Author: admin

  • Day 16 of Middle East conflict — Trump ramps up call to secure Hormuz strait, says he may delay China summit – CNN

    Day 16 of Middle East conflict — Trump ramps up call to secure Hormuz strait, says he may delay China summit – CNN

    • Source: CNN ” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/videothumbnails/19260791-97255944-generated-thumbnail.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/videothumbnails/19260791-97255944-generated-thumbnail.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” } }” data-vr-video=”false” data-show-html=”” data-byline-html=”

    ” data-timestamp-html=”

    Updated 12:11 AM EDT, Mon March 16, 2026

    ” data-check-event-based-preview data-is-vertical-video-embed=”false” data-network-id data-publish-date=”2026-03-16T00:20:47.199Z” data-video-section=”world” data-canonical-url data-branding-key data-video-slug=”strait-of-hormuz-biggest-risk-point” data-first-publish-slug=”strait-of-hormuz-biggest-risk-point” data-video-tags=”us,iran,trump,oil,strait of hormuz” data-breakpoints=”{“video-resource–media-extra-large”: 660}” data-display-video-cover=”true” data-details data-track-zone=”top” data-sticky-anchor-pos=”bottom” data-tabcontent=”Content”>

    Strait of Hormuz likely the ‘biggest risk point’ to US operation in Iran, national security analyst says

    04:45 • Source: CNN

    Strait of Hormuz likely the ‘biggest risk point’ to US operation in Iran, national security analyst says

    04:45

    • Strait of Hormuz: President Donald Trump urged Beijing to help address disruptions on the strait. He claimed there’s been “some positive response” after reaching out to countries for help with securing the strait and warned that NATO faces a “very bad” future if allies fail to assist.

    • Dubai airport: Flights were temporarily suspended and people evacuated at Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest air hubs, after a fuel tank nearby caught fire during a “drone-related incident,” said authorities.

    • War timeline: Trump said the US and Israel have “similar objectives” in their military goals. Trump administration officials had said they expect the conflict to end within weeks. Meanwhile, Israel told CNN it plans for its military campaign to continue for at least three more weeks.

    • Oil prices spike: The price of oil Sunday rose to its highest level since July 2022. Brent crude was past $105 a barrel.

    Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a speech during the graduation ceremony at the National Defense Academy of Japan in Yokosuka, Japan, on Saturday.

    Japan is not currently planning to send ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday, after US President Donald Trump requested help from allies.

    In a social media post on Saturday, Trump said “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others” will send ships to the region, but Takaichi said there was no formal request to Tokyo yet.

    “The Japanese government is currently considering methods for taking the necessary response,” Takaichi added. “We are considering what can be done and how we can protect Japan-related vessels and the lives of their crew members,” she said.

    Takaichi and Trump have struck up a close friendship since she became Japan’s leader last year. The pair are set to meet again in Washington on Thursday.

    Japan’s post-WWII pacifist constitution denounces war as a means to settle international disputes, and its self-defense focused military is therefore legally restricted in what it can do. However, Takaichi has argued in favor of revising the constitution to enhance Japan’s defense capabilities.

    Mona Hamoudi and Zahra Sarbali of Islamic Republic of Iran react after Alanna Kennedy of Australia scores their teams third goal during the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 match at Gold Coast Stadium on March 5, in Gold Coast, Australia.

    A fifth member of Iran’s women’s national football team has withdrawn her asylum claim and left Australia for Iran, the latest in a series of reversals involving players who had initially sought refuge during the Women’s Asian Cup tournament.

    That leaves just two Iranian women still in Australia on humanitarian visas following a flurry of activity by immigration officials after the team’s exit from the tournament.

    The women were granted asylum after claiming a fear of persecution if they returned to their war-stricken homeland following the players’ refusal to sing Iran’s national anthem during the opening match against South Korea. The action sparked backlash from hardliners back home, including one state media presenter who called them “wartime traitors.”

    Two players – Mona Hamoudi and Zahra Sarbali, as well as a staffer, Zahra Meshkekar – arrived in Malaysia Saturday and will head on to Tehran, Iranian state media reported, carrying a picture of the three together.

    Another woman later withdrew her request. She was named by Iranian state media as team captain Zahra Ghanbari.

    Speaking to CNN affiliate Sky News on Monday, Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the women had been in contact with family and Iranian officials.

    “I understand some of them did make contact with the Iranian embassy here in Australia, we can’t cut off communication obviously,” he said.

    Previously, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the women were given “repeated chances to talk about their options.”

    “While the Australian Government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions,” he added.

    Last week, forward Mohadeseh Zolfi became the first to hand back her humanitarian visa, leaving Australia on Wednesday to join the departing squad in Malaysia.

    Seven members of the Iranian women’s national football team – six players and a member of the squad’s support team – had been granted refugee visas to stay in Australia after the Asian Cup for fear of persecution at home.

    The team arrived in Australia before the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    This post has been updated with new information.

    Exterior of Dubai International Airport after two drones came down in the vicinity of the airport, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 11.

    Flights are temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport after a fuel tank nearby caught fire during a “drone-related incident” early on Sunday.

    Dubai’s Civil Aviation Authority announced the temporary suspension “as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff,” the Dubai Media Office said.

    Raj Dholakia told CNN he was at the airport waiting to board a flight home to Toronto, via New York, when authorities evacuated the entire floor covering three gates.

    “The escalator was full and even lifts were being used,” he added, speaking from the assembly point, where he estimated up to 1,000 passengers had gathered.

    With seating scarce, some people sat on the floor, Dholakia said. He added that many passengers may have been waiting in planes on the runway, as departure boards still listed a dozen flights as “gate closed,” “final call,” or “boarding.”

    Travelers are advised to contact their airlines for the latest updates regarding their flight.

    “Please do not go to the airport,” said airline Emirates in a post on X, adding that the safety of its passengers and crew was its “highest priority.”

    The fuel tank fire has been “successfully contained” and no injuries were reported from the drone “impact,” the media office said.

    Some flights are now being diverted to the city’s other main airport, Al Maktoum International Airport, which is about 65 kilometers away.

    CNN has reached out to airport operator Dubai Airports.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

    Subrahmanyam Jaishankar appears at a conference in Munich, Germany, on February 14.

    India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar said talks with Iran were “yielding results” after two Indian-flagged gas tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

    “I am at the moment engaged in talking to them (Iran) and my talking has yielded some results,” Jaishankar said in an interview with the Financial Times, published Sunday. “This is ongoing. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it.”

    He added: “Certainly, from India’s perspective, it is better that we reason and we co-ordinate and we get a solution than we don’t… So if that sort of allows other people to engage, I think the world is better off for it.”

    President Donald Trump had called for help from China and US allies to secure the strait, which has been effectively closed since the war began. About 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through the chokepoint.

    Two Indian-flagged vessels carrying 92,712 metric tons of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) crossed the Strait of Hormuz Saturday and are en route to India, the government said in a statement Saturday.

    India, the world’s most populous nation, is one of the top global importers of LPG, which residents use for everything from cooking to powering many vehicles. South Asia, in particular, is in a vulnerable position given its heavy reliance on oil and gas imports from the Middle East.

    The government added there are 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers which remain west of the Strait of Hormuz.

    Jaishankar told the FT that from he’d “be happy to share” what India is doing with other European nations.

    “I know many of them have had conversations (with Tehran) as well,” he added.

    He told the FT that India and Iran have a “history of dealing with each other” and denied that Iran had received anything in exchange.

    “India and Iran have a relationship. And this is a conflict that we regard as something very unfortunate,” Jaishankar said. “These are still early days. We have many more ships there. So while this is a welcome development, there is continuing conversation because there is continued work on that.”

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that Israel’s bombings of fuel depots in the capital Tehran “violate international law” and amount to “ecocide.”

    “Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being. Contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts,” Araghchi said.

    “Israel must be punished for its war crimes,” he added.

