Several Gulf energy producers have declared force majeure on oil and gas shipments after disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Al Jazeera’s Alma Milisic explains what the legal term means and how it could affect global energy markets.
Ukraine’s leader previously said advisers were sent to Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia to help thwart Iranian drone attacks.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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Ukraine wants money and technology as payback after sending specialists to the Middle East to help down Iranian drones during the ongoing Israel-United States war with Iran.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on Sunday that three teams were sent to the region to undertake expert assessments and demonstrate how drone defences work as countries in the Middle East continue to be targeted by Iran over hosting US military bases.
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“This is not about being involved in operations. We are not at war with Iran,” Zelenskyy said.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s leader announced military teams were sent to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and a US military base in Jordan.
But he explained that more long-term drone deals could be negotiated with Gulf countries, and what Kyiv gets in return for its assistance still needs to be established.
“For us today, both the technology and the funding are important,” Zelenskyy said.
Throughout the four-year Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow has widely used Iranian Shahed-136 “suicide” drones, giving Kyiv expertise in knowing how to down the unmanned aerial vehicles through cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools, and anti-aircraft weaponry.
However, US President Donald Trump has said he does not need Ukraine’s help in taking down Iranian drones attacking American targets.
‘Rules must be tightened’
Zelenskyy said he doesn’t know why Washington hasn’t signed a drone agreement with Kyiv, which it has pushed for months.
“I wanted to sign a deal worth about $35bn–50bn,” he said.
Still, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues with no end in sight, Zelenskyy raised concerns that the ongoing war in the Middle East will impact Kyiv’s supplies of air defence missiles.
“We would very much not like the United States to step away from the issue of Ukraine because of the Middle East,” he told reporters.
But as interest has grown for Ukrainian drone interceptors in light of the war, Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s rules to buy the drones must be tightened, with foreign countries and firms being unable to bypass the government and talk directly to manufacturers.
“Unfortunately, representatives of certain governments or companies want to bypass the Ukrainian state to purchase specific equipment,” Zelensky told reporters.
“Even in some free countries, we do not initially receive contracts from the private sector. A contract comes to me through the political channel. Only then does the private sector start negotiating with us.”
Hollywood’s biggest night is here, along with the biggest red carpet of awards season.
Not only is it massive in size — it takes about 2,400 hours and more than 400 workers to assemble the 25,000-square-foot red carpet, measuring 900 feet long and 60 feet wide — but enormous in influence. It boasts the most memorable, stylish and extravagant fashion in entertainment history. In fact, stars have been taking cues from Hollywood history at precursor awards shows. Old Hollywood glamour dominated January’s Golden Globes. And the Actor Awards, held two weeks ago, were themed “Reimagining Hollywood Glamour from the ‘20s and ‘30s.” So the Oscars red carpet may also pay homage to La La Land.
Here’s the best fashion from the 2026 Oscars, captured from every angle by The Times’ photo team. After the carpet wraps, the 98th Academy Awards will air live from the Dolby Theatre on ABC starting at 4 p.m.
Ji-young Yoo, who voices Zoey in “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” is pretty in purple.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Kevin Grandalski and Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin and husband Kevin Grandalski, a retired Burbank police officer, arrive on the red carpet. Matlin won the lead actress Oscar in 1987 for her debut film, “Children of a Lesser God.”
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez arrives on the red carpet. The actor’s talk show “Access Hollywood” was abruptly canceled on Friday after nearly 30 years.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Nadim Cheikhrouha
French Tunisian film producer Nadim Cheikhrouha wears an Artists4Ceasefire pin, designed by Shepard Fairey. The collective of actors and filmmakers is advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Two Palestinian brothers are the only survivors after Israeli troops killed their parents and two siblings in Tammun in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian health authorities. The boys say soldiers opened fire on their family car and beat them after the shooting.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a heartbreaking retelling of the efforts to save a 6-year-old Palestinian girl amid Israel’s attacks on Gaza, will be honored at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday — without one of its star players.
Actor Motaz Malhees, who stars in the film as Red Crescent dispatcher Omar, confirmed Thursday that he will be absent from the festivities because of President Trump’s travel ban against Palestinians. “I had the honor of playing one of the lead roles in a story the world needed to hear,” Malhees said on Instagram, “but I will not be there.”
“I am not allowed to enter the United States because of my Palestinian citizenship,” he added.
Trump announced his widened travel ban in December, noting his decision to “fully restrict and limit the entry of individuals using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority,” along with people from countries including South Sudan and Syria. The president issued the order months after he presented his 20-point peace plan for the Gaza strip — efforts that some Palestinians feel have been now brushed aside amid U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran.
Malhees said in his post that the restriction “hurts” but offered his followers and supporters a kernel of truth: “You can block a passport. You cannot block a voice.”
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, is nominated in the international feature category. The film is set in a Red Crescent call center in Ramallah and centers the 70-minute phone recording of Hind’s pleas for help as she waits with her family in a trapped car for emergency responders. She and two medics dispatched to her location were killed in February 2024 in Israeli attacks in Gaza.
The film earned the grand jury prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Though unable to celebrate the film at the Oscars on Sunday, Malhees said he stands “with pride and dignity” and that his “spirit will be with the Voice of Hind Rajab that night.”
“Our story is bigger than any barrier, and it will be heard,” he said.
A representative for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As Malhees publicized his absence, fellow stars including Oscar winner Riz Ahmed and Emmy-nominated “Succession” star Arian Moayed rallied in support.
“Your work in the film and the film itself are both incredible and will live on forever,” Ahmed commented.
“You are brilliant, azizam,” Moayed replied to Malhees. “And this is heartbreaking and unjust.”
CCTV footage released by Israeli police shows the moment an Iranian missile struck a street in Tel Aviv. Emergency crews say at least three people were injured, and several vehicles were destroyed.
United States President Donald Trump has called for a naval coalition to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of world oil shipments transit, as oil markets reel from supply disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war with Iran.
What is essentially the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in response to the attacks by the US and Israel has sent oil prices soaring to more than $100 per barrel.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has promised to keep the maritime artery closed while another top official in Tehran warned that oil prices could shoot up beyond $200 per barrel.
Trump said he hoped a naval coalition could secure the vital waterway, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Iran has struck more than a dozen ships trying to sail through the narrow waterway since the hostilities started two weeks ago.
But will Trump’s solution work?
A tanker sits at anchor in Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, as oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have plummeted [File: Benoit Tessier/Reuters]
What has Trump said?
The US president has been facing domestic pressure over starting the war alongside Israel with no endgame or off-ramps in sight.
“On the strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN,” US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote in a post on X. “I can’t go into more detail about how Iran gums up the Strait, but suffice it [to] say, right now, they don’t know how to get it safely back open.”
After threatening to bomb Iran more, Trump called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to send warships to secure the strait.
Trump claimed “100% of Iran’s military capability” had already been destroyed but added that Tehran could still “send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway”.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
Not long after, Trump returned to the keyboard, extending the invitation to all “the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait” to send warships, adding that the US would provide “a lot” of support to those who participated.
