US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel had conducted a "powerful strike" on South Pars, adding it accounted for about half of Iran's petrochemical production.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Israel attacks Iran's biggest gas plant - Israel said it had attacked Iran's biggest gas plant, the South Pars petrochemical complex, and Iranian media said several explosions had been heard at the plant at Assaluyeh in the south of the country. 
  • Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel had conducted a "powerful strike" on South Pars, adding it accounted for about half of Iran's petrochemical production.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Israel attacks Iran's biggest gas plant

Israel said it had attacked Iran's biggest gas plant, the South Pars petrochemical complex, and Iranian media said several explosions had been heard at the plant at Assaluyeh in the south of the country. 
Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel had conducted a "powerful strike" on South Pars, adding it accounted for about half of Iran's petrochemical production. Israel said earlier it had also hit "regime targets" in Tehran.

UN nuclear chief warns over attacks near Iran plant

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog said that attacks near Iran's Bushehr atomic power plant "pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop". 
Strikes near the plant risk "harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond," said Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said one recent strike hit just 75 metres (245 feet) from the Bushehr perimeter.

Iran says intelligence chief killed

Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Iran said Monday as the Islamic republic defied threats from US President Donald Trump to inflict "hell" on civilian infrastructure if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump vowed in an expletive-laden social media post to strike Iran's bridges and power plants. But he appeared to extend by 24 hours his deadline for a deal. "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!" he said on his Truth Social platform. Citing US, Israeli and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire was under discussion.
The Revolutionary Guards said they were completing preparations to enforce new operating conditions in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's central military command warned of "much more devastating" retaliation if enemies hit civilian targets. 

Four killed in attack on Israeli apartments

Israeli rescue services said the bodies of four missing people had been recovered from the rubble of a residential building in the northern city of Haifa after it was struck by an Iranian missile the previous day.
Israel's defence ministry said it plans a "major" acceleration in production of Arrow missile interceptors. After questions emerged in international media over how long Israel's interceptor stocks would last, Defence Minister Israel Katz said "Israel has sufficient interceptors to protect its citizens".

Six wounded in Kuwait attack

An Iranian attack on a residential area in northern Kuwait injured six people, the health ministry said. Kuwait's army said earlier that the Gulf nation's air defences were working to intercept missiles and drones.
The United Arab Emirates defence ministry said its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack, with falling debris injuring one person in Abu Dhabi.

Israel hits southern Beirut

An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs as Israel's army said it was targeting Hezbollah. Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people and wounded 39, Lebanese officials said. 

More ships pass through Strait of Hormuz

A third Turkish-owned ship has passed through the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. In a new sign of activity in the strategic waterway, Japanese firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said an Indian-flagged LPG tanker owned by a subsidiary had passed through the strait.
South Korea will meanwhile send five ships to the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu to help establish alternative oil supply routes avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a ruling MP said. Taiwan said it will also redirect ships to bring crude oil from Saudi Red Sea ports.

Oil benchmarks around $110

Oil prices made early gains Monday but fell back following US President Donald Trump's latest threats against Iran.
Prices fluctuated, and by late afternoon US benchmark West Texas Intermediate, which at one stage was at $113.62 a barrel, was back at $110.01. North Sea Brent was at $108.20, having earlier hit $110.30.
burs-tw/giv

US

Israel hits Iran gas complex after Trump threat

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, WASHINGTON, BEIRUT, DUBAI AND SANAA

  • Iran said "much more devastating" attacks would come if Trump followed through on his threat to hit civilian targets.
  • Israeli strikes hit Iran's largest petrochemical complex Monday, as the Islamic republic defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Iran said "much more devastating" attacks would come if Trump followed through on his threat to hit civilian targets.
Israeli strikes hit Iran's largest petrochemical complex Monday, as the Islamic republic defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A separate Israeli strike also killed a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, while Iran launched drone and missile attacks against Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran said "much more devastating" attacks would come if Trump followed through on his threat to hit civilian targets.
The US leader had on Sunday threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants if Tehran does not bow to his demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping by Tuesday 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Wednesday).
Iran has all but blocked Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, sending oil and gas prices soaring and pushing countries around the world to enact measures to contain the fallout. 
In a stark, expletive-laden social media post on Sunday, Trump demanded: "Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell."
On Monday, Israel said it had struck Iran's largest petrochemical facility in Assaluyeh on Iran's Gulf coast, where local media reported multiple explosions.
The site accounted for about 50 percent of the country's petrochemical production worth "tens of billions of dollars", Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Ahead of the latest strikes, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Hormuz "will never return to its former status, especially for the US and Israel".
The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed at dawn in US-Israeli strikes.
"We will reach anyone who seeks to harm us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, after Katz confirmed the country's military was behind the strike.
Israel's defence ministry also said it would ramp up production of Arrow missile interceptors, part of the country's multi-layered air defences.

A deal?

While the violence continued to spiral, reports surfaced of a potential push to halt the fighting.
Citing US, Israeli and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations on a more permanent peace was under discussion.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had on Sunday confirmed he was engaging in talks with governments across the region, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
"Views and proposals were exchanged on ways to deescalate the military situation in the region given the delicate juncture it is currently facing," a statement from his ministry said.
Trump told Fox News that Iran was "close" to making a deal, but Tehran has repeatedly denied it is engaged in any negotiations with the US or Israel.
European Council chief Antonio Costa, one of the EU's top officials, called in an X post for a "diplomatic solution".
"Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable," Costa said.

Oil squeeze

The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has engulfed the Middle East and roiled the global economy.
A worldwide oil squeeze has hit aviation, with Indonesia on Monday saying it would increase a jet fuel surcharge and low-cost carrier Air Asia X announcing ticket price hikes of up to 40 percent.
South Korea will send ships to fetch oil from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, avoiding Hormuz altogether, a ruling party MP said, while Taiwan's government said it too would take the Red Sea route.
In Tehran, many residents seemed outwardly indifferent to Trump's invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites and holding picnics in a large park in the city's west on Sunday.
Trump is due to give details in a press conference later Monday on the rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was downed by Iran.
Gulf nations allied with the US have also been sucked into the war. From Sunday to Monday they reported a wave of fresh strikes, with Kuwait saying six were hurt in an attack on a residential area.
The UAE said Monday its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack, and that one person was injured in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi.
In Jordan, the government agreed to begin compensating people whose property has been damaged by falling debris from drones and missiles, local media reported.
Iran has continued to launch attacks at Israel, where the military and medics said four bodies were recovered from a residential building in the northern city of Haifa that was struck by a missile.
In retaliation, Israel's army said Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against targets in Tehran.
Iranian media reported several attacks on residential areas of Tehran, while the state broadcaster said gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.
On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the war since the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah targeted Israel on March 2.
Israel has struck back and invaded parts of southern Lebanon, with army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting troops there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes.
AFP journalists saw a large plume of smoke rising over Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday after an Israeli strike that the army said targeted Hezbollah.
burs-tgb/ser

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had also passed through the Strait of Hormuz and its crew and cargo were safe.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - Turkish, Japanese tankers pass - A third Turkish-owned ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Turkey's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. 
  • Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had also passed through the Strait of Hormuz and its crew and cargo were safe.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

Turkish, Japanese tankers pass

A third Turkish-owned ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Turkey's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. 
Iran has closed the key global waterway, since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran started on February 28 set off the Middle East conflict and sent global oil and gas prices soaring.
Uraloglu said the "Ocean Thunder", carrying crude oil loaded from Iraq to Malaysia, safely passed through the strait overnight.
Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had also passed through the Strait of Hormuz and its crew and cargo were safe.
- Oil dips - 
Oil prices edged down in subdued Easter holiday trading volumes as investors took encouragement from news of some oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
"There is definitely some sort of volumes being shipped through the strait -- by far not at all normalising the commercial ship traffic -- but it's definitely a step in the right direction," SEB analyst Ole R. Hvalbye told AFP.
Around 1050 GMT, a barrel of the main Brent benchmark was off 0.8 percent at $108.20 with West Texas Intermediate down 1.4 percent at 110.01.

