Friday, March 20, 2026

World

Iran-Israel war triggers global energy shock

Iran has struck Qatar's Ras Laffan gas facility and Israel's Haifa oil refinery, while closing the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping — a combination threatening to scramble global energy markets for years. Netanyahu claims US-Israeli strikes have destroyed Iran's uranium enrichment capacity and says the war will end faster than expected, but the US intelligence chief has openly admitted Washington and Tel Aviv are not fighting for the same goals. Qatar says the strike on Ras Laffan has knocked out roughly 17% of its LNG export capacity, with damage expected to last three to five years.

Economy

US weighs releasing 140 million barrels of sanctioned Iranian oil

With oil prices surging after Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has floated lifting sanctions on Iranian crude already loaded on tankers at sea — a dramatic reversal of years of US policy. China, meanwhile, is watching from a position of unusual strength, having spent years building massive strategic reserves of oil, gas, wind, and solar capacity on Xi Jinping's direct instructions. India is faring less well: the rupee is under pressure, the Reserve Bank of India has burned through more than $20 billion in foreign exchange reserves this month alone, and households are reportedly switching back to firewood and cow dung cakes as gas prices spike.

Health

RFK Jr. has dismantled 75 federal health advisory boards

Since taking over the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has eliminated 75 expert advisory panels — more than a quarter of the agency's total — gutting the scientific infrastructure that underpins drug approvals, vaccine policy, and public health guidance. In a separate move, the FDA has backed away from tighter tanning bed regulations despite warnings from medical groups about skin cancer risks. The advisory board purge leaves federal health agencies making major decisions without the independent scientific oversight that has been standard practice for decades.

Politics

Georgia woman charged with murder for self-induced abortion

Georgia police have charged 31-year-old Alexia Moore with murder after she allegedly took pills to induce an abortion, in what would be one of the first prosecutions of a woman under the state's 2019 law banning most abortions. The case marks a significant escalation in how aggressively anti-abortion laws may be enforced against patients themselves, rather than providers. State prosecutors must still decide whether to proceed with the charge.

Climate

Historic March heatwave shatters records across US south-west

California, Nevada, and Arizona have recorded some of the hottest March temperatures in US history, with readings running 25 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit above normal and forecasters warning the worst is still ahead. The extreme heat arrived before the official start of summer and triggered widespread alerts and facility closures across the region. Separately, Tropical Cyclone Narelle is making landfall in far north Queensland, Australia as a high-end category four storm, threatening remote communities along the coast.