    Israel has heavily targeted Iran’s oil infrastructure in the first weeks of the war, spiking pollution levels in Tehran, igniting fires and causing oil spills, according to a CNN analysis of satellite imagery and air quality data.

    The Israeli military has accepted responsibility for the strikes but said the facilities provide fuel to “various consumers, including military entities in Iran.”

    Iran has responded by targeting oil facilities and tankers in the Persian Gulf.

    The Strait of Hormuz remains under “critical” threat even though no incidents have been reported in the past three days, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations.

    At least 20 vessels have been attacked around the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman since the war began three weeks ago, it said.

    “The overall maritime threat environment remains at a critical level due to recent attack patterns, continued navigation interference and persistent operational disruption, to include port facilities, across the region.”

    Twenty crew members rescued from a Thai cargo ship that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz last week have arrived safely in Bangkok.

    They landed in Bangkok’s main airport around 8 a.m. local time Monday and were immediately escorted away by officials, according to a CNN reporter at the scene.

    All returning crew are in good health and “ready to return to their duties again,” an official from Thailand’s department of consular affairs told Reuters.

    This image released by the Royal Thai Navy shows Thai cargo ship, Mayuree Naree, that was struck and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, March 11, 2026.

    The “Mayuree Naree” ship was fired upon last Wednesday after “disregarding warnings and insistently attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement at the time, according to the nation’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

    At least three crew members remain missing.

    A Liberian-flagged vessel “Express Rome” was also “struck by Iranian projectiles that same morning after ignoring warnings from the IRGC Navy,” the armed forces said, Fars reported.

     President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media onboard Air Force One on Sunday.

    President Donald Trump said he could postpone a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he urged Beijing to help address disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the conflict with Iran.

    Catch up on what he said and other headlines:

    Strait of Hormuz: Trump urged China to help address disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping lane. He said the US had “some positive response” after reaching out to other countries to whether they would help secure the Strait of Hormuz and warned that NATO faces a”very bad future” if allies fail to assist.

    War timeline: Trump said the US and Israel are largely aligned in their military goals in the war with Iran, though he acknowledged their objectives may not be identical. Trump administration officials had said they expect the conflict to come to an end within weeks or “sooner.” Meanwhile, Israel told CNN it plans for its military campaign to continue for at least three more weeks.

    Foreign leaders weigh in: Australia said it will not be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and urged him to end Iran’s “unacceptable attacks” on Middle East nations. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump discussed the need to reopen the critical waterway in a call.

    Oil prices spike: The price of oil rose to its highest level since July 2022 Sunday evening. Brent crude went up to about $106.12 a barrel while US oil rose to $101.53.

    War damage: A fuel tank caught fire near Dubai International Airport after a “drone-related incident” early Monday. Meanwhile, Israel said it has continued operations aimed at what it called Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and air defense systems. Israel also said it has struck more than 200 targets over the past day. Iran claimed it has fired about 700 missiles and 3,600 drones at US and Israeli targets since the war started.

    Fundraising email: Trump said he had not seen a fundraising email sent by his political action committee that used an image from a dignified transfer honoring fallen US service members who were killed in Iran. The email encourages supporters to donate in exchange for access to updates on national security issues.

    President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media onboard Air Force One on Sunday.

    President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US has “had some positive response” after reaching out to countries to whether they would help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but said a few “would rather not get involved.”

    Trump declined to name the specific countries that his administration has sought out. “They were contacted today and last night, but we’ve had some positive response. We had a few that would rather not get involved,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

    “Some of the countries have minesweepers. That’s good. Some of the countries have a certain type of boat that could help us. Some of the countries would be helpful,” he said.

    “I really am demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory. It’s the place from which they get their energy. And they should come and they should help us protect it,” he said.

    Some background: Trump’s comments come as the critical waterway has been effectively closed, raising oil prices.

    The president in a social media post Saturday claimed that “other countries” will send warships “in conjunction” with the US. In the same post, Trump said, “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others” will send ships to the region.

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump discussed the need to reopen the vitally important Middle Eastern shipping lane in a call Sunday, according to Downing Street.

    Responding to requests for comment from CNN, neither China nor the UK said they will be send ships. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said the country is calling for an immediate stop to hostilities, and that “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply.”

    A senior official from the Japanese government said that any decision to dispatch Japanese naval vessels to the Middle East to escort ships would face “high hurdles.”

    Australia will not be sending a ship, the country’s transport minister said Monday.

    Australia will not be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz, following calls from President Donald Trump for US allies to help secure the waterway, the country’s transport minister said Monday.

    Catherine King told public broadcaster ABC that the country hasn’t been asked to send a ship to the strait, which has been effectively shuttered by Iran since the war began more than two weeks ago.

    “Well, we’ve been very clear about what our contribution is in relation to requests, and so far, that is to the UAE – obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular – but we won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz,” King told the ABC.

    “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” she added.

    Trump has ramped up pressure on US allies to send ships to the strait, though he has not explicitly asked Australia to help.

    “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the Financial Times in a phone interview Sunday, adding that “if there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”

    On Saturday, Trump said in a post to Truth Social he hopes “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others” affected by the closure of the strait will send ships to the area.

    Some context: Australia and the US are formal defense allies and have strengthened ties in recent years with the AUKUS pact, which aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region

    President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media onboard Air Force One on Sunday.

    President Donald Trump on Sunday touted Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr’s threats to potentially revoke the licenses of local broadcasters over coverage he deemed “fake.”

    “I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations,” Trump said at the end of a lengthy Truth Social post railing against the media.

    The president doubled down on his criticism of the media’s coverage of the Iran war shortly after while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.

    “I actually think it’s pretty criminal, because our media companies, who have no credibility whatsoever, are putting out information that they know is false,” he said.

    Trump’s comments come after Carr claimed Saturday that broadcasters were “running hoaxes and news distortions” and warned that they would lose their licenses if they don’t operate in the public interest. Carr was seen talking with the president at his Mar-a-Lago resort over the weekend, CNN previously reported.

    However, it’s unlikely that broadcasters could ultimately lose their licensees. Any government action against a licensee would cause a protracted legal battle, and the FCC has not denied a license renewal in decades.

    CNN’s Brian Stelter contributed to this report.

    President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Sunday.

    President Donald Trump said the United States and Israel are largely aligned in their military goals in the war with Iran, though he acknowledged their objectives may not be identical.

    “I think we have similar objectives, really, but could be a little bit different,” Trump said when asked whether Israel’s strategy differs from that of the United States.”

    Trump also emphasized the close coordination between the two countries’ militaries.

    “The relationship has been very good. The militaries are very well coordinated. Ours is the strongest by far in the world. And they have a real good military,” Trump said.

    He noted that Israel operates a significant number of US-made weapons systems.

    “They have a lot of our weapons. They have our planes. They have our missiles. They have our Patriots. They have a lot of our weapons. We have the best we make, the best weapons in the world,” he said.

    UPresident Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Sunday.

    President Donald Trump said Sunday he had not seen a fundraising email sent by his political action committee that used an image from a dignified transfer honoring fallen US service members.

    “Well, I was at the dignified transfer, unlike a lot of other people,” Trump said when asked aboard Air Force One about criticism surrounding the email.

    “I didn’t see it,” he said. “I mean, somebody puts it out. We have a lot of people working for us, but there’s nobody that’s better … to the military than me.”

    The fundraising message was sent by Trump’s PAC, Never Surrender Inc., and included a photograph from a recent dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base. The six US service members being brought home were killed in the war with Iran.

    The email promotes what it calls a “National Security Briefing Membership,” encouraging supporters to donate in exchange for access to updates on national security issues and includes an official White House photograph showing Trump saluting during the dignified transfer.

    A fuel tank is on fire near Dubai International Airport after a “drone-related incident,” Dubai Media Office said Monday morning.

