PARIS (AP) – Gasoline prices are rising largely because of the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passageway for oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. The waterway off Iran’s coast, now effectively closed, is so vital for the global economy that governments are working on blueprints to speedily reopen it to shipping when the shooting stops.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian and Ukrainian officials are making contradictory claims of battlefield successes in their 4-year-old war, with Ukraine saying it has pushed Moscow’s forces back in some places on the front line but the Kremlin insisting that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.
HONG KONG (AP) – China’s domestic passenger car sales fell sharply in February from a year earlier, industry figures showed Wednesday, reflecting weakening demand as some trade-in subsidies are phased out. Only 950,000 units of passenger cars were sold in China last month, down from nearly 1.4 million vehicles sold in January.
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KANSAS CITY (AP) – Inflation remained stubbornly elevated last month as gas prices rose, but it’s a snapshot of consumer prices before a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran sent energy costs soaring. Consumer prices rose 2.4% in February compared with a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, matching January’s increase.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) – Cambodia hopes to shut down all of the country’s notorious online scam centers by the end of next month, the head of the Southeast Asian nation’s effort to combat the cybercrime said Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) – A widening war in Iran has halted oil tankers, made targets of refineries and spooked investors worried about the cascading impact of spiking energy prices. The International Energy Agency agreed on Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, to make 400 million barrels of oil available.
BEIRUT (AP) – The Lebanese mother of two had just awakened to prepare the pre-dawn meal before another day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when Israeli warplanes began attacking southern Lebanon in retaliation for rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah.
Microsoft and a group of retired military leaders are throwing their weight behind Anthropic in asking a federal court to block the Trump administration’s designation of the artificial intelligence company as a supply chain risk.
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