Iran petrochemical site hit

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel has conducted a "powerful strike" on Iran's largest petrochemical facility in Assaluyeh, after Iranian media reported multiple explosions at the site.
"The Israel Defense Forces have just carried out a powerful strike on Iran's largest petrochemical facility, located in Assaluyeh -- a central target responsible for about 50 percent of the country's petrochemical production," Katz stated.

South Korea, Taiwan, take Saudi option

South Korea will send five Korean-flagged ships to the Saudi Arabian Red Sea port of Yanbu to help establish alternative oil supply routes to avoid the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a ruling MP said.
The surge in oil prices has raised growth and inflation risks for South Korea, which relies on Middle Eastern crude for around 70 percent of its imports.
Taiwan, with a similar reliance for oil imports, said meanwhile it will also redirect ships to bring crude oil from Saudi Arabian Red Sea ports.

Indonesia aviation fuel hike

Indonesia is raising its aviation fuel surcharge by 28 percentage points and will allow airlines to raise domestic ticket prices, which the government caps, by up to 13 percent.
Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto told reporters the fuel surcharge would rise from 10 to 38 percent, and the base ticket price between nine and 13 percent.

Sri Lanka hikes cooking gas prices

Sri Lanka has raised prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by nearly a quarter, after eight percent last month, blaming higher global prices on the Iran war.
As well as gas, Sri Lanka also imports all of its oil and buys coal for electricity generation.
Colombo has warned that a prolonged war in the Middle East could seriously undermine efforts to emerge from its economic meltdown of 2022.

Asia shares close higher

Tokyo and Seoul shares closed higher, Tokyo, adding 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. Among other Asian markets open on Monday, Singapore gained 0.4 percent but Jakarta was down 0.5 percent.
Many markets in Asia and Europe were closed for Easter Monday, which coincided with China's Qingming Festival.
burs-cw/giv

US

Israeli strikes kill Iran Guards intel chief as Trump deadline looms

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, WASHINGTON, BEIRUT, DUBAI AND SANAA

  • The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed "at dawn" in US-Israeli strikes.
  • Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on Monday defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed "at dawn" in US-Israeli strikes.
Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on Monday defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The warring sides kept up their barrage of strikes, with Iranian missiles and drones targeting Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and Israeli strikes hitting Iran and swathes of Lebanon where it is battling Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Iran said that "much more devastating" attacks would come if Trump followed through on his vow to hit civilian targets.
The American leader had in social media posts Sunday threatened to destroy Iran's civilian infrastructure if Tehran does not bow to his demand to reopen the Gulf to shipping by "Tuesday 8:00 PM" (0000 GMT Wednesday).
Iran has all but blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, sending oil and gas prices soaring and pushing countries around the world to enact measures to contain the fallout. 
In a stark, expletive-laden post on Sunday, Trump demanded: "Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell."
Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded to Trump's by saying that the US leader had "publicly threatened to commit war crimes" by menacing bridges and power plants.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the strait "will never return to its former status, especially for the US and Israel."
The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed "at dawn" in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country's military had been behind the strike, saying that it had been a response to Iran's attacks on civilian areas in Israel. 
Katz called Khademi "one of the direct perpetrators of these war crimes and one of the top three officials in the organisation", and said of Iran's leaders: "We will continue to hunt them one by one."

A deal?

Prices for US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate were down 2.2 percent at $109.16 around 0915 GMT Monday, as reports surfaced of a potential halt to the fighting.
Citing US, Israeli and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations on a more permanent peace was under discussion.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had on Sunday confirmed he was engaging in talks with governments across the region, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi.
"Views and proposals were exchanged on ways to deescalate the military situation in the region given the delicate juncture it is currently facing," a statement from the ministry said.
Trump told Fox News Iran was "close" to making a deal, but Iran has repeatedly denied it was engaged in any negotiations with the United States and Israel.

'Region going to burn'

The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has engulfed the Middle East and strained the global economy.
A worldwide oil squeeze was making itself felt, with Indonesia on Monday announcing an increase in an aviation fuel surcharge from 10 to 38 percent.
In an attack on Trump, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media that "our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following (Israel Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's commands."
In Tehran,  many residents seemed outwardly indifferent to Trump's invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites and holding picnics in a large park in the city's west Sunday.
Trump is due to give details on the rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran in a press conference later Monday.
Gulf nations reported a wave of fresh strikes from Sunday to Monday, with Kuwait saying six were hurt in an attack on a residential area.
The United Arab Emirates also said on Monday that its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack, and that one person was injured in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi.
The Israeli military and medics said a missile fired from Iran hit a residential building in the northern city of Haifa.
Firefighters said two people had been killed and two more were missing under the rubble.

'Choose peace'

In Iran, local media reported several attacks on residential areas over Tehran Monday, while the state broadcaster said that gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.
Israel's army said early Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against targets in Tehran.
On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the conflict since Iran-backed Hezbollah targeted Israel on March 2.
Israel has struck back and invaded southern Lebanon, with the army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting troops there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes.
AFP journalists witnessed a new strike on Beirut's southern suburbs Monday after Israeli forces warned residents to evacuate.
burs-tgb/ser

Global Edition

Oil pares gains as shares rise in Tokyo, Seoul

  • Tokyo closed 0.6 percent higher and Seoul ended the day with gains of 1.4 percent.
  • Oil prices pared gains Monday after a spike following fresh threats in the war in the Middle East, while Tokyo and Seoul shares closed higher.
  • Tokyo closed 0.6 percent higher and Seoul ended the day with gains of 1.4 percent.
Oil prices pared gains Monday after a spike following fresh threats in the war in the Middle East, while Tokyo and Seoul shares closed higher.
Many markets in Asia and Europe were closed for holidays on Easter Monday, which coincides with China's Qingming Festival.
Crude oil contracts had surged at the week's market opening after US President Donald Trump made an expletive-laced threat to destroy Iran's civilian infrastructure, demanding Tehran bow to his demands for a deal to reopen the Gulf to shipping.
But they fluctuated during the day, and by late afternoon US benchmark West Texas Intermediate had lost 0.7 percent at $110.75 a barrel, while North Sea Brent was up 0.2 percent to $109.20.
Analysts said a report by Axios that said the United States and Iran were discussing terms with regional mediators for a potential 45-day ceasefire had calmed sentiment among investors.
"Markets are beginning to flirt with the idea of a peace dividend," wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
However, it is "a tentative recalibration, a market shading probabilities rather than rewriting the script", Innes added.
Bloomberg Markets Live strategist Mark Cranfield said the reaction to the report "shows how keen investors are to see a de-escalation in the Iran war, which is dominating a risk aversion theme across markets".
"Should President Trump push back against ceasefire hopes when he speaks later on Monday, this positive mood will reverse," he added.
Tokyo closed 0.6 percent higher and Seoul ended the day with gains of 1.4 percent. Among other Asian markets open on Monday, Singapore was up 0.4 percent but Jakarta was down 0.5 percent.
"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday, later telling Fox News there was a "good chance" Iran would agree to a deal.
Hours later, Iran's central military command warned of "much more devastating" retaliation if its adversaries hit civilian targets.
MUFG's Lloyd Chan said in a note that "it remains to be seen whether this escalatory rhetoric ultimately proves to be another 'TACO' moment" -- a jokey acronym for "Trump always chickens out". 
But "the persistence of threats to critical Iranian infrastructure keeps escalation risks elevated", he said.
The war, entering its sixth week since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, has engulfed the Middle East in conflict and upended the global economy.
Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil and gas transits, sending petroleum prices skyrocketing.

