Good morning.
The US military has said it attacked and destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz amid reports that Iran has begun laying explosive devices in the narrow waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Citing intelligence sources, CNN on Tuesday reported that Iran had laid a few dozen mines in the strait in recent days and had the capability of laying hundreds more. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said this week it would not allow even “one litre of oil” to leave the region if US-Israeli attacks continued.
The Tehran regime has weaponized the strait of Hormuz, which is just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, in response to the US-Israel attacks. While Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf producers have built pipelines that can bypass the waterway, these routes only carry a fraction of the region’s export capacity. Hundreds of tankers are waiting after the IRGC threatened to “set ablaze” any vessel using the trade route.
What have we heard about Iran’s new supreme leader? Mojtaba Khamenei, is “safe and sound” according to Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iran’s president. The comments came amid speculation about supreme leader’s health and whereabouts, as he has not engaged with the public since he succeeded his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three days ago.
The low-paid Filipino workers caught up in the war on Iran
Thousands of low-paid Filipino workers are stuck in vulnerable positions across the Middle East after being caught up in the war in Iran.
There are 2.4 million people from the Philippines living across the Middle East, having moved to gain higher wages and support their families back home. Many now find themselves under a daily barrage of drone and missile strikes.
Some workers are now considering whether to try to return home – questioning whether the crisis could intensify further, and how relatives who rely upon their salaries would manage if they did return.
Can workers return to their home country? Airspace closures and restrictions mean those who want to go home currently have very limited options.
Trump’s pick for state department role withdraws after backlash over past ‘anti-Israel’ and race remarks
Donald Trump’s nominee for a top diplomatic post has been withdrawn after Republicans refused to unanimously back him because of his past remarks on race and Jewish people.
Jeremy Carl, who had been nominated to serve as the assistant secretary of state for international organisations, announced on Tuesday he was stepping aside in a rare setback for Trump in a Republican-controlled Senate that has largely approved the president’s appointments.
What comments had Carl made? During his confirmation hearing, senators questioned him over remarks appearing to endorse the so-called great replacement conspiracy theory. Carl also acknowledged making comments that minimized the impact of the Holocaust, describing those remarks as “absolutely wrong”.
In other news …
Police are investigating whether a fatal fire on a bus in western Switzerlandmay have been set deliberately. Six people died and five others were injured when the fire broke out on the bus in the small town of Kerzers on Tuesday.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, has refused to condemn Republican lawmakers who recently made Islamophobic comments, saying only that he had spoken to them about “our tone and our message”.
Republican and Democratic candidates are heading for run-off in the race for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s House seat in Georgia, with the poll set for April 7.
A 35-year-old woman from Florida has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly fired shots into Rihanna’s home in Beverley Hills on Sunday. Officials said no one was injured.
Stat of the day: Wegovy users have five times greater risk of sudden sight loss than Ozempic users, study finds
Patients on Wegovy for weight loss have nearly five times the risk of sudden sight loss of those taking Ozempic, a large-scale study has found. Men had a three times greater risk than women of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (Naion), the study also found. The authors said the high doses of Wegovy and the fact injections were faster-acting could explain the higher risk.
Well actually: Why divorced women are transforming their wedding jewelry
In recent years, women have been giving their wedding rings new life after divorce, repurposing the bands as “divorce rings” to fit the new chapter they were entering. Some women are even going for “F-you rings”, worn on the middle finger. “It’s an F-you to the expectations, to the norms, to this belief that a woman’s sole purpose is to be a man’s wife – not their own person,” said Marcie Bianco, the author of Breaking Free: The Lie of Equality and the Feminist Fight for Freedom.
Don’t miss this: How gen Z women are conquering country music
Country radio remains male dominated, but young women are beating the odds to achieve huge success in the genre. Last week, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney became the first two women in country music ever to top the all-genre Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. Leslie Fram, the co-founder and chief executive of FEMco, a Nashville-based creative consultancy, said their rise came despite there being just one female artist in the current top 15 country airplay charts: “The fans and streaming metrics are speaking louder than gatekeepers.”
Climate check: Extreme heat now affects one in three people globally, study finds
One in three people globally now live in areas where heat severely limits their activity, a study has found. Rising temperatures, driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, are making it challenging even for many young, healthy adults to do basic physical activities, such as housework or climbing stairs during daylight hours at the height of the summer, the report warns.
Last Thing: Michelangelo or bust? Experts divided on sculpture’s attribution
A marble bust depicting Christ the Saviour above a little-known church in the north-east of Rome has been thrust into the spotlight by the bold claim that it could have been sculpted by Michelangelo. The church has received a stream of visitors since Valentina Salerno, an independent researcher, said during a press conference last week that newly discovered documents linked the sculpture to the Renaissance master.
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