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Both sides in Iran war ratchet up attacks on energy facilities, as oil prices surge

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 18, 2026 (AP) — Israel kept up its campaign of targeting Iran’s leaders on Wednesday, killing the country’s intelligence minister, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck in a sign of the war’s mounting pressure – from both sides — on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy. Iran has been taking aim at its Gulf Arab neighbors’ energy facilities since the war started on Feb. 28, and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel — through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels — nearly impassable. On Wednesday, Iran struck a province of

US senators to grill Trump intelligence team, weeks into Iran war

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) – U.S. senators get a chance on Wednesday to question top aides to ​President Donald Trump in public about national security nearly three weeks into the Iran war as the Senate intelligence committee holds its ‌annual hearing on worldwide threats to the United States. The hearing is likely to focus on the Middle East conflict that began on February 28, as lawmakers – including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats – have said they want more information about a war that has killed thousands of people, disrupted the lives of millions and shaken

US eases Venezuela oil sanctions as Trump seeks to boost world oil supply during Iran war

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2026 (AP) — U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies during the Iran war. The Treasury issued a broad authorization allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A, or PDVSA, to directly sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after Washington for years had largely blocked dealings with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector. Separately, the White House said Trump would waive, for

Govt mulls authorising more ministries to issue content takedown orders

New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) The government is considering authorising some more ministries, including Defence, External Affairs, and Home Affairs, to issue content takedown orders to social media platforms, sources said on Wednesday. Inter-ministerial discussions are currently underway, government sources said, but they did not provide a timeline for when this may be implemented. At present, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) is the nodal ministry for takedowns and content blocking orders, and the latest move to expand the ambit of designated ministries would ensure that takedown orders can be issued faster on misleading, illegal content and AI-generated deepfakes.

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