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    US military says it shot down Iranian drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz

    CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. — The U.S. military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and then struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response, raising the risk to a shaky ceasefire as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran . “The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” U.S. Central Command said on social media. The military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s chokehold on the crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments, which has sent energy prices spiking and posed political problems for President Donald Trump's Republican Party ahead of the midterm congressional elections. U.S. Central Command said it hit the radar sites, including an island in the strait, “to defend against further attacks.” It was the latest in back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and efforts to reach a deal to extend that truce. Earlier this week, Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger termi

    3 MIN READBy AP
    US military says it shot down Iranian drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz
  • World

    Iran FM urges Lebanon president to save country from 'real foe'

    1 MIN READBy AFP
    Iran FM urges Lebanon president to save country from 'real foe'
  • World

    Pope Leo heads to Spain with migrants and polarisation in focus

    2 MIN READBy Reuters
    Pope Leo heads to Spain with migrants and polarisation in focus
  • World

    Trump's UFC fight at White House combines punches and politics

    3 MIN READBy Reuters
    Trump's UFC fight at White House combines punches and politics
  • World

    NASA reverses evacuation alert order for astronauts aboard space station

    3 MIN READBy Reuters
    NASA reverses evacuation alert order for astronauts aboard space station
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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World

Ships crossing Hormuz need OK from IRGC, Iran official says

DUBAI/LONDON — All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but this needs to be coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that unfreezing Iranian funds was part of the deal. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that the strait was open after a ceasefire accord was agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come "soon," although the timing remains unclear. Hundreds of ships and 20,000 seafarers have remained stranded inside the Gulf waiting to pass through the key waterway, which handles about 20 percent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows. The Iranian official said transits would be restricted to lanes that Iran deemed safe, adding that military vessels were still prohibited from crossing the strait. "Releasing Iran's funds was part of the agreement for reopening the strait," the official noted, referring to an estimated $30 billion in frozen revenue, generated mainly from oil and gas exports, blocked amid U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

Apr 18, 2026By Reuters
Ships crossing Hormuz need OK from IRGC, Iran official says
World

Traders place $760 million bet on falling oil ahead of Hormuz announcement

LONDON — Investors placed a bet worth about $760 million on a falling oil price around 20 minutes before Iran's foreign minister announced Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open, another sizeable wager on the world's most traded commodity ahead of major announcements in the course of the Middle East war. Large, well-timed trades in recent months have drawn concern from U.S. lawmakers and legal experts that decisions around war and diplomacy can give some traders an edge in volatile and opaque derivatives markets. * Between 1224 GMT and 1225 GMT investors sold a combined 7,990 lots of Brent crude futures, according to LSEG data. * Based on the price at the time, these trades were worth about $760 million. * At 1245 GMT, Iran's foreign minister posted on X that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon. * The announcement pushed crude down as much as 11 percent on the day in the minutes that followed. * Reuters reported April 7 that bets worth around $950 milli

Apr 18, 2026By Reuters
Traders place $760 million bet on falling oil ahead of Hormuz announcement
World

How 50 days of Iran war led to loss of $50 billion worth of oil

LONDON — The world has lost over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran war began nearly 50 days ago and the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come, according to analysts and Reuters calculations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Friday the Strait of Hormuz was open following a ceasefire accord agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon," though the timing remains unclear. Since the crisis began at the end of February, more than 500 million barrels of crude and condensate have been knocked out of the global market, according to Kpler data - the largest energy supply disruption in modern history. Put differently, 500 million barrels of oil lost to the market is equivalent to: * Curtailing aviation demand globally for 10 weeks; no road travel by any vehicle globally for 11 days; or no oil for the global economy for five days, said Iain Mowat, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie. * Nearly a month of oil demand in the United States, or more t

Apr 18, 2026By Reuters
How 50 days of Iran war led to loss of $50 billion worth of oil
World

Lebanese return home to joy, horror at war’s ruins

QASMIYEH, Lebanon — Lebanese children leaned out of cars flashing victory signs Friday as they bumped across a makeshift bridge erected overnight across the Litani River after a truce with Israel - but bombed-out ruins and hard times await. Nearly a quarter of the Lebanese population have been forced from their homes, both in the south and other Shi'ite Muslim-majority areas, ordered by Israel to leave as it levelled villages and city districts and sent in troops over six weeks of war. Israel says it has avoided targeting civilians in a military campaign it described as necessary to protect its own people from Lebanon's Iran-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah group. A 10-day ceasefire announced Thursday is now bringing respite, allowing many of the displaced to return to what remains of their homes while they pray for a lasting truce. But tens of thousands will be unable to go back - their homes in ruins or lying in areas still held by Israel's military. Lebanese want permanent end to wars The Halabi family's silver sedan was among the throng of vehicles crowding the coast road to head back over t

Apr 18, 2026By Reuters
Lebanese return home to joy, horror at war’s ruins
World

Trump says Israel barred from bombing Lebanon: 'Enough is enough'

