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South Korea has secured around 50 million barrels of alternative oil supplies for this month to replace supplies from the Middle East blocked due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, government officials said Thursday.The government and oil refineries are working hard to secure alternative oil supplies from different countries, Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry and Resource Security Yang Ghi-wuk said in a regular briefing on energy supply, noting that Seoul has been knocking on doors of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kazakhstan, the United States and other countries.About 80 million barrels of oil arrive in South Korea each month when things run as usual, but around 50 million barrels have been tentatively secured at the moment for this month, with alternative supplies expected to increase in May, South Korea’s (Yonhap) news agency quoted Yang as saying.To cover the shortfall, the government is controlling the demand and working to help with supplies through a crude oil swap system with private companies, he added, noting the government will continue close monitoring of the market. Source link
The German government announced the implementation of new regulatory measures to curb frequent fuel price fluctuations by limiting the number of price increases to once per day. Price increases are permitted once at midday, whereas price decreases may be made at any time without limit.The German Parliament passed the new legislation on March 26 as part of a government package to combat sharp price spikes caused by energy market volatility following military escalation in the Middle East.The package includes legislation to regulate fuel price adjustments, alongside two amendments to competition law aimed at tightening oversight of arbitrary price hikes within the fuel sector.The German government stated that Middle East developments and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route have driven global oil prices up by approximately 30%, directly impacting domestic fuel costs.Following a recent European Council meeting, Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized that the government is working to mitigate the war’s economic impact. He noted that restricting fuel price increases to once per day is a key part of this strategy, along with efforts to stabilize market supply and closely monitor price trends.Before this law took effect, gas stations adjusted their prices multiple times a day. Official data showed some stations recording nearly 50 price changes in a single day, leading to significant consumer confusion. Source link
Palestinian demonstrators gather at the Bureij refugee camp, in central Gaza Strip, yesterday, during a protest against the Israeli parliament’s approval of a new death penalty…
Japan and France agreed yesterday to co-ordinate closely in pushing for an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. “Because the international situation is so challenging, I believe there is great significance in the leaders of Japan and France deepening their personal ties and making our co-operation even stronger,” Takaichi said after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Tokyo on security ties and industrial co-operation. With the Middle East conflict now in its fifth week, Japan, France and other countries are grappling with rising energy costs. Unless the conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows reopens, they could face shortages of petroleum products. Japan, which normally gets around 90% of its oil from the Middle East, has begun drawing on its oil reserves to cushion the economic blow.Speaking alongside Takaichi, Macron said he shared her position on the need to restore freedom of navigation in the strait. France has held talks with dozens of countries as it seeks proposals for a mission to reopen the waterway once the conflict ends. Japan has said it could consider dispatching minesweepers, though the scope of any role would be constrained by its pacifist constitution. The two leaders also said they would pursue closer security ties in the Indo-Pacific and signed agreements on co-operation in critical mineral supply chains. Source link
South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.2 percent year-on-year in March, driven by rising global oil prices due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.This figure represents the largest annual increase since last December, when inflation reached 2.3 percent, exceeding the government’s target of 2 percent.South Korea’s Ministry of Data and Statistics attributed this rise primarily to a significant jump in petroleum product prices, which surged 9.9 percent compared to last year – the highest rate since October 2022, amid the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war at that time.Specifically, diesel and gasoline prices saw sharp increases of 17 percent and 8 percent year-on-year, respectively.Conversely, prices for agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products fell by 0.6 percent year-on-year, primarily due to a sharp decline in agricultural product prices of 5.6 percent year-on-year, while livestock and fisheries prices rose by 6.2 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.Service prices also increased by 2.4 percent, driven by higher insurance costs, while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 2.2 percent year-on-year last month. Source link
