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Iran’s strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility will cut an estimated 17% of the country’s Liquefied Natural Gas export capacity for up to five years, officials say. The damage is a major blow to the global energy market, which could disrupt supplies to Europe, Asia and beyond.

March 19 (UPI) — Prosecutors said that if Marius Borg Høiby, son of Norway’s crown princess, is found guilty, he should serve more than seven years in prison for the 39 charges he faces.

The charges include four rapes and assaults, rape and domestic abuse, multiple breaches of restraining orders, and drug and driving offenses.

One charge of violation of a restraining order has been dropped.

Høiby, 29, pleaded guilty to several minor charges but denied the rape charges.

The final day of the trial is Thursday, but it could take months for the judges to give a verdict.

Several alleged victims have testified, including Høiby’s former girlfriend, influencer Nora Haukland.

In all four rape cases the victims were either asleep or incapacitated. Early in the trial, Høiby told the court, “I don’t sleep with women who aren’t awake.”

His mother is Mette-Marit, who is married to the crown prince of Norway. Høiby is her son from a previous relationship. He grew up in the royal family, but is not an official member of it.

Mette-Marit was a friend of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was revealed from one of the Epstein files releases from the U.S. Justice Department. Her health has declined due to pulmonary fibrosis, and she has said needs a lung transplant.

The prosecution asked the court for Høiby to be in prison for seven years and seven months. It also asked that he be banned from contacting one of his alleged victims for two years and asked that several devices, including three iPhones and a MacBook, be confiscated. It also wants his driver’s license to be taken away for two years, and for him to have to take a new driving test after that time is up.

“These are very serious acts,” said state attorney Sturla Henriksbø. “It is among the most serious offenses in our criminal code to apply to violations of integrity. And it should entail a strict and tangible reaction in each case.”

Police attorney Andreas Kruszewski said Høiby should not be given a “penalty discount” because of media attention.

“The fact that you commit criminal acts after the media spotlight has been directed at you as a well-known person contributes to the fact that he should not receive a reduction in sentence,” Kruszewski said.

Several European nations and Japan have issued a joint statement saying they would take steps to stabilise energy markets, a day after several strikes on energy facilities in the Gulf region sent oil and gas prices soaring amid the United States-Israel war on Iran.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement on Thursday expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the [Hormuz] Strait.”

They did not specify what those efforts may entail but urged for “an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations”.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) last week authorised a coordinated release of its members’ strategic petroleum reserves, the largest in its history, in an attempt to counter rising global energy prices. “We will take other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations ‌to increase output,” the statement said.

Markets have been hammered since the start of the war on February 28, with Tehran hitting sites across the Gulf and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows.

European leaders have rejected demands by United States President Donald Trump ⁠to help ensure freedom of navigation in the Gulf’s key oil chokepoint by deploying warships as part of a naval coalition.

Thursday’s joint statement came ahead of a long-scheduled White House meeting between Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, aimed at burnishing the decades-old security and economic partnership between Washington and its closest East Asian ally.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said before the meeting on Thursday that he would expect that Japan, which gets 95 percent of its crude oil supplies from the Gulf, would want to ensure its supplies are safe.

Takaichi has sought to move Japan away from ⁠a pacifist constitution imposed by Washington after World War II, but with the Iran war unpopular at home, she has so far not offered to assist in clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Japanese prime minister told parliament on Monday that Tokyo had received no official request from the US, but was checking the scope of possible action within the limits of its constitution.

Soaring energy prices

Major economies have been scrambling to cushion the impact of soaring energy prices after the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.

Concerns were compounded on Wednesday when Iran hit the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on its South Pars gas field.

QatarEnergy reported “extensive damage” from Iranian missiles in Ras Laffan, which produces about 20 percent of the world’s LNG supply and plays a major role in balancing Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.

The company’s CEO, Saad al-Kaabi, said Iran’s attacks damaged facilities that produce ⁠17 percent of QatarEnergy’s LNG exports and that it would take ‌three to five years to repair.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Iran’s claims that it is targeting US bases are “unacceptable and unjustified”, as the attack on Ras Laffan shows that it is targeting energy infrastructure that is vital for Qatar and the entire world.

Energy prices have soared and stocks sunk amid the region’s protracted instability, reigniting fears over global supplies and inflation as well as the likely damage to economic growth.

European gas prices were up 25 percent and Brent crude oil futures nearly 6 percent at $113 at 13:00 GMT on Thursday after briefly surging about 10 percent. European gas prices have leapt by over 60 percent since the war began on February 28.

James Meadway, co-director of the Verdant economic policy think tank, said this would not be “a temporary blip” in the prices of oil and gas.

“In addition to the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, we now have a severe disruption to the basic production of oil and gas,” Meadway told Al Jazeera.

“At this point, this looks like it will be a significant rise in those prices stretching off into the distance.”

March 19 (UPI) — The number of cases of meningitis in Kent has risen to 27, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency reported.