Key figures at around 0730 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 53,413.68 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: CLOSED for holiday
Shanghai - Composite: CLOSED for holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1544 from $1.1535 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3229 from $1.3224
Dollar/yen: FLAT at 159.63
Euro/pound: UP at 87.27 pence from 87.22 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $110.75 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $109.20 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 46,504.67 (close)
London - FTSE 100: CLOSED for holiday
bur-kaf/mtp

Israel

OPEC+ hikes oil production quotas, issues warning

  • But OPEC+ warned that damage to energy infrastructure increases oil market volatility, potentially hitting global supplies well into the future.
  • The OPEC+ oil cartel agreed on Sunday to again increase oil production quotas, while warning that repairing energy facilities, such as those damaged in the Middle East war, is "costly and takes a long time".
  • But OPEC+ warned that damage to energy infrastructure increases oil market volatility, potentially hitting global supplies well into the future.
The OPEC+ oil cartel agreed on Sunday to again increase oil production quotas, while warning that repairing energy facilities, such as those damaged in the Middle East war, is "costly and takes a long time".
For the second month in a row, OPEC+ countries -- which include key oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as several Gulf countries that have been targets of Iranian airstrikes -- agreed to raise quotas by 206,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May.
But OPEC+ warned that damage to energy infrastructure increases oil market volatility, potentially hitting global supplies well into the future.
Its statement also stressed "the critical importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy".
The text did not mention the Iran war directly, but the conflict -- which has roiled global energy markets and caused prices to surge -- clearly weighed on the decision.
The United States and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, and Tehran has retaliated by striking targets across the region.
In addition to hitting key energy facilities in a number of neighbouring countries, Iran has virtually halted ship traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz by threatening to attack tankers passing without permission.
That has badly restricted exports from the Gulf region, and raised questions about whether oil can reach global markets even if OPEC+ members in the region manage to ramp up production.
Before the war, about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the Strait.
Ukraine has also been striking Russian oil industry facilities as it seeks to fight back against Moscow's ongoing invasion.
Last month, the eight-strong V8 (Voluntary Eight) group in the OPEC+ cartel also raised production quotas by 206,000 bpd.
On Sunday, the V8 said in a statement that "any actions undermining energy supply security, whether through attacks on infrastructure or disruption of international maritime routes, increase market volatility" and make it more difficult for OPEC+ to manage global prices.
The eight countries -- Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman -- praised members that managed to find alternate exports routes to deliver oil, "which have contributed to reducing market volatility".
bst/jhb

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Strikes on Kuwait - Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the electricity and water ministry said.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Pope urges peace - Pope Leo XIV urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace", in his first Easter blessing.
  • - Strikes on Kuwait - Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the electricity and water ministry said.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Pope urges peace

Pope Leo XIV urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace", in his first Easter blessing.
"We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people," he told a crowd in St Peter's Square.

US rescue mission

Iran's military said a US operation to rescue a missing airman from a downed fighter jet had been "completely foiled", hours after President Donald Trump announced the crew member had been recovered in a "daring" operation.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the Iranian military's central command, said two C-130 military transport planes and two helicopters were destroyed during the operation.
Trump, in a social media post, said "dozens" of US aircraft took part in the rescue operation and that the crew member was injured "but he will be just fine". The other crew member from the downed warplane was rescued on Saturday.

Iran, Oman talk Hormuz

Oman and Iran held talks on easing passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Omani state news agency reported Sunday.
"The experts from both sides put forward a number of visions and proposals regarding it," the news agency said. 

Israel targets Beirut

The Israeli military said it had begun striking Lebanon's capital Beirut to take out "Hezbollah infrastructure sites".
Shortly after, an AFP photographer in Beirut saw a missile hit a building and Israeli warplanes flying at low over the city. Lebanese state media said a building in south Beirut was hit.

Israeli strike kills family

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed seven people including a family of six, a source from the Lebanese civil defence told AFP.
The family had been waiting for a relative to pick them up in Kfar Hatta, a town around 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the border that Israel had ordered to be evacuated. 

Iran Guards killed

US-Israeli strikes killed five fighters with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the northwestern Ardabil province, the official IRNA news agency quoted the Guards as saying. 

Record web blackout

Iran's internet blackout has reached 37 days, making it the longest nationwide shutdown on record for any country, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

Lebanon urges Israel talks

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed a call for negotiations with Israel, saying he wanted to spare south Lebanon from destruction on the scale seen in Gaza.
"It is true that Israel might want to do in southern Lebanon what it did in Gaza," Aoun said in a televised address, after Israel launched airstrikes and a ground offensive.

Bahrain blaze

An Iranian drone attack sparked a fire at a storage tank belonging to Bahrain's state energy firm, the company said in a statement.
The blaze had been "fully extinguished" and no injuries were reported, Bapco Energies said, adding that the damage was still being assessed.

Israeli warship targeted

Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast with a cruise missile, the first such claim by the group since the start of the war. The Israeli military said it was "not aware" of the attack. 

Abu Dhabi plant ablaze

Authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were battling fires at a petrochemical facility caused by falling debris, as Iran pressed an aerial campaign against its Gulf neighbours.
The emirate's media office said work at the plant had been suspended to allow the damage to be assessed, but there were no reports of injuries.
- Aluminium threat - 
The UAE's defence ministry said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks after Iran said it was targeting "aluminium industries".

Strikes on Kuwait

Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the electricity and water ministry said.
The attack caused "the shutdown of two electricity generating units" but there were no reports of casualties, the ministry said.
burs-jxb

Israel

Middle East war hits Britain's fish and chip shops

BY ALI BEKHTAOUI

  • The war in the Middle East, now in its second month, caused a record monthly rise in petrol and diesel prices in the United Kingdom in March was caused by the conflict, according to data from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), a British auto services company.
  • Before war erupted in the Middle East, fisherman Peter Bruce spent about £5,000 ($6,600) on diesel to trawl the North Sea for haddock and cod, the main species used in fish and chips.
  • The war in the Middle East, now in its second month, caused a record monthly rise in petrol and diesel prices in the United Kingdom in March was caused by the conflict, according to data from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), a British auto services company.
Before war erupted in the Middle East, fisherman Peter Bruce spent about £5,000 ($6,600) on diesel to trawl the North Sea for haddock and cod, the main species used in fish and chips.
"Now, the last trip we spent about £10,000," he told AFP, despite his crew reducing the speed of the boat to save fuel.
Bruce, whose boat, Budding Rose, is based in the Scottish port of Peterhead, estimates the extra costs over a year could exceed £100,000.
It was not yet clear whether the rise in energy prices would have an immediate effect on the price of fish, Bruce said. But he is worried that the hike in fuel prices will hit customer demand for the classic British meal that was already facing challenges on numerous fronts.
Bruce's catch is sold at auction in Peterhead before being transported around Britain and abroad. He fears that customers "will stop buying so much fish and chips and they'll stop going out for meals so much".

