World - Wednesday, March 18, 2026

UAE and Qatar condemn targeting of South Pars gas field; Iranian president warns of ‘uncontrollable consequences’ if attacks continue Iran threatens Gulf energy facilities after Israeli attack on its largest gasfield Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon Iran is still exporting millions of barrels of oil , with about 90 ships, including oil tankers, having crossed the strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the war with Iran, according to maritime and trade data platforms reports. This is despite Iran saying it had closed the vital waterway to vessels from the US and its allies. Continue reading...

Iran's military warned it would take "decisive action" in response to the strike on its energy infrastructure.

Andrea Stricker warns the U.S. must neutralize Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site and secure uranium stockpiles before ending combat operations.

In Washington on Thursday, President Trump is expected to press Sanae Takaichi for military help in the Strait of Hormuz. But she faces constraints on what she can offer.

Meanwhile Anthony Albanese says he is not ruling out negative gearing and CGT changes in the next budget. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Agriculture minister says government monitoring any price gouging of fertiliser Julie Collins , the federal minister for agriculture, said the government is monitoring any price gouging for fertiliser amid the turmoil in the Middle East. I think our government has been very clear that this should not be seen as a commercial opportunity for anybody. This is about what is in the national interest. This is a conflict that is impacting globally, and what we need Australians to do is to act in the national interest, and that includes everybody along that supply chain. Continue reading...

A Brussels court ruled that Étienne Davignon must stand trial for the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Officials believe the man - known as Lobo Menor - is linked to the killing of Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.

Hong Kong-flagged tanker allegedly delivered 190,000 barrels of Russian oil to Cuba using AIS spoofing and ship-to-ship transfers to evade U.S. sanctions.

FBI director says agency does ‘purchase commercially available information’ from data brokers; Ron Wyden calls action ‘an outrageous end run around the Fourth Amendment’ Sign up for Breaking US News US emails Rand Paul seemed immediately frustrated with Mullin as he opened the hearing. While he was speaking, he suggested that Mullin wasn’t listening to his remarks, during which he pushed Trump’s nominee on his vote against Paul’s amendment to stop all funding for refugee welfare programs. “You decided to transfer the blame. You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted,” Paul said, referring to when he was attacked by a neighbor in Kentucky in 2017, which resulted in Paul breaking several ribs and developing pneumonia. Continue reading...

At least 143 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike that hit a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul on Monday, according to a top U.N. official.