There are 15 confirmed cases, and 12 suspected cases, meaning health professionals suspect the illness based on symptoms.

Two people have died since the outbreak began: One high school student and a college student at the University of Kent.

“What is particularly remarkable about this case, and unexpected about this case, is the large number of cases all originating from what seems to be a single event,” Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, told The Guardian.

Officials believe some students picked up the disease at Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury.

“There are two possible reasons for that,” May said. “One is that there might be something about the kind of behaviors that individual people are doing. The other possibility is the bacteria itself may have evolved to be better at transmitting.”

Students at the university are being given preventive antibiotics and vaccines effective against the strain of meningitis B. Officials have given 600 vaccines and 6,500 doses of antibiotics.

Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent confirmed that a student had meningitis, and four schools have seen confirmed cases.

The UKHSA said there was one student with meningitis at a college in London whose case was linked to the Kent outbreak.

Meningitis is an infection of the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria or viruses. Meningitis B is caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, which is also called meningococcus.

Doctors in England were told on Wednesday to prescribe antibiotics to anyone who was at Club Chemistry between March 5 and 7 and to University of Kent students who had left the campus.

“Two doses of the MenB vaccine helps protect individuals against meningococcal B disease,” but not other strains of meningitis, said Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the south east, in a statement. “It is therefore still hugely important that people are aware of the signs and symptoms of invasive meningococcal disease and that they seek immediate medical attention if they or anyone they know develops these signs and symptoms.”

The UKHSA said the National Health Service was well stocked with vaccines after pharmacies reported they were struggling to get them.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC there is no reason for people to buy it privately.

“We make it available through the NHS to those groups at risk based on independent scientific advice,” he said.

“In recent days, here in Canterbury we’ve made it more widely available than we normally would to targeted groups of students, club-goers, sixth-formers [older teens] where we think there is a higher risk. We’re doing this as a precaution.”

March 19 (UPI) — Actor Kevin Spacey settled out of court in England with three men who sued him, accusing him of sexual assault.

The cases were set for trial in the High Court this year.

The men alleged that between 2000 and 2013 Spacey, 66, assaulted them, but Spacey denies any wrongdoing.

In 2023, he was found not guilty of nine criminal sexual assault charges. Two of the accusers in the criminal trial filed the civil cases.

One accuser, known as LNP, alleged that Spacey “deliberately assaulted” him 12 times between 2000 and 2005. Another, known as GHI, said he “suffered psychiatric damage and financial loss” from an assault in 2008.

Actor Ruari Cannon, who has waived his right to anonymity, said that when he was in the Tennessee Williams play Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic Theater in 2013, Spacey groped him at a party. Spacey was the artistic director at the theater at the time.

Cannon also settled with the Old Vic in a civil suit two weeks ago.

Cannon was on a BBC Channel 4 documentary, Spacey Unmasked, in 2024. Spacey called the allegation “ridiculous and it never happened.”

Spacey has been trying to win back his career, Deadline reported. Last year he said he has no home and was living out of hotels and Airbnbs and working as a lounge singer in Cyprus. He claims his struggles are like the actors who were blacklisted during McCarthyism, Deadline said.

Spacey also won a civil case in the United States in which actor Anthony Rapp said Spacey sexually assaulted him when he was 14.

The football federation of Morocco says it welcomes the CAF Appeal Board decision to award it the 2025 AFCON title.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) has commended the decision to award its country the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title, which was stripped from Senegal.

The FRMF “welcomes the decision, which reaffirms the primacy of competition regulations and reinforces the conditions necessary for the proper conduct of international tournaments”, the federation said in a statement on Thursday.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) had announced on Tuesday that its Appeal Board had awarded the tournament to Morocco, the defeated finalists, on January 18.

The final, which Senegal won 1-0 in extra time, was delayed for 14 minutes when the Senegalese players and staff returned to the dressing room in protest against the awarding of an injury-time penalty to Morocco in the second half.

When play eventually resumed, Moroccan striker Brahim Diaz missed the kick with Senegal going on to win the game thanks to Pape Gueye’s stunning strike.

“From the outset, following the incidents that led to the interruption of the match, the FRMF maintained a clear and consistent position: the strict application of the governing regulations. The Federation’s approach was solely guided by this principle,” the FRMF statement read.

“Following its appeal, CAF has now confirmed that the applicable regulations were not properly enforced.”

Morocco appealed to CAF to overturn the result immediately after the final, which descended into chaos during and after the protest, and led to a pitch invasion, which resulted in 18 Senegalese fans being handed prison sentences.

The initial appeal was rejected, and the Appeal Board decision came exactly two months after the final was completed.

“Throughout the process, the FRMF acted in full compliance with all relevant legal and procedural frameworks, with a constant focus on upholding its rights and preserving the integrity of the competition,” it said in the statement.

“This decision provides clarity on the applicable framework and strengthens the consistency and credibility of international competitions, particularly within African football.”