Classic dish

The classic recipe for fish and chips -- white fish deep-fried in batter, chips, and mushy peas, often with tartare sauce on the side -- dates back to the 1860s. 
Fish and chip shops usually serve nothing else and most are take-away.
There were around 10,500 fish and chip shops in the UK in 2024 -- roughly the same as a decade earlier -- according to Seafish, a public body supporting the industry. 
This was more than the total number of outlets of the nine main fastfood dining brands -- including KFC, McDonald's and Domino's Pizza, it boasted.
Easter is a particularly busy time for the sector since many Britons eat fish on the Good Friday holiday.
Andrew Crook, who owns a fish and chip shop in Lancashire, northwestern England, told AFP the number of customers can more than double on Good Fridays.
Nonetheless, "we're definitely under pressure," said Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Fryers.
He blamed several factors.
"We've got extremely high fish prices, we've got energy prices; wages go up continually," he lamented.
The war in the Middle East, now in its second month, caused a record monthly rise in petrol and diesel prices in the United Kingdom in March was caused by the conflict, according to data from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), a British auto services company.
But there are other difficulties.

Oil, fertiliser...

Stricter fishing rules to conserve species, as well as the war in Ukraine -- Russia previously supplied 30 to 40 percent of the country's fish -- had weakened the sector in Britain already, says Crook, and forced it to raise prices.
Another concern is the soaring price of fertilisers and its impact on production of potatoes and oil seeds. Some 30 percent of the world's fertiliser normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now almost closed.
Back in 2022, small businesses were worried about a shortage of sunflower oil, since Ukraine was the world's leading exporter of the seeds; now, they are increasingly concerned about the energy cost of heating their cooking oils.
Crook, who sells fish and chips for £11.45 ($15) per portion, said businesses are looking at options to avoid putting up prices, such as choosing less costly fish species like pollack from North America and South African hake, and reducing portions.
"We do try to cushion consumers," he said, adding that he does not want to raise his prices for now.
alb/alm-am/gv/tw

nutrition

In the online 'maxxing' era, what's the deal with fiber and protein?

BY MAGGY DONALDSON

  • Perhaps most importantly, no nutrient is a cure-all -- those "fiber-rich" chips probably won't change your life.
  • First it was protein, now it's fiber: the "maxxing" mindset has permeated social media, as wellness influencers insist that loading up on certain nutrients is the key to vitality and a life-changing gut glow-up.
  • Perhaps most importantly, no nutrient is a cure-all -- those "fiber-rich" chips probably won't change your life.
First it was protein, now it's fiber: the "maxxing" mindset has permeated social media, as wellness influencers insist that loading up on certain nutrients is the key to vitality and a life-changing gut glow-up.
These viral diet trends rooted in extreme optimization are impacting how people eat and what companies sell -- but are they actually healthy?
The concept of "proteinmaxxing" insists that more is better when it comes to the macronutrient found in foods like meat, dairy and nuts, which is essential to a vast array of bodily functions such as repairing tissue or enhancing immune function.
Meanwhile dietary fiber is on track to be 2026's online trend of choice: ingest as much as possible and you'll be less hungry and more regular, say online advocates who wave bowls of chia seeds and oats at the camera.
Brands have taken note: if you can buy it, there's probably a protein-boosted version of it -- even the sugariest cereals are touting their high protein content.
And blue chip companies like PepsiCo and Nestle along with newer firms like Olipop are jumping on the bandwagon, highlighting the fiber content in prebiotic sodas or chips.
"I think fiber will be the next protein," said PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta in an earnings call late last year.
A survey from the consulting firm Bain & Company showed nearly half of US consumers are trying to eat more protein.
Across the United States, Europe and Asia, it's Gen Z and Millennial consumers primarily driving the fad, according to the survey.
The same goes for fiber: according to London's GlobalData, 40 percent of Gen Z and 45 percent of Millennials reported they're trying to improve their gut health.

More not always best

Nutritionists say there are grains of truth to the fiber craze.
Andrea Glenn, an assistant professor of nutrition at New York University, called the movement surrounding fiber a "pretty tame wellness trend compared to the other things out there."
Samantha Snashall, a registered dietitian at Ohio State University's medical center, said protein has been "the special child" in recent years -- and fiber has been "pretty undervalued."
"I'm glad it's having some light shed on it."
But those experts along with Arch Mainous -- a professor of community health and family medicine at the University of Florida, who has researched the use of social media in health communication -- said more isn't always best, especially when it comes to protein.
Mainous said eating according to the recommended daily values is one thing -- but "if you say one's good, five's better? I'm not really for that."
He voiced concern that people are putting too much stock in the one-size-fits-all health advice of influencers.
It's part of a broader trend that has resulted in a "lack of trust in health experts," he said -- a "I'll do my own research" mentality that has also been fueled by the likes of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who has spread anti-vaccine misinformation for years.
Few influencers are trained scientists, Mainous said, and many have brand deals or agendas of their own, including products to sell.

No 'silver bullet'

So what's an eater to do?
First, talk to your physician, Mainous said. 
As a general guideline, the American Heart Association says that for many people, a day that includes a combination of foods like a glass of milk, a cup of yogurt, a cup of cooked lentils, and a piece of cooked lean meat or fish approximately the size of a deck of cards will be in the ballpark of the average daily protein target.
Fiber-wise, Glenn said 25-38 grams depending on age and sex is a good goal. 
High-fiber foods -- such as beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains like oats or quinoa -- are linked to lower rates of certain cancers, and can help keep cholesterol and blood sugar in check.
Generally, Glenn said, people can eat some whole grains or fruit at breakfast, and then should try to fill half their plates with vegetables at lunch and dinner.
With that visualization, "you'll easily hit that target without needing to meticulously count how much fiber you're consuming," she told AFP.
But if you're not currently eating much fiber -- most people aren't -- "maxxing" is not a good course, Snashall warned.
Shake things up overnight and "your GI system is going to have a strong reaction," she said. "Slow and steady wins the race."
And Glenn noted that powders and supplements can't serve as a replacement for whole, real foods.
Perhaps most importantly, no nutrient is a cure-all -- those "fiber-rich" chips probably won't change your life.
"I think it's important to never view these things as a silver bullet to all your problems," she said.
mdo/sst

US

Mideast war presents 'serious risk' for Africa: report

  • The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa's imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted.
  • The Middle East war "presents a serious risk to Africa", the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a report seen by AFP Saturday.
  • The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa's imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted.
The Middle East war "presents a serious risk to Africa", the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a report seen by AFP Saturday.
The conflict threatens to increase the cost of living and curtail growth on the continent, the report warned.
The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa's imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted.
"The conflict, which already has triggered a trade shock, could quickly turn into a cost-of-living crisis across Africa through higher fuel and food prices, rising shipping and insurance costs, exchange rate pressures, and tighter fiscal conditions," it added.
The growth rate of most African countries continues to be slower than before the Covid pandemic, it noted.
"A loss in output growth of 0.2 percentage points on Africa's GDP is projected for 2026 if it (the conflict) exceeds six months," it said.
"The longer the conflict lasts and the more severe the disruption to shipping routes and energy and fertilizer supplies, the greater the risk of a significant growth slowdown across the continent."
Reduced deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf will impact fertilizer production, limiting its availability during the crucial planting period up to May, it added.

