districts. Cox’s Bazar—home to more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in the world’s largest refugee settlement—is among the most at-risk areas, where overcrowded and precarious living conditions increase the likelihood of rapid transmission and complications among an already vulnerable population.

According to health sector data, more than 330 suspected and 40 laboratory-confirmed measles cases have been recorded in the camps, including three associated deaths. In neighbouring host communities, nearly 160 suspected cases have been reported.

“Measles cases had been reported regularly in the district earlier this year, but we observed a sharp increase from March, accelerating further in April,” says Mieke Steenssens, MSF Country Medical Coordinator. “Our teams have been mobilised both inside and outside the camps to provide care for affected patients—most of them children under five, many presenting with severe pneumonia.”

In April alone, MSF treated 284 measles patients across its facilities in Cox’s Bazar—four times the number treated during the first three months of the year combined. Of these, 82 required inpatient care due to the severity of their condition.

“On 19 April, we opened a new isolation unit in Jamtoli camp, which serves as a referral centre for all camps” says Mieke Steenssens. “It is already at full capacity, and we are preparing to double its bed capacity.”

The proportion of severe cases is concerning. At Goyalmara Mother and Children Hospital, 40 per cent of patients with measles required inpatient care, with some needing intensive care. At Kutupalong Hospital, 15 of 71 patients admitted over a 20-day period required hospitalisation.

While extremely harsh living conditions in the camps increase the risk of complications and comorbidities among Rohingya children, low vaccination coverage in both the camps and surrounding communities remains a major concern.

“Among patients with confirmed measles cases in the camps, around three-quarters were unvaccinated,” says Steenssens. “And the proportion of unvaccinated children in host communities is also very concerning. This calls for increased immunization efforts”

Given the urgency to curb the outbreak, MSF teams are supporting the vaccination campaign launched by health authorities in Rohingya camps on 26 April. Acting swiftly is vital as measles is one of the most contagious viral diseases in the world, transmitted through respiratory droplets. It primarily affects children and can lead to severe complications—including pneumonia, malnutrition, and death—particularly in overcrowded settings with limited access to healthcare.

“The disease is preventable with two doses of a safe, low-cost, and highly effective vaccine,” says Steenssens. “However, preventing outbreaks requires at least 95 per cent vaccination coverage. As we are seeing, coverage remains too low in both the camps and surrounding communities. Alongside reactive mass vaccination campaigns, sustained investment in routine immunisation programmes is essential—one cannot succeed without the other.”

MSF teams in Cox’s Bazar are providing care for measles patients across several facilities in and around the Rohingya camps, including Jamtoli and Hakimpara primary healthcare centers, Hospital on the Hill, Kutupalong Hospital, and Goyalmara Mother and Children Hospital. Since 1 January, our teams treated 350 patients with suspected or confirmed measles, including 103 with complications. MSF also conducts health promotion activities and supports the ongoing 10-day measles and rubella vaccination campaign.

MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation.  MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières  working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au  

Researchers are calling for a new approach to preventing emerging diseases from occurring in Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory’s Top End.

James Cook University’s Professor Bruce Gummow, said a recent study by his PhD student Dr Emilia Lastica-Temura, has highlighted the factors that make the West Pacific Tropics (WPT) a high-risk region from which new infectious diseases are likely to emerge.

This region includes Indonesia and PNG as well as northern Australia.

“We know the WPT is a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases and previous studies have identified the drivers of diseases that spread from animals to humans,” said Professor Gummow.

“But they didn’t provide much insight into how these drivers interact between regional wildlife, humans and domestic animals.”

Due to the limited research being conducted on this topic in the region, the scientists could only find 14 high-quality studies published between 2004 and 2024 that could be used to give a better understanding of how environmental, social and economic forces intersect to drive disease emergence in the region.

“Socioeconomic conditions and governance systems stood out as the most influential drivers shaping how wildlife, domestic animals and people interact across ecological and territorial boundaries. These factors cut across all major transmission pathways,” said Professor Gummow.

He said the findings suggest human activities such as land use change, wildlife trade and increasing contact between wildlife and livestock, play a central role in enabling pathogen spillover.

“When combined with climate vulnerability and dense species populations, these pressures create ideal conditions for disease spread,” he said.

“In countries already vulnerable to climate change and other stressors, the consequences for both humans and animals could be severe.”