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said the United States has barred Israel from further bombing in Lebanon, striking an unusually harsh tone with the longtime U.S. ally, while stressing that any U.S. deal with Iran is not linked to the Lebanon conflict. "Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!" Trump said in a social media post. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to Trump’s remarks, but Netanyahu said in a statement earlier that Israeli forces remained stationed in southern Lebanon to defend against "the near threat." "There are things we plan to do regarding the remaining rocket threat and the drone threat, which I will not detail here," Netanyahu said. A U.S.-backed Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire took effect at 2100 GMT, Thursday, halting fighting that flared March 2 when Hezbollah fired on northern Israel in support of Iran's fight with the U.S. and Israel, drawing an Israeli offensive that the Lebanese authorities say has killed 2,000 people. U.S. navel blockdae on

Apr 18, 2026By Reuters
Trump says Israel barred from bombing Lebanon: 'Enough is enough'
World

Oil drops over 10% as stocks surge after Hormuz reopens

NEW YORK — Oil prices dropped more than 10 percent Friday, and U.S. stocks raced toward another record after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. The S&P 500 leaped 1.3 percent as Wall Street rallied to the finish of a third straight week of big gains, its longest streak since Halloween. A freer flow of oil would take pressure off prices not only for gasoline but also for groceries and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest or mortgage bills. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly climbed nearly 1,070 points and was up 978 points, or 2 percent, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.6 percent higher The U.S. stock market has jumped more than 12 percent since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war. Friday’s reopening of the Strait of Hormuz , which may only be temporary, is the cleare

Apr 18, 2026By AP
Oil drops over 10% as stocks surge after Hormuz reopens
World

Kenya requests emergency World Bank funds to cushion Iran war shocks

WASHINGTON - Kenya has requested rapid financial support from the World Bank to help it manage the economic shocks triggered by the Iran war, its central bank governor told Reuters. Like other nations that are heavily reliant on energy imports, the East African country is scrambling to stave off shortages of essential commodities including petrol, while managing cost increases that could drive up inflation. Kenya is the first larger emerging economy to publicly confirm a formal request to the World Bank, although a number of countries, such as Egypt, have said they have approached multilateral lenders. IMF head Kristalina Georgieva said that at least 12 countries are seeking assistance from the Fund to cope with the crisis. The request for funds was "significant", Kenya's central bank governor, Kamau Thugge, told Reuters on Thursday on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, without providing a figure. Analysts welcomed the move, saying it will boost confidence and ease market pressure. "While Kenya's external buffers are large and ample, it is among the most exposed c

Apr 17, 2026By Reuters
Kenya requests emergency World Bank funds to cushion Iran war shocks
World

Trump, Iranian foreign minister say Strait of Hormuz is fully open

BEIRUT — U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, as a 10-day truce in Lebanon appeared to hold. The truce offered a pause in fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and could clear one major obstacle to a deal between Iran and the United States and Israel to end weeks of devastating war . But it remained unclear whether whether the militant group would recognize a deal it did not play a role in negotiating and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon. In a social media post, Trump said Iran announced that the strait “is fully open and ready for full passage.” Minutes earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon. He said it would stay open for the remaining period of the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear what that meant for the U.S. blockade of the strait, but Trump said the blockade wo

Apr 17, 2026By AP
Trump, Iranian foreign minister say Strait of Hormuz is fully open
World

British PM says 'furious' after fresh revelations over sacked US envoy

LONDON - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was "furious" after it emerged his sacked US ambassador Peter Mandelson was appointed despite failing security vetting, as the scandal again threatens his hold on power. The beleaguered British leader, who has been dogged for months by the controversy, claimed he and other ministers were not told Mandelson had failed the vetting process, branding that "unforgivable". Starmer has faced repeated calls to quit since his 2024 decision to appoint Mandelson as Britain's top diplomat in Washington backfired spectacularly over the envoy's longstanding ties to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer sacked Mandelson in September, just seven months after taking up his post. A longtime insider with the ruling centre-left Labour party, Mandelson had held multiple ministerial posts since the late 1990s, but was tarred by repeated scandals which earlier twice forced him out of office. "That I wasn't told that he had failed (security vetting) when I was telling parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable," Starmer told broadc

Apr 17, 2026By AFP
British PM says 'furious' after fresh revelations over sacked US envoy
World

Lebanese return home as ceasefire with Israel mostly holds

BEIRUT/QASMIYEH, Lebanon - People uprooted by the war in Lebanon began returning to devastated towns and neighbourhoods on Friday, with many finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable and hesitant to stay for fear a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could unravel. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the 10-day ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel on Thursday, adding to optimism that the parallel war between the United States and Iran could be nearing an end. While Trump says Lebanon and Israel will work towards a longer-term deal, the ceasefire leaves big questions. Notably, it does not demand Israel withdraw troops occupying parts of the south and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which operates independently of the Lebanese state, says it maintains "the right to resist". There was little sign of residents rushing back to Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, an area pummelled by Israel during more than six weeks of conflict that spiralled out of the war between the United States and Iran. Vast mounds of rubble stood where there had once been apart

Apr 17, 2026By Reuters
Lebanese return home as ceasefire with Israel mostly holds
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