WEDNESDAY, 18 MARCH 2026, 03:27
Escalation of the Iran conflict is sending shockwaves through global markets — driving up oil, fuel, and commodity prices, stoking inflation and recession risks worldwide. We hear from three NPR reporters in Europe, Asia and Russia.
President Trump said on Friday the U.S. military had “totally obliterated” military targets in Kharg Island, home to the primary terminal that handles Iran’s oil exports. This as all six crew members on a refueling plane that went down in western Iraq were confirmed dead.
The war in Iran has already cost the U.S. billions of dollars. Here’s the impact by the numbers.
The reinforcements will come from an amphibious ready group that is usually based in Japan, an official told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
Rostam Aziz’s purchase raises questions about continued journalistic independence in the region.
An exhibition in Mumbai displayed chairs that told the history of colonial invasions and art movements in India.
Critics say Xi’s purges reveal a ruthless drive for absolute loyalty and total control of the military.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to increase pressure on Russia, as the U.S. suspends oil sanctions.
In written messages and voice notes, one resident of Tehran gives a rare and intimate portrayal of life in the Iranian capital under constant bombardment.
Despite rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies, a growing number of young Americans are becoming captivated by China, as seen in the online trend “Chinamaxxing.”
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was taken to hospital on Friday after feeling unwell at the prison where he is serving a sentence for plotting a coup, his son said.
Moscow said on Friday that the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without its oil, piling pressure on Washington to lift more sanctions as the Middle East war strangles supplies.
Havana says it is in talks with Washington as no fuel has entered the island in three months.
The subject has polarised India for long, though some states and private companies offer menstrual leaves.
The FBI is investigating two separate attacks, one in Michigan and the other in Virginia, that happened yesterday. And, the Senate has passed the largest housing bill in decades.
A complex tug-of-war inside the White House is driving US President Donald Trump’s shifting public statements on the course of the Iran war, as aides debate when and how to declare victory even as the conflict spreads across the Middle East.
Israel has carried out air strikes in central Beirut for the first time since the latest conflict began, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
NPR’s Steve Inskeep asks CNN’s Fred Pleitgen for his takeaways from his recent reporting trip to Iran.
The seamen died when Iranian warship the Iris Dena was sunk on 4 March by a US submarine near Sri Lanka.
The U.S. Central Command confirmed that at least four of six crew members on the KC-135 aircraft were dead, after the refueling plane went down in western Iraq on Thursday.
Iranians who fled the country before the war with the U.S. and Israel are now watching it unfold, wondering what will happen when it ends.