Currencies hit

The report was compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
According to recent data from the AfDB, the currencies of 29 African countries have already depreciated, increasing the cost of servicing external debt, making imports more expensive and reducing foreign exchange reserves,
Some countries could see some short-term gains, such as Nigeria for its oil exports or Mozambique for its LNG.
The rerouting of ships around Cape of Good Hope could benefit ports in Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius.
Kenya is establishing itself as a logistics hub in East Africa, while Ethiopian Airlines, the leading carrier in Africa, is serving as an "emergency air bridge" between the continent, Asia, and Europe, the report noted. 
But these gains are likely to be uneven and will not offset the consequences for inflation, budgets, and food security in Africa, they warned.
Above all, the current crisis could hit the costs of humanitarian aid and divert donor funds towards other priorities.
bur-ayv/gv/jj

conflict

Erdogan, Zelensky discuss energy security, peace efforts

  • Erdogan "stressed the importance that Turkey attaches to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and the crucial nature of the security of energy supply," his office said.
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul Saturday for talks on energy and navigation security, and efforts to end the war with Russia, the Turkish presidency said.
  • Erdogan "stressed the importance that Turkey attaches to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and the crucial nature of the security of energy supply," his office said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul Saturday for talks on energy and navigation security, and efforts to end the war with Russia, the Turkish presidency said.
The visit came a day after Erdogan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused Kyiv of attempting to target the gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey supplying several European countries.
Erdogan "stressed the importance that Turkey attaches to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and the crucial nature of the security of energy supply," his office said.
The two leaders had discussed relations between the countries, "peace efforts in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and regional and international developments", it added. 
Zelensky said they had discussed "steps to implement joint projects in developing gas infrastructure, as well as opportunities for joint development of gas fields".
There was a heavy police presence around the lavish Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus, which also hosted several rounds of talks between Moscow and Kyiv in the past.
Zelensky was also due to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of most Christian Orthodox churches, a week before the Orthodox Easter, celebrated in Ukraine and Russia on April 12.
Kyiv has been pushing for a truce over the Orthodox Easter holidays that would include a halt in attacks on energy infrastructure.
Russia, which is seeking a permanent settlement rather than a brief ceasefire, said it had not seen any "clearly formulated" proposals from Kyiv.
Ukraine has struck Russian energy infrastructure throughout the more than four-year war in a bid to weaken Moscow's ability to finance its offensive.
Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities have cut power and heating to millions of people since the beginning the war in 2022.
bur-asy/jj

US

European drivers choke on rising diesel prices

BY NATHALIE ALONSO

  • The international supply-and-demand balance for diesel "was much tighter than the gasoline balance going into the war and the subsequent market response has been one of strong gasoil (diesel) price escalation while gasoline’s price response has been somewhat muted," Susan Bell, a commodity markets specialist at Rystad Energy, a consultancy, told AFP. - Russia dilemma - In Britain, France and other countries, the price of diesel has risen more than 30 percent since the first US-Israeli air strikes on Iran and resulting choking of the Strait of Hormuz.
  • The price of diesel fuel has rocketed by more than 30 percent across Europe since the start of the Middle East war highlighting the continent's dependence on imported energy and the lingering prominence of  diesel on the car market.
  • The international supply-and-demand balance for diesel "was much tighter than the gasoline balance going into the war and the subsequent market response has been one of strong gasoil (diesel) price escalation while gasoline’s price response has been somewhat muted," Susan Bell, a commodity markets specialist at Rystad Energy, a consultancy, told AFP. - Russia dilemma - In Britain, France and other countries, the price of diesel has risen more than 30 percent since the first US-Israeli air strikes on Iran and resulting choking of the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of diesel fuel has rocketed by more than 30 percent across Europe since the start of the Middle East war highlighting the continent's dependence on imported energy and the lingering prominence of  diesel on the car market.
The Easter holiday weekend across Europe is expected to see a surge in demand with queues at petrol stations.
Diesel has been worse hit than other fuels, and was already under pressure before the war. Experts say its cost will rise further -- with a knock-on effect on inflation -- as long as trade through the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked.
The per-barrel price of diesel rose above $200 in Europe on Thursday, the highest since March 2022 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine shook markets.
Diesel is ubiquitous in Europe. While electric cars are making inroads in new sales, diesel is still the most widely used fuel. Trucks, farm tractors, buses, building site machinery and even shipping depend on it.
Diesel accounted for 86 percent of transport fuel sales in Latvia in 2024, 73 percent in France and 66 percent in Germany, according to FuelsEurope, a trade body which represents the refining industry.
The international supply-and-demand balance for diesel "was much tighter than the gasoline balance going into the war and the subsequent market response has been one of strong gasoil (diesel) price escalation while gasoline’s price response has been somewhat muted," Susan Bell, a commodity markets specialist at Rystad Energy, a consultancy, told AFP.

Russia dilemma

In Britain, France and other countries, the price of diesel has risen more than 30 percent since the first US-Israeli air strikes on Iran and resulting choking of the Strait of Hormuz.
In France, the price of regular petrol has gone up by just 17 percent, according to government statistics consulted by AFP.
The Netherlands has the most expensive diesel in Europe at more than $2.80 a litre, according to research by the RAC, a British motoring organisation. That is about 20 percent more than Italy, the cheapest country surveyed by the RAC.
Diesel was for a long time cheaper than petrol. At the end of the 20th century, governments and car firms encouraged drivers to buy diesel-engine cars. But not enough refineries were built to keep up with demand for the fuel and in recent years governments have imposed higher taxes on it.
The European Union is now a net exporter of petrol, mainly to the United States and Africa, but an importer of diesel.
Russia was Europe's main source of diesel until Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 set off international sanctions. 
Now EU nations look to India, Turkey, the United States and Saudi Arabia for supplies.
Middle East states provided more than half of Europe's diesel in 2025 (554,000 barrels a day out of 1.06 million), according to Rystad Energy. About one third of this passed through the Strait Hormuz.
Europe is now struggling to find alternatives. 
Slovakia last month ordered a 30-day restriction on diesel sales while foreigners have to pay more for the fuel there. Ireland and Spain have temporarily cut the taxes they charge on the fuel.
"Refineries are working at full capacity," said an expert at French energy giant TotalEnergies which has six refineries across Europe. 
"Even with maximum adjustment to our settings, the room for manoeuvre remains minimal" for TotalEnergies, he added.
Bell said that if there is a shortage of regular petrol then Europe can cut its exports. But that doesn't work for diesel.
"The most efficient and economical solution for Europe would be to source its diesel from Russia," said Bell. 
The EU will not be lifting its sanctions anytime soon however.
Postponing refinery maintenance, using strategic reserves, and reducing consumption appear to be the only other ways to partially address the imbalance, she said.
nal/cda/tw/rmb

politics

Sri Lanka struggles to avert economic collapse over Mideast war

BY AMAL JAYASINGHE

  • An IMF delegation is currently in Sri Lanka to review its four-year $2.9 billion bailout loan before releasing a $700 million instalment.
  • Sri Lanka is struggling to prevent a repeat of its spectacular economic collapse four years ago, as the prolonged Middle East war compounds the fallout from a deadly in November.
  • An IMF delegation is currently in Sri Lanka to review its four-year $2.9 billion bailout loan before releasing a $700 million instalment.
Sri Lanka is struggling to prevent a repeat of its spectacular economic collapse four years ago, as the prolonged Middle East war compounds the fallout from a deadly
in November.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has rationed fuel, raiseditsprice by a third and increased electricity costs by up to 40 percent since the war began disrupting global energy supplies.
Panic buying fuel in Sri Lanka has brought back memories of 2022, when the economy tanked, with inflation hitting 70 percent after Colombo defaulted on its $46 billion external debt.
The accompanying protests toppled the once-powerful president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was accused of mismanagement and corruption.
But the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) that led the "Aragalaya", or struggle, that ousted Rajapaksa has warned that Dissanayake's administration may be facing an implosion.
"We believe that a response to this economic crisis will come politically," FSP politburo member Duminda Nagamuwa told AFP.
"Because of the strength of the (government's) mandate, this economic shock is still being absorbed by the people without exploding politically," he said.
Dissanayake's leftist JVP, or the People's Liberation Front, won a two-thirds majority at the November 2024 parliamentary elections after his own victory two months earlier in the presidential poll.