Israeli soldiers walk by a billboard commissioned by the evangelical Christian group Friends of Zion during the US-Israel war on Iran in Tel Aviv, Israel [File: Nir Elias/Reuters]
What has Iran said?
Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, said in a statement that claims by the US about destroying Iran’s navy or providing safe escort for oil tankers were false.
“The Strait of Hormuz has not been militarily blocked and is merely under control,” he said in a statement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later doubled down on this, saying the strait remained open to international shipping except for vessels belonging to the US and its allies.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open. It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass,” Araghchi said.
Khamenei – son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli strikes – suggested in his first statement since taking power that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed to provide leverage for Iran during the conflict.
F-18 combat aircraft are parked on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz during a 2019 deployment [File: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters]
What are the challenges in the Strait of Hormuz?
The strait, which is just 21 nautical miles (39km) wide at its narrowest point, is the only maritime passage into the Arabian Gulf (known as the Persian Gulf in Iran). Shipping lanes in the waterway are even narrower and more vulnerable to attacks.
It separates Iran on one side from Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the other.
In brief, there is no way in or out by sea when the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
Alexandru Hudisteanu, a maritime security expert who served 13 years in the Romanian navy, told Al Jazeera that in the type of coalition that Trump is hinting at, “interoperability is the biggest hurdle.”
“That’s the ability of cruises to work together or with different units and different doctrine when basic communication would be an issue,” he said.
Then, there is the geography of the Strait of Hormuz: “a very unforgiving environment to sail with this type of wartime threats”, Hudisteanu said. “Especially difficult under missile threats and these asymmetric potential mines or unmanned systems that could damage or destroy ships.”
Providing escorts to ships would be a costly option, and it would pose risks to participating foreign warships from possible Iranian attacks, which would likely further drag more countries into the ongoing war.
From Iran’s point of view, “the fact that the shoreline is so close and the actual maritime passage is highly congested and confined is an advantage by default,” Hudisteanu added. Geographically, Iran keeps it as a gauntlet, with no way out for the ships unless Tehran allows it.
Another major challenge for any naval coalition trying to secure the passage would be the timeline of any operation. ”The security of the strait could be achieved. It’s just a matter of how much time you need and how many assets you need,” the analyst said. Rushing through it “could have negative implications for the security of the mission and the region”.
Smoke rises from the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree near the Strait of Hormuz after an attack on March 11, 2026 [Handout/Royal Thai Navy via AFP]
How have countries responded?
No country has so far publicly agreed to Trump’s call to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
London said it is “intensively looking” at what it can do to help reopen the maritime passage. British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said Beijing is calling for hostilities to stop and “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply.”
Japan said the threshold is “extremely high” to send its warships on such a mission. “Legally speaking, we do not rule out the possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict is ongoing, I believe this is something that must be considered with great caution,” said Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
France also confirmed that it will not send ships. The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday: “Posture has not changed: defensive it is,” in reference to President Emanuel Macron’s assertion that France will not join the war against Iran.
South Korea, which imports 70 percent of its oil from the Gulf, said it was “closely monitoring” Trump’s statements and “comprehensively considering and exploring various measures … to ensure the safety of energy transport routes”.
(Al Jazeera)
Are countries negotiating with Iran?
Some countries have been negotiating with Iran to secure passage for their petroleum shipments.
Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz. New Delhi depends on this passage for 80 percent of its LPG imports.
The war on Iran has caused a critical shortage of cooking gas for India’s 333 million households. New Delhi has long had ties with Iran, but the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not condemned the killing of Ali Khamenei. It has condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf countries, where millions of Indian citizens work and send $51bn in remittances home every year.
Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said Tehran had allowed some Indian vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade but did not confirm the number of vessels.
A Turkish-owned vessel was similarly granted permission last week after Ankara negotiated passage directly with Tehran. Fourteen more Turkish vessels are awaiting clearance.
France and Italy also reportedly opened talks with Iranian officials to negotiate a deal to allow their vessels through the strait, but there has been no official confirmation yet.
“Iran is affecting maritime supply,” Hudisteanu said. “It’s affecting the maritime security of the region and the entire ecosystem and bringing the entire world to the table as the global price for oil and gas increases.”
AUSTIN, Texas — “The Sun Never Sets” is filmmaker Joe Swanberg’s 10th indie to premiere at SXSW but his first to play the event since 2017. The astonishing pace with which he made his early work — loose, idiosyncratic stories that were progenitors of the emergent style known as mumblecore — has slowed significantly, but also given way to a newfound maturity as both a person and an artist.
Introducing “The Sun Never Sets” at its world premiere on Friday night to a sold-out crowd at the Zach Theater, Swanberg called his latest “my favorite film I’ve ever made.” Shot on 35mm in Anchorage, the movie follows a 30-ish woman, Wendy (Dakota Fanning in a vibrant turn), torn between pursuing a fresh romance with a reckless old flame (Cory Michael Smith) or continuing on with the settled-in-his-ways divorced father of two (Jake Johnson) she’s been seeing for a few years.
Dakota Fanning in Joe Swanberg’s “The Sun Never Sets,” filmed in Alaska.
(SXSW)
“I guess this is what they tell you about getting older and doing this job longer,” said a thoughtful Swanberg in a video interview from his home in Chicago shortly before the South by Southwest festival. “You get better at it and you sort of mature and all of this.”
The film marks Swanberg’s fourth collaboration with Johnson, a partnership that goes back to 2013’s “Drinking Buddies.” (The actor partly financed the new project along with his brother.) Following completion of the third season of the Netflix anthology series “Easy” in 2019, for which he wrote and directed all the episodes, Swanberg was planning to take a break. A divorce and the pandemic caused that pause to grow even longer.
In the intervening years Swanberg produced a number of projects for other filmmakers, did some acting and opened a small video store in Chicago. Swanberg knew Anchorage-based producer Ashleigh Snead, who encouraged him to consider shooting something there. The scenic location would give Swanberg the opportunity to expand his visual style from his usual couches, bars and apartments of much of his work. (There still are a surprising number of scenes on couches and in bars.)
“Joe’s a real filmmaker,” says Johnson in a separate interview. “And I think sometimes he doesn’t get that credit because he can make movies with nothing. This is a real adult movie. This is a film about how complicated breakups are and how messy they get. And it’s in beautiful Alaska.”
Swanberg, center, on the set of “The Sun Never Sets.”
(SXSW)
Swanberg has now gone from someone making talky, provocative and at times controversial films about the lives of post-collegiate 20-somethings to exploring the nuances and specifics of being a 44-year-old divorced father of two still trying to figure out his place in the world. His original cohort of SXSW-affiliated filmmakers, many of whom also fell under the rubric of mumblecore — nobody much liked the name, but no one ever came up with anything better, so it stuck — included Greta Gerwig, Lena Dunham, Barry Jenkins, Ti West and others who have gone on to more conventional mainstream success.