The Senegal Football Federation (FSF) immediately responded to CAF’s ruling by saying it would take its own appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Such a process could take as long as a year to reach a final decision.

Senegal’s government on Wednesday went on to allege corruption following the decision and called for an independent international investigation into the matter.

March 19 (UPI) — Senate Republicans have blocked a Democrat-led effort to curb President Donald Trump‘s powers to wage war against Iran, as the nearly three-week-old conflict escalates and rattles global energy markets.

The Senate voted 53-47 mostly along party lines Wednesday night to reject a resolution that would withdraw U.S. armed forces from conflict with Iran absent congressional approval.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to join his Democratic colleagues and vote in favor of the motion, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only member of his caucus to vote against it.

“We do not have a king. We are a democratic republic with a constitution and no one is above the law,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.Y., said Wednesday from the Senate floor before the vote.

“This president cannot take us to war without coming through this body. He is not able to do that unless this body supplicates itself before that man and surrenders its responsibilities.”

Senate Democrats forced the vote on the resolution that Booker sponsored as the conflict escalated on Wednesday, with Iran attacking Persian Gulf energy facilities in retaliation for Israel striking its South Pars gas field.

Thirteen American service members have been killed, and another 200 have been wounded so far in the conflict, which is threatening to become a regional war as Iran has retaliated by attacking U.S. bases and its allies in the Middle East.

Democrats of both chambers of Congress have been attempting to rein in Trump’s war powers through resolutions since the war with Iran began late last month. They argue the United States’ ongoing war with Iran violates the Constitution, which mandates that only Congress has the power to declare war.

The conflict has also seen the cost of oil surge. On Thursday, Brent crude reached nearly $110 a barrel, up from an average $71 before the war began on Feb. 28.

Wednesday’s vote is the third time — and the second by the Senate — that the majority Republicans have blocked war powers motions.

From the floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Enough is enough.”

“To my Republican colleagues: The American people are watching. They oppose this war. They expect us to do our jobs,” he said.

“No more senseless wars in the Middle East. No more gas prices shooting through the roof. No more U.S. service members fighting and dying for in endless wars.”

Though the war has exposed fissures in the Republican Party, its members still mostly stand behind the president, who campaigned on ending conflicts and warning Americans that the Democrats would wage war with Iran if they won the White House.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, argued on the Senate floor that the war is intended to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon.

He said during the prior negotiations the United States offered Iran what he called “a lifetime fuel supply for free” if the Islamic regime agreed to hand over its cache of highly enriched uranium. It is believed that Iran had enriched uranium to 60%, according to a recent International Atomic Energy Agency report, which is below weapons grade enrichment at 90%.

Graham compared the Islamic regime of Iran to Nazi Germany.

“If you do not see this as an imminent threat, then you’re blind from your hatred of Trump,” he said.

“There are people on the left and people in my own party that are more afraid of Trump being successful than the Ayatollah having a nuclear weapon. That’s sick.”

While in Australia, members of Iran’s women’s football team found themselves at the centre of an international political storm. As several players choose to return home, difficult questions are being raised about athlete safety, agency and Western intervention. Samantha Johnson looks at how Iran’s women footballers became caught in the middle of something they had nothing to do with, and asks whether they were being used as political pawns.

South Korea and Japan are facing uncomfortable questions about their mutual defensive obligations as the United States seeks support from its allies in the war on Iran, now nearly three weeks in and escalating by the day.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump urged the United Kingdom, China, France, Japan, and South Korea to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained de facto closed since Washington launched its war with ally Israel on Tehran on March 28.

The president backpedalled on his position on Tuesday – declaring on social media that “we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea” – but observers say US allies may not yet be out of the hot seat.

Trump is expected to raise the issue of warships when he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Jack Barton.

“People do expect him to put pressure on Takaichi again to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. It makes sense in a way because Japan is so dependent on energy supplies” from the Middle East, Barton said on Thursday from Seoul.

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force is one of the largest and most advanced navies in the world, he said, which makes it an attractive target for the Trump Administration.

Although Japan and the US share a mutual defence, Tokyo’s pacifist constitution places restrictions on when it can deploy its Self-Defense Force. Legal scenarios include when it is attacked or facing a “survival-threatening” scenario, as well as acting in “collective self-defence” of its allies.

Takaichi told legislators this week that her government is considering what can legally be done to protect Japanese ships and interests, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK World, although deployment is still a hypothetical scenario.

Japan relies heavily on Middle Eastern oil imports, of which 70 percent pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Japanese media. Tokyo began releasing oil from its strategic reserve on Monday to make up for the shortfall.

Stephen Nagy, a professor at the International Christian University, Tokyo, told Al Jazeera it was not unexpected that the US – a treaty ally – would call on it for help, but Japan will need to consider what is expected.

“The question is if they are going to be on the front line of the attack from Iran or if they are going to provide some kind of supporting role, such as anti-mining activities, refuelling missions, maritime domain awareness,” he said.