- 'Into an abyss' -

A vendor at Colombo's Pettah night market, Wasantha Jayalath, 55, said he voted for Dissanayake in 2024 hoping for better times, but felt the situation was getting worse.
"We voted... thinking that a good, self-sufficient era would dawn for our country," Jayalath told AFP. "There is no such situation; instead, what we realise is that the country is going further into an abyss."
A trader at the capital's main wholesale market, Priyantha Sudharshana Silva, 53, is not blaming the administration for the crisis.
"Protesting won't help because the country is already in a difficult position," Silva told AFP. "We believe that moving forward, even with these difficulties, is a significant achievement."

- State of emergency -

Human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseka said protests have been subdued because people are preoccupied with the day-to-day challenge of securing supplies.
Fuel rationing has shortened queues, but on Thursday, the government began limiting water supply hours to conserve reserves and save pumping costs.
"Compared to what we had in 2022... you're not seeing that level of protest," Fonseka told AFP. "Sri Lanka was just coming out of another disaster -- Cyclone Ditwah -- and the government imposed a state of emergency to deal with that."
Fonseka said the wide powers that emergency laws give the authorities to arrest and detain suspects could be used to stifle any popular protests,raisingserious concerns for rights activists.
"We are in a situation where... laws that are in place, and the way they are being used, raise the question of whether rights could be further eroded in the coming weeks and months," she said. 

- Deadly cyclone -

Cyclone Ditwah, the worst disaster since the 2004 Asian tsunami, killed 641 people and affected almost the entire country late last year. 
The cyclone, which triggered floods and mudslides, caused an estimated $4.1 billion in damage, according to the World Bank.
The money will be used to rebuild devastated homes, roads, bridges and railways, as well as for cash handouts to help people regain lost livelihoods.
Colombo also secured $206 million in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.
An IMF delegation is currently in Sri Lanka to review its four-year $2.9 billion bailout loan before releasing a $700 million instalment.
Sri Lankan authorities have said they may ask the IMF to modify theloan'sausterity conditions, given the country's worsening economic circumstances due to external factors.
aj/lkd/lga

US

Iran hunts crew member of crashed US jet after one reported rescued

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, WASHINGTON, BEIRUT, DUBAI AND SANAA

  • Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.
  • Iranian and American forces were racing each other early Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.
  • Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.
Iranian and American forces were racing each other early Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.
Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.
Iran's military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot was rescued.
The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the loss of the F-15, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The president has been briefed".
President Donald Trump told NBC the F-15 loss would not affect negotiations with Iran, saying: "No, not at all. No, it's war."

'Valuable reward'

A spokesperson for the Iranian military's central operational command said "an American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force's advanced air defence system".
"The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing."
An Iranian television reporter on a local official channel said anyone who captured a crew member alive would "receive a valuable reward".
The US military has announced the loss of several aircraft during Iran operations, including one tanker that crashed in Iraq and three F-15s shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire.
Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell -- who has 400 hours of combat flight experience -- said key goals for downed pilots include determining their location and figuring out how to communicate.
"My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don't want to be captured," he told AFP.

Blown-out windows

Fresh strikes meanwhile hit Israel, Iran, Lebanon and Gulf countries -- and large blasts rocked northern Tehran, an AFP journalist said. Israel said it had launched a wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, alongside parallel attacks in Beirut.
Strikes by all sides have increasingly targeted economic and industrial sites, raising fears of wider disruption to global energy supplies.
In the area around a bridge west of Tehran that was targeted by the United States, an AFP reporter saw a villa and residential buildings with blown-out windows -- but no military installations.
According to the martyrs foundation of Alborz province, cited by the official IRNA agency, the attack killed 13 civilians and wounded dozens.  

Ex-FM urges deal

Writing in the US journal Foreign Affairs, Iran's former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Tehran should make a deal with Washington to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran has virtually blocked the key waterway since the war began, where one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas normally passes. 
Of the few ships that have managed to cross, most have had links to Iran, with 60 percent of commodity-bearing ships crossing the strait either coming from Iran or heading there, an AFP analysis of maritime data showed.
Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that Iran would increase its own attacks on energy sites in the region in response to threats from Trump of attacks on infrastructure.
A drone attack on a refinery owned by Kuwait's national oil company on Friday sparked fires, while a separate Iranian attack damaged a power and desalination complex.
Bahrain said four of its citizens sustained "minor injuries" as a result of shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian drone.
And one person was killed and four others injured after a fire at a gas complex in the United Arab Emirates caused by falling debris from an intercepted attack.

Bridge destroyed in Lebanon

The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah began.
It added that it would attack two bridges in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa region "in order to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment".
Lebanese state media later reported that Israel destroyed one bridge in the region.
Lebanon's health ministry said Thursday that 1,345 people had been killed -- and 4,040 wounded -- since the start of the war.
Hezbollah has so far not announced its losses.
bur-wd/sst

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • In addition, three tankers -- including one co-owned by a Japanese company -- crossed the strait on Thursday via an alternative, southern route.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - More ships pass Hormuz -  A French-owned and a Japanese-owned vessel are among a handful of ships to have transited the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, maritime tracking data showed Friday.
  • In addition, three tankers -- including one co-owned by a Japanese company -- crossed the strait on Thursday via an alternative, southern route.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:
- More ships pass Hormuz - 
A French-owned and a Japanese-owned vessel are among a handful of ships to have transited the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, maritime tracking data showed Friday.
The passage, a vital route for oil and liquified natural gas, has been virtually blocked by Tehran since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered conflict throughout the Middle East.
Both ships made the crossing on Thursday, according to tracking company Marine Traffic.
In addition, three tankers -- including one co-owned by a Japanese company -- crossed the strait on Thursday via an alternative, southern route.
They hugged close to the shore of Oman's Musandam Peninsula, a first in nearly three weeks, according to Lloyd's List.

UAE gas site fire kills one

One person was killed and four others wounded after a fire at a gas complex in Abu Dhabi, caused by falling debris from an intercepted attack on Friday, the government media office said.
It also reported "significant damage" at the facilities.

Italian central bank cuts forecast

Italy's central bank revised down its growth forecasts due to "sudden energy price hikes" linked to the war.
The Bank of Italy now expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 0.5 percent both this year and next, and then by 0.8 percent in 2028.
It previously forecast 0.6-percent growth in 2026 and 0.8 percent in 2027.

White House seeks $1.5 tn

US President Donald Trump asked lawmakers to approve a massive $1.5-trillion defence budget for 2027, as the United States faces rising costs from its war with Iran and mounting global security commitments.
The proposal would increase Pentagon spending by more than 40 percent in a single year -- the sharpest rise since World War II.

UAE company needs year to restart aluminium

Emirates Global Aluminium, one of the world's largest aluminium producers, said it could take up to a year to resume full production after an Iranian missile attack damaged its Abu Dhabi site.
Iran has attacked several smelters in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain since the war began on February 28, saying they play a role in supplying US military.

Israel re-opens gas field

Israel resumed operations at its Leviathan offshore major natural gas field.
It had been shut down since the onset of its war with Iran, halting exports to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan. 

Bangladesh cuts office hours

Bangladesh cut office and shop hours and banned decorative lighting at weddings starting Friday, to conserve energy stocks after price hikes.
Bangladesh imports 95 percent of its oil and gas needs. About 60 percent of its electricity is generated using imported gas, while diesel is primarily used for farming.

