Bloomberg estimated the value of oil contracts that changed hands between 1049 and 1050 GMT was $650 million. At 1105 GMT, Trump stepped back from a threat to attack Iranian energy sites, citing "very good" talks to end the war in a social media post. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the US regulator of financial derivatives, did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. - 'Mind-blowing corruption' -Similarly, S&P 500 stock index futures showed an unusual burst of trading activity early Monday, about 15 minutes before Trump's social media post, CNBC reported. He added that the activity could have been driven by a large producer hedging against a potential price drop, given that oil futures had surged 40 percent since the start of the war.

Trump said that Iran's surviving leadership had offered the United States a "prize" -- a cryptic comment that he said gave him faith in diplomacy. Pakistan's prime minister has offered to host US-Iran talks, which Trump said involved top officials including Vice President JD Vance. The Trump administration similarly offered a 15-point plan before a shorter Israeli and US bombing campaign against Iran in June. Iran's powerful parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, denied any negotiations with the United States, accusing Trump of seeking "to manipulate the financial and oil markets". Lebanon's health ministry said at least eight people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes, including a three-year-old girl.

LONDON, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" can transit the Strait of Hormuz if they meet safety and security regulations in coordination with the relevant authorities, according to a statement released to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). "Non-hostile vessels... may -- provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran -- and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations -- benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent authorities," the statement said. The IMO said Tuesday that the communique, dated Sunday, was issued by Iran's foreign ministry with the request that it be circulated by the IMO. The statement stressed that "vessels equipment and any assets belonging to the aggressor parties -- namely the United States and the Israeli regime -- as well as other participants in the aggression do not qualify for innocent or non-hostile passage". Iran has virtually closed the vital strait since the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28, causing global oil and gas prices to soar.

HANOI, Vietnam, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The price of diesel in Vietnam has more than doubled since the start of the war in the Middle East, according to figures released by the trade ministry on Wednesday. Diesel prices have skyrocketed about 105 percent from February 26, two days before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. The government raised the price to 39,660 dong ($1.50) per litre Wednesday, up from 19,270 dong last month, trade ministry figures showed. The price of 95-octane petrol also jumped nearly 68 percent over the same period, from 20,150 dong to 33,840 dong.

Iraq has been pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the region. The region accused Iran of conducting the first such deadly attack on Kurdish security forces since the war began. The overnight strike targeted a base in the western Anbar province bordering Syria, long the scene of operations against the Islamic State group. Last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that combat helicopters had carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the current conflict. Although close with Washington, Iraq's Kurds have sought to maintain neutrality in the Iran war, after relations with the Islamic republic had warmed in recent years.

UNITED NATIONS, United States, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The Gaza envoy for US President Donald Trump's new "Board of Peace" initiative urged UN Security Council members to pressure the militant group Hamas to disarm, as part of a ceasefire to end over two years of war. Trump's administration, along with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of devastating war in Gaza. But despite the reduced violence, Israeli strikes have at times continued, resulting in hundreds of deaths since the ceasefire, and Hamas has refused to disarm under conditions it says are imposed by Israel. Trump's Board of Peace has promised a wave of reconstruction and investment aid for Gaza in case of a lasting truce. Violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank risks "further displacing Palestinian communities," he said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Colombia plans to lead the formation of a global coalition of nations at an international meeting in April that want to end the use of fossil fuels, the country's Environment Minister Irene Velez said Tuesday. Velez said 45 countries had confirmed their attendance at the meeting in the city of Santa Marta on April 28 and 29. She said attendees would include major hydrocarbon producers from Europe and North America, but did not give further details. Meanwhile, the Brazilian presidency of COP30 has been developing an international roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels since late 2025. It is due to be presented next November at the next international climate conference, which will be hosted by Turkey.