But Swanberg doesn’t seem to feel left behind. Rather, he only sees doors opening.
“It’s gone so much better than I thought it was going to go for me,” he says. “I mean, when I was making these really tiny, sexually explicit 71-minute movies, I was like, I’m just grateful to be here. I can’t even believe these festivals are showing this work and it’s so cool that there’s a space for me in this ecosystem.
“And so to watch my friends go off to do these giant movies, to see Greta doing ‘Barbie’ and stuff like that, to me it just opens up the possibilities,” he adds. “Each time a friend of mine sets some new record or moves into some new space, I’m kind of like: Oh, that just opened up for all of us now.”
His earlier work often featured raw sex scenes, sometimes featuring Swanberg himself. From practically the start of his career, well predating the #MeToo-era reckoning that began in 2017, Swanberg weathered accusations that he was exploitative and manipulative of his female performers. His stepback from productivity coincided with a moment when his explorations of sexual power dynamics fell out of favor. It would be easy to interpret that Swanberg preemptively soft-canceled himself to avoid a broader scandal. He doesn’t see it that way.
“Certainly in Chicago, where I’ve spent the last five years, I’m not unwelcome places,” he says, drawing a distinction between himself and “people who lose jobs or are capital-C canceled. But also my work has always pushed those boundaries and always attracted some amount of positive and negative attention.”
Though “The Sun Never Sets” has numerous kissing scenes, it doesn’t go too much further than that.
“I won’t do it,” Johnson says of more graphic scenes. “When I worked with Joe early on, I was like, ‘I love you, man — I’m not doing this.’”
For her part, Fanning had no reservations about working with Swanberg. He offered both Fanning and Smith the opportunity to work with an intimacy coordinator, but neither felt it was necessary.
“There was no planet where you’d ever be asked to do anything you were uncomfortable with,” Fanning says. “If there was ever a moment like, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ he’d be like, ‘Oh, then let’s not.’ There was a day where there was a scene and it was pouring rain outside. And we both looked at each other and he was like, ‘We’re not going to do it. The scene’s cut.’ He’s just open. And I just trusted him implicitly.”
Jake Johnson and Dakota Fanning in the movie “The Sun Never Sets.”
(SXSW)
Swanberg has long worked in an unusual style in which the script is essentially a detailed outline and the actors work to come up with their own dialogue during rehearsals. For “The Sun Never Sets,” Swanberg and Johnson developed the longest, most complete outline Swanberg has ever used, including some dialogue exchanges. Then the actors were allowed to make it their own.
Fanning recalled an early Zoom call with Swanberg and Johnson on which they explained the process.
“It’s still made like a real film,” Fanning says. “And Jake and Joe promised it’s not like we’re just flying by the seat of our pants: ‘You will know what to say, I promise.’ And then friends that know me asked, ‘Are you so nervous?’ And I was, but for some reason, I don’t know why, I just knew that it was going to be fine. And that just proved to be true.”
Even though it takes places in Anchorage, Swanberg calls “The Sun Never Sets” “extremely personal.”
“I was definitely writing a movie about a divorced mid-40s guy dating a younger person,” he says. “The questions of marriage and having children were sort of an amalgam of two real relationships that I merged into one onscreen.” He describes the material as “questions that I had and have about what my own relationships are going to look like post-divorce.”
That comes through in Fanning’s rich, layered performance, which might rank among the best of her already lengthy career. Swanberg’s style draws both an ease and an intensity from Fanning, who captures a woman at a pivotal moment of figuring out what she wants amid the emotional whirlwind she is going through. (At the film’s premiere, Fanning said, “I’ve never put so much of myself into a role before.”)
“I think the goal of Joe’s films, and I think at least my goal with this film, is trying to make everything feel real,” she says. “Things are just a mess some of the time.”
Dakota Fanning and Cory Michael Smith in “The Sun Never Sets.”
(SXSW)
Swanberg himself appears in a small role as the new husband of the ex-wife of Johnson’s character. And the characters of the two kids in the movie are named after the director’s own children. With a newfound maturity and emotional depth, Swanberg is continuing to make movies that are part diary, part generational markers.
“It’d be really cool in my 40s to make movies about characters in their 40s,” he says, “and in my 50s, 60s and 70s. It’d be neat to be making sexually explicit movies about 70-year-olds in their dating lives and sex lives and stuff. It’s really exciting to have movies about characters at this phase of their life, whether they’re finally settling down in their 40s or whether they’re getting out of relationships and reexamining their life. It’s where my head is at.” .
The Palestinian presenter delivered the network’s first-ever bulletin when it went on air in 1996.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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Al Jazeera Arabic presenter Jamal Rayyan, the first face ever seen on the channel when it launched nearly three decades ago, has died at the age of 73.
Rayyan passed away on Sunday after a broadcasting career spanning more than five decades, during which he covered major global and regional events for the channel – from the United States wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Arab Spring.
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He had been with Al Jazeera since its first day on air on November 1, 1996, when he presented the channel’s opening bulletin at the start of what would become a major broadcaster in the Arab world.
Born in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank in 1953, the Palestinian presenter began his career at Jordanian Radio and Television in 1974 before working with several broadcasters in the region and beyond, including Emirati television, South Korean public broadcasting, and BBC Arabic.
Rayyan later recalled being sworn to secrecy after being quietly selected for the historic role.
“The vice chairman of the board came and said to me, ‘You have been chosen to be the first face on Al Jazeera, but we want one thing from you: do not tell anyone,’” he told Al Jazeera’s In-Depth Studies, a collection of testimonies from the channel’s founders and early staff.
Measured delivery, distinctive voice
The announcement that Rayyan was presenting the first bulletin was made public half an hour before airtime. He entered the studio deliberately on an empty stomach, he recalled, to ensure he could breathe well and deliver.
“As the broadcast started, my heart began beating rapidly. However, after I appeared on the screen and said, ‘Welcome to the first broadcast of Al Jazeera channel,’ I returned to my natural state and finished the broadcast. As soon as I finished and exited the studio, the entire room erupted in applause,” Rayyan said.
He spent nearly three decades as one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable presenters, building a following of 2.3 million on X.
Over the years, Rayyan became a familiar presence in homes across the Arab world, his measured delivery and distinctive voice closely associated with Al Jazeera’s news bulletins.
In the Arab world and beyond, his broadcasts and the channel’s editorial approach reached wide audiences and helped shape regional news coverage in the years that followed.
Bruno Fernandes reaches 100 assists in all competitions after setting up two goals in crucial 3-1 win over Villa.
Manchester United bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a vital 3-1 win against top-four rivals Aston Villa.
Michael Carrick’s side took the lead through Casemiro’s second-half opener at Old Trafford on Sunday before Ross Barkley hauled Villa level.
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United finished strongly with Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko scoring in the closing stages to seal Carrick’s seventh win in nine games since taking over as interim boss.
Sitting third in the Premier League, United are three points clear of fourth-placed Villa in the race to reach the Champions League via a top-four finish.