    The fire broke out before 4 a.m. local time and “Civil Defence teams are currently working to bring the fire under control,” said the office in a statement on X.

    “No injuries have been reported so far,” it said.

    Iranian drones have repeatedly targeted Dubai’s key transport hub since the war began, with four people injured last week and a concourse damaged in one attack.

    President Donald Trump carries an umbrella as he boards Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida.

    President Donald Trump on Sunday warned that NATO faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in securing the Strait of Hormuz, sending a harsh message to European nations over the strategic waterway.

    “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump told the Financial Times in a phone interview, adding that “if there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”

    The president touted the US’ assistance to Ukraine in its war against Russia, saying, “We didn’t have to help them with Ukraine. … Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us.”

    Asked what type of assistance he is seeking, the president said, “whatever it takes,” including minesweepers.

    NATO is a European and North American defense alliance set up to promote peace and stability and to safeguard the security of its members. It is not meant to aid a nation when a member state starts a war.

    “We’re always there for NATO,” Trump later reiterated while returning to the White House from Florida aboard Air Force One. “It’d be interesting to see what country wouldn’t help us with a very small endeavor, which is just keeping the strait open.”

    Trump also suggested in the Financial Times interview that allies could help address threats coming from the Iranian coastline. He said he wants “people who are going to knock out some bad actors that are along the shore,” referring to Iranian forces that have used drones and naval mines in the Gulf.

    The president repeated his frustration with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, over his lack of immediate support for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

    “The UK might be considered the No. 1 ally, the longest serving, etc., and when I asked for them to come, they didn’t want to come,” he said, noting he discussed the issue with Starmer in a call earlier Sunday.

    “And as soon as we basically wiped out the danger capacity from Iran, they said, ‘Oh, well we’ll send two ships,’ and I said, ‘We need these ships before we win, not after we win.’ I’ve long said that NATO is a one-way street.”

    This post has been updated with additional information.

    A tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz in Muscat, Oman, on March 10.

    President Donald Trump said he could postpone a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he urges Beijing to help address disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the conflict with Iran.

    “I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits,” Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday, adding that he would prefer to know Beijing’s position before a planned meeting between the two leaders later this month.

    “We’d like to know before that. It’s [two weeks is] a long time,” Trump said. “We may delay,” he added of the trip to China, without specifying how long any delay could last.

    Trump later said it is unclear whether China will join efforts to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

    “I can’t really say for sure, but China’s an interesting case study,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked whether he had spoken with Beijing about securing the waterway, noting that China relies on the strait for much of its oil.

    “So I said, ‘Would you like to come in?’ and we’ll find out,” he added, hinting that broader strategic considerations could be influencing China’s decision.

    “Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. You know, there’s some other deeper reasons why they may not,” he said.

    Trump’s remarks come a day after he called on several countries, including China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, to join what he described as a broader “team effort” to reopen the strategic chokepoint, which handles roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply.

    The comments also come as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris for discussions tied to preparations for the planned summit in Beijing later this month.

    This post has been updated with additional information.

    French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France, on January 6.

    French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian calling on him to bring to an end what he described as Iran’s “unacceptable attacks,” carried out directly or through proxies, against countries across the Middle East.

    After the call, Macron wrote on X that France’s actions in the region are “strictly defensive,” aimed at protecting French interests, regional partners and freedom of navigation, while warning that it would be unacceptable for France to be targeted.

    The comments follow a decision by Paris to significantly increase its military presence in the region. Earlier this week, Macron said Paris is deploying eight frigates, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea as part of a defensive posture aimed at supporting partners and helping preserve freedom of navigation.

    The comments come as US President Donald Trump said he hopes several allies — including China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK — will send naval assets to help secure shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.

    A man holds a fuel pump as he fills his car tank at a gas station in the Manhattan borough of New York, on Saturday.

    US gas prices reached an average of $3.70 a gallon today, according to AAA, a 24% increase since the war in Iran began February 28. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright acknowledged the economic impacts of the conflict but said enduring the “short-term pain” is better than “to have a nuclear armed Iran.”

    But even if the war ended today, it could take 1 to 3 months to get the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil travels, operational again, according to Homayoun Falakshahi, lead crude research analyst at Kpler. It will take time to clear the hundreds of ships waiting for safe passage and for major oil producers to fix damaged facilities, ramp up production and get oil moving. The duration of the war is what really matters, CNN’s David Goldman reported Friday: the longer the war, the higher the prices.

    Other ways the war in Iran might hit consumer’s wallets:

    Plane tickets: As oil prices soar, fuel costs for airlines will, too – which means customers might have to stomach higher ticket prices. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby suggested last week the impact of higher jet fuel costs on tickets would “probably start quick.” Travel experts told CNN Travel customers should book their trips whenever they can, and avoid basic economy in times of uncertainty as it has more restrictions on refunds and rebooking.

    Groceries: Grocery stores – specifically the produce, meat and dairy aisles – are one of the first places consumers will see the effects of higher fuel prices, CNN reported last week. With oil prices rising, the cost to transport goods has increased and is poised to continue going up the longer the war continues. The less shelf stable an item is, the less companies can stockpile it – and the more vulnerable it is to price increases.

    Housing: Mortgage rates had fallen steadily over the past nine months.
    with a big assist from the Fed’s three interest rate cuts last year. But investors are now demanding higher Treasury yields over fears of economic damage from the war. Mortgage rates, closely tied to the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield, rose a couple weeks ago too, back over 6%.

    CNN’s David Goldman, Auzinea Bacon, Aileen Graef, Alexandra Skores, Chris Isidore, Elisabeth Buchwald and Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.

    A pumpjack operates n the Belridge oil field on March 10, near McKittrick, California.

    The price of oil rose to its highest level since July 2022 Sunday evening as the Trump administration suggested the war with Iran could last several more weeks and President Donald Trump called on the international community for help reopening the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers.

    Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 2.4% to about $105.66 a barrel. US oil rose 2% to $100.64.

    The US and Israel-led war in Iran has now entered its third week, causing the biggest oil disruption in history and driving oil to settle above $100 per barrel on Friday.

    The Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway controlled by Iran, has been effectively shut for oil tankers to pass through since the start of the war. About 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through the chokepoint.

    The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to assuage concerns about shipping flows. Trump has said that the US will send naval forces to escort and protect oil tankers as they travel out of the Middle East. But the administration has recently conceded that it could take weeks before the Navy is prepared to begin that endeavor.

    Trump on Saturday in a Truth Social post asked other countries to help coordinate a reopening of the strati to restore the flow of oil, “so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well.”

  • Javier Bardem Condemns ‘Trump and Netanyahu’ for ‘Another Illegal War’ at a Very Political Oscars – Vanity Fair

    Javier Bardem Condemns ‘Trump and Netanyahu’ for ‘Another Illegal War’ at a Very Political Oscars – Vanity Fair

    The last time Javier Bardem wore a patch to an awards show to protest a war in the Middle East waged with American bombs, it was 2003. The United States had just invaded Iraq, and Bardem wore a “No a la Guerra” patch on his lapel to the Goya Awards in Spain. Tonight, Bardem wore the patch again, this time to the Oscars to protest the war with Iran.

    “I’m wearing a pin that I used in 2003 with the Iraq war, which was an illegal war,” Bardem told reporters on the red carpet, “and we are here, 23 years after, with another illegal war, created by Trump and Netanyahu with another lie.”

    It was one of many pointed political messages at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, which came amid not just a new war in the Middle East but a cascade of controversies emanating from Washington, where President Donald Trump has overseen a second term defined more than anything by the brute force implementation of his political project.

    At the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, host Conan O’Brien alluded to the storm clouds over the capital briefly in his opening monologue. There was an Epstein gag: “It’s the first time since 2012 there are no British actors nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress. A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.’” And a crack about the culture war that engulfed the Super Bowl last month: “I should warn you, tonight could get political,” O’Brien said, “and if that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars hosted by Kid Rock at the Dave & Busters down the street.”