“It’s not so much of a problem going there and being involved in the challenges associated with the Hormuz Strait; what is more important is what exactly they are going to do in that role. I think the Japanese are going to find a way to legally add value to the Trump administration, but don’t expect warships there fighting Iranian proxies,” he continued.

South Korea finds itself in a similar predicament as it is both a US treaty ally and a country that is heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil and gas exports.

Seoul last week took the extraordinary measure of imposing a price cap on domestic fuel prices for the first time since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to keep prices from rising too quickly for consumers. Despite their concerns, legislators continue to urge caution from the government in deploying its navy or military assets to the Middle East, according to Al Jazeera’s Barton.

In-Bum Chun, a retired South Korean lieutenant general, told Al Jazeera that it is not immediately clear whether Seoul’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the US applies to the Strait of Hormuz.

Seoul must also weigh helping the US against maintaining a credible deterrence against North Korea. Recent media reports suggest that the US is considering moving some of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles from South Korea to the Middle East. The missiles were installed to deter North Korea, and their removal, along with naval assets, could make voters nervous.

“Seoul must also consider the persistent threat from North Korea and the fact that a South Korean warship is already deployed to the Middle East,” Chun told Al Jazeera. “At the same time, because about 70 percent of Korea’s oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, freedom of navigation is not an abstract principle but a core national interest. These competing realities must all be weighed before any final decision is reached.”

Donald Trump said the US was unaware of Israel’s South Pars strike and warned Iran against targeting Qatar.

March 19 (UPI) — The FBI is investigating Joe Kent, who resigned this week as the counterterrorism director in protest over the war with Iran, over allegations that he leaked classified information, according to reports, while Trump administration officials attack his credibility.

Kent resigned Tuesday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, a position to which the MAGA supporter and far-right conspiracy theorist with ties to White nationalist groups was nominated in early 2025 by President Donald Trump, stating that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he said.

The FBI investigation into Kent predates his resignation, unidentified sources told Semafor, the first to report on the development. The New York Times, NewsNation and others have since corroborated that story.

Kent is the first senior Trump administration official to resign over the war that has divided Republicans and supporters of the president, who campaigned on ending conflicts while warning Americans that if the Democrats were to return to the White House, the United States would be lured into a war with Iran.

Little information about the allegations against Kent was known. The revelations of the investigation come as the White House was attempting to undermine and dismiss the man Trump had repeatedly called “a Great American Hero” for his service as a soldier, Green Beret and CIA officer.

In his resignation letter, Kent argued that Trump was pulled into the war by Israel, claiming the Middle Eastern country had deployed a disinformation campaign to convince Americans that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he thought of Kent as a “nice guy” who was “very weak on security.”

“I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But when I read his statement I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted the allegation as “insulting and laughable.” Speaking to reporters Wednesday, she attempted to distance Trump from Kent, saying he has not been involved with the president’s intelligence briefings for several months and has not been seen at the White House “for quite some time.”

“The president feels it is deeply disappointing that after the president gave him an opportunity in this administration to serve the American people that he would resign with a letter filled with falsehoods — accusing the president of the United States of being controlled by a foreign country.”

The war began late last month after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the U.S. attack on Iran was preemptive. He said they knew Israel was going to attack Iran, which would result in Iran attacking U.S. bases and allies in the region.

The U.S. attack was intended to preempt an Iranian response, he said.

Heavy social media use has contributed to ‘worrying decline’ in wellbeing in Western countries, World Happiness Report says.

Social media has played a large role in declining happiness among young people in Western countries, a United Nations-backed report has found.

Heavy social media use partly explains a “worrying decline” in the wellbeing of young people in the West, the latest edition of the annual World Happiness Report said on Wednesday.

In total, 15 Western countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, saw significant declines in youth wellbeing over the past two decades, according to the report.

The trend was not observed globally, with young people in regions covering 90 percent of the world’s population reporting higher life satisfaction than before.

“The trends are caused by many factors, which differ between continents. However, the evidence in this report does suggest that heavy social media use, especially in some countries, provides an important part of the explanation,” researchers John F Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey D Sachs, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara B Aknin, and Shun Wang said in an executive summary of the report.

“Outside the English-speaking world and Western Europe, the links between social media use and wellbeing are more positive, and they vary between platforms,” the researchers added.

The report, published by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, cited data from sources including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and research by the American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

Despite the decline in youth wellbeing, Western countries, particularly in Scandinavia, dominated the overall happiness rankings across age groups.

Finland ranked as the world’s happiest nation for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway.

The Netherlands, Israel and Switzerland also made the top 10.

Middle Eastern and African countries had the lowest happiness scores.

Afghanistan reported the lowest life satisfaction, with Zimbabwe, Malawi, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon also ranking among the bottom 10 countries.

Social media use among young people has been a growing concern for governments amid reports linking platforms to bullying, sexual exploitation and worsening mental health.