Free bus rides in Pakistan

State-run public transport in Pakistan's capital and most populous province will be free for the coming month, officials said Friday.
The announcement came hours after a late-night decision to impose a 43-percent rise in the price of petrol and 55 percent on diesel, prompting street protests and long queues at gas stations.

Food prices rise

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Food Price Index, which measures the monthly changes in international prices of a basket of food commodities, rose 2.4 percent in March from February due to higher energy and fertiliser costs.

Australia faces petrol shortages

Australia's government urged motorists to fill their cars at city petrol stations ahead of any long road trips over the Easter holiday.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said hundreds of service stations in rural towns had run out of diesel nationally and more than a hundred were without unleaded petrol.
burs-aha-bys/sst

indicator

US registers strong job growth in boost to Trump

BY ASAD HASHIM AND MYRIAM LEMETAYER

  • "My Economic Policies have created an enormously powerful engine of Economic Growth, and nothing can slow it down," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hailing the number of private sector jobs gained.
  • The US economy posted unexpectedly strong job gains in March, data showed Friday, in a development hailed by US President Donald Trump -- but seen with caution by analysts.
  • "My Economic Policies have created an enormously powerful engine of Economic Growth, and nothing can slow it down," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hailing the number of private sector jobs gained.
The US economy posted unexpectedly strong job gains in March, data showed Friday, in a development hailed by US President Donald Trump -- but seen with caution by analysts.
The world's largest economy gained 178,000 jobs in March, after losing 133,000 in February, and the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 percent, the Labor Department said.
Friday's data significantly beat analyst expectations, with economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal expecting an increase of 59,000 jobs.
The data was stronger than forecast, "but vastly overstates the sustainable pace of job growth," said Oxford Economics lead US economist Nancy Vanden Houten.
"The end of a strike, seasonal quirks and a rebound after harsh winter weather likely boosted job growth in some sectors," she said.
Trump touted the numbers as a success.
"My Economic Policies have created an enormously powerful engine of Economic Growth, and nothing can slow it down," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hailing the number of private sector jobs gained.
Earlier, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that once the "short-term disruptions" of the US-Israel war on Iran are over, "America's economic resurgence is set to only accelerate."
Markets were closed Friday in the United States for Good Friday.

Health care recovery

Much of March's recovery was fueled by health care jobs, which have remained resilient even as labor demand has dropped in other sectors.
Health care added 76,000 jobs in March, after having lost jobs the month before, in part due to strike actions.
Employment in construction also grew by 26,000 in March, although the Labor Department flagged that it had changed little over its level from a year ago.
Federal government employment continued to decline, down 11.8 percent since October 2024. Trump has taken a hatchet to the sector in a drive aimed at cost-cutting and reducing the size of government. 
The new data reflected a revision in the figures for January and February, showing employment for those two months combined was 7,000 lower than previously reported.

'Look through the noise'

The US-Israel war on Iran has engulfed the Middle East, sent oil prices surging and snarled supply chains, leading to fears of a global economic slowdown.
Analysts signaled caution as the economic impact of the war begins to hit Americans.
Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic said the March report showed the labor market was in "good standing," with "broad-based gains in the private sector."
Oxford Economics' Houten, however, said the report "doesn't change our assessment that the downside risks to the labor market have increased" due to the war.
"As the labor market softens due to the fallout from the war, we expect the unemployment rate to edge up," she said.
High energy prices tend to drive up production costs, curbing economic activity, with analysts expecting the current "low-hire, low-fire" trend to continue.
"If you look through the noise you have, you know that same picture that we've been looking at, which is a labor market that's holding up, but that has become more fragile, and that remains stuck in this low-hire, low-fire type of environment," EY-Parthenon Senior Economist Lydia Boussour told AFP.

Fed fallout

Uncertainty about the war's economic shock has so far led policymakers at the Federal Reserve to adopt a wait-and-see approach on interest rate moves, as they balance curbing stubbornly high inflation with managing unemployment.
Unemployment rates have remained relatively steady in the United States -- but the figure has hidden churn under the surface, analysts warn, as weak jobs growth has been matched by a drop in labor supply.
That drop in supply is largely attributed to Trump's crackdown on migrants.
For Fed policymakers, however, inflation currently appears to be a bigger risk than unemployment.
"We are getting mixed signals, with some key indicators showing signs of steadying while others are suggesting a weakening labor market," New York Fed President John Williams said Monday.
EY-Parthenon's Boussour said Friday's report will provide "a little bit of reassurance and a little bit of breathing room for the Fed to focus on the inflation side of their mandate in the coming months."
aha-myl/sst/mjf/dw 

US

French, Japanese ships cross Strait of Hormuz in first since war

  • - Down to a trickle - Just 221 commodities vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, some more than once, according to Kpler data up to Friday morning.
  • One French- and another Japanese-owned vessel are among a handful of vessels to have crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, maritime tracking data showed Friday.
  • - Down to a trickle - Just 221 commodities vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, some more than once, according to Kpler data up to Friday morning.
One French- and another Japanese-owned vessel are among a handful of vessels to have crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, maritime tracking data showed Friday.
The passage, a vital maritime route for oil and liquified natural gas, has been virtually blocked by Iran since the start of the war.
But both ships made the crossing on Thursday, according to ship tracking company Marine Traffic's website.
The Maltese-flagged Kribi belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM crossed the waterway to leave the Gulf on Thursday afternoon, Marine Traffic's data showed.
By early Friday, it was off Muscat, Oman, still broadcasting the message "owner France" on its transponder system in the field usually used to give the destination.
The vessel's navigation data showed it had crossed via an Iranian-approved route through its waters, dubbed the "Tehran Toll Booth" by leading shipping journal Lloyd's List.

Southern route

In addition, three tankers -- including one co-owned by a Japanese company -- crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday by taking an alternative, southern route.
They hugged close to the shore of Oman's Musandam Peninsula -- a first in nearly three weeks according to Lloyd's List.
Before the war, which started more than a month ago, about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the Strait.
All three ships signalled they were an "OMANI SHIP" in the message broadcast by their transponder as they crossed the strait.
The Sohar LNG, which was empty when crossing, is co-owned by Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K.
That makes it the first Japanese vessel to exit the Gulf since the start of the war, according to a company statement quoted by Japanese media.
The Hong-Kong flagged New Vision, which crossed the strait on March 1 right after the war started, is expected in the French port of Le Havre on Saturday evening.
Since the conflict started however, that has dwindled to a trickle as Iran selectively attacks ships and energy facilities throughout the Gulf in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.
A few commercial ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz recently have passed through the Iranian-approved route in the north of the waterway.

Down to a trickle

Just 221 commodities vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, some more than once, according to Kpler data up to Friday morning.
In peacetime, the same waterway handles around 120 daily transits, according to Lloyd's List.
Of the vessels that made the crossing, 60 percent either came from Iran or were heading there.
The other countries whose vessels -- of origin or destination -- made the crossing, were in decreasing order: the United Arab Emirates, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Brazil, and Iraq.
It was not clear from the data how many had been cleared to make the crossing by Tehran.
But it did show that, among the 118 crossings by ships carrying cargo, 37 had left the Gulf carrying crude oil.
Most of those oil tankers -- 30 of them -- came from Iran or sailed under the Iranian flag. And most ships carrying Iranian oil did not specify their destination on their transponder.
Of those who did, all but one reported they were heading to China.
In the early days of the war, transponder data showed dozens of ships broadcasting messages such as "Chinese crew" or "Chinese owner" in the field usually used for their destination.
This appeared to be an attempt by the ships to avoid being targeted by Iran.
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media

