Advertising and Donations - advertising-newsandtimes.comOil prices could rise if Iran goes ahead with threat to shut down shipping in the strait of Hormuz
US strikes on Iran could damage global economic growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Director Kristalina Georgieva told Bloomberg TV that the IMF was watching energy prices closely, warning a rise in oil prices could have a ripple effect throughout the global economy.
Keir Starmer backs strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and calls on Tehran to return to negotiations but warns of ‘risk of escalation’ in Middle East
Foreign secretary David Lammy has said that diplomacy is the only permanent solution to the UK’s longstanding concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, and that Tehran’s government must “get serious about the off-ramp that is being made available to them” in the wake of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Lammy said that Iran had clearly been in breach of agreements by enriching uranium up to 60%, which he said was way above the levels of enrichment carried out by the UK.
I’m sorry that (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has since been breached, of course I am, but that’s why the international community is ultimately committed to this. And let’s be clear, if Iran is able to enrich beyond 60%, is able to get a weapon, what we will see is nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, the world will be seriously more dangerous than it is at the moment, that’s why it must be stopped.
I went straight to Geneva … to sit with the Iranians. I spent seven hours in Geneva to talk them down to this off-ramp. It is still the case that this can only be sorted out diplomatically, and Iran must now take that off-ramp.
I don’t think it is extraordinary because this was not the UK’s action, we were not involved, we were clear when this began and Israel’s attacks began that we were not involved … so I don’t say it’s not legitimate, but I can tell you as foreign secretary that we were not involved.
The prospect of higher energy prices may also delay the next Reserve Bank rate cut to until August instead of July, economists say
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Australian motorists could be paying $2 a litre for petrol in coming weeks, after US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities triggered a lift in oil prices on Monday.
As the IMF warned that turmoil in international energy markets posed a threat to global growth, analysts said higher fuel and power costs would be another blow to households still struggling with the high cost of living.
Clifton George, 44, arrested after Annabel Rook found with stab wounds in Stoke Newington on Tuesday
A man has been charged with the murder of a charity worker who was found stabbed in her home after a gas explosion.
Clifton George, 44, was arrested after Annabel Rook was found with stab wounds in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, north London, shortly before 5am on Tuesday.
The world is waiting with bated breath for Iran’s next move after U.S. President Donald Trump authorized strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, despite warnings against such a move from some U.S. lawmakers and foreign leaders.
Iran has promised retaliation against the U.S., and Trump has vowed to meet any retaliation with “far greater” force and even raised the prospect of seeking “regime change.”
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“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, Death to America, Death to Israel,” Trump said after the strikes. “There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.”
“Remember, there are many targets left,” he added. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. is preparing its citizens around the world for potential travel disruptions and “demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.”
The Department of State issued a “Worldwide Caution” alert on Sunday—the first global alert since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the State Department said in a statement. “There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”
The Department of Homeland Security also issued a National Terrorism Advisory on Sunday, warning that “low-level cyber attacks against U.S. networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely” and that Iran may target U.S. government officials, as the country has repeatedly stated its desires to attack specific officials, including Trump, in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
“The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland,” the alert added.
Police in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have heightened vigilance at religious and diplomatic sites and public spaces, according to Bloomberg.
Iran condemned the U.S. attacks and asked the United Nations Security Council to “immediately act” to address “injustice and gross violations” by the U.S. and Israel. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel with its surprise attack that sparked the war and the U.S. with its intervention this weekend each “decided to blow up” diplomacy.
Iran warned at the UNSC meeting that “the timing, nature and the scale of Iran’s proportionate response will be decided by its armed force,” and Iranian officials have warned that “all options” are on the table and that U.S. military bases in the region are “legitimate targets.”
Iran also holds significant leverage over global oil trade via the Strait of Hormuz, though disrupting that would also hurt its own economy as well that of its friends like China.
‘Inaction’ from governments and ‘baked in’ racism are hampering efforts to address entrenched disadvantage, according to first independent review
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Australian governments are failing to do “the heavy lifting” needed to address entrenched disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, an independent review of the national Closing the Gap strategy has found.
The review by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney is the first to independently assess the implementation of the Closing the Gap agreement since its establishment in 2008.