Australia last year introduced the world’s first social media ban for under 16s, with plans for similar restrictions under way in Indonesia, France and Greece.

March 18 (Asia Today) — A South Korean civic group on Wednesday called for changes to ethics laws after finding that dozens of former police officers took jobs at law firms shortly after retirement, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said 144 retired police officials joined law firms between January 2020 and February 2026, based on data from the government ethics oversight body.

Of 228 post-retirement employment reviews during that period, 63.2% were approved, allowing former officers to take positions at law firms, the group said.

Nearly half of those cases – 68 out of 144 – involved individuals who joined law firms within three months of leaving the police force.

The group said the trend raises concerns that former officers could still wield influence over active investigators, particularly because many held mid-level supervisory roles directly involved in criminal investigations.

Such overlap could undermine the neutrality and fairness of police work, it added.

The civic group also noted that the expanding role of police following recent criminal justice reforms has increased the need for stronger safeguards to ensure impartial investigations.

It called for revising the Public Officials Ethics Act, arguing that current rules do not sufficiently restrict employment at law firms for retired officials who hold legal qualifications.

The group urged lawmakers to amend the law to require stricter review of such employment and prevent potential conflicts of interest.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260318010005507

March 19 (UPI) — Iran on Thursday attacked major energy facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after vowing to retaliate for Israel striking its gas field a day earlier, escalating a war that is driving up energy prices and rattling global markets.

Qatar said Iranian ballistic missiles struck its Ras Laffan Industrial City, the centerpiece of the nation’s LNG production and export, while the United Arab Emirates said its Habshan gas facilities and Bab field had come under attack.

Several liquefied natural gas facilities at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is responsible for about one-fifth of global LNG supplies, were struck early Thursday, igniting what state-owned QatarEnergy said in a statement were “sizeable fires.” Extensive damage was reported.

Two of three fires that ignited from the attack were contained as of 5 a.m. local time Thursday, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior.

Iran attacked the complex’s Pearl gas-to-liquids facility late Wednesday, which was dealt “extensive damage” and prompted emergency teams to be deployed to the site.

Rockets launched at the UAE facilities were successfully intercepted, but falling debris prompted Abu Dhabi authorities to respond to unspecified incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab gas field, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.

The facilities have been shut down in response, it said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Iran also targeted gas facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, but all projectiles and drones were intercepted, its Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The attacks mark an escalation in the war, and come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field, one of the world’s largest resources of natural gas.

Israel’s attack was condemned by several countries, including Qatar. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said it was “a dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region.”

“Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment,” he said in a statement.

Following Iran’s attack on Wednesday night, Qatar gave Tehran’s embassy officials 24 hours to leave the country.

The targeting of Persian Gulf energy facilities is expected to further drive surging energy costs. On Thursday, Brent crude reached nearly $110 a barrel, up sharply from $71 before the war began in late February.

Iran had vowed to attack the region’s energy facilities after Israel attacked its South Pars gas field.

Oil facilities “associated with America are now on par with American bases and will come under fire with full force,” Alireza Tangsiri, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, said on X.

“You have heard a lot about #hell; we will paint its picture for you,” the IRGC said Thursday in a social media statement.

“Stay away from energy facilities…”

Following the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that there would be no more Israeli attacks on the South Pars field.

Trump claimed the United States “knew nothing” about Israel’s plan to attack the gas site and that Qatar was also neither involved.

He said Iran was unaware of that, but warned that if it again attacks Qatar, the United States will join Israel and “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

March 18 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s four major oil refiners are ramping up production and delaying maintenance to stabilize domestic fuel supply amid rising global energy risks, industry officials said Tuesday.

The move comes as refining margins approach $30 per barrel, far above the industry break-even level of about $4 to $5, signaling what analysts describe as a “super cycle.”

Despite strong profitability, refiners said the decision reflects a priority on supply stability as concerns grow over potential fuel shortages linked to Middle East tensions and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

GS Caltex has postponed major maintenance at its Yeosu refinery by about two months to May, opting to keep production running during the current high-margin period. Such maintenance typically lasts about 40 days and costs hundreds of billions of won.

Industry officials said the delay was driven not only by profitability but also by the need to ensure stable supply, including naphtha, a key feedstock for petrochemical production.

Naphtha prices have surged to about $1,009 per ton, roughly double the level seen a year earlier.

Refiners said maintaining high operating rates will also support petrochemical companies by ensuring a steady supply of raw materials.

SK Energy said it will continue operating at full capacity while complying with the government’s oil price cap policy. Authorities are monitoring refinery inventories and shipments in real time through a joint task force.

S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank are also prioritizing domestic supply in line with government measures limiting exports of gasoline and diesel.

Industry sources said other refiners may follow GS Caltex in adjusting maintenance schedules, as shutting down facilities during a period of elevated margins would reduce efficiency.