    O’Brien brought the monologue home with some more somber commentary on the “very chaotic and frightening times” we find ourselves in, times he said make the Oscars “particularly resonant” as they bring together art from dozens of countries and languages around the world. “We pay tribute tonight to not just film, but the ideals of global artistry, patience, resilience, and that rarest of qualities today: optimism,” O’Brien said. It was sincere, if circumspect.

    Then there was Jimmy Kimmel, who cracked a joke about Melania Trump’s documentary: “And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.” He also dinged CBS: “There are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech,” Kimmel said. “I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”

    And there was director David Borenstein, who helmed Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which won the Oscar for best documentary. The film, he said, “is about how you lose your country. What we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity: when we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don’t say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it, we all face a moral choice. But luckily, even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”

    Image may contain Jimmy Kimmel Clothing Formal Wear Suit Tuxedo Adult Person Crowd Electrical Device and Microphone

    Kimmel was more direct in his limited run as the night’s MC.

    Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

    The political atmosphere of the evening reflected the substance of the films nominated, the biggest of which were highly political. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is an Antifa-inflected fever dream, an epic in which left-wing activists fight an authoritarian government cracking down on immigrants and dissidents. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a horror set in the Jim Crow south, from a director whose breakout was the brilliant and deeply political film Fruitvale Station.

    Like at many award ceremonies this season, much of the politics of the evening took place on the red carpet. The cast of The Voice of Hind Rajab, a piercing film about Israel’s killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl and much of her family in Gaza, wore pins calling for a “permanent” ceasefire. The pins, said Hind Rajab star Saja Kilani, were made by Artists4Ceasefire in collaboration with the artist Shepard Fairey and represent a call for an end to violence and displacement “in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Venezuela and everywhere.” The cast pointed out that one of the stars of the film, Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees, could not attend the ceremony due to Trump’s travel ban.

    Bardem, who has been a vocal advocate for Palestinians and a critic of Israel’s war, also wore a pin in support of Palestine on his tuxedo lapel. On the pin was a drawing of Handala, a character created by Palestinian newspaper cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1969. He is a 10-year-old boy who cannot grow until he is allowed to return to his homeland. Ali was 10 years old when his own family was exiled from their home in Palestine in the Nakba of 1948. As he presented the award for Best International Feature Film, Bardem said to cheers: “No to war, and free Palestine.”

    Image may contain Paul Thomas Anderson Performer Person Solo Performance Head Electrical Device Microphone and Face

    Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Director and Best Picture winner One Battle After Another is an Antifa-inflected fever dream.

    Kevin Winter/Getty Images

    There is a sense, here in Los Angeles, that expressions of political opinion have fallen out of favor in the second Trump term. It is a town more famous for its vapidity than intellectual rigor, of course, and celebrity support for political candidates feels less effective than ever. A poll from 2024—commissioned after Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in the presidential race—found that just 11 percent of Americans said a celebrity has ever caused them to reconsider their position on a political issue. Even fewer polled said they would vote based on the preferences of a celebrity.

    There is a long history of stars wading into politics at the Oscars, from Marlon Brando’s refusal of his Best Actor win in 1973 to Michael Moore the last time the awards ceremony happened within days of the U.S. launching a war in the Middle East. (The documentarian condemned the Bush administration from the stage to a mixed response from the room.) With the increasingly high stakes of American politics, many stars are braving potential loss of work or public eye-rolls to speak out. ICE pins, worn in protest of Trump’s bloody immigration crackdown, have been a recurring character on red carpets this awards season.

    And there is one person who absolutely cares about what these stars say and think. Trump, who has yet to weigh in on this year’s Oscars, has expressed outrage at past winners, including 2020 Best Picture Parasite (“What the hell was that all about?”) and The Apprentice, which scooped up two nominations in 2025. (Trump labeled the withering biopic “a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job.”) The 2021 Oscars, he complained, were too “politically correct.”

    It doesn’t appear Trump was watching on Sunday night. As the show aired, according to pool reports, he was traveling on Air Force One from his Florida resort back to Washington. Around 50 minutes into the show, he posted a rant on Truth Social demanding that media outlets including The Wall Street Journal “be brought up on Charges for TREASON” for their coverage of the war in Iran.

    The mood in the country may be charged, but heightened security kept any anxieties about the political climate at bay. In the years after 9/11, the Dolby Theater has become a heavily guarded fortress. Packed with globe-spanning celebrities, Hollywood’s biggest night is kept calm by the quiet hum of the Los Angeles Police Department, a force with nearly 10,000 officers and billions in its annual budget.

    This year, with the war in Iran and attacks here at home, from a university shooting in Virginia to an attack on a synagogue in Michigan, security has been drastically dialed up from that high baseline. An LAPD source told The Los Angeles Times there would be a one mile security perimeter around the Dolby Theater and that even the air around the awards is monitored for “potential hazards, including radiation.”

    In a statement to Vanity Fair, an LAPD spokesperson said preparations included “layered security perimeters, traffic management plans, and a highly visible police presence throughout the Hollywood area.” They urged attendees to “remain aware of their surroundings, and promptly report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”

    The LAPD’s Oscars army calmed nerves at the event, which were a bit frayed after some viral reporting on a vague statement from authorities warned against the possibility of Iranian drone attacks on Los Angeles from boats in the Pacific.

    Thankfully, the ceremony seems to have gone off without a hitch. O’Brien made an apparent reference to the heightened security, shrouding anxieties with a joke at Timothée Chalamet’s expense. “Security is extremely tight tonight,” he said. “I’m told there’s concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet community.”

    • All the Winners at the 2026 Oscars (Updating Live)

    • The New Epstein Files Are Reopening the Pizzagate Box

  • If Trump has already won the Iran war, why does he need foreign ships to help him end it? – CNN

    If Trump has already won the Iran war, why does he need foreign ships to help him end it? – CNN

    A week ago, President Donald Trump told Britain not to bother sending ships to the Middle East because he’d already won the Iran war.

    Now, he’s calling on America’s “special relationship” ally; fellow NATO states; and even China to dispatch vessels to open the Strait of Hormuz. He implied that if help didn’t arrive, Europe’s US defense umbrella and his planned summit this month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could be at risk.

    Trump’s salvo, in an interview with the Financial Times, was a fresh sign that despite his multiple Iran victory laps, the war is far from over.

    It would not be the first US military venture this century to drag on longer than Washington expected. This may explain new attempts by administration officials to convince the public and global markets that the conflict could end soon.

    US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz declined to say on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday when American forces would come home despite lauding them for a “dominant victory, the likes of which we haven’t seen in modern American military history.”

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright was more optimistic. “I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks, could be sooner than that,” he said on ABC News’ “This Week.”

    Israel, meanwhile, told CNN that fearsome bombing raids against Iranian military and intelligence targets could last at least three more weeks. The Jewish state is more accustomed to perpetual military action than US voters and leaders are.

    It remains too early to judge the overall impact of the war. It looks possible, even likely, that combined US and Israeli raids have caused massive damage to Iran’s military machine and ability to threaten the outside world. If confirmed, such a scenario would offer Trump a credible argument to have made the world safer.

    Plus, the war is only two weeks old. By any standard, that’s not a long time. Any frustration for top brass about short attention spans in the media and among analysts about the war may be understandable.

    But modern history shows that a war is often not defined in the first few weeks, when America’s massive military edge is at its most decisive.

    So the White House is facing multiple reasons for skepticism that it can extricate the US soon.

    President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One as he departs Joint Base Andrews on Saturday.

    Trump has barely prepared the country for the war, and he keeps adding to the confusion with conflicting statements. He vehemently insists that the war is already won. But he says it will end only when he feels it in his “bones.” If victory is already achieved, it’s fair to ask why American troops are still in harm’s way after 13 US deaths on active service so far.