United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe this week praised Carrick’s “excellent” work but stopped short of committing to the former Old Trafford star on a long-term basis.
However, Carrick is making a strong case to earn the job on a permanent basis after stabilising United after Ruben Amorim’s sacking.
United’s latest victory came after an 11-day break since the first defeat of his reign at Newcastle, and Carrick celebrated with a jig of delight on the touchline after Sesko wrapped up the points.
Spluttering Villa have lost their last three league games and have just one win in seven top-flight matches, leaving them three points above fifth-placed Chelsea with eight games left in the battle for European places.
After a lethargic first half, United finally prised open the Villa defence in the 53rd minute.
Bryan Mbeumo’s stinging strike was palmed away by Emiliano Martinez, earning a corner that brought the opener.
Bruno Fernandes curled a corner to the near post, and Casemiro made a perfectly timed run to glance a header past Martinez.
With Casemiro likely to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, United fans serenaded the Brazilian midfielder with chants of “one more year”.
United lost focus and surrendered the lead in the 64th minute.
In his first Premier League start for 14 months, Barkley slammed a superb strike past Senne Lammens from 11 metres (12 yards) after United failed to clear the danger.
But Cunha netted in the 71st minute to ensure Carrick’s men did not pay for their stumble.
Bursting onto Fernandes’s sublime pass into the Villa area, the Brazilian forward slotted a fine finish into the far corner.
It was Fernandes’s 16th Premier League assist this term, moving the United captain past David Beckham’s previous club record of 15 in 1999-2000.
He has 100 assists for United in all competitions since signing from Sporting Lisbon in 2020.
Sesko came off the bench to prove a point to Carrick after being dropped, and the Slovenian striker fired home with a deflected effort in the 81st minute.
Fernandes said he was delighted to provide two assists for his teammates to move past Beckham’s record.
“I’m more proud and pleased because I did it serving my teammates. Giving joy to others is also very good,” he said.
“When you play in the position I play, I’m very happy I can help them to score and be happy in that moment. It’s a huge achievement for me, but the main achievement would be in the top spot at the end of the season.”
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest climbed out of the relegation zone after a 0-0 draw against Fulham at the City Ground.
Still waiting for their first win under Vitor Pereira, fourth-bottom Forest, who have had four managers this term, are above third-bottom West Ham on goal difference.
Ten-man Leeds held on for a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s missed penalty and a red card for Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Later on Sunday, troubled Tottenham head to Liverpool with only goal difference keeping them outside the relegation zone.
Leonardo DiCaprio has dated a number of models over the past few decadesCredit: GettyThe Hollywood megastar is currently in a relationship with supermodel Vittoria CerettiCredit: Getty
Who is Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti?
The Italian model is one of the most sought-after figures in the fashion industry.
She first caught the fashion world’s attention as a teenager, going on to walk the runway for major brands including Chanel, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Versace.
Vittoria has also appeared on dozens of Vogue covers in numerous countries all over the globe.
Bridget Hall (1994): Leo was briefly linked to the American model, who became one of the most recognisable faces of the early 1990s as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover star and Victoria’s Secret model.
Naomi Campbell (1995): They were rumoured to be romantically involved in 1995, when Leo would have been 21.
Kristen Zang (1996–1998): His first serious relationship was with the American model and actress.
Gisele Bundchen (1999–2005): Leo spent five years with the Brazilian supermodel, who went on to marry NFL superstar Tom Brady in 2009, before the pair divorced in 2022.
Bar Refaeli (2005–2011): For the best part of six years, he dated the Israeli model and television presenter.
Erin Heatherton (2011–2012): He dated the American model and Victoria’s Secret Angel from Illinois for around a year.
Toni Garrn (2013–2014 & 2017): Leo was involved with the German model and humanitarian activist twice.
Kelly Rohrbach (2015–2016): He was linked to the American model and actress, who went on play CJ Parker in the 2017 Baywatch film alongside Dwayne Johnson.
Nina Agdal (2016–2017): The actor dated Danish model and influencer Nina Agdal, who is now engaged to YouTube star Logan Paul.
Camila Morrone (2017–2022): Leo was in a relationaship with the Argentine-American actress and model for five years.
Gigi Hadid (2023): He was spotted getting cosy with Zayn Malik’s ex, but the romance was never confirmed.
1 of 2 | Iranians stand inside their damaged residential building in southern Tehran, Iran, on Sunday. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
March 15 (UPI) — Israel said it launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran on Sunday as Iran carried out its own attacks on U.S. military sites and against U.S. allies in the Gulf region at large.
The Israeli military said its airstrike hit the Hamedan area of western Iran, hitting multiple military headquarters, The Times of Israel reported. The Israeli military said it plans to expand its attacks on western and central Iran “with the aim of broadly and systematically damaging the regime’s command and control capabilities.”
Israeli officials, meanwhile, said at least five people in the country were injured Sunday by Iranian missiles. Iran’s state-run Mehr news agency reported that the Iranian military has pledged to “pursue and kill” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “with force.”
The United Arab Emirates said it has seen a drop in Iranian attacks within its borders. The defense ministry said it intercepted four ballistic missiles and six drones Sunday.
Since the start of the war, it has faced more than 1,900 attacks by Iran.
Bloomberg reported that a key oil port on the UAE’s east coast — Fujairah — was back in operation Sunday after it was targeted by an Iranian drone Saturday. The port is about 70 nautical miles away from the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed earlier in the month to put pressure on its enemies’ abilities to transport oil. About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait.
Fujairah is situated at one end of a pipeline that allows the UAE to bypass use of the Strait of Hormuz entirely. The site exported an average of more than 1.7 million barrels of crude and refined fuels per day in 2025, about 1.7% of the world’s demand, The Guardian reported.
Officials said they intercepted a drone attack near the site, causing a fire there briefly.
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his country was examining ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and keep oil flowing. In an appearance on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Miliband said Britain was in talks with allies.
“There’s different ways in which we can make maritime shipping possible. We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened.”
Hundreds of tankers sit idle on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz as Iran has effectively closed the waterway, pushing oil prices above $100 – the highest since 2022, after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Oil tanker traffic in the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil passes, has plunged after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Tehran on February 28. Asian countries, including India, China and Japan, as well as some European countries, source large portions of their energy needs from the Gulf. A disruption in supply will rattle the global economy.
With an aim to cushion from the shock, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has decided to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, the largest coordinated drawdown in the agency’s history. But it has failed to push the prices down.
The agency had released about 182 million barrels after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to stablise the oil prices.
According to the agency, oil shipments through the strategic waterway have fallen to less than 10 percent of pre-war levels, threatening one of the most critical arteries in the global energy system.
IEA members collectively hold about 1.25 billion barrels in government-controlled emergency reserves, alongside roughly 600 million barrels in industry stocks tied to government obligations.
A large number in a massive market
The figure may appear vast, but it shrinks quickly against the scale of global energy demand.