Analysts said refiners are seeking to balance strong earnings with their role in preventing a domestic fuel crisis as geopolitical tensions persist.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260317010005107

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister warns Iran that regional neighbours have ‘significant’ capabilities with which to respond to Tehran’s aggression.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has warned Iran that tolerance of its attacks on his country and those of neighbouring Gulf states is limited, calling on Tehran to immediately “recalculate” its strategy.

Warning that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have “very significant capacities and capabilities” that could be drawn on should they “choose to do so”, the foreign minister told a news conference early on Thursday that Iran had carefully planned its strategy for striking regional neighbours, despite denials from Tehran’s diplomats.

“The level of accuracy in some of this targeting – you can see it in our neighbours as well as the kingdom – indicates that this is something that was premeditated, preplanned, preorganised and well thought out,” Prince Faisal said.

“I’m not going to lay out what would and would not precipitate a defensive action by the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] because I think that is not a wise approach to signal to the Iranians,” the foreign minister continued.

“But I think it’s important for the Iranians to understand that the kingdom, but also its partners who have been attacked and beyond, have very significant capacities and capabilities that they could bring to bear should they choose to do so,” he said.

“The patience that is being exhibited is not unlimited. Do they [the Iranians] have a day, two, a week? I’m not going to telegraph that,” he added.

“I would hope they understand the message of the meeting today and recalculate quickly and stop attacking their neighbours. But I am doubtful they have that wisdom.”

Prince Faisal’s warning followed a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries in the Saudi capital earlier in the day to discuss the expanding war in the region, which on Wednesday saw Iranian attacks on Gulf energy sites, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility, where significant damage was reported, and the United Arab Emirates’ Habshan ⁠ gas facility.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Iranian attack targeting Ras Laffan Industrial City”, located 80km (50 miles) northeast of the Qatari capital Doha, which is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility, producing some 20 percent of the world’s LNG supply.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had warned earlier that oil and gas facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would face retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield.

Iranian state media reported that facilities linked to the country’s huge offshore South Pars field – located off the coast of southern Iran’s Bushehr province – had come under attack.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence also said on Wednesday that its air defences had intercepted four Iranian ballistic missiles that targeted Riyadh and two launched towards the country’s eastern region.

Air defences in the UAE dealt with 13 ballistic missiles and 27 drones, according to the country’s Defence Ministry, while operations ⁠were ⁠suspended at the Habshan ⁠gas facility as authorities responded to ⁠incidents caused by fallen debris after the successful interception of a ‌missile.

The Saudi foreign minister also told the news conference on Thursday that while the war will end one day, it will take much longer to restore relations with Iran as trust “has completely been shattered” due to Tehran’s tactics of targeting its neighbours.

“We know for a fact that Iran has been building this strategy over the last decade and beyond,” Prince Faisal said.

“This is not something that is a reaction to an evolving circumstance where Iran is improvising. This has been built into their war planning: targeting their neighbours and using that to try and put pressure on the international community,” he said.

“So when this war eventually ends, in order for there to be any rebuilding of trust, it will take a long time. And I have to tell you, if Iran doesn’t stop … immediately, I think there will be almost nothing that can re-establish that trust,” he added.

March 18 (UPI) — Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress that the U.S. Postal Service would be out of money in less than a year if changes aren’t made to boost revenue.

During a hearing Tuesday, Steiner and members of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations appeared divided on how best to avoid a full stoppage in mail service in 12 months’ time.

Steiner asked lawmakers to allow him to borrow more money to cover costs as well as to increase the price of a U.S. first class stamp from 78 cents to 95 cents. He said the cost to mail a single letter in the United States is the lowest in the industrialized world.

“Compare it to France at almost $3 and England at $2.50, and the longest distance those letters have to travel is about 600 miles smaller than the state of Texas,” he told lawmakers.

“We deliver from the tip of Puerto Rico to the tip of Alaska for 78 cents. That’s a distance of 5,000 miles.”

He said if the USPS increased first class stamp costs to 95 cents, it “would largely solve our controllable loss” while still remaining the lowest-priced stamp in the industrialized world.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told Steiner he’s against increasing the cost of postage to nearly $1.

“It’s going to come down to the three or four of us who are going to have to make some tough decisions that we can look at other people and say, ‘That was a problem. The postmaster general laid it on our doorstep, and we’re not going to kick the can down the road.”

Steiner also asked for greater freedom to borrow more money.

“One easy action, increasing our borrowing authority, buys us time,” he said. “Time that we can use to best determine what the Postal Service should do to best serve the American public.”

Steiner said the USPS has faced a dramatic reduction in the use of mail, from a maximum of about 213 billion pieces of mail per year to about 109 billion pieces of mail.

“For perspective, if all of that lost volume was paid at the current price of a stamp, which is 78 cents, that’s about $81 billion of lost revenue,” he said. “No company could weather that much revenue loss, so it’s not hard to see how we got here.”

