Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran on Friday, 20 March, with explosions reported and air defences activated, according to local media. The attacks came shortly after Donald Trump urged Israel not to target Iran’s gas infrastructure, while the Israeli Defence Forces said it was hitting “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime.” The escalation follows a 28 February U.S.-Israel strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting Iranian retaliation across the Gulf and raising global oil prices.
The CEO of Qatar’s state-owned energy company, Saad al-Kaabi said on Thursday, that attacks by Iran have wiped out 17% of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, equivalent to $20 billion in lost annual revenue. Kaabi also said that repairs to the damaged infrastructure will result in a deficit of 12.8 tons of LNG in production for the next three to five years. The losses threaten supplies to Europe and Asia, forcing QatarEnergy to declare force majeure, freeing it from obligations under long-term contracts for up to five years for LNG bound for Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China.
Viktor Orbán has refused to back a €90bn EU loan for Ukraine after talks in Brussels on Thursday (19 March), drawing criticism from leaders including Friedrich Merz. Orbán cited a dispute over a damaged Druzhba oil pipeline to justify his opposition to implementing the loan, which was agreed in principle in 2025. While EU officials warn Kyiv could run out of funds within weeks without the aid, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Orban, who maintains cordial ties with Russia and is running for re-election next month, of an act of "gross disloyalty" that damaged the EU's reputation.
FIFA has mandated that every team in a FIFA women's competition will now have at least one female head or assistant coach. This new regulation is aimed at boosting the number of women coaching at the highest levels in football tournaments. The new regulations stipulate that each team must have two female staff on the bench and will cover all FIFA women's tournaments, from youth to senior level.
Philippine transport groups have launched a nationwide strike on Thursday (19 March) to protest rising oil prices. The protesters are calling for an immediate rollback in fuel prices, the removal of excise and value-added taxes on petroleum products, expanded subsidies for affected sectors, and the introduction of a living wage for workers. The country has seen a sharp rise in fuel prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, which have disrupted global energy markets.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Fra...
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's f...
Since 2021, only 9 per cent of $8 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan can be traced beyond initial recipients in public re...
The U.S. has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth an estimated $2.1 billion, but Kyiv could face years of delays before receiving the weapons it urgently needs to defend against intensifying Russian attacks.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered Iran's armed forces to respond to any threat immediately and without geographical limits in statements posted to social media platforms on Saturday (31 October).
Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and placards supporting the hijab gathered outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London.
A Chinese-made AI chip has matched Nvidia’s H200 in tests conducted by its developer, marking a potential breakthrough in China’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology.
A hacking group linked to North Korea is widely believed to be behind the theft of $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency giant Binance, a cyberattack that experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Frankfurt, where shops were looted and police reported Molotov cocktail attacks.
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, as a hostile group, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Thousands protested in Albania's capital, Tirana, on Saturday (31 October), demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation over perceived corruption allegations and dissatisfaction with the government over a lack of jobs and poor education standards.
Russia has agreed to work with Ghana on developing a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant following talks at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said on Saturday.
Foreign ministers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and India raised concerns