“This feels like a small bandage on a large wound,” energy strategist Naif Aldandeni said, describing the world’s largest coordinated emergency oil release as governments scramble to steady markets shaken by war.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates world consumption of petroleum and other liquids will average 105.17 million barrels per day in 2026. At that rate, 400 million barrels would theoretically cover just four days of global consumption.
Even when compared with normal traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – around 20 million barrels per day – the released oil equals only about 20 days of typical flows.
Aldandeni told Al Jazeera that emergency reserves can calm panic in markets but cannot replace the lost function of a disrupted shipping corridor.
“The release may soften the shock and calm nerves temporarily,” he said, “but it will remain limited as long as the fundamental problem — the freedom of supply and tanker movement through Hormuz – remains unresolved.”
Oil prices reflect those anxieties. Brent crude ended trading on Friday at $103.14 per barrel, after surging to nearly $120 earlier as fears of disrupted production and shipping intensified.
Geopolitical risk premium
Oil expert Nabil al-Marsoumi said the price surge cannot be explained by supply fundamentals alone.
“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz added roughly $40 per barrel as a geopolitical risk premium above what market fundamentals would normally dictate,” he told Al Jazeera.
From that perspective, releasing strategic reserves serves primarily as a temporary tool to dampen that premium rather than fundamentally rebalance the market.
Prices above $100 per barrel are uncomfortable for major consuming economies already struggling to curb inflation and protect economic growth.
Recent EIA projections suggest global demand has not yet declined significantly because of the war, remaining close to 105 million barrels per day. The market pressure, therefore, stems less from falling consumption and more from fears of supply shortages and delays in deliveries to refineries and consumers.
Threats to oil infrastructure
The latest escalation could deepen those fears.
United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) had “executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island”.
He added that “for reasons of decency” he had “chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island”, but warned Washington could reconsider that restraint if Iran continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM confirmed the operation, stating US forces had struck “more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure”.
Iranian officials have meanwhile warned they would target energy facilities linked to the US across the region if Iranian oil infrastructure comes under direct attack.
Kharg Island is not simply a military location. It serves as the primary export terminal for Iranian crude, making it a critical node in the country’s oil supply network.
If attacks move from obstructing shipping to targeting export infrastructure itself, the crisis could shift from a chokepoint disruption scenario to one involving direct losses of production and export capacity.
In such circumstances, the oil released from emergency reserves would act only as a temporary bridge rather than a lasting solution to lost supply.
Major oil companies such as QatarEnergy, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Bahrain state oil company Bapco have shut production and declared force majeure, while Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, and UAE state oil company ADNOC have shut down their refineries.
Limits of emergency reserves
Even under a less severe scenario – where maritime disruption persists but infrastructure remains intact — the ability of strategic reserves to stabilise markets remains constrained by logistics.
The US Department of Energy said the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 415.4 million barrels as of 18 February 2026. Its maximum drawdown capacity is 4.4 million barrels per day, and oil requires about 13 days to reach US markets after a presidential release order.
That means even the world’s largest emergency stockpile cannot flood the market with crude immediately. The release must move through pipelines, shipping networks and refining capacity before reaching consumers.
Aldandeni said the current intervention would likely produce only a temporary stabilising effect, while al-Marsoumi warned that prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz – or the spread of threats to other chokepoints such as the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea could quickly send prices further higher.
If April is the cruelest month, per T.S. Eliot, the Oscars surely must be the cruelest (and longest) season. Other awards shows push their way into the queue for moments of borrowed red carpet glory, but the Academy Awards are what the buildup is all about and the one people remember.
Thankfully, the countdown can now be measured in hours and minutes rather than months, with the 98th Academy Awards slated to start Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Conan O’Brien is back to host the awards for the second straight year.
The 2026 Oscars will air on ABC, and those with cable subscriptions can also watch the show by logging in to the ABC app or abc.com. The telecast will stream live on Hulu, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. Internationally, the ceremony will be broadcast in more than 200 territories.
Beginning in 2029, the show will stream exclusively on YouTube.
Follow along live as we wait to hear the words “And the Oscar goes to … ”
Actress in a supporting role Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value” Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” Amy Madigan, “Weapons” Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners” Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Actor in a supporting role Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another” Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein” Delroy Lindo, “Sinners” Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another” Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value”
Adapted screenplay “Bugonia,” Will Tracy “Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro “Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell “One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson “Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Original screenplay “Blue Moon,” Robert Kaplow “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi “Marty Supreme,” Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein “Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler
Documentary short “All the Empty Rooms” “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” “Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone’” “The Devil Is Busy” “Perfectly a Strangeness”
Animated short “Butterfly” “Forevergreen” “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” “Retirement Plan” “The Three Sisters”
Cinematography “Frankenstein,” Dan Laustsen “Marty Supreme,” Darius Khondji “One Battle After Another,” Michael Bauman “Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw “Train Dreams,” Adolpho Veloso
Costume design “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Deborah L. Scott “Frankenstein,” Kate Hawley “Hamnet,” Malgosia Turzanska “Marty Supreme,” Miyako Bellizzi “Sinners,” Ruth E. Carter
Film editing “F1,” Stephen Mirrione “Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie “One Battle After Another,” Andy Jurgensen “Sentimental Value,” Olivier Bugge Coutté “Sinners,” Michael P. Shawver
Live-action short “Butcher’s Stain” “A Friend of Dorothy” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama” “The Singers” “Two People Exchanging Saliva”
Makeup and hairstyling “Frankenstein,” Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey “Kokuho,” Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu “Sinners,” Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry “The Smashing Machine,” Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein “The Ugly Stepsister,” Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Original score “Bugonia,” Jerskin Fendrix “Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplat “Hamnet,” Max Richter “One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson
Original song “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless” “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” “I Lied to You” from “Sinners” “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams”
Production design “Frankenstein” “Hamnet” “Marty Supreme” “One Battle After Another” “Sinners”
Sound “F1” “Frankenstein” “One Battle After Another” “Sinners” “Sirāt”
The captain of the Iranian women’s football team has withdrawn her bid for asylum in Australia, Iran’s state media says, making her the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind after her team’s participation in the Asian Cup.
Zahra Ghanbari will fly from Malaysia and travel to Iran within the next few hours, the IRNA news agency said on Sunday.
Three players and one backroom staff member had already withdrawn their bids for asylum and travelled to Malaysia from Australia, where the team participated in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his country had offered asylum to all players and support staff members prior to their departure over fears they might be punished upon their return home after the team refused to sing Iran’s national anthem at the tournament.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that the three had “given up on their asylum application in Australia and are currently heading to Malaysia”, posting a picture of the women allegedly boarding a plane.
The news was confirmed by Burke a few hours later.
“Overnight, three members of the Iranian women’s football team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran,” Burke said.
“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options.”
Five players took up the offer and signed immigration papers last week, with one more player and a member of staff joining them a day later. It leaves two Iranian players in Australia, where they have been promised asylum and an opportunity to settle.