    The administration is also operating under a dark historical cloud. This war is not yet directly comparable to the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in both those cases, early US triumphs were undermined by the political impact of the initial assault and poor understanding of foreign nations. There are enough signs in Iran to validate public concerns about a possible quagmire.

    At the same time, Trump has dilemmas that would undercut a characteristic declaration of victory if they remain unsolved but that could take more than “weeks” to mitigate.

    ► Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — causing a global energy crisis and steep oil price hikes that threaten to weaken him at home. Wiping out Iranian missile batteries, seaborne drones and mining operations could be a prolonged affair. And it might need the deployment of ground troops in a risky widening of US operations.

    Trump is now demanding foreign navies help open the narrow strategic passage. There’s been a noncommittal response to his request so far.

    Trump told the Financial Times that Europe and China were more dependent on oil from the Gulf than the US — although American consumers have been hit by a general spike in oil prices. His remarks are likely to be seen abroad as a demand for help in fixing a mess he created by waging war on Iran.

    But the president took aim at the weak spot of European allies that rely on the US for their defense. “If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” he said.

    ► The Islamic Republic still has stocks of highly enriched uranium it could use to defy Trump’s vow it will never have a nuclear weapon — despite the president’s claim to have “obliterated” its nuclear program last year. The US has special forces units trained to extract radioactive material. But such a mission at Iran’s nuclear plants could require hundreds of troops and might provoke dangerous land battles with Iranian forces deep into hostile territory.

    ► One way to shatter Iranian government leverage would be for US forces to seize Kharg Island, the epicenter of Tehran’s oil exports that bankroll the regime. The island was targeted in weekend US air raids. The removal of the country’s primary economic engine might alter calculations within the regime. Waltz told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “I would certainly think (Trump) would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy infrastructure.” But an amphibious assault on Kharg Island would also risk significant US casualties. It could cause environmental damage and a market meltdown if Iran chose to sabotage its own oil facilities rather than lose them to American control.

    President Donald Trump speaks with the media as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, look on aboard Air Force One on March 7.

    Political factors inside Iran also make it hard to pin down a timeline for ending the war.

    The pace of Iranian drone attacks on Gulf states allied with the US has slowed — proof perhaps that US and Israeli raids are degrading Tehran’s offensive capabilities. But projectiles still rained down on Baghdad airport and Israel on Sunday.

    There’s also no sign of a diplomatic off-ramp. There’s no “deal” in sight, and Trump’s demands for an unconditional surrender have fallen on deaf ears. The anointing of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signaled the regime intends to renew its decades of resistance to Washington.

    There’s also no public sign of the regime’s grip loosening. Trump opened the war by telling Iranians he was giving them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw off repression. But no uprising has yet occurred in a nation where thousands of protesters were recently gunned down by the authorities.

    The overthrow of the government would represent a huge win for the Iranian people and would provide Trump with a genuine legacy achievement. Many Iran analysts, however, worry that a collapse of central authority could lead to sectarian or civil strife and an implosion of the Iranian state. Such an outcome might bog down US forces in the region for years to come — or leave allies facing massive security problems. The war between the US, Israeli and the Iranian governments might ostensibly end. But the international crisis it precipitated might get a lot worse.

    Domestically, there is likely to be skepticism outside Trump’s fiercely loyal base over predictions that the war will end within weeks. Trust in the president’s war leadership was already thin according to multiple polls when the war broke out.

    Republicans have held firm against Democratic efforts in Congress to thwart Trump’s war powers. But assurances that the fighting will last only “weeks” reflect an understanding in the GOP that a long war in Iran could further harm the party’s chances in November’s midterm elections.

    Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a press conference at the Pentagon on March 10.

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week tried to stamp out any analogies to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that haunted the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “This is not endless nation-building under those types of quagmires. … It’s not even close,” said Hegseth, an Army veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

    But the administration’s refusal to consult Congress on the war, its opaque endgame and its apparent lack of an exit strategy have already given an opening to Democrats.

    “What I’m worried about is not the soldiers and the people who are serving. What I’m worried about is their political leadership, like Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump,” past and possibly future Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said on “State of the Union.”

    “We lived through a war that was sold to us on false pretenses when I was younger,” said Buttigieg, a US Navy Reserve veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. “This war has not been sold on any pretense. The president just went ahead and did it.”

    Over the weekend, Trump used his social media network to slam media organizations seeking greater clarity about his plans for the war and when he might end it.

    Such questions are merited in the context of a conflict in which Iran’s actions — including its attacks on Gulf states and virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz — have seemed to frequently surprise the administration.

    But they are especially acute because of the loss still felt by countless American families whose loved ones died in 21st-century foreign misadventures that Trump vowed not to replicate.

    That painful modern history sets a high bar for justifying new wars that have uncertain endgames.

  • Gulf countries report new attacks after Iran warns major UAE ports to evacuate – AP News

    Gulf countries report new attacks after Iran warns major UAE ports to evacuate – AP News

    Today’s live updates have ended. Follow more live coverage on the Iran war.

    Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.

    Tehran accused the United States of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence, as the war showed no signs of ending.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to help secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.

    Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.

    Major developments we’re following:

    • Trump suggests other countries may provide military support to reopen Strait of Hormuz: The president posted, “Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe.” None responded with firm commitments by Sunday, though some said they were considering action.
    • Iran threatens UAE: Iran on Saturday threatened for the first time to attack infrastructure of a neighboring country, urging people to evacuate three major ports in the United Arab Emirates that Tehran claimed were “legitimate targets” because the U.S. military used them for attacks.
    • U.S. identifies 6 killed in military aircraft crash: The U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.

    Emirates tells passengers to avoid Dubai International Airport

    Emirates is telling passengers to avoid going to Dubai International Airport after flights were temporarily suspended.

    The Middle East’s largest airline sent the update on X and said it will share updates as they’re available.

    Dubai authorities earlier said flights at the major international travel hub were halted after a drone struck a fuel tank and started a fire.

    The Dubai Media Office said some flights are being diverted to Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International.

    DWC sits on the southern end of Dubai and typically handles cargo, charter and seasonal flights.

    It handles a small fraction of the traffic at Dubai’s main airport, the world’s busiest hub for international travel.

    Japan says ‘nothing decided’ on Trump request for warship dispatch to Strait of Hormuz

    Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her government “has not heard anything” from Washington about U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls for countries including Japan to send ships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz.

    Takaichi told a parliamentary session that officials have been discussing everything Japan can do to protect Japanese ships in the region within its legal limitations “regardless of a U.S. request.”

    Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he has no plans to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz under the current safety conditions.

    “What we can technically do and whether we should do it under the current circumstances is a different story,” he said.

    Trump says Iran first, Cuba next

    “We’re talking to Cuba, but we’re going to do Iran before Cuba,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

    Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed talks on Friday.

    Trump said his supporters in south Florida are eager to see change after decades of animosity.

    He has been talking about the island since January, when the U.S. military ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. to face drug charges.

    Before that, Venezuela had long supported Cuba financially.

    “I think we will pretty soon either make a deal, or do whatever we have to do,” Trump said.

    Crew members rescued from stricken Thai cargo ship return to Bangkok

    Rescued crew members from a Thai cargo ship that was struck and set ablaze near the Strait of Hormuz arrived in Bangkok from Oman on Monday.

    Three crew members from the Mayuree Naree ship remain missing after the vessel was hit by a projectile just north of Oman last week.

    Thai officials said they are in close coordination with Iranian and Omani authorities as search and rescue efforts continue.

    The 20 crew members who returned to Bangkok were reported to be in good health and good spirits, officials said.

    After landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the crew were escorted by officials to a waiting bus and did not speak to the media.

    Flights suspended at Dubai airport after drone sparks fire

    Flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai International Airport after a drone struck a fuel tank and sparked a fire, authorities said.

    Civil defense crews later contained the blaze, the Dubai Media Office said, adding that no injuries were reported.

