Wildflowers blanket Death Valley in best display since 2016
The California desert is seeing its most colourful display in a decade as flowers cover the region.
Fears for women’s rights in Chile as anti-abortion president set to take office
José Antonio Kast, who voted against legalising divorce in 2004, has pushed for return to total abortion ban
Women’s rights activists in Chile are bracing as the most conservative president since the Pinochet dictatorship prepares to take office on Wednesday.
José Antonio Kast, a 60-year-old ultra Catholic whose father was a member of the Nazi party, has consistently blocked progressive bids for women’s rights and equality across his three-decade career in politics.
Continue reading...Alexander Butterfield, who revealed Nixon Watergate tapes, dies aged 99
He disclosed then-President Richard Nixon had a recording system in the Oval Office.
Trump gives mixed messages about when the war with Iran will end – NPR
- Trump gives mixed messages about when the war with Iran will end NPR
- Live updates: US will end war with Iran ‘on our timeline,’ Hegseth says CNN
- Iran war may end ‘pretty quickly’: What Trump told Republicans Al Jazeera
- 5 takeaways from Trump’s Iran presser at Doral The Hill
- Iran live: Markets bet that Trump will end war soon despite threats from both sides Reuters
Russia is the only winner of Middle East war, EU’s Costa says – Reuters
- Russia is the only winner of Middle East war, EU's Costa says Reuters
- Why Vladimir Putin may be the big winner in Trump's Iran war NBC News
- Russian oil prices soar though tanker costs eat into gains Reuters
- As the Iran war upends energy flows, Russia is emerging as the real winner CNBC
- Russia Set for Oil-Revenue Surge in Coming Weeks on Iran War Bloomberg
The ‘Fourth Successor’: Iran’s plan for a long war with the US and Israel – Al Jazeera
- The ‘Fourth Successor’: Iran’s plan for a long war with the US and Israel Al Jazeera
- A Mysterious Code Is Being Broadcast on Shortwave Radio. Is It Iran? The Atlantic
- Iran bets on endurance, energy disruption to outlast US, Israel Reuters
- Iran’s Desperate, High-Risk Survival Strategy The New Yorker
- Why Escalation Favors Iran Foreign Affairs
Qantas hikes international air fares citing volatile oil prices from war in Middle East
Airline reports spike in ticket sales to Europe in March, as passengers with carriers affected by flight chaos rebook
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Qantas has announced it is increasing the price of its international air fares amid oil price volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, while the airline also reported higher-than-normal ticket sales for flights to Europe.
While the company hedges against change in jet fuel prices, it was not fully covered for the spike seen in the wake of surging oil prices, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Madagascar military leader sacks cabinet in surprise move
Col Randrianirina, who seized power last year, did not give a reason for dissolving his government.
Iran Offers Hormuz Passage in Exchange for Diplomat Expulsions – WSJ
- Iran Offers Hormuz Passage in Exchange for Diplomat Expulsions WSJ
- Oil tankers transiting Strait of Hormuz 'must be very careful,' Iran Foreign Ministry warns CNBC
- Iran’s Real ‘Nuclear Option’ Isn’t A Bomb—It’s The Strait Of Hormuz Forbes
- Iran’s Navy Is Weakened but U.S. Still Faces Challenges in Strait of Hormuz The New York Times
- Why the Strait of Hormuz is so difficult to defend Axios
China exports surge despite Trump tariffs
Official data shows shipments rose by 20% this year with growth in European and other Asia markets.
U.S. orders more diplomats to leave Middle East – The Washington Post
- U.S. orders more diplomats to leave Middle East The Washington Post
- U.S. orders staff to leave Saudi Arabia as war spreads; Iran rules out immediate ceasefire CNBC
- Security Alert: March 9 Update 2 U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Saudi Arabia (.gov)
- US orders government employees to leave Saudi Arabia – as it happened The Guardian
- State Dept. Said to Order Diplomats in Saudi Arabia to Leave The New York Times
Trump claims Iran planned to ‘take over Middle East’ before US attacked
US President Donald Trump cites “information and belief” for his claim that Iran would have taken over the Middle East.
Two men charged with terror offences after homemade bomb thrown outside NYC mayor’s home
The city's police commissioner said one of the suspects said he wanted the attack to be "even larger" than the Boston Marathon bombing.
Trump says some sanctions to be lifted on oil producers amid Iran war
Crude oil prices plunge below $90 a barrel following an earlier surge to almost $120 in price swing over 24 hours.
New Zealand Covid response among world’s best but ‘scars’ remain, inquiry finds
Royal commission says response led by Jacinda Ardern was broadly ‘appropriate’, in a wide-ranging report featuring recommendations for future pandemics
A royal commission into New Zealand’s Covid response has found it was one of the best in the world but acknowledged the period had left “scars”.
The second of two inquiry reports on the pandemic was released on Tuesday and focused on the period between February 2021 to October 2022, when the government changed from an elimination strategy to one of suppression and minimisation of the virus. It also examined vaccine safety and the government’s immunisation programme, lockdowns and tracing and testing technology.
Continue reading...Mixed messages from Trump leave more questions than answers over war’s end
The US president has tried to soothe nerves over oil and markets, but his comments still lack clarity, writes Anthony Zurcher.
Mixed messages from Trump leave more questions than answers over war’s end
The US president has tried to soothe nerves over oil and markets, but his comments still lack clarity, writes Anthony Zurcher.
Iran says no future negotiations with US after ‘bitter experience’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News that talking or negotiating with the US is no longer on the agenda.
Trump threatens to hit Iran harder if it blocks energy supplies
US President Donald Trump threatened to escalate attacks on Iran if it disrupted global oil supplies.
Trump’s Iran war will reinforce North Korea’s view that nuclear weapons are the only path to security
As speculation mounts that Kim Jong-un and Trump could meet this month, analysts say Pyongyang will continue to see nuclear weapons as a matter of survival
North Korea’s launch last week of a missile from a naval destroyer elicited an uncharacteristically prosaic analysis from the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The launch was proof, he said, that arming ships with nuclear weapons was “making satisfactory progress”.
But the test, and Kim’s mildly upbeat appraisal, were designed to reverberate well beyond the deck of the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel the Choe Hyon – the biggest warship in the North Korean fleet.
Continue reading...