The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked up this week to just below its high for the year, the latest sign that borrowing costs on home loans remain elevated relative to where they were before the war with Iran started.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The European Central Bank on Thursday became the first major central bank to raise interest rates in response to the Iran war as policymakers around the world including new U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh wrestle with how to confront the inflation fed by sharply higher oil prices.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Iran’s Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil, has emerged as a focus of the war launched in late February by the United States and Israel.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Thursday he is nominating Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as director of national intelligence.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Anthropic will donate $150 million to launch a fellowship program that places coaches with nonprofits around the country to help them use artificial intelligence more effectively in their work.

LONDON (AP) – A savage knife attack on a Northern Ireland street set off two nights of fiery riots stoked by anti-migrant rhetoric. The suspect, a 30-year-old Sudanese man who had claimed asylum in the United Kingdom, has been charged with attempted murder, threatening to kill a second person and carrying a knife.

BEIJING (AP) – The Philippines defense secretary and his family have been banned from entering China over comments he has made about Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.