Iran played their three group games of the Asian Cup at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland on March 2, 5 and 8, after the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.
The initial attacks killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders.
Overall, an estimated 1,444 Iranians have been killed since the war began, including more than 170 people, mostly schoolgirls, who were inside a primary school in the city of Minab.
After refusing to sing the Iranian national anthem at their first match, players on the Iranian women’s football team were branded “traitors” by an IRIB presenter.
When Iran played their second game of the tournament against Australia three days later, not only did the players sing the national anthem, but they also saluted it, prompting fears that they may have been forced to change their stance after receiving backlash in Iranian media.
While neither the players nor the team management explained why they refrained from singing before the first match, fans and rights activists speculated that it may have been an act of defiance against the Iranian government.
On the day of the team’s departure from Australia, Burke announced his government had offered all players and staff members the chance to stay back in the country.
On Tuesday, Burke told reporters that five Iranian players had decided to seek asylum in Australia and would be assisted by the government.
“They are welcome to stay in Australia, they are safe here, and they should feel at home here,” he said.
A day later, Burke confirmed that an additional player and a member of the team’s support staff had received humanitarian visas in the hours before their departure.
However, one player, who previously chose to stay behind, changed her mind and decided to return to Iran.
The player, who was later identified as Mohadese Zolfigol, changed her decision on the advice of her teammates, Burke told the Parliament of Australia.
“She had been advised by her teammates and encouraged to contact the Iranian embassy,” he said.
The players who managed to escape with the help of Iranian rights activists were taken away by Australian police officials to a safe house, where they met immigration officials and signed the paperwork.
“Our understanding is that every single member of the squad was interviewed independently by the Australian Federal Police,” Beau Busch, the Asia/Oceania president of players’ welfare body FIFPRO told Al Jazeera last week.
“[The players] were made aware of their rights and the support available to them. They certainly weren’t rushed through that process.”
The fixture, part of the Qatar Football Festival, has been cancelled amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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The ‘Finalissima’ match between Spain and Argentina that was scheduled to be held in Qatar later this month has been cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East, UEFA said in a statement.
“It is a source of great disappointment to UEFA and the organisers that circumstances and timing have denied the teams of the chance to compete for this prestigious prize in Qatar,” UEFA said in a statement on Sunday.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran have affected countries throughout the Gulf, disrupting travel in some of the world’s busiest transit hubs and forcing several sporting events to be cancelled due to safety concerns.
The contest between European champions Spain and Copa America winners Argentina was scheduled for March 27 at Doha’s Lusail Stadium, where fans would have had the opportunity to watch Lionel Messi go head-to-head with Lamine Yamal.
UEFA said they held discussions with the organising authorities in Qatar and concluded that the match could not take place due to the “current political situation” in the region.
The Spain vs Argentina game was part of the Qatar Football Festival, as promoted by local organisers.
The five-day festival also included Egypt vs Saudi Arabia and Qatar vs Serbia on March 26; Egypt vs Spain and Saudi Arabia vs Serbia on March 30 and Qatar vs Argentina on March 31.
Serbia will now play Spain away instead.
“Serbia will face the current European champions, Spain, on away turf on March 27, and four days later they will host the Saudi Arabian national team,” the Football Association of Serbia said in a statement.
UEFA said they explored other feasible alternatives to play the Finalissima but they proved to be ‘unacceptable’ to the Argentinian Football Association (AFA).
UEFA first offered to stage the match at the Santiago Bernabeu with a 50:50 split of supporters in the stadium.
A second option was to stage the Finalissima over two legs – at the Bernabeu on March 27 and the second leg in Buenos Aires during an international window before the next Euros and Copa America.
However, the AFA rejected both options. UEFA said Argentina made a counter offer to play the game after the World Cup but Spain had no available dates.
“Ultimately, UEFA sought a commitment from Argentina that, if a neutral venue in Europe could be found, the game could go ahead on 27 March… or on the alternative date of 30 March. This proposal was also rejected,” UEFA added.
The 2022 edition of the Finalissima was held at Wembley Stadium in London where Argentina beat Italy 3-0.
All the predictions, drama and pageantry of Hollywood’s biggest night will play out at the Dolby Theatre this afternoon as the 98th Academy Awards get underway.
How many awards will “Sinners,” directed by Ryan Coogler, win from its record-setting 16 nominations? And will Coogler win best director? Our critic says, “no.”
Tonight is also a big evening for our entertainment team, which has been producing features, previews, explainers, predictions and so much more.
The 2026 Oscars will air on ABC, and those with cable subscriptions can also watch by logging into the ABC app or abc.com.
The telecast will also stream live on Hulu, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. Internationally, the ceremony will be broadcast in more than 200 territories. You can check your local listings here.
When the red carpet viewing gets underway
“Chicken Shop Date” host Amelia Dimoldenberg will return, for a third-straight year, as social media ambassador and correspondent for the official red carpet, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and Hulu.
For extended coverage, E! will begin its red carpet broadcast at 1 p.m. ABC’s coverage begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by “The Oscars Red Carpet Show,” hosted by Tamron Hall and Jesse Palmer.
“Sinners” is picking up steam heading into the show
My colleague Greg Braxton wrote about how award prognosticators believe Sinners gained positive press after its stars — Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan — were called a racial slur at the BAFTAs.
Jordan’s and Lindo’s handling of the BAFTA incident, along with warmly received victories for the “Sinners” cast at the Actor Awards on March 1, has given the Warner Bros. release unexpected momentum leading up to Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
Although it received a record-breaking 16 nominations, the film has been largely overshadowed through much of awards season by Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller “One Battle After Another.”
And Timothée Chalamet of “Marty Supreme” had been considered for months as an almost-certain lock for lead actor. But the events in past weeks have seemingly positioned “Sinners” for upset wins in the picture race and lead actor for Jordan.
Every character — from Miles Caton’s rebellious guitarist and Jack O’Connell’s lilting vampire to Wunmi Mosaku’s soulful witch and Michael B. Jordan’s bootlegging twins Smoke and Stack — has been scarred by life in 1930s Mississippi.
She also said the film “Eddington” should’ve been a contender (perhaps a nod to “On the Waterfront”). Ari Aster’s merciless black comedy drags us back to May 2020 when tempers, temperatures and misinformation were heating up across America.
Dueling civic leaders Sheriff Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted (Pedro Pascal) agree that COVID has yet to arrive in their New Mexican hamlet.
But with the Oscars, quality is often secondary to an awards narrative. Both movies have cultural relevance.
Both won critical acclaim and, to a degree, commercial success. (Though “One Battle” wasn’t the blockbuster “Sinners” was, it still grossed more than any other movie in Anderson’s career.) “Sinners” scored 16 Oscar nominations, the most in history; “One Battle” was close behind with 13.
There’s much more to read in the above links. Enjoy them and the Oscars.
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March 15 (UPI) — The Department of Defense has identified the six U.S. service members killed during a refueling mission as part of the Iran war as three members of an Air Force refueling wing and three from the Ohio Air National Guard.