In fiscal year 2025, the USPS had a net loss of about $9 billion.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., appeared reluctant to allow Steiner to borrow more money.

“I am very concerned with the caliber of service that we are getting and with the fact that the post office continues to come to us for more money,” she said.

Rep. Kweisi Fume, D-Md., reluctantly sided with the suggestion of raising the USPS’ debit limit.

“It may be hard to sell, but I think most people feel like I do — that rather than do nothing and watch the Titanic sink, that we need to do something.”

Iranian strikes come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gasfield, with President Pezeshkian warning of ‘uncontrollable consequences’ that could ‘engulf the entire world’.

Relentless United States and Israeli attacks on Iran. Senior officials killed, with thousands of air strikes across the country.

Iran has retaliated, hitting Israel and its Gulf neighbours, targeting energy facilities and supply routes.

So what are Iran’s options now?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Elijah Magnier – Military and political analyst specialising in wars in the Middle East

Setareh Sadeqi – Assistant professor in the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran

Mehran Kamrava – Iranian studies unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies

Liverpool shrugged off their Premier League malaise to storm into the Champions League quarterfinals by thrashing Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield.

Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah on Tuesday overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit for Arne Slot’s men to set up a reunion with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.

Slot needed a reaction from the English champions after they were booed off at Anfield on Sunday for the latest in a series of lacklustre displays in a 1-1 draw against struggling Tottenham.

Languishing fifth in the Premier League, the Champions League could save Liverpool’s season and Slot’s job.

The Dutchman had given a rest to some of his stars at the weekend and was rewarded with a dominant display that could have resulted in an even more comprehensive scoreline.

Galatasaray’s hopes of causing an upset were dealt a massive blow inside the first few minutes when star striker Victor Osimhen injured his forearm in a clash with Ibrahima Konate.

The Nigerian international was clearly hobbled as he continued on until half-time, when he was replaced by Leroy Sane.

By that point, the Turkish champions’ advantage had already been erased.

Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s outstanding performer in a troubled season and levelled the tie with a cushioned finish from a well-worked corner on 25 minutes.

Galatasaray somehow escaped further punishment before the break.

Salah missed a glorious chance to immediately double the Reds’ lead when he failed to chip Ugurcan Cakir.

Florian Wirtz’s deflected effort flew just over, and Cakir repelled another sweet Szoboszlai strike.

The Turkiye goalkeeper then saved Salah’s poor penalty after Szoboszlai was upended inside the box.

But the floodgates opened on the visitors in the second half. Salah atoned for the penalty miss with an inch-perfect pass for Ekitike to slot home.

Two minutes later, Gravenberch fired in the rebound off a Salah shot that had been saved.

Salah has been a shadow of his former self this season, either side of a public bust-up with Slot after being dropped in December.

He could and should have had many more on the night, but did register his 50th Champions League goal in some style with a spectacular strike from Wirtz’s backheel.

Salah also hit the bar before asking to be replaced due to an injury concern, as Galatasaray offered little resistance to the waves of Liverpool attacks.

The Reds face a very different challenge against PSG, who crushed Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate to reach the last eight.

Slot has repeatedly spoken in glowing terms of the French champions.

Liverpool came as close as anyone to stopping PSG last season as Luis Enrique’s men emerged victorious on penalties in the last 16 after a titanic tussle.

Szoboszlai said he was delighted to get the win in such emphatic style, but warned that PSG would pose a formidable task.

“Today, we showed the right direction where we want to go and what we want to show everybody,” he told TNT Sports.

“I watched [PSG] play against Chelsea yesterday, they didn’t become a worse team than last season. But we showed today that we are able to do everything.”

Elsewhere, Harry Kane scored a brace in Bayern’s 4-1 over Atalanta to complete a 10-2 aggregate win.

Barcelona were not far off when they thrashed Newcastle United 7-2 for an overall 8-3 score, with captain Raphina getting two goals and assists apiece, and Robert Lewandowski also claiming a brace.

Tottenham Hotspur put up a fight against Atletico and won 3-2 from Xavi Simons’s late penalty for a personal brace, but the damage was done last week in Spain, where they lost 5-2.

The results mean that Liverpool and Arsenal are the only two of six Premier League teams to progress, as Chelsea and Manchester City went out on Tuesday against title-holders Paris Saint-Germain and record winners Real Madrid, respectively. Arsenal, for their part, ousted Bayer Leverkusen.

The quarterfinals, to be played April 7-8 and 14-15, are Real vs Bayern, Atletico vs Barcelona, PSG vs Liverpool and Sporting vs Arsenal.

March 18 (UPI) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended U.S. military strikes on Iran during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday, calling them a strategic success.

Senators challenged Gabbard to reconcile the words of President Donald Trump with the intelligence her department has received on Iran. When pressed, Gabbard yielded that Trump has the final say on what threats the United States faces.