He said the researchers recognised the limited number of studies introduced some bias in the results, but the trend was clear.

“If we want to avoid more frequent and more severe disease outbreaks in these regions, we believe a regional One Health approach – balancing and optimising the health of people, animals and ecosystems – is essential,” Professor Gummow said.

He said this would mean harmonising wildlife trade regulations and strengthening biosecurity measures through shared regional standards.

“In a globalised world the outbreak of a totally new infectious disease a few hundred kilometres away is no longer just a local problem. It can quickly become Australia’s problem. If we’re smart, we’ll follow the science, act early and prevent it happening altogether.”

April 30 2026 – The Bank of England needs to be honest and flag the risk of stagflation in the UK – not just “unavoidable” higher inflation – warns the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory and asset management organisations.

The warning from Nigel Green of deVere Group, which has $14bn under advisement, comes as the Bank holds interest rates at 3.75% while signalling that inflation will rise again this year due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and surging energy prices.

“The narrative coming out of the Bank of England appears to be incomplete,” he says.

“Framing this as solely an 'unavoidable' inflation problem driven by external shocks misses the bigger and more dangerous picture.

Cyber Resilience Act drives need for continuous firmware security across the full product lifecycle

Düsseldorf, April 30, 2026 – A critical component of the implementation of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is the capacity of manufacturers to consistently monitor security risks throughout the entire lifecycle of a digital product, from development to post-shipment. Consequently, modern firmware monitoring technologies are becoming increasingly important.

The Düsseldorf-based cybersecurity company ONEKEY has developed digital twin technology that enables automated scans to monitor firmware around the clock. ONEKEY's monitoring system reanalyzes the firmware daily to ensure continuous security throughout its entire lifecycle. When new vulnerabilities arise, the constantly updated database and enhanced detection capabilities alert users to critical developments that could compromise a product's security.

Firmware as a Critical Vulnerability

Firmware is the fundamental software layer of many technical systems, including industrial control systems, IoT devices, medical systems, and vehicle components. Security vulnerabilities at this level are particularly critical because they allow direct access to hardware functions and are often difficult to fix retroactively.

At the same time, modern devices contain a multitude of external software libraries, open-source components, and proprietary modules. Each of these components can introduce new security risks if new vulnerabilities are discovered after a product's release.

“Manufacturers must know which software components are included in their products and which new vulnerabilities arise in order to react quickly and effectively protect their systems,” explained Jan Wendenburg, CEO of ONEKEY.

Continuous Analysis Instead of One-Time Reviews

As part of a modern firmware monitoring approach, a product's firmware is continuously monitored, not just analyzed once. The goal is to automatically detect emerging security vulnerabilities in software components and assess their impact on existing products.

First, a detailed analysis of the firmware is conducted to achieve this. This process identifies all the software components contained within the firmware and creates a structured software bill of materials (SBOM). Based on this information, dependencies within the software supply chain can be transparently mapped.

Next, the SBOM is continuously compared against global vulnerability databases. As soon as new security vulnerabilities are published, for example in an open-source library, it can automatically be determined whether an affected product contains the vulnerable component.

ONEKEY's “CRA Fast Start” program provides continuous monitoring throughout the entire product lifecycle. This program enables manufacturers of connected devices, machines, and systems to rapidly and structurally assess compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act. The CRA Fast Start approach won the “Best in Show Award” at Embedded World 2026.

Digital Twins for Scalable Security Testing

One method of implementing this approach is through the use of digital twins. This involves creating a virtual representation of the firmware, enabling security analyses to be conducted independently of the physical hardware.

These digital models can be continuously monitored to provide an ongoing overview of a product's security status. This gives manufacturers a centralized source of information for identifying and addressing security risks early on.

Automated Prioritization and Incident Management

Another key aspect of firmware monitoring is automated risk assessment. Not every vulnerability poses an immediate threat. What matters is whether the affected software component is in active use and which functions it impacts.

Therefore, ONEKEY's platform analyzes contextual information, such as affected components, exploitability of the vulnerability, and potential system impact with firmware monitoring as one of its features. The result is a prioritized list of security issues that can be addressed in a targeted manner.

This information feeds directly into security incident response processes, helping Product Security Incident Response Teams (PSIRTs) deploy security updates more quickly and effectively.

