Business - Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Hundreds of service stations across Australia have reported fuel shortfalls, as the war in the Middle East disrupts global supplies.

Trump said he decided to back off from his recent threat to order strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure "based on the fact we're negotiating."

Airport escorts and “red coat” assistance for lawmakers will be suspended, the airline said on Tuesday, citing the extended partial government shutdown.

Yuan bond issuance by foreign borrowers has surged in mainland China this month, eclipsing the momentum of such fundraising offshore and highlighting the appeal of a vast local market less affected by the Iran war.

The Defense Department designated Anthropic as a risk to U.S. national security, the first time an American company had been hit with that designation.

The company said in a legal filing that the department sought to fashion an “end run” when it issued revised media rules on Monday.

Machado's remarks come as the oil industry remains hesitant to invest in Venezuela after the U.S. ousted former President Nicolas Maduro.

Markets and the Treasury are pricing a quick exit. Without a credible political endgame, Donald Trump cannot deliver one Whatever else Donald Trump’s “ pause ” is, it is not a ceasefire. Iranian barrages targeted Israel, Gulf Arab states and northern Iraq on Tuesday, while Israeli and US warplanes struck across Iran. What Mr Trump’s statement did was to narrow US targets to exclude power plants and energy infrastructure to calm jittery markets. But the fighting continues. With reports that the US is considering boots on the ground , Washington is waging war while searching for an exit – without a credible or unified negotiating position, as Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu pursues his own agenda. Mr Trump’s strategy, if he has one, might be to soothe markets now – and launch a massive escalatory strike over the weekend when trading desks are closed, in the hope of forcing the Iranian regime to fracture or capitulate. This rests on the idea that Tehran is brittle and will crack under American “shock and awe”. Sir Keir Starmer’s implicit judgment is that Iran will not cave. That disagreement may have been enough to send him to Mr Trump’s doghouse . Britain must stay out of US-Israeli adventurism. The war’s constraint is not capability – Washington has plenty of air power and Iran offers plenty of targets. But nothing can be resolved without a politically achievable objective. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...

Singapore will stick to its rules-based trade principles even if it comes at a short-term cost, the Business Times reported Wednesday, citing the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Investors are concerned about the health of the industry, which ballooned over the past decade.