Brussels will relax state aid rules to allow member countries to offer ‘targeted and temporary’ supportEurope live – latest updatesThe EU will cut electricity taxes and provide consumers with fresh incentives to ditch fuel-burning cars and boilers, the European Commission has announced, as the Iran war energy crisis speeds a shift to a clean economy.The plan, which foresees tweaking rules so that electricity is taxed less than oil and gas, aims to bring down bills while encouraging the move away from polluting devices that prolong reliance on foreign fuels. Continue reading...
As treasurer Jim Chalmers weighs ‘extreme uncertainty’, one economic scenario sees global growth plunging to just 2% in 2026Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe International Monetary Fund has warned the US-Israel war on Iran risks creating an “energy crisis of an unprecedented scale” that could tip the global economy towards recession.The grim warning contained in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook comes as Jim Chalmers prepares to attend the organisation’s spring meetings in Washington DC this week, where he said he would be “joining with other countries continuing to call for an enduring end to the war”. Continue reading...
• Finance ministers and central bank governors gathered in Washington for IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings are confronting an unprecedented global energy shock caused by the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure, according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
• Georgieva warned that "there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo ante," indicating long-term economic impacts regardless of ceasefire outcomes or efforts to reopen shipping routes.
• The energy crisis is already affecting hundreds of millions of people globally, with decisions made at the meetings regarding resource allocation and emergency funding expected to have tangible impacts on livelihoods in the coming weeks.
• Cuba announced the release of 2,010 prisoners on April 4 following intense US pressure linked to the island's worsening energy crisis.
• Gesture aims to ease bilateral tensions as Trump administration leverages geopolitical leverage.
• Amid blackouts and shortages, release signals Havana's bid for concessions or sanctions relief.
Former government adviser Polly Billington urges bigger steps to shield people in UK from effects of Iran warMiddle East crisis – live updatesKeir Starmer should convene a global energy summit of the same order as Gordon Brown’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and put Britain on a “war footing” to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels, a Labour MP and former government adviser has said.Polly Billington, who was an aide in Brown’s government, warned that economic pain was “hurtling down the tracks” 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 Paraná 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.“I think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to bring energy bills down,” James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday. Continue reading...
As the war in Iran continues, ministers debate several options for extending support to households Middle East crisis – 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 Lloyd’s List ‘no reason’ 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 – once again – his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran and that talks were going “very well”. 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 “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets). Now, he’s pushing that deadline back, again.The price of Brent crude also dropped following Trump’s latest announcement. Oil prices rose to their highest level this week, with Brent crude trading at roughly $108 a barrel after Trump’s cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday.Yemen’s Houthis have said there is no need to worry amid fears that if Donald Trump follows through on threats to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, Tehran may ask them to attack shipping in the Red Sea.A day after Tehran dismissed Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed that Iran was “begging to make a deal,” and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to “get serious soon” 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. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”, 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 “present” 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 Forces’ chief of staff has warned that the military will “collapse in on itself” 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 Iran’s Qeshm Island, Iran’s 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 “biggest energy crisis in history”.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...
