war

SHALANBOOD, Somalia — The sand moves like a tide here, swallowing lanes, schools and low-slung homes on the edge of the Indian Ocean. Among the dunes, hundreds of farming families who fled Lower Shabelle’s contested villages are piecing together life in makeshift shelters, rationing water by the cup as fighting and failed rains erase the certainty of the past. Families from Mushani, Garilow and Barire streamed into the outskirts of Shalanbood in November after government forces and African Union troops clashed with Al-Shabab…

U.S.-Iran war widens with tanker strikes, Hormuz blockade and oil-price shock as allies weigh record reserve release The United States and Iran signaled no quick end to their war as suspected Iranian attacks on fuel tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and fresh strikes across the Middle East kept the world’s busiest oil chokepoint effectively shut and sent crude higher. Nearly two weeks into a joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign, about 2,000 people have been killed — mostly Iranians and Lebanese — and global shipping and energy…

DRESDEN, Germany — Authorities evacuated about 18,000 people from central Dresden after an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered near the Carola Bridge reconstruction site, in what emergency services described as the city’s largest operation of its kind to date. Bomb disposal specialists prepared to defuse the 250-kilogram British bomb, which was uncovered during work to rebuild the Elbe River crossing that partially collapsed in September 2024. The find triggered a security cordon with a 1-kilometer radius, sweeping…

The United States and Israel launched what officials and witnesses described as the most intense airstrikes of the war on Iran, as Tehran fired missiles toward central Israel and Iran-aligned forces expanded drone attacks on U.S. bases in the Gulf. The escalation deepened fears over energy security in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to block oil shipments unless the strikes stop. Israel’s military said it began “an additional wave of strikes” on targets in Tehran shortly after explosions were…

Iran and Israel long fought in the shadows — through intelligence operations, cyberattacks, covert sabotage and proxy warfare — calibrating pressure without crossing into direct war. That balance is faltering. The shadow conflict is tilting toward open confrontation, reshaping the Middle East’s security architecture and rippling through energy markets, shipping lanes and fragile regional politics from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. For decades, Tehran relied on partners such as Hezbollah in…

Djibouti’s Red Sea dilemma: How the Middle East war could reroute trade and test a strategic hub PARIS — Tuesday, March 10, 2026 — The war in the Middle East is no longer just a battlefield story. It is a shock rippling through global trade routes and energy markets, with outsized consequences for small, strategic economies. At the mouth of the Red Sea, Djibouti’s position at Bab el-Mandeb has long been an asset. In a protracted crisis, it could become a vulnerability. This is a classic exposure problem. Djibouti has built a…

Oil surges past $90 as war in Middle East chokes Strait of Hormuz, rattling fuel costs worldwide Oil prices spiked and showed no signs of easing a week after the United States and Israel launched major attacks on Iran, tipping the Middle East into war and choking off one of the world’s most vital energy arteries, the Strait of Hormuz. Commercial tankers carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely pass through the narrow waterway bordered by Iran, as missile and drone…

Trump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ as Israel steps up strikes; UN urges urgent diplomacy U.S. President Donald Trump said only Iran’s “unconditional surrender” would halt a spiraling Middle East war now in its seventh day, as Israel declared its forces were “crushing” the Iranian ruling system and regional fronts widened from Lebanon to the Gulf. The escalating conflict has already embroiled nations beyond the region, disrupted global energy and shipping, and unsettled areas once seen as relatively insulated from…

WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel this week launched Operation Epic Fury on Iran, a move that has coincided with the conflict spreading throughout the Middle East and prompted European officials to warn that this is a dangerous moment for the continent. The operation, announced as tensions mounted across the region, has raised urgent questions about how far the confrontation could widen and what it means for security beyond the immediate theaters of conflict. The widening scope across the Middle East underscores the…

CANBERRA, Australia — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday he cannot rule out Canada’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East, even as he reiterated that the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran launched last weekend appeared “inconsistent with international law.” Asked in a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese whether there was any scenario in which Canada would get involved, Carney called the question hypothetical but left the door open. “One can never…