World

As the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran rages and expands, the immediate focus is understandably on military issues such as airstrikes, missile defense, naval deployments, and retaliatory actions. Yet beneath the spectacle of war lies a far more consequential battlefield: energy and the global economy. The Heart of the Global Energy System The Middle East remains at the center of global energy. Even though there has been diversification of energy sources in recent decades, the region still accounts for roughly 30% of global oil production and about half of all global seaborne oil exports. The region’s centrality is reinforced by the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day flow, amounting to roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply. ...

The Middle East has erupted in the most intense direct military escalation in decades. Joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes targeted multiple Iranian sites, ranging from military and air defence facilities to locations linked to Iran’s missile and nuclear programs. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the launch of “major combat operations” aimed at dismantling Iran’s military and naval capabilities and preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, while calling on the Iranian people to rise against their government. Iran responded swiftly, launching dozens of ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. bases in Gulf states in an operation dubbed “True Promise 4.” The escalation led to widespread airspace closures and a comprehensive state of emergency across the region. ...

Importers in the United States are expected to front-load goods from China after the Supreme Court struck down the use of emergency powers as the legal basis for US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, potentially opening a brief window of relief, analysts said.Companies selling products made in China, or using Chinese raw materials, were likely to place larger orders in the coming weeks amid uncertainty over whether Trump’s pledge to raise a new tariff – from 10 per cent to 15 per cent – would take effect under a non-emergency statute or win congressional approval within the required 150 days, they said.Trump had partly justified last year’s tariff hikes on nearly all America’s trading partners under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but the Suprem...