TOKYO (AP) – Japan recorded a trade surplus of 57.3 billion yen ($360 million) in February, according to government data released Wednesday, reversing from a deficit a month earlier. Exports grew at a better-than-expected 4.2% in February to 9.57 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry’s seasonally adjusted preliminary data show. Imports grew 10.2%.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Iran’s state media said Wednesday that Israel attacked its South Pars gas field – the largest in the world and one that is shared with Qatar to the south across the Persian Gulf. Facilities associated with the gas field near Asaluyeh on Iran’s Gulf coastline were on fire on Wednesday, state media reported.
NEW YORK (AP) – The Iran war has rattled the global flow of oil, with steeper fuel costs already straining households worldwide. And in the U.S., drivers are now facing the highest prices they’ve seen at the pump in about two and a half years.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
HONG KONG (AP) – About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war with Iran and it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when the waterway has been effectively closed, according to maritime and trade data platforms.
PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday named France’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the France Libre (“Free France”), framing it as a symbol of national independence and a push to strengthen the country’s naval forces, whose presence in the Middle-East region has been significant since the start of the Iran war.
Major U.S. airlines say they are not expecting a significant dent in quarterly profits despite soaring jet fuel costs tied to the war in the Middle East adding hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses. Executives from Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines told investors Tuesday that strong ticket sales are helping offset those higher costs.
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) – President Donald Trump is set to pay his respects on Wednesday at a Delaware military base when the remains of six U.S. service members killed in the crash of a refueling aircraft are returned to their families.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Markwayne Mullin, the White House pick for homeland security secretary, made a case to fellow senators Wednesday that he would be a steady hand for a department roiled by controversy under Kristi Noem, but signaled he would follow President Donald Trump’s immigration priorities and pushed back on concerns over his temperament for the Cabinet post.
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