Former government adviser Polly Billington urges bigger steps to shield people in UK from effects of Iran warMiddle East crisis â live updatesKeir Starmer should convene a global energy summit of the same order as Gordon Brownâs response to the 2008 financial crisis and put Britain on a âwar footingâ to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels, a Labour MP and former government adviser has said.Polly Billington, who was an aide in Brownâs government, warned that economic pain was âhurtling down the tracksâ and a bigger response was needed to protect the British people from the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Continue reading...
⢠Brazil and Paraguay finalized a bilateral agreement on Thursday to jointly develop and operate expanded hydroelectric capacity along the Paranå River, addressing critical energy shortages affecting both nations and the broader South American grid.
⢠The $8.7 billion infrastructure project aims to increase regional electricity output by 28% within five years and includes provisions for technology transfer and workforce development across both countries.
⢠The agreement emerged from emergency regional meetings convened by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) following cascading power grid failures that left 85 million people without electricity across South America in early March.
Government keen to avoid panic as oil price surges, but perhaps households need advice on reducing consumptionLabour ministers sent out in recent days to respond to the looming energy crisis sparked by the Iran war have essentially stuck to that reassuring wartime slogan: keep calm and carry on.âI think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to bring energy bills down,â James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4âs Today programme on Tuesday. Continue reading...
As the war in Iran continues, ministers debate several options for extending support to households Middle East crisis â live updatesFamilies hardest hit by the looming energy crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East could be given funds dispensed by local councils, under plans being considered by UK ministers keen to keep a lid on costs.As concerns increase about the impact of rising fuel and energy costs in response to a drawn-out war in Iran, a government official said several options for extending support were being debated inside Whitehall. Continue reading...
US president says he is extending deadline for strait of Hormuz to reopen to 6 April; Houthis tell Lloydâs List âno reasonâ to prevent Saudi oil using Red Sea routeFull report: Trump extends deadline Analysis: Trump pitches peace plan but military buildups rarely veer to off-rampHello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the consequences for the region, the world, and the global economy.Here are the latest developments:Donald Trump said he will extend â once again â his pause on his threat to attack Iranâs energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran and that talks were going âvery wellâ. The US president threatened last Saturday to would strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz. Then, on Monday he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing âvery good and productive conversationsâ with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as âfake newsâ designed to âmanipulateâ the oil markets). Now, heâs pushing that deadline back, again.The price of Brent crude also dropped following Trumpâs latest announcement. Oil prices rose to their highest level this week, with Brent crude trading at roughly $108 a barrel after Trumpâs cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday.Yemenâs Houthis have said there is no need to worry amid fears that if Donald Trump follows through on threats to seize Iranâs Kharg Island, Tehran may ask them to attack shipping in the Red Sea.A day after Tehran dismissed Trumpâs 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed that Iran was âbegging to make a deal,â and that he wasnât the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to âget serious soonâ on negotiating a deal to end the war.Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. âI read a story today that Iâm desperate to make a deal,â Trump told reporters. âIâm the opposite of desperate. I donât care.âA US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is âone-sided and unfairâ, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.However, Trump said Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks. He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a âpresentâ to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.The Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, quoting defence department officials with knowledge of the planning.The Israel Defence Forcesâ chief of staff has warned that the military will âcollapse in on itselfâ as it faces increasing demands and a growing manpower shortage while fighting on multiple fronts, according to Israeli media reports.A Thai-flagged cargo ship that was hit by unknown projectiles in the strait of Hormuz earlier this month has run aground off Iranâs Qeshm Island, Iranâs Tasnim news agency said on Friday. Continue reading...
Rationing is not under consideration yet as hundreds of retailers report being without one or more types of fuelGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPetrol stations are reporting a surge in demand of up to 25% in the last fortnight alone on top of already major spikes earlier in the Iran war as Anthony Albanese comes under pressure to devise a national plan to cushion Australia against the âbiggest energy crisis in historyâ.The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association has revealed the scale of the demand on retailers, which has left hundreds of stations across the country without one or more types of fuel. Continue reading...
PM Sanae Takaichi says about 80m barrels of stockpiled oil to be provided to refiners â equivalent to 45 days of domestic demand ⢠Middle East crisis â live updatesJapan will begin the biggest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves this week, the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said, as the country braces for possible shortages caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.The government last week approved the release of 15 daysâ worth of private-sector reserves, amid concern that the conflict in the Middle East will continue to hinder the flow of tanker traffic along the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...
Iranian parliament speaker says âno negotiationsâ held with US, as Trump postpones energy strikes for five days; European Commission chief says war must come to negotiated endTrump claims âproductiveâ talks with Iran but Tehran denies contactIsrael launches new strikes on Tehran as Trump pauses Iran energy attacksWelcome to our ongoing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its wider repercussions in the Middle East and globally.Donald Trump has claimed the US and Iran have held talks in which the two sides had âmajor points of agreementâ, and speculated that a deal could soon be done to end the war, a claim contradicted by Tehran.Trump said the threatened US strikes on Iranian power plants had been postponed after âvery good and productiveâ discussions with Iran about a âcomplete and total resolution of our hostilitiesâ in the Middle East. After hitting a four-year high, the price of oil fell dramatically following Trumpâs comments, while stocks in Asia rallied.Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he had spoken with Trump, who saw a chance of an agreement with Iran, but added that Israel would continue its strikes against Iran and Lebanon. Trump believed there was a possibility of âleveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the Israeli and the US military, in order to realise the goals of the war in a deal â a deal that will preserve our vital interestsâ, the Israeli prime minister claimed in a video statement released by his office.Israel said it had launched âwide-scaleâ strikes on Iran on Monday morning, while Tehran continued to fire missiles at the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli military also claimed to have hit struck the main security headquarters of Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as part of a âwave of strikes that was completed a short while ago in the heart of Tehranâ.An Israeli strike also hit Beirutâs southern suburbs on Monday, Agence France-Presse quoted state media as saying, hours after the Israeli army issued an order for residents of the area to evacuate. An AFPTV live broadcast showed a cloud of smoke over the densely populated southern suburbs, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold and have not been hit since Friday night. Continue reading...
Fatih Birol says effects on energy markets from Iran bombings and closure of strait of Hormuz not initially understood by world leaders. Plus, feminist magazine reclaims Charlie Kirk-style campus toursGood morning.The global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout from Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.Why is the ex-CIA chief Leon Panetta in the news? He has spoken out about Donald Trumpâs attack on Iran, telling the Guardian the US president is âsending a message of weaknessâ to the world.Whatâs the latest in Iran? Its government is threatening to lay mines across entire Gulf if its coasts are attacked.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog here.What happened? The aircraft hit the fire truck while travelling at about 24mph, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24. In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard giving clearance to a fire vehicle to cross part of the runway, then trying to stop it. The controller can then be heard quickly diverting incoming aircraft from landing. Continue reading...
Fatih Birol says effect on energy markets of Iran bombings and closure of Hormuz strait not initially understood by world leadersMiddle East crisis live â latest updatesThe global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout of Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned.Fatih Birol, the IEAâs executive director, said the growing fallout could be seriously compounded through interuptions to the âvital arteries of the global economyâ, including petrochemicals, fertilisers, sulfur and helium. Continue reading...