When the United States performed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, Trump said Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “obliterated.” Earlier this month, he said Iran’s development of nuclear weapons posed an imminent nuclear threat to national security, justifying military action.

Gabbard affirmed Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was “obliterated” in the June strikes.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” Gabbard said. “That is up to the president, based on a volume of information he receives.”

Gabbard was once a vocal opponent of engaging in a war with Iran, even selling shirts that read “No War With Iran” in 2019 while she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Iran is one of the United States’ top adversaries, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s “Annual Threat Assessment” said. China, Russia and North Korea are also on that list.

In the 19 days since the war with Iran began, Gabbard said the Iranian regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded.”

“Even so, Iran and its proxies remain capable of and continue to attack U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East,” Gabbard said. “The IC assesses that if a hostile regime survives it will seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its missiles and UAV forces.”

The United States Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady as the labour market cools and prices on goods and services surge following the US and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran.

The central bank will maintain its benchmark rate at 3.5–3.75 percent, consistent with the Fed’s decision last month, when it also held rates steady.

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain,” the central bank said in a statement announcing its policy decision and referring to its Federal Open Market Committee.

“The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate.”

Holding rates steady was in line with estimates. CME FedWatch, a tool that tracks monetary policy decisions, forecast that there was a 99 percent chance that rates would hold steady.

The stall comes after three rate cuts in 2025.

Global gripes

Consumers are also facing the repercussions of US President Donald Trump’s trade and military policies in their daily expenses.

“Despite meaningful progress on inflation in 2024, Trump’s tariffs have stalled progress and kept inflation persistently above the Fed’s target. Wholesale prices are running hot as service prices surge, and now, Trump’s war in Iran is rocking commodity markets around the globe,” Elizabeth Pancotti, managing director of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, an economic think tank, said in comments provided to Al Jazeera.

Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled against the president for his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The high court said the president exceeded his authority and that the tariffs imposed under that order must be refunded. However, the president then imposed new tariffs not covered by IEEPA.

The White House announced a 15 percent tariff through Section 122, which allows the president to impose tariffs for 150 days. Those changes were reflected in the producer price index report released by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday.

Wholesale prices rose by 0.7 percent for the month, marking the biggest one-month surge in a year. Goods prices rose 1.1 percent overall after tumbling for two months. Energy prices rose by 2.3 percent, with the cost of gas or petrol rising by 1.8 percent. Those costs are expected to get higher as tensions rise in the Strait of Hormuz following joint US-Israel strikes on Iran in late February and the subsequent retaliation.

“In the near term, higher energy prices will push up overall inflation; however, it is too soon to know the scope and duration of the potential effects on the economy,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters.

In the last month, petrol prices have jumped for US consumers. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.84, up from $2.92 this time last month.

“The Fed’s inflation worries extend beyond weathering a fleeting wave of one-off price hikes associated with tariffs and, more recently, an energy price spike,” Stephen Stanley, chief US economist at Santander US Capital Markets, told the Reuters news agency.

Labour market stalls

Holding rates steady also comes as the job market stagnates. The latest jobs report, which was released earlier this month, showed that the US economy lost 92,000 jobs, with unemployment rising to 4.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, which came out last week, showed 6.9 million open jobs in the US, unchanged from the month prior. That shows that employer hiring has stalled and that those who have jobs are seldom leaving for new ones.

“This might be one of the toughest moments in recent memory for the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee,” Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, said in remarks provided to Al Jazeera. “Recent data has revealed that economic growth in the back half of last year was extremely weak, the labour market seems to be on the precipice of disaster, and prices keep rising faster than anyone feels comfortable with.”

Political undercurrents

Wednesday’s decision is the second-to-last one of current Fed Chair Powell, whose term is up in May. Powell, who was first appointed by Trump during his first administration, has been a target of Trump’s scorn and criticisms for not cutting interest rates fast enough.

“When is ‘Too Late’ Powell lowering INTEREST RATES?” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday morning ahead of the decision.

Previously, Trump said he would not nominate someone to lead the central bank unless the nominee agreed with his position.

“Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social in December.

“We at the Fed will continue to do our jobs with objectivity, integrity and deep commitment to serve the American people,” Powell told reporters.

Trump’s nominee to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh, has his nomination in flux as Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he would not vote to advance any of Trump’s nominees to the central bank until a criminal probe into the current chairman, Powell, is closed.

Tillis sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which vets nominees for the central bank, including Warsh. He said he will not approve Trump’s Fed nominees until the probe of Powell is closed. The criminal probe of Powell centres on Fed building renovations after a judge quashed grand jury subpoenas and called the investigation a pretext to pressure the central bank to lower interest rates.

If Warsh has not been confirmed by the Senate in time for the Fed’s June 16–17 meeting, Powell would continue to lead the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

“If my successor is not confirmed by the end of my term as chair, I would serve as chair pro tem until he is confirmed. That is what the law calls for,” Powell said.

“On the question of whether I will leave while the investigation is ongoing, I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality.”