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Al Monitor

Newspaper | United States | Centre-Left

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Geopolitics

What are the possible effects of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon on people living in both countries?

By Maya Gebeily and Alexander Cornwell BEIRUT/TEL AVIV, March 7 (Reuters) - Israel warned Lebanon of a "very heavy price" if it did not rein in Iran-backed Hezbollah on Saturday, as it pounded the group's strongholds around the country with air strikes and mounted a deadly airborne raid in the east. Lebanon was dragged into the wider Middle East war on Monday when Hezbollah fired at Israel, which responded with a new military campaign that has forced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes

Israel
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Economy

How should our government respond to rising gas prices due to the conflict in Iran?

Data: Financial Modeling Prep; Chart: Axios Visuals In the first week of the American and Israeli attack on Iran, the economic ripples were looking pretty minimal. But as Week 2 begins, the risks to the global economy are growing much more serious. The big picture: You can't decapitate the leadership of a country of 90 million people, with expansive military and intelligence capabilities, in the heart of some of the world's most economically important supply chains, without a huge cost. The hours and days and weeks ahead are all about quantifying that cost. Zoom in: Oil skyrocketed 25% overnight, to just under $120 a barrel, fueling worries that higher energy costs will stoke inflation and curb spending by U.S. consumers. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 5%. That's the highest oil price since about four years ago, when energy prices surged due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Patrick De Haan — a widely cited gas price expert and an analyst for GasBuddy — estimates there's an 80% chance the national average gas price will hit $4 per gallon in the next month. The latest: As of 5am ET, a barrel of the global crude oil benchmark was going for about $107 on futures markets, up 15% from Friday and 47% from 10 days ago, before the Iran attack. Brent crude prices approached $120 overnight before receding on reports of coordinated global action to release oil reserves. The oil price rise is poised to translate into a rapid increase in the cost of retail gasoline, which was already up about 51 cents per gallon before the weekend run-up in oil prices. The risk of a broader economic slump is rising with the disruption to oil supplies. S&P 500 futures are down 1.3% overnight, setting Wall Street up for its third consecutive day of losses. Japan's Nikkei index was down 5.2% and South Korea's KOSPI down 6%, reflecting those economies' more direct dependence on Middle Eastern oil now at risk of a protracted blockade. Of note: The odds of a U.S. recession this year spiked t

Global
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Geopolitics

What are the best ways for countries to help people affected by the conflict in the Middle East?

GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon and tens of thousands of Syrian refugees there have fled back over the border, calling the situation in the region a "major humanitarian emergency". Israel has issued large-scale evacuation orders for southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut amid hostilities with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah since a U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran began on February 28

Global
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Geopolitics

What are the potential consequences for European countries if they support military actions in the conflict with Iran?

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Tehran had "already informed the Europeans and everybody else that they should be careful not to be involved in this war of aggression against Iran". He warned that if any country "joins America and Israel in the aggression against Iran, they will be also legitimate targets for Iran's retaliation"

Global
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Geopolitics

How should the government respond to student protests while considering international pressures?

DUBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Students held protests at several Iranian universities at the start of a new semester on Saturday, some clashing with pro-government groups, according to local news agencies and posts on social media. The protests coincided with ceremonies traditionally held after 40 days to mourn those killed by security forces during last month's anti-government demonstrations, which saw thousands lose their lives in the worst domestic unrest since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution

United States
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Geopolitics

What can communities and leaders do to prevent violence and support healing after attacks like the one at the mosque in Pakistan?

At least 31 people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated in a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, one of the country’s deadliest attacks targeting the capital in recent history. While Pakistan has been plagued by sectarian violence in recent years, it has largely been restricted to the ethnic Baloch areas in […]

Pakistan
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Geopolitics

What are the possible effects of the US withdrawing troops from Syria on the region and its people?

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The United States is in the process of withdrawing all of its roughly 1,000 troops from Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing three U.S. officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Last week, the U.S. military said it completed a withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria, handing it over to Syrian forces, in the latest sign of strengthening U.S.-Syrian ties that could enable an even larger American drawdown

United States
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