The six crew members were aboard a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker — a refueling aircraft — when it crashed Thursday in western Iraq, which was considered friendly airspace.
Among the dead were four airmen assigned to the 6th Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ga.; Capt. Ariana G. Sabino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; and Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky. The three were part of the 99th Air Refueling Squadron based out of Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Ala.
Shortly after their identities were made public, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey offered her condolences on X.
“Three of the service members who lost their lives in duty to our nation were stationed at the 117th in Birmingham,” she posted. “They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors — our fellow Alabamians. May their service and that of their families never be forgot.
Three others were assigned to the 121st Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth R. Kobal, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran DeWine, were mourning the loss of the three airmen who operated out of Ohio and were trained to do work that was “critical in long-distance missions in defense of our nation.”
“Every mission they undertook involved risks that they were willing to take and the courage to put the lives of others above their own,” he wrote in a post on X.
“They served with honor.”
The Pentagon said the crash that led to the service members’ deaths was under investigation. A second Boeing Stratotanker involved in the incident declared an emergency before landing in Tel Aviv with no one on board injured.
Thirteen U.S. service members have died in connection to the Iran war, which began in late February.
An Iranian flag stands amid the destruction in Enghelab Square following the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel on Tehran, Iran, on March 4, 2026. Photo by Nahal Farzaneh/UPI | License Photo
Japanese football legend says his opinion prompts a US company to cancel an advertising campaign before the FIFA World Cup.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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Former Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda says he has lost an advertising deal in the United States after voicing support for the Iranian national team’s participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Without naming the sponsor, Honda revealed on Saturday that an advertisement from a US-based company had been “put on hold” after he posted on X that he wants Iran to compete in the tournament cohosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
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“I know it’s a very sensitive thing, but I personally want them to participate in the World Cup,” the 39-year-old wrote in a tweet on Thursday, a day after Iran’s sports minister said the country cannot take part in the World Cup after the US and Israel launched a war on it and killed its supreme leader.
Honda, who represented Japan from 2008 to 2018 and scored 38 international goals for his country, posted a follow-up tweet in which he indicated that the advertisement, which had been expected to be finalised in time for the World Cup, had been shelved due to his earlier post.
“Apparently, this statement caused a US company to cancel an advertisement that was about to be finalised to coincide with the World Cup,” he wrote.
“We don’t want anything to do with companies that ignore the essence of things and make decisions based on rotten thinking.”
Iran’s place at the 48-team tournament is in doubt even after they qualified because of the US-Israeli attacks that began on February 28, following which Tehran responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel, several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate and infrastructure in the region.
The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup will be held in the three host nations from June 11 to July 19, and all of Iran’s group games have been scheduled at venues on the US West Coast.
The former Samurai Blue represented his country at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups and is among the top 10 most capped players and top five goal scorers for the Asian giants.
Honda was named the most valuable player in Japan’s title-winning run at the Asian Cup in 2011. After representing 11 clubs across five continents, the attacking midfielder hung up his boots in 2024 and switched to coaching.
The golden-haired player enjoys a hero-like status in his home country and is one of Japan’s most recognised international footballers.
He expressed his opinion on Team Melli’s participation amid heightened tensions between the host nation US and Iran.
Honda played club football in South America, North America, Europe, Australia and Asia [File: Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it would not be appropriate for Iran to participate in the World Cup.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” Trump wrote in a social media post without elaborating.
The Instagram account for the Iranian national team quickly responded to Trump’s remarks, questioning whether the US president should be commenting on team participation.
“The World Cup is a historic and international event, and its governing body is FIFA – not any individual country,” it wrote.
The account also criticised Trump for failing to provide adequate security for Iran’s national football players.
“Certainly, no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup,” the message continued. “The only country that could be excluded is one that merely carries the title of ‘host’ yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event.”
Trump later posted another message on his social media platform to emphasise that the event would be safe for players and spectators from around the world.
Chase Infiniti has only been in the spotlight for two years but she has already brushed shoulders with Hollywood greats like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jake Gyllenhaal
13:40, 15 Mar 2026Updated 13:44, 15 Mar 2026
Chase Infiniti is presenting an award at the 2026 Oscars(Image: Getty )
Rising star Chase Infiniti has already become one of Hollywood’s most talked-about stars after just two big roles.
It’s hardly a surprise considering her unique name and stellar leading performance in One Battle After Another alongside industry giant Leonardo DiCaprio.
While Leo and other cast members managed to bag nominations at this year’s Oscars, Chase didn’t receive a nod.
As viewers tune into the long-awaited award show, we’re certain many will be curious to learn more about Chase’s background.
How did Chase Infiniti get her name?
The 25-year-old actress was born Chase Infiniti Payne in Indiana, America. Her name was inspired by legendary films Batman Forever and Toy Story.
She shared in an interview with the Today Show that her parents “had watched Batman Forever and they were obsessed with Nicole Kidman as Chase Meridian”. They decided to name their child, whether it would be a boy or girl, Chase.
When the couple were searching for a middle name, they landed on Buzz Lightyear’s iconic catchphrase from the Toy Story series: “To infinity and beyond!”
Chase has reflected on her parents seemingly predicting she would have a career in movies, telling the Today Show: “It’s really crazy. I’m like ‘How did [they] predict that!'”
Are Chase Infiniti’s parents movie stars?
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Chase’s parents are not movie stars. However, new fans may be confused by chatter on the internet suggesting that she is Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn’s daughter.
It is actually a running joke on the internet that Chase is the love child of Kerry and Tony’s characters in Scandal.
The hit political drama followed Tony as President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. He sparks a heated affair with former White House Communications Officer Olivia (played by Kerry), which he is determined to hide from the public.
The online joke came after viewers noticed a striking resemblance between Tony and upcoming actor Tyriq Withers, with others later bringing Chase into the conversation.
It went even more viral when leading star Kerry unexpectedly played into the social media discussion last month, sharing a playful selfie with her ‘Scandal children’.
She tagged her co-star in the caption, writing: “It’s a family reunion at the @naacpimageawards (Missing you @tonygoldwyn).”
What else has Chase Infiniti starred in?
The rising star is building an impressive career, having featured in Apple TV’s Presumed Innocence alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in 2024.
She then appeared in One Battle After Another in 2025, and has been nominated for a BAFTA, Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe for her part as Leo’s on-screen daughter, Willa.
Her recognition throughout awards season left film fans stunned when she didn’t earn an Oscar nominations, with many arguing she was ‘snubbed’.
The Gen Z star is also set to feature in The Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments, premiering on April 8.
The Oscars will air on ITV1 and ITVX tonight (March 15) at 10.15pm.
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website
The decision by United States President Donald Trump to launch a war on Iran has left many international law experts questioning if the world order established after World War II is actually working.
In his second presidential term, Trump seems to be wielding total power without restraint, and the system of checks and balances enshrined in the US Constitution appears to be failing to limit his power.
