Sources report Lebanon preparing delegation for talks with Israel, while Guterres drums up humanitarian support
The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran is likely to impact people around the world as tensions escalate around the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway on Iran's southern coast, where traffic has ground to a halt. Why it matters: Trade disruptions along this key waterway on Iran's southern coast that handles 25% of the world's maritime oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas shipments will likely produce a domino effect across the global economy. About 33% of the world's fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, travel through the strait, according to the trade analysis firm Kpler. • It's a key route for alumimum and sugar as well.Blocked access to the strait will likely impact the price of some products, including clothing, cookware, medical equipment, and more. State of play: The strait is "closed" and any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway would be set "ablaze," an Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) commander said Monday. Driving the news: President Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday that the U.S. will "immediately" offer "political risk insurance and guarantees" for energy tankers and other ships in the Gulf region, and that the Navy would escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if needed. The U.S. has been striking Iranian warships in order to reduce Iran's stronghold over the strait. What they're saying: "The scale of what is at stake cannot be overstated," Hakan Kaya, senior portfolio manager at investment management firm Neuberger Berman, said in a blog post this week. Oil companies can likely absorb a one- to two-week slowdown, he said."A full or near-full closure lasting a month or more would require demand destruction at levels that could push crude well into triple digits and European natural gas prices toward or above the crisis levels seen in 2022," Kaya added. Here's what to know: Gas prices Threat level: With access to oil restricted, oil prices and gasoline prices have spiked. Tom Kloza, an oil analyst working for Gulf Oil, told Axios
Regulators say design choices that hook users could breach EU's digital rules
Violence erupts in several states after one of the most powerful cartel leaders in Mexico is killed in army operation
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 […]
Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered the city's traffic network shut down, saying, 'New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade.' Power outages were likely, due to heavy snow and wind gusts
World Economic Forum says it is reviewing the dealings of its CEO, Borge Brende, with the late sex offender
In the latest repatriation of stolen artefacts, France on Friday handed over the Djidji Ayokwe or "talking" drum back to Ivory Coast after it was looted by colonial troops in 1916. The drum, which was used by the Ebrie tribe to transmit messages, is one of hundreds of objects France is preparing to send back to Africa
A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota
Yoon Suk Yeol's conviction marks a historic turning point for South Korea's democracy, after months of tension and unprecedentedly large protests
Trump's return to the White House has intensified a "downward spiral" on human rights, says Human Rights Watch
The French interior minister spent two days in the Algerian capital aiming to restore ties that had been severed for 18 months