A man stands at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, yesterday. (AFP) Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander yesterday, two sources said, in a Beirut strike that Lebanon’s health ministry said killed seven people. A Lebanese security source and a Hezbollah source told AFP that the commander, Youssef Hashem, had been responsible for the group’s military affairs in Iraq and was in a meeting inside a tent when Israel struck.Israel’s military said Hashem was Hezbollah’s commander for its south Lebanon front. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when the Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel to avenge a US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. A source close to Hezbollah said Hashem is “the highest-ranking official to be targeted since the start of the war”.Another Hezbollah member, Mohammad Baqir al-Nabulsi, was also killed in the strike on the Beirut area of Jnah, the group said. Several large blasts were heard across the city yesterday and a column of smoke was seen rising from Jnah, which is home to apartment buildings, cafes and shops.Hassan Jalwan, who lives nearby, told AFP he heard “big explosions” overnight. “Nobody knows what’s happening,” he said, adding that “displaced people have been sleeping in the open” across the area.Lebanese authorities say the war has forced more than 1mn people from their homes. An earlier strike on a car in Khaldeh, just south of the capital, late on Tuesday killed two more people and wounded three, the health ministry said.An AFP correspondent there saw a charred vehicle and paramedics taking a wounded person away on a stretcher. Lebanese state media also reported a strike early yesterday on the Hadath district near Beirut’s southern suburbs, which has largely emptied of residents following repeated Israeli strikes.State media said Israeli artillery and airstrikes also hit Lebanon’s south and east. In the south near the border, Israel has said it intends to reoccupy a swathe of Lebanon to create what officials have called a buffer zone to push back Hezbollah. Israel already occupied southern Lebanon for around two decades until 2000. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that “all the houses in the villages adjacent to the border in Lebanon will be demolished”.Katz’s Lebanese counterpart Michel Menassa decried those plans, while Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney denounced what he called an “illegal invasion”. The Lebanese army announced yesterday “a repositioning and redeployment operation” in the south “as a result of the escalation of the Israeli aggression”.A Lebanese military source told AFP that the army had withdrawn from some southern towns but remained in others. “Where there is an Israeli incursion or advance, we evacuate,” the source said. Source link
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at Downing Street in London, yesterday. (Reuters) Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday that the global instability caused by the Iran war means Britain should pivot to focusing on closer economic and defence ties with Europe, following repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump. Starmer said building stronger relations with Europe would be at the centre of a summit with the European Union in the summer, as he warned the consequences of the Iran war would last for a generation. “It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe,” Starmer told reporters at a press conference in Downing Street. Trump has repeatedly insulted Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the US war on Iran, saying he was “No Winston Churchill” and describing Britain’s aircraft carriers as “toys”. In a sign that British foreign policy was shifting away from the US, traditionally its closest ally, Starmer said he saw his country’s future being more aligned with Europe. After Trump was elected as president for a second term in 2024, Starmer tried to position himself as a conduit between Europe and the US. But their relationship has publicly deteriorated over the Iran war. Starmer initially denied a request from the US to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow what he calls defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens.Asked about Trump’s criticism, Starmer said he would not give in to “pressure” from Trump to be dragged into the war. Starmer instead said the government was focused on deepening its relationship with Europe and it was necessary to undo some of the “deep damage” done by Brexit. Although Starmer called for an “ambitious” reset in relations, he ruled out rejoining the EU’s customs union or its single market. The opposition Conservative Party criticised Starmer, saying he was trying to “reopen the old wounds of the Brexit years”, while the populist Reform UK party said he should have announced measures to reduce energy prices. Starmer did not announce any new policies to help households at the press conference. But he did say that Britain would this week host meetings with allies aimed at opening the Strait of Hormuz, the vital energy shipping route that has been effectively blocked by Iran since it was attacked by the US and Israel, and 35 countries were now involved in efforts. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper would host a virtual meeting of the group today to assess diplomatic and political measures to reopen the Strait “after the fighting has stopped”, Starmer said. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Canada and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries who will attend the talks, according to a British government statement. A British official said it was expected that any first phase would focus on mine-hunting, followed by a second phase to protect tankers crossing the area. Source link
US President Donald Trump affirmed in a speech that the war on Iran is on the cusp of ending, with core objectives nearing completion in Iran.Trump added that Washington is monitoring key targets amid ongoing negotiations to end the conflict. At the same time, he warned of the dangers of Iran possessing nuclear weapons, characterizing such a development as an intolerable threat.Regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump urged US allies to take responsibility for the effort. He emphasized that the most difficult phase is over and that once the conflict concludes, the Strait of Hormuz will ‘automatically open.’This address by the US President is the first of its kind concerning Iran, coming one month after the start of joint US-Israeli military strikes in February. Source link
NASA has launched its Artemis II mission, marking the first crewed mission to the moon in 53 years.The agency said the mission lifted off aboard the Space Launch System rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will last 10 days, orbiting the Moon.NASA added that the mission is its most ambitious for the US in decades and represents a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface.The Artemis II mission sent four astronauts aboard the Orion capsule as part of the Artemis program, through which NASA aims to pave the way for a human landing on the Moon in the coming years. Related Story Source link
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during their meeting at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday.…