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Since Trump was sworn in in January 2025, he has ordered two unprovoked attacks on independent states, Venezuela and Iran; threatened to annex Greenland; strained traditional alliances with Europe; undermined the United Nations; and rattled international trade with his sweeping tariffs.
Previous constraints set by the UN system and international law appear supplanted by what Trump told reporters in January was a vision of power limited only by his “own morality”.
President Donald Trump holds the key to unlock the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, which he said is staying at the White House, requiring a replica to be presented to the tournament’s winners, Chelsea, in July 2025 [File: Pool via AP]
So what checks are there on Trump? Is he really free to attack states, set tariffs at will and, as leader of the world’s most powerful state, essentially dictate global policy? And if so, why are so many observers now saying his war on Iran is faltering?
Has international law put any checks on Trump?
Not so far.
According to analysts, both his attacks on Venezuela and Iran were in clear breach of international law and the UN Charter, principally the prohibition on the use of force under Article 2(4).
Debates about international law, how it has been geared over the decades to underpin the interests of the West and the US specifically, are hardly new. However, experts said, the Trump presidency has seen even the notional restraints of international law trampled underfoot.
Trump himself has brushed aside international law, saying in January that it would be up to him to decide when and how much international law applied to the US and his actions.
“In many respects, international law has historically served US interests, and self-interest should continue to generate US support for a rules-based order organised around the core principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” Michael Becker, a professor of international human rights law at Trinity College in Dublin who previously worked at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, told Al Jazeera, “But finding value in international law often requires adopting a long-term outlook that does not sit easily with short-term political agendas.”
“In the current geopolitical climate, the capacity of international law to provide a meaningful constraint on US action under Donald Trump has proven negligible,” Becker added. “That seems unlikely to change, especially given the failure by other states to strike a united front against Trump’s gangsterism.”
What about the UN?
Not so much.
From its founding, the role of the UN has been to promote dialogue instead of conflict and provide a global response to international challenges. However, Trump’s relationship with the body, like so many of the president’s associations, has rarely been so straightforward. On the one hand, while appearing to try to supplant the body with his members-only Board of Peace as well as sidelining UN aid efforts in Gaza, he has on occasion sought the legitimacy of the UN for a number of his projects, such as his calls in August for the UN to establish a Support Office in Haiti, to help limit migration to the US.
However, while the support of the UN may be helpful, it is clear that Trump has no intention of abiding by its charter, Richard Gowan, the Crisis Group’s UN director from 2019 to 2025, said.
“While other UN members see the US is breaking international law on a regular basis, they often hold back from criticising Washington too loudly in forums like the Security Council because they fear blowback from Trump,” Gowan said. “So Trump is learning he can sidestep the UN when he wants to and get away with it while occasionally using it for instrumental purposes.”
What about other powers?
Up to a point.
Many countries known as “middle powers”, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and other Western and European states, have proven successful so far in pushing back against Trump’s efforts to unilaterally annex Greenland. But European powers have failed to condemn Trump’s unprovoked war on Venezuela and Iran, exposing their double standards in conflicts in the Middle East and the Global South.
Many analysts expect that a withdrawal of investments in the US by Gulf states, which are bearing the brunt of Iran’s retaliation to US and Israeli attacks, may also hasten the war’s end.
“Middle powers can generate friction but not a veto,” HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London said. “Collective action – European governments, Gulf states – can raise costs and extract tactical adjustments. The structural imbalance remains: The US retains decisive military, financial and institutional primacy.”
Smaller states often hedge their bets, follow Washington or look to regional alliances for protection, Hellyer added, continuing that while pressure was strongest in Europe, where the US is no longer seen as a reliable security guarantor, the idea of establishing an alternative continues to be a hurdle. “The logic of an alternative model is accepted; the capacity to execute it quickly is not. A prolonged interregnum follows. The Gulf Arab states are in an analogous position,” he said.
In the meantime, Trump and the US are free to act as they choose. “These are exposure-management strategies, pursued until structural dependence on the US security umbrella can be reduced,” he said.
China and Russia have so far criticised the breaches of international law while avoiding clear escalation, and India and other members of the BRICS bloc have largely stayed silent, suggesting a preference for strategic ambiguity over confronting Washington directly.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Trump of a ‘rupture’ in the Western alliance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2026 [File: Denis Balibouse/Reuters]
What about domestic restraints?
Not really.
The US Supreme Court was able to block Trump’s use of tariffs to manage large parts of his foreign policy by rewarding allies with lower tariffs and punishing critics with punitive import duties.
But none of the other traditional guardrails – such as Congress; the Department of Justice, which has provided unwavering support to the president; and even the news media – has contained the president’s ambitions. This isn’t entirely new. Previous presidents have ordered wars without congressional approval. However, with Trump, analysts suggested, it has been systematic.
Powerful US institutions have largely failed to hold the Trump administration accountable, analysts, such as Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor of international affairs at Princeton University, said.
“His base of strong supporters are saying that they are willing to experience short-term increases in gasoline prices if it leads to a friendly government in Iran in the long term. His opponents have been his opponents on everything, so he simply ignores and threatens them,” Scheppele told Al Jazeera.
“Trump pays more attention to market performance than to public opinion, so he started saying that he was minimising costs and saying that the Iran war is short term to boost markets again.”
“What the US is spectacularly missing is leadership to oppose Trump. Congress is not doing its constitutional job to constrain him. The Supreme Court is in his pocket because he packed the court in his first term. Lower court judges are heroic and have done amazing work under serious pressures, but they don’t get foreign policy questions, given the difficulty of anyone getting ‘standing’ … in the area of international matters,” she said, referring to the requirement that parties to a lawsuit must show actual or future direct harm to themselves to bring a case to court.
She noted that lower federal courts, although limited on foreign policy, have repeatedly checked executive overreach on immigration, sanctions designations and emergency powers, often under intense political pressure.
A bulk carrier and tanker at anchor in Muscat, Oman, as Iran has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz by threatening to attack vessels transiting the waterway [File: Benoit Tessier/Reuters]
So why are so many people saying Trump’s war is faltering?
In the eyes of many observers, Trump, with no clear war aims or a defined resolution, is in danger of losing control of a conflict that appears to be both growing and reaching into economic areas apparently unforeseen by his administration, so while traditional restraints don’t apply, market forces, like gravity, always do.
Trump has repeatedly said the war would be over soon despite none of his claimed war aims being achieved.
Oil prices have surged due to his attacks on Iran, Tehran’s counterstrikes and threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.
The International Energy Agency’s decision on Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil from international petroleum reserves has failed to tame the prices. Iran has warned that oil could hit $200 a barrel as it continues its stranglehold of the waterway.
“Ultimately, the factors that might be most likely to constrain Donald Trump’s neoimperialist impulses – or his willingness to pursue the policy goals of those who have his ear – are the economic fallout from disrupting global energy markets and a broader disenchantment among US voters with his globe-trotting militarism, his rampant self-dealing and his callous disregard for the human costs of war,” Becker said.