    The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said the flight suspension was taken as a precaution.

    The incident comes as Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones toward Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets since the war began, including strikes toward the United Arab Emirates.

    Emirati authorities say most have been intercepted by air defenses, though debris and some drones have fallen inside the country.

    Iranian officials have recently accused the UAE of allowing its territory to be used for attacks against Iran, allegations Emirati officials have rejected as misleading, saying the country’s actions have been defensive.

    Trump defends use of dignified transfer photo in fundraising

    CNN reported on Friday that a political action committee tied to Trump had used a photo in a fundraising email of the president saluting during last Saturday’s dignified transfer for six soldiers killed in Kuwait.

    Asked whether he thought that was appropriate, Trump said: “I do,” saying that he was very popular with the military.

    “I didn’t see it — I mean, somebody puts it out — we have a lot of people work here for us,” Trump said.

    “But there’s nobody that’s better to the military than me.”

    Trump supports federal review of TV station broadcast licenses over Iran coverage

    Trump said in a social media post sent from Air Force One that he is “so thrilled” that his federal broadcast regulator is looking at the licenses of outlets the president has criticized over their Mideast War coverage.

    Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, had urged broadcasters in a separate post Saturday to “correct course before their license renewals come up.”

    “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” Carr warned.

    Trump, answering reporters’ questions during Sunday’s flight to Washington, said Iran “is known for a lot of fake news” and claimed without proof that U.S. television networks are working with Iran to broadcast that material.

    “It’s a very dangerous thing for our country,” Trump said.

    He said the broadcasters “could be in serious jeopardy.”

    Trump says he doesn’t think Iran is ready to negotiate on nuclear program

    Asked whether there are diplomatic talks underway, Trump told reporters: “We’re talking to them, but I don’t think they’re ready. But they’re getting pretty close.”

    He said, “I don’t think they’re ready to do what they have to do,” and said any deal has to first address Iran’s nuclear program.

    “There will be no nuclear weapons — that’s where it starts. And then on top of that, there’s plenty of things that we’re going to get,” Trump said.

    But he also said: “I don’t know if I want to make a deal, because you know what? First of all, nobody even knows who you’re dealing with, because most of their leadership has been killed.”

    Japan starts releasing oil reserves

    Japan on Monday began releasing oil reserves worth about 45 days to address concerns about supply shortage and rising prices as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran goes on with no end in sight.

    Monday’s release began with 15 days worth of private-sector reserves, followed by a month’s worth of state-held oil, totaling about 80 million barrels or about one-fifth of Japan’s domestic oil reserves.

    Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the release plan last week.

    Japan imports more than 90 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East.

    Most of it comes through the Strait of Hormuz and its closure is expected to start impacting Japan’s oil supply within weeks.

    Trump says fatal strike on school in Iran is being investigated

    Asked if it is looking more likely that the U.S. was at fault, Trump replied, “We don’t know. That’s under investigation.”

    The deadly missile strike on an elementary school in the opening hours of the conflict killed more than 165 people, many of them children.

    The AP recently reported that satellite images, expert analysis, a U.S. official and public information released by the U.S. military all suggested it was likely a U.S. strike.

    Outdated intelligence likely played a role, the AP also reported, according to a U.S. official and a second person briefed on the findings of a preliminary U.S military investigation into the incident.

    Trump sidesteps question about oil futures

    Trump didn’t directly answer whether his administration is talking about selling oil futures as a way to cap surging oil prices.

    “The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as it’s over. And it’s going to be over pretty quickly,” he told reporters as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

    Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Bloomberg Television on the weekend that the administration has talked about that strategy.

    Trump says ‘we will remember’ who joins new coalition

    Trump wouldn’t say which countries will be part of the coalition he wants to police the Strait of Hormuz to provide security for oil tankers and other commercial ships passing through it.

    But he said he won’t forget the countries that decline to help — specifically namechecking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers “into harm’s way.”

    “Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember,” Trump said.

    Dubai authorities say a drone hit a fuel tank at its airport

    The Dubai Media Office said civil defense crews were working to bring a fire that erupted at Dubai International Airport under control following a drone strike.

    No injuries were immediately reported, it added.

    The airport, located close to the city center in Dubai, is one of the busiest international airports in the world.

    Trump says he demanded ‘about 7′ countries reliant on Middle East oil join coalition to police Strait of Hormuz

    U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has “demanded” that about seven countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz.

    About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.

    Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

    The president declined to name the countries the administration is negotiating with for protection for the strait.

    “I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait, claiming the vital shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil.

    Trump said China is heavily reliant on oil from the Middle East, while the United States gets a minimal amount.

    He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

    “It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” Trump said.

    Trump on Saturday had listed China, France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. as countries he hoped would send ships to the strait.

    JUST IN: Trump says he has demanded ‘about 7′ countries reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to police Strait of Hormuz

    Drone hits Dubai airport as Saudi air defenses down barrage

    A drone hit the Dubai International Airport early Monday causing a fire, the Dubai Media Office said.

    Videos circulating on social media showed a column of smoke billowing from the airport vicinity.

    Authorities did not immediately report casualties or the extent of the damage.

    In Saudi Arabia, the Defense Ministry said it downed a barrage of 25 drones in under an hour in the eastern region, one of the kingdom’s least dense areas close to Iran and home to major oil installations.

    The ministry did not immediately report casualties or damage from the attempted attacks.

    Israel’s military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel.

    Rockets strike near Baghdad airport for 2nd time in a day

    Four rockets landed near Baghdad International Airport late Sunday, marking the second such incident in a day, an Iraqi security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

    Two militia sources said the rockets targeted Victoria Base, a former U.S. base next to the airport that still provides logistical support for American operations.

    The attack followed an earlier strike that wounded four airport security personnel and staff. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched a series of attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, triggering the ongoing war in the Middle East.

    Israeli strikes kill 5 in southern Lebanon, health ministry says

    One strike in the Tyre district on Sunday killed three people and wounded three others, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Another strike in the Marjeyoun district killed two people and wounded four others.

    Israeli strikes have killed 850 people in Lebanon, including 107 children and 66 women, since the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2 after Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets toward northern Israel, the ministry said. It added that it also wounded 2026 people.

    Israel says it is striking Hezbollah in Beirut

    The Israeli military said early Monday it is striking more Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

    Moments before the announcement, a powerful strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

    The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders for almost the entirety of those neighborhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon, displacing over 800,000 people.

    Price of US crude oil goes above $100 per barrel

    The price of U.S. crude oil has gone above $100 per barrel as the Iran war continues to hinder shipping and production in the Middle East.

    West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $101.02 a barrel shortly after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or 2.3% more than its Friday close of $98.71.

    The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $106.39 Sunday, up 2.4%.

    The price for both WTI and Brent has soared more than 40% since the start of the war. Attention is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil exports normally pass.

    Britain’s prime minister speaks with Trump

    A British spokeswoman says Keir Starmer’s call with Trump discussed “the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to end the disruption to global shipping.”

    Starmer also spoke with Canada’s prime minister about it separately.

    Trump on Saturday called on Britain and other countries to send warships to secure passage for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran.

    Iran’s internet blackout further deepens

    An internet watchdog said Sunday that Iran’s internet blackout has deepened, disrupting even semi-official Iranian news organizations.

    It was not immediately clear what caused the disruption.

    “Connectivity rapidly collapses from 12:00 p.m. UTC,” Alp Toker, the founder of NetBlocks, told The Associated Press.

    Iranian state media social accounts that usually post frequently on X, including the Fars News Agency, also abruptly stopped updating around the same time, coinciding with the disruption, he added.

    This is the first time a disconnection of that scale happened during the war that is entering its third week, but Netblocks observed “a similar blackout during the early part of the blackout during Iran’s January protests, so it isn’t unprecedented.”