New Requirements for Manufacturers

The Cyber Resilience Act represents a fundamental shift in security strategy for manufacturers of digital products. In future, security analyses must be conducted throughout a product's entire lifecycle, from development to operation to end of life.

Firmware monitoring is essential for this process. It combines automated software analysis, continuous vulnerability monitoring, and structured security processes into an integrated security management system.

“With the increasing number of connected devices and the growing complexity of modern software architectures, daily vulnerability checks are crucial for regulatory compliance and security,” said ONEKEY CEO Jan Wendenburg.

ONEKEY is the leading European specialist in Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Management and part of the investment portfolio of PricewaterhouseCoopers Germany (PwC). The unique combination of the automated ONEKEY Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Platform (OCP) with expert knowledge and consulting services provides fast and comprehensive analysis, support, and management to improve product cybersecurity and compliance from product purchasing, design, development, production to end-of-life.

Critical vulnerabilities and compliance violations in device firmware are automatically identified in binary code by AI-based technology in minutes – without source code, device, or network access. Proactively audit software supply chains with integrated Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) generation. “Digital Cyber Twins” enable automated 24/7 post-release cybersecurity monitoring throughout the product lifecycle.

The patent-pending, integrated ONEKEY Compliance Wizard already covers the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and requirements according to IEC 62443-4-2, ETSI EN 303 645, UNECE R 155 and many others.

The Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is effectively supported by the integrated automatic prioritisation of vulnerabilities, significantly reducing the time to remediation.

Leading international companies in Asia, Europe and the Americas already benefit from the ONEKEY Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Platform (OCP) and ONEKEY Cybersecurity Experts.

Australia's rooftop solar boom could lose momentum as proposed grid cost increases for solar and battery owners risk turning one of the country's biggest clean energy success stories into a cautionary tale.

As backlash grows over plans to charge households more for exporting solar power, questions are emerging about who pays, why the changes are needed and what this means for future uptake.  

Swinburne energy expert Professor Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian says reform is necessary as solar penetration increases, but the design of these changes is critical.

“If consumers perceive early adopters are being penalised, it could slow uptake at a time when distributed energy is essential to avoid costly network upgrades,” he says.

“Pricing should reward behaviours that support the grid, such as exporting during peak demand, rather than discourage participation altogether. Household energy systems have played a central role in managing demand and supporting the shift to renewables.

“The challenge now is ensuring pricing reforms do not undermine confidence among consumers who have driven the transition so far.”

Professor Seyedmahmoudian says the issue points to a broader opportunity to rethink how energy systems operate.

“Households with solar and batteries should be treated as active participants in a smarter and more flexible grid,” he says.

“With the right market design, we can unlock peer to peer energy sharing, community microgrids and coordinated storage, reducing costs while improving resilience.”

30 April, 2026 – The 3 May will mark 10 years since the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286. Over 80 Member States committed to protect medical and medical humanitarian personnel, infrastructure, transport and equipment. Today, international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls on States to respect this commitment, and protect medical care.

MSF has teams working in over 70 countries around the world, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar, as well as other areas of conflict and war. In the last decade, 21 MSF staff have been killed in 15 incidents whilst undertaking their duties. In 2025 alone, the World Health Organization’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) reported a total of 1,348 attacks on medical facilities, resulting in the deaths of 1,981 people.

The KOF Economic Barometer increases in April. After the considerable drop in the previous month, it continues to remain below its medium-term average. The outlook for the Swiss economy remains muted, despite this month's increase of the KOF Economic Barometer.

In April, the KOF Economic Barometer increases by 2.3 points to a level of 97.9 (after revised 95.6 in the previous month). Among the indicator bundles included in the Economic Barometer, the indicators for manufacturing, for other services and for private consumption show particularly positive developments. The indicators for hospitality, however, weaken, while the indicator bundles for foreign demand, for financial and insurance services as well as for construction remain nearly unaltered.

The majority of the sub-indicators for the different aspects of business activity within the producing industry (manufacturing and construction) indicate positive developments. In particular, the sub-indicators for stockpiling of intermediate goods, for the assessment of production barriers as well as for capacity utilisation are improving. The sub-indicators for the general business situation and for employment prospects, however, are under pressure.

Among the sub-indicators within manufacturing, the indicator bundles for the wood, glass, stone and earth segment as well as for food and beverage producers experience a setback. In contrast, the sub-indicators for the metal industry, for paper and printing products and for the electrical industry point to a more favourable outlook.