Oil prices hit four year high: Latest news on the Middle East conflict on 9 March
Global oil prices reached a four year high on Monday (9 March), surpassing $...
Relatives of Israeli hostages and activists of the women protest movement took to the streets of Tel Aviv on December 17, to call for an immediate ceasefire deal which will see the release of all 100 hostages in Gaza amid reports on both Israeli and Palestinian new efforts to forge a new deal.
Relatives of Israeli hostages and activists of the women protest movement took to the streets of Tel Aviv on December 17, to call for an immediate ceasefire deal which will see the release of all 100 hostages in Gaza amid reports on both Israeli and Palestinian new efforts to forge a new deal.
Carrying large posters of their loved ones and chanting slogans the protesters marched on the Tel Aviv headquarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party where they demonstrated outside.
The protesters who call for a comprehensive deal and an end to the war in Gaza fear that Netanyahu and his government, who say they will not end the war in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated, will reach a limited deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and return to Israel some, but not all, of the hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said recently that there was now a chance for a new deal that would allow the return of all the hostages, including U.S. citizens.
A Western diplomat in the region, however, said a deal was taking shape, but it would likely be limited in scope, involving the release of only a handful of hostages and a short pause in hostilities.
Such a truce and release would be only the second since the start of the war in October 2023.
Efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to reach a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages have gained momentum in recent weeks, though there has been no breakthrough.
The three countries have, for more than a year, led rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker an end to the 14-month-long war in Gaza.
In previous rounds, disagreements over new demands that Israel introduced about its future military presence in Gaza obstructed a deal, even after Hamas accepted a version of the proposal Biden introduced in May.
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A round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 9th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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