Reuters News

South Korea is reviewing a phased contribution to efforts to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Wednesday, signaling support steps short of military participation, Yonhap News Agency reported.Ahn told a press conference with South Korean media correspondents in Washington that he had conveyed Seoul’s position at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday."We said at about this level that, fundamentally…

Senior U.S. and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.The statement by the State Department comes ahead of a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, where Iran's chokehold on the strait will be on the agenda.Iran's near-complete closure of the vital trade artery ‌since the joint Israeli-U.S.

A second Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker successfully went through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, days after the first such cargo crossed under an arrangement involving Iran and Pakistan, highlighting how cargoes are crossing the waterway on a case-by-case basis amid ongoing conflict risks.The vessel, Mihzem, with capacity of 174,000 cubic metres, departed Ras Laffan on Monday and crossed the strait on Tuesday, headed toward Port Qasim in Pakistan where it is expected to arrive later in the day…

Britain said on Tuesday it would contribute autonomous mine-hunting equipment, Typhoon fighter jets and the warship HMS Dragon to a multinational defensive mission aimed at securing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.Defence minister John Healey announced the commitment during a virtual summit with more than 40 of his counterparts from other nations involved in the mission, which he said would become operational when conditions allowed."With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive…

Hopes for a peace deal with Iran dwindled on Tuesday after Donald Trump said a ceasefire was "on life support" as Tehran rejected a U.S. proposal to end the conflict and stuck to a list of demands the U.S. president described as "garbage".Iran has called for an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Tehran also emphasised its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, demanded compensation for war damage, and an end to the U.S.

Lithuania could contribute minesweeping capabilities and resources for the headquarters of a potential mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the Baltic country's Chief of Defence General Raimundas Vaiksnoras said on Tuesday."We are mostly focusing on sending minesweeping capabilities and headquarter capabilities.

Nigeria and Morocco expect to sign an intergovernmental agreement in the fourth quarter of 2026 to advance a major Atlantic coast gas pipeline project, Nigeria's foreign ministry said.The planned agreement, to be signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Morocco's King Mohammed VI, follows preliminary technical studies on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline.The development was discussed during a telephone call last Friday between Nigeria's Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, the ministry said in a

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump to hold fast to trade remedies proposed by his administration to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding and not offer concessions when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mark Kelly of Arizona, as well as Republicans Tim Scott of South Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana, told Trump in a letter sent on Monday that China's decades-long effort to "decimate American shipbuilding" demanded the use of U.S.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday a grand jury indicted two foreign operators and a shoreside superintendent in the March 2024 collision of the 984-foot cargo ship Dali that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and killed six construction workers.The Justice Department said the collision caused at least $5 billion in damage and significant environmental damage. The National Transportation Safety Board found a single loose wire in the electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open…

Norway's government said it expects the state to earn 721.1 billion crowns ($78.71 billion) this year in revenue from oil and gas production, up from $60.7B initially forecast, as the Iran war pushes up energy prices.Norway produces around 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, but the minority Labor government said the windfall revenue from higher prices should be added to its sovereign wealth fund, already the world's largest at $2.2 trillion.Unlike other European countries, Norway runs large fiscal surpluses thanks to its fund, but it must still limit spending to avoid fanning domesti

The Iran war is starting to shape China's imports of major commodities, with April data showing a sharp decline in crude oil but rising trade in metals.The headline-grabbing number from the figures released last week by customs was the slide in arrivals of crude oil, with the world's biggest importer taking in 9.37 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest in almost four years.April's imports were down 20% from the same month in 2025 as seaborne imports from the Middle East declined sharply amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S.

The U.S. government on Monday announced sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran's shipment of oil to China. The ninth company is based in Oman.The U.S. Treasury move follows sanctions announced on Friday on individuals and companies aiding Iranian purchases of weapons and components used to make drones and ballistic missiles.It comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump's planned meeting with Xi Jinping…

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump to hold fast to trade remedies proposed by his administration to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding and not offer concessions when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mark Kelly of Arizona as well as Republicans Tim Scott of South Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana told Trump in a letter sent on Monday that China's decades-long effort to "decimate American shipbuilding" demanded the use of U.S.