    While the Iranian public have been heavily restricted from accessing the internet since the start of the war on Feb. 28, many Iranians were still able to get online using VPNs or Starlink connections. The latest disruption appears to have affected many of those routes, leaving significantly fewer users able to connect.

    Media reports 5th Iranian soccer team member gives up asylum in Australia

    Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports a fifth member of the Iranian women’s soccer team who accepted a refugee visa to stay in Australia has left the country.

    Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office on Monday did not immediately confirm the news media report that the player departed on Sunday. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office on Monday did not immediately confirm the news media report that the player departed on Sunday.

    The reported departure leaves two of an initial seven squad members in Australia.

    JUST IN: Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports 5th Iranian soccer team member gives up asylum in Australia

    Israel’s military says it has struck over 200 targets

    Its statement Sunday said the targets it struck in western and central Iran over the past day included command centers and weapons storage and production sites.

    German minister indicates his country won’t participate in a Strait of Hormuz mission now

    Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on ARD television Sunday: “Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.”

    Wadephul said that “we will only get security for the Strait of Hormuz … if there is a negotiated solution.”

    He said he is skeptical about expanding the European Union’s naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, to the Strait of Hormuz because it hasn’t been effective in its current area.

    Wadephul added: “It is completely clear that Europe always gives constructive support when it comes to securing sea routes, but I see neither an immediate necessity nor above all Germany participating.”

    Iraqi agency: Rockets hit Baghdad airport and surroundings injuring 5

    Iraq’s Security Media Cell, affiliated with the country’s security forces, said Sunday that Baghdad International Airport and its surroundings were hit by rockets, resulting in injuries to four airport security personnel and staff, as well as an engineer.

    Two security officials said that a former U.S. base adjacent to the airport, which still provides logistical support to U.S. operations, was targeted with drones and Katyusha rockets.

    The Security Media Cell added that the rocket launch platform was found hidden inside a vehicle in an area west of the capital and seized. It said that authorities have relieved a number of sector commanders and intelligence officers of their duties and initiated legal procedures over the incident.

    Ahmed Laibi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, said in a separate statement that attacks on the airport in recent days had landed near the al-Karkh Central Prison nearby “raising concerns regarding the impact on the security of a prison that houses high-risk terrorist inmates.”

    Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched a series of attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

    Israel says Gaza’s crucial Rafah crossing will reopen

    The military’s statement says the territory’s crossing with Egypt will open Wednesday for “limited” movement in both directions: people only, not cargo.

    It says procedures will be the same as before the crossing closed. Israel closed Gaza’s crossings on the first weekend of the Iran war. Rafah has been critical for medical evacuations abroad.

    UN says peacekeepers were fired on in southern Lebanon

    The U.N. statement says the gunfire “likely by non-state armed groups” occurred while peacekeepers were patrolling around their bases on Sunday. It says two patrols fired back and no peacekeepers were injured.

    Hassett says Trump administration attacks on Iran have cost $12 billion

    Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett was speaking on CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

    “The latest number I was briefed on was 12,” Hassett said.

    Pentagon estimates provided to Congress said the war would cost $11.3 billion in its first week. Hassett did not specify the time frame for the $12 billion in spending.

    Asked whether the U.S. will need to request more money from Congress, Hassett responded: “I think right now we’ve got what we need, whether we have to go back to Congress for more is something that I think that Russ Vought and OMB will look into.”

    OMB is the United States Office of Management and Budget.

    Iranian government shows journalists part of Tehran heavily damaged by a US-Israeli strike

    A strike on the Javadieh neighborhood of southern Tehran on Friday hit a police station and several surrounding buildings.

    Elham Movagghari, a resident of the area who spoke to journalists Sunday, said she was shocked by the attack.

    “We were confused and didn’t know what had happened,” she said. “We just ran away.”

    Another resident, Hossein Ghardashi, said the strike threw him across the room.

    “When I got up and came to my senses, I saw that two or three pieces of glass had gone into my face and head” he said.

    Italy’s chief of defense staff says a drone hit a base in Kuwait housing Italian and US forces

    Gen. Luciano Portolano said the attack on the Ali Al Salem base occurred on Sunday morning and destroyed an Italian drone inside a shelter on the base.

    No Italian personnel were injured, he said, in comments posted on X.

    Italian troops are stationed at the base as part of a coalition task force combating the Islamic State militant group.

    The Chief of Defense Staff’s post said the Italian task force’s assets “had been pre-emptively reduced” in recent days due to the ongoing war. It said some personnel remain at the base to carry out essential activities. It did not say how many Italians remain.

    For residents of Israel’s north, the missile fire continues

    Some Israelis in northern Israel have little faith their communities will soon quiet down, after seeing the last Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire falter and fall apart. They fear the conflict thundering ahead could continue beyond the Iran war.

    “There was a war, there was an agreement, and today again another war and there will be another agreement, and another war, and another agreement,” said Ahmad Zbidat, a renovation foreman at a hotel in Metula, just across the border from Lebanon.

    Some 100,000 Israeli troops have amassed along the U.N.-mandated Blue Line that divides the two countries, in an anticipated ground invasion.

    Israeli police officer thanks citizens for showing ‘discipline’ and entering safe rooms

    Security forces have flocked to the site where a missile fell in Tel Aviv, leaving a small crater in the ground.

    It was one of at least 23 sites that the Israeli rescue service United Hatzalah said were damaged in one of several barrages from Iran on Sunday.

    Shlomo Shlezinger, head of operations for the Israeli police, said a few cars and a motorcycle were damaged but no one was injured or killed at the site.

    “Everyone was inside the safe rooms,” he said. “Thank you to all the civilians for their civilian discipline.”

    UEFA cancels Argentina vs. Spain Finalissima in Qatar

    European soccer’s governing body said Sunday that the security of the marquee game had been plunged into doubt by increasing tensions in the Middle East.

    The Finalissima between South American champion Argentina and European champion Spain had been scheduled to take place in Doha on March 27.

    Argentina and Spain were to play at Lusail Stadium, which staged the epic 2022 World Cup final. Argentina won a penalty shootout against France after Lionel Messi scored twice and Kylian Mbappé secured a hat trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

    The violence in the Middle East has impacted international sport beyond the Finalissima. Formula 1’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for April, have been called off due to the war, while Trump has suggested that Iran will not participate in this summer’s World Cup that is co-hosted by the U.S.

    Emergency stocks of oil ‘will soon start flowing to global markets,’ the International Energy Agency says

    The Paris-based agency, which is helping to coordinate the international effort to lower prices, says its member countries in Asia and Oceania plan to release stocks “immediately” and that reserves from Europe and the Americas “will be made available starting from the end of March.”

    “This emergency collective action, by far the largest ever, provides a significant and welcome buffer,” it says in a statement.

    The IEA announced Wednesday that it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from members’ emergency reserves — more than double the 182.7 million barrels that the IEA’s 32 countries released in 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    The IEA’s update on Sunday said its members have so far committed to making available a total of nearly 412 million barrels from government, industry and other stocks — of which 72% will be crude oil and the rest as oil products.

    Israel’s prime minister shows the world he is alive and has only ten fingers

    Benjamin Netanyahu posted his latest video Facebook to seemingly clear up confusion over an earlier post. Some who watched the earlier video thought it was an AI creation because at one point he appeared to have more than 10 fingers, and speculated that the Israeli leader might have died.

    In a video filmed in an Israeli cafe and posted online Sunday, Netanyahu picks up a cappuccino with showy ease and pivots to the camera.

    “They are saying on the internet that the prime minister’s dead? I’m dying for coffee,” he said.

    Then he spread the fingers on each hand to show he has only 10, then sipped his coffee.

    Israel maintains it has enough interceptors to sustain air defense against Iran

    An Israeli military source told The Associated Press on Sunday that the country has enough interceptors to continue defending its skies against missiles from Iran.

    The source spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.

    The comment appeared to be an effort to tamp down growing speculation that Israel’s vaunted air defense system is running low.