WASHINGTON, United States, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave his "complete and total endorsement" to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, urging voters to re-elect him in an April contest where he is facing an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year rule. "I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again. Hungary: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR VIKTOR ORBAN," Trump wrote. Independent opinion polls suggest Orban, a supporter of Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is waging a war against Hungary's neighbor Ukraine, is in a weak position ahead of the ballot. Orban faces criticism from Brussels for silencing critical voices in the judiciary, academia, the media and civil society, as well as enacting policies that target minorities.

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Brazil laboured their way through South American World Cup qualifying with six defeats in 18 games as they finished fifth -- now they are hoping the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as coach will give them a genuine chance of winning a record-extending sixth World Cup, and first since 2002. After this match they will head to Orlando, Florida, for a friendly on March 31 against Croatia, the team who ousted them from the 2022 World Cup in the quarter-finals. There had been mounting fears in France that the 27-year-old's fitness could become a real issue but he said missing the World Cup or the end of the club season was never a concern. The last competitive meeting of the teams came at the 2006 World Cup, when France beat Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals, thanks to a Thierry Henry goal and a masterful performance by Zidane. If both win their groups at the upcoming World Cup as expected, then they would not be able to meet each other until the final.

MILAN, Italy, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Italy are hoping to end a 12-year absence from the World Cup as one of the planet's most important footballing nations heads to the qualifying play-offs in the midst of another identity crisis. Northern Ireland come to Bergamo for what promises to be a tense semi-final on Thursday as Italy desperately try to not miss a third consecutive World Cup. Gennaro Gattuso led Italy to second in qualifying Group I and has obtained some stability for the Azzurri following the sacking of the volatile Luciano Spalletti. But two heavy defeats dished out by group winners Norway were a stark reminder of how far the national team has fallen since last winning the World Cup 20 years ago -- with Gattuso in midfield. That leaves Gattuso hoping for a drama-free night on Thursday and his players all being ready for a date with destiny in the final.

KUWAIT CITY, March 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Drones hit a fuel tank and sparked a fire at Kuwait International Airport, the Gulf state's civil aviation authority said on Wednesday, reporting no casualties. Citing preliminary information, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement posted online that the attack had caused only "limited" damage. The Kuwait airport has come under attack several times since the regional war began on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran. On March 14, the civil aviation authority said an attack with "several drones" targeted the airport and "struck its radar system". Drones hit fuel tanks at the airport on March 8, and an earlier attack on a passenger terminal left several people mildly wounded and caused some damage.

And it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Iran, in a message circulated by the International Maritime Organization shortly afterward, assured safe passage to "non-hostile vessels" going through the strait, the gateway for one-fifth of the world's oil. Prices at the pump have soared in the United States after the war by Trump, causing him a political headache. Trump said that he had sent a plan and that it "all starts with, they cannot have a nuclear weapon." The New York Times, quoting unnamed officials, said that the United States had sent the 15-point plan to Iran through Pakistan.

The night the Cornell Undergraduate Student Assembly took up Resolutions 55 and 61, that tension reached a boiling point. I do not speak for a multitude, but as one of few Jewish students who actually showed up to the Student Assembly meeting. On a campus with thousands of Jewish students, our absence from these proceedings is a symptom of widespread fear and a campus culture that socially excommunicates any dissident. Instead, the Student Assembly parrots the ‘genocide’ narrative without engaging with the legal or factual complexity of the claim. Cornell students have won the ‘academic super lottery,’ yet they choose to bite the hand that feeds them.

Study examines whether dropping ESR tests actually lowers costsEfforts to reduce unnecessary medical testing have led some hospitals to scale back the use of a decades-old inflammation test known as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or ESR. The analysis found that combining ESR with CRP may reduce misdiagnoses and associated follow-up costs compared with ordering CRP alone. What ESR and CRP tests measureBoth ESR and CRP are blood tests commonly used to detect inflammation in the body. At the time many of these recommendations were introduced, ESR testing was often performed manually and required more laboratory resources than today’s automated systems. For health systems evaluating their lab menus under value-based care frameworks, the relevant question may not be whether ESR costs too much, but whether its absence costs more.