Wary of news media, Silicon Valley builds its own

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • The show -- like a whole ecosystem of podcasts and media orbiting Silicon Valley today -- operates in a world where the benefits of tech for society need no explaining, and tech enthusiasm runs deep.
  • When OpenAI acquired the tech podcast TBPN this week, it wasn't just buying a show -- it was buying a message.
  • The show -- like a whole ecosystem of podcasts and media orbiting Silicon Valley today -- operates in a world where the benefits of tech for society need no explaining, and tech enthusiasm runs deep.
When OpenAI acquired the tech podcast TBPN this week, it wasn't just buying a show -- it was buying a message.
The move laid bare a strategy that Silicon Valley has been perfecting for years: ditch the tech-sceptics of the traditional press, and build your own media.
TBPN is in many ways a tribute to mainstream news, with co-hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays -- both from the venture capital world -- presenting a three-hour show daily from a studio in Los Angeles that resembles a business or sports program on a cable news network.
But Coogan and Hays insist they are not journalists, even if they line up interviews with key figures in the industry who offer insightful access to the Silicon Valley world.
The show -- like a whole ecosystem of podcasts and media orbiting Silicon Valley today -- operates in a world where the benefits of tech for society need no explaining, and tech enthusiasm runs deep.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of AGI Deployment, said the acquisition was driven by a need for "constructive conversation about the changes AI creates," and said TBPN would maintain its editorial independence.
The show and its team now fall under the responsibility of OpenAI's public affairs chief Chris Lehane, a veteran Washington lobbyist who made his name handling scandals for the Clinton administration.
"You could read this as OpenAI needing help translating complexity to decision-makers. You could also read it as buying favorable narrative positioning during a period of intense scrutiny. Probably both," said Monica Kahn, CEO of brand advisory Creator Revolution.
"They're buying the layer where interpretation happens," she added on LinkedIn.
The transaction follows a movement spearheaded by Elon Musk and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen in which the most powerful figures in tech are circumventing mainstream news media to avoid an establishment they describe as anti-tech or left-wing.
The roster of shows where Silicon Valley's elite now prefer to make news constitutes a parallel media ecosystem.
Andreessen Horowitz has invested heavily to build its own media empire, putting out podcasts to showcase its portfolio of tech investments and push a deeply pro-tech agenda without confrontation.

'Mistake'

Lex Fridman's podcast draws millions of viewers or listeners and has attracted tech luminaries including Musk, Zuckerberg, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for two-to-three-hour discussions ranging from business to the personal.
The unabashedly right-wing All-In Podcast has featured the top CEOs, as well as executives closely linked to the Trump administration who avoid the mainstream news coverage they see as unsympathetic.
Zuckerberg used a three-hour January 2025 appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast to defend Meta's rollback of content moderation.
Whether bypassing the news media will actually benefit tech's cause remains an open question.
"I think the TBPN deal is a mistake," said former BuzzFeed reporter Alex Kantrowitz of the Big Technology Podcast. "Under the OpenAI umbrella, the network loses credibility and everything it says will be seen as OpenAI marketing."
The deeper problem, Kantrowitz argued, is one of reach.
While OpenAI may be looking to reshape public opinion at a moment when AI is polling poorly in the United States, TBPN's audience -- like on other Silicon Valley-made podcasts -- is already a converted one.
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judiciary

French court rules to extradite Russian who owned Portsmouth football club

  • Antonov's lawyer said that his client would challenge the ruling.
  • A French court has ruled to extradite Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, a former owner of English football club Portsmouth, to Lithuania, his lawyer said on Friday.
  • Antonov's lawyer said that his client would challenge the ruling.
A French court has ruled to extradite Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, a former owner of English football club Portsmouth, to Lithuania, his lawyer said on Friday.
Antonov was detained in western France last December on suspicion of fraud, following a European arrest warrant from Lithuania.
He is accused of having stripped assets and funds from a leading Lithuanian bank, Snoras, where he was a majority shareholder, between 2008 and 2011, when the lender was nationalised.
A second arrest warrant issued in December 2025 added charges of corruption, money laundering and bankruptcy, with total losses amounting to at least 478 million euros ($551 million).
Antonov's lawyer said that his client would challenge the ruling.
The court "clearly did not take into account the real risk to Mr. Antonov's life in Eastern Europe", Henry Ermeneux told AFP.
In 2024, a Lithuanian court sentenced Antonov in absentia to 10.5 years in prison for embezzlement.
In 2011, Antonov was arrested in Britain on the strength of a Lithuanian arrest warrant issued over the collapse of the Snoras Bank, but later released.
He purchased Portsmouth, then in the second-tier Championship, in June 2011.
He stepped down the following November when his company, Convers Sports Initiatives, went into administration following his arrest over the fraud allegations.
In 2015, a lawyer said Antonov had fled Britain because he feared for his life.
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politics

EU under pressure as fertiliser costs soar on Middle East war

BY ADRIEN DE CALAN

  • A commission spokeswoman said the EU executive was continuously monitoring prices and has already "taken several measures to help farmers with affordability of fertilisers".
  • With the war in the Middle East sending global fertiliser prices soaring, the EU is coming under pressure from farmers and some member states to take action. 
  • A commission spokeswoman said the EU executive was continuously monitoring prices and has already "taken several measures to help farmers with affordability of fertilisers".
With the war in the Middle East sending global fertiliser prices soaring, the EU is coming under pressure from farmers and some member states to take action. 
Agriculture sector representatives are due in Brussels for talks with the European Commission on April 13, as many complain the conflict risks plunging an already strained industry into a deeper crisis. 
"The situation is very dire," lamented Amaury Poncelet, a cereal farmer in central Belgium.
This winter he bought fertilisers for 380 euros ($439) a tonne, up from 330 euros last summer, he noted. "And since things flared up in Iran, prices are going further up," he told AFP. 
About a third of fertilisers shipped by sea reach the global market through the Strait of Hormuz that Iran has effectively closed in retaliation against US-Israeli strikes.
That sent prices up, with the UN expressing concern in particular about the impact on developing countries.
In Europe, the price of nitrogen fertilisers, which are derived from gas, has risen by around 20 percent over the past month, and is approaching 500 euro per tonne -- a one-two punch for farmers already facing higher costs because of the war in Ukraine.
Cereal producers, who need vast amounts of the stuff, have been hit particularly hard, said Luc Vernet of Farm Europe, an agriculture sector think tank.
"They haven't been able to make a living for the past three years," he said. 
In France alone, about 300,000 hectares of land once used for cereal farming has been left fallow or abandoned since 2022, he said. 

'Strategically important'

Brussels, which has slapped high tariffs on fertilisers from Russia -- a major producer -- with plans to end imports by 2022 in a bid to hit Moscow's war coffers, has found itself again the target of requests for help. 
France and farmers groups are pushing for a pause in the application of the EU's carbon border tax on fertilisers. 
But the commission, which has promised an action plan for May, has so far ruled that out. 
Supporters point out that the levy targets carbon-intensive imports to level the playing field for European industries subject to strict emissions rules, noting their development is key if Europe wants to avoid a similar crisis in the future. 
The crisis sparked by the Iran war has made it "clear that maintaining strong domestic fertiliser production is strategically important for Europe", said Fertilizers Europe, an industry group. 
A commission spokeswoman said the EU executive was continuously monitoring prices and has already "taken several measures to help farmers with affordability of fertilisers".
These included suspending duties on all imports with the exception of those from Russia and Belarus and adjusting the carbon border tax to soften its impact, she said.
Its May plan will be addressing "structural vulnerabilities and market imbalances" and look to boost domestic production, including low-carbon alternatives. 
But there is a long way to go before these can become a competitive reality.
Some such green projects have been abandoned as too costly and others are in the initial stages, said Vernet. 
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