Donald Trump says he is talking to Iran’s leaders about ending his bombing campaign; Iran says he is not. But what he certainly is doing is preparing an alternative, should a negotiated end to hostilities prove elusive. Two amphibious units of US Marines are on their way to the Gulf, one from Japan and the…
Donald trump’s strategy in Iran is like the weather in his home state of Florida: if you don’t like it, then wait for five minutes. On Friday the president said America’s war might soon be “winding down”. Its military goals had largely been met, he said, and he seemed untroubled by Iran’s ongoing closure of…
Amid global turmoil over the world’s biggest oil chokepoints, Iran is reportedly charging some vessels $2 million to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a move described by Iranian parliament member Alaeddin Boroujerdi as a new approach to control the narrow waterway. The member of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee said that the fee…
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – now in its fourth week as the conflict deepens – is piling pressure on the US administration and major importers of oil, gas and fuels from the Gulf, forcing a scramble for solutions. A narrow corridor linking the Gulf to global markets, Hormuz has been all…
Iran’s embassy in Japan has hit back at a UAE-led joint statement backed by several countries, urging signatories to “stop accommodating the American and Israeli aggressors” as tensions intensify over the Strait of Hormuz. The Callisto tanker sits anchored as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran,…
Hong Kong authorities will issue weekly announcements about the changes in international and local fuel costs from April, following mounting suspicion that businesses are prematurely raising prices because of the United States-Israeli war on Iran. The move announced on Saturday was welcomed by experts, although some said prices were ultimately out of the government’s hands…
A recession mindset took hold among global investors after strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East heightened fears that disruption to production and distribution would keep oil prices elevated for longer, darkening the global economic outlook. Crude prices staged a comeback on Thursday after Iran attacked a liquefied petroleum gas site in Qatar in…
Cosco Shipping Ports, a unit of state-owned giant Cosco Shipping, reported modest earnings growth for 2025, as management expects to expand in emerging markets amid rising geopolitical risks to global trade. Net profit rose 1.1 per cent to US$312.1 million, and revenue increased 11 per cent to US$1.67 billion, according to its 2025 results. Total…
A Hong Kong bus driver union has hit out at a company’s guidelines asking drivers to save fuel amid surging oil prices by switching off air-conditioning when they are not carrying passengers, arguing that such policies pose safety risks. In a statement on Wednesday, the Motor Transport Workers General Union also called on public bus…
China expanded its crude oil stockpiles over the first two months of the year, thanks to higher imports and a ramp-up in domestic production, Reuters’ Clyde Russell reported, adding that the stock buildout strengthened despite higher refining rates in the period. Imports of crude oil to China averaged 11.99 million barrels daily, Russell said, adding…