    Interceptors are the missiles that Israel’s air defense system uses to destroy incoming rockets before they hit populated areas.

    Egypt’s president calls Gulf leaders to discuss how to end conflict

    President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made a series of phone calls Sunday, speaking with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; Jordanian King Abdullah II; and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

    Egypt’s foreign minister is touring the Gulf region.

    El-Sissi said in a statement that Egypt is intensifying efforts seeking a de-escalation of tensions in the region.

    Iranian foreign minister says there’s ‘no reason’ to talk with Trump’s envoys

    Abbas Araghchi told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Iranian negotiators were in talks with U.S. envoys when the decision to attack his country was made.

    Araghchi said “we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about how to end the war and that Iran has had no “good experience talking with Americans.”

    Araghchi says Iran is “open to countries who want to talk to us about the safe passage of their vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz and has been approach by “a number’’ of nations about that. He didn’t name them.

    Asked about the fate of his country’s nuclear material, the minister said it was under rubble from attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and “we have no plan to recover” it from there.

    Israel says the brother of a man who attacked a Michigan synagogue was a Hezbollah commander it killed in an airstrike

    The military said it had struck Ibrahim Ghazali — the brother of Lebanese-born Ayman Ghazali, who attacked the synagogue last week — because he managed weapons for a Hezbollah unit that fired rockets at Israel.

    The Associated Press was not able to verify that Ibrahim Ghazali was a militant.

    A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity because he could not publicly discuss details of the airstrike, confirmed that Ibrahim Ghazali was killed.

    The official told AP that Ghazali’s children, Ali and Fatima, and brother, Kassim, were also killed in the strike that hit their home just after sunset.

    Authorities have said 41-year-old Ayman Ghazali attacked the Temple Israel synagogue outside Detroit after learning that four of his family members had been killed in an Israeli strike.

    Read more

    Funeral held for Turkish truck driver killed in missile strike in Iran

    Crowds gathered Sunday for the burial of 29-year-old Huseyin Firat in Reyhanli, southern Turkey, the Demiroren News Agency reported.

    He died from wounds sustained in a March 6 attack on a convoy returning from Afghanistan to Turkey, according to Turkish media reports.

    Video footage taken days later showed his vehicle shredded by shrapnel and a large crater near the city of Zanjan, in northwest Iran.

    The US expects other countries to back American efforts on Hormuz, Wright says

    U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he’s been “in dialogue” with some of the countries that Trump hopes will send warships to counter Iran’s efforts to restrict shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. He’s not saying which ones.

    Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether shipping through the critical waterway is safe at the moment, Wright responded: “No, it is not.”

    He noted that many other countries, especially in Asia, are more dependent than the United States on energy supplies that are shipped through the strait.

    “So of course the whole world will be united on the need to open Hormuz and clearly we will have the support of other nations to achieve that objective,” he said.

    Wright said he expected China to “be a constructive partner” in efforts to reopen the strait.

    Egypt pledges unity with Qatar and other Gulf nations that have been struck by Iran

    Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi promised “full support and solidarity” in a message to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

    Foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, who was visiting Qatar on Sunday on the first stop of a tour of the Gulf region, delivered the president’s message.

    Abdelatty called for a deescalation of hostilities in the region. He said activating a Joint Defense Treaty would “safeguard the security, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Arab states.”

    Turkmenistan sends humanitarian aid to neighboring Iran

    State media reports that four refrigerated trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies, clothing and food left the capital Ashgabat for Iran on Sunday.

    The shipment, funded by a charitable foundation, was sent “to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, primarily children, as a sign of friendly and fraternal relations,” according to state media. It showed footage of a prayer being recited for the safe delivery of the supplies.

    Officials said approximately 250 people from 16 countries have so far crossed into Turkmenistan, an isolated, gas-rich Central Asian nation, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran.

    Turkmenistan maintains one of the strictest visa policies in the world. It provided safe passage to more than 4,000 foreign nationals from 52 countries during the Israel-Iran war last summer.

    Americans will feel the effects of energy disruption for some weeks, Trump’s energy secretary says

    Chris Wright told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that there’s been a “short-term disruption’ to the flow of energy and that “Americans are feeling it right now. Americans will feel it for a few more weeks.”

    Asked whether the war will be over in a matter of weeks, Wright said: “I think that’s the likely time frame, yes.”

    He said gas prices will start to come back down after the war is over.

    “At the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies. We’ll go to a world more abundant in energy, more affordable energy.”

    Asked about whether pump prices will fall below $3 per gallon by the summer travel season, Wright said: “there’s a very good chance that’ll be true. There’s no guarantees in war.”

    A violent storm hammers displaced Lebanese people on Beirut’s waterfront

    The displaced struggled to keep their tents intact as pouring rain and fierce winds hammered the city’s downtown waterfront area Sunday.

    An AP team on the ground witnessed one tent succumb to the winds, blowing away entirely.

    Fadi Younes, one displaced man who fled to the beach from Beirut’s southern suburbs, found himself battling with his collapsed tent. He had already rebuilt it once after a storm two days ago, he said.

    He gestured to new mattresses, now waterlogged, that he bought after the last ones got soaked through.

    “I hope that today things in the country will be set right and everyone can return to their homes. A person only truly feels at ease in their own home,” he said.

    Younes is one of more than 830,000 people displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation warnings in Lebanon. The Norwegian Refugee Council says that amounts to one in every seven people.

    UN Ambassador Mike Waltz says Trump is weighing options to hit Iran’s oil hub

    Waltz was asked on CNN Sunday whether the U.S. president was prepared to target oil facilities on Kharg island, which handles 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, and if so, if he was worried that that could risk even more of an escalation in the war.

    “President Trump’s not going to take any options off the table,” Waltz said. “I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their their energy infrastructure.”

    U.S. Central Command posted on X Saturday that it had struck military targets on the island, but had preserved the oil infrastructure.

    Iran says strategic strait open to all vessels except the US and its allies

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments about the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz came in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed published Sunday.

    “The Strait of Hormuz is not generally closed, but only to the U.S. and its allies, and we will continue this policy as long as the attacks continue,” he was quoted as saying.

  • Jimmy Kimmel takes jab at CBS, Melania Trump at the Oscars – USA Today

    March 15, 2026, 10:19 p.m. ET

    Even when he’s off duty from Oscars hosting duties, Jimmy Kimmel is eager to use the stage to get political.

    While presenting the best documentary short award at the 98th Academy Awards Sunday, March 15, the late-night host and four-time Oscars emcee took the opportunity to sound off on the media landscape amid the Trump administration.

    “We hear a lot about courage at shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage,” Kimmel told the Dolby Theatre’s superstar crowd, which included nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Stone, Michael B. Jordan and Benicio Del Toro.

    “As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech,” Kimmel continued. “I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”

    Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 98th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.

    CBS and its parent company, Paramount, have come under scrutiny in the last year for their relationship with President Donald Trump, including a $16 million lawsuit settlement last July and the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” starring frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert.

    Kimmel, a fellow Trump dissident, drew the president’s ire while hosting the 2024 Oscars. Deviating from what the writers had prepared for the night, Kimmel read aloud a Truth Social post Trump had fired off during the Academy Awards broadcast.

    “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less-than-average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” the post read. Trump, as usual, called the “boring” show’s ratings into question and also insisted that Kimmel be replaced. (Conan O’Brien did, starting in 2025.)

    Kimmel shot back, “Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. Isn’t it past your jail time?” During a “Live with Kelly and Mark” appearance the following day, Kimmel claimed he was told not to read Trump’s post.

    During Sunday’s Oscars, Kimmel managed to throw in a not-so-subtle dig at the Trump clan with a reference to first lady Melania Trump‘s recent documentary, “Melania.”

    “Fortunately for all of us, there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action,” Kimmel said. “And there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”

    Contributing: Anthony Robledo