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri revised upwards its 2026 guidance for revenue, core profit and net profit on Monday after it signed large new contracts early this year which beat its full-year target.In the past year, the group has been focusing on defence and high-margin naval contracts amid rising geopolitical tensions, while also benefiting from a recovery in cruise-ship demand, as part of a broader push to improve profitability and cut debt.The state-controlled group said revenue at the end of this year would be between 9.3 billion euros and 9.4 billion euros ($10.9 billion-$11 billion), s

Disruption to oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz is threatening to delay the market's return to normal until 2027, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned on Monday."The longer the supply disruptions continue, even for another few more weeks, it is going to take a much longer time for the oil market to rebalance and stabilize," Nasser told analysts on a call to discuss the company's first-quarter results, which were released on Sunday and beat expectations.The recovery could drag into 2027 if the situation continues until mid-June…

Britain said on Saturday it was deploying its warship HMS Dragon to the Middle East in preparation for a potential multinational effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.HMS Dragon, an air defence destroyer, was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in March, shortly after the start of the Iran war, to help defend Cyprus.Its relocation to the Middle East follows a move by France to deploy its carrier strike group to the southern Red Sea, as the two…

Two more tankers laden with crude exited the Strait of Hormuz last week with trackers switched off to avoid Iranian attacks, Kpler shipping data showed, underscoring a rising trend to sustain Middle East oil exports.The very large crude carrier (VLCC) Basrah Energy loaded 2 million barrels of Upper Zakum crude from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co's (ADNOC's) Zirku terminal on May 1 and exited the Strait of Hormuz on May 6, the data showed on Monday.The Panama-flagged vessel offloaded its cargo at the Fujairah Oil Tanker Terminals on May 8…

Brent crude futures jumped as much as 3% on Friday, a day after the U.S. and Iran traded air strikes, with traders fretting over the future of the cease-fire and shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.Brent crude futures was at $101.47 a barrel, up $1.41 or 1.41% by 10:51 CDT (1551 GMT), after rising as much as 3% earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures was at $95.71 a barrel, up 90 cents, or 0.95%.Both contracts were still set for weekly declines of more than 6%."We're still playing the headline-o-rama game," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

A suspected oil spill covering dozens of square kilometres of sea near Iran's main oil hub of Kharg Island has been seen on satellite imagery this week.The likely spill - appearing on images as a grey and white slick - covered waters to the west of the 8-kilometre (5-mile) long island, pictures from Copernicus’s Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites showed on May 6-8.“The slick appears visually consistent with oil,” said Leon Moreland, researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory…

Tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula is a niche but booming industry powered by deep-pocketed adventure-seekers travelling thousands of miles to marvel at penguin colonies and take "polar plunges" in sight of icebergs.But growing numbers of visitors bring risks including disease, invasive species and pollution to the delicate ecosystems of Antarctica and the remote sub-Antarctic islands that teem with bird life, sea lions and whales.The outbreak of a deadly strain of the hantavirus…

Greek authorities are investigating a drone boat found by fishermen in a cave on the Ionian island of Lefkada, police and coast guard sources said on Friday.It was not clear how the Ukrainian-made unmanned surface vehicle (USV) reached Greek waters. Fishermen located it late on Thursday.Preliminary findings indicate the MAGURA V3-type sea drone was fitted with three detonators, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.One source said the vessel was loaded with explosives…

Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) said on Friday three of its vessels that transited the Strait of Hormuz and exited the Gulf in April did not pay transit fees, sticking to a principle of navigation under international law.Tehran has proposed fees or tolls on vessels passing through the Strait, in its proposals to end the war with Israel and the United States.The Strait is one of the world's most strategically vital maritime routes, with about a fifth of global seaborne crude oil and LNG flows passing through it in normal times.The company does not intend to pay such fees in future…

The U.S. military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday, targeting sites it said were responsible for attacking U.S. forces in what it called unprovoked hostilities by Tehran.Earlier, Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. had violated a ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz, and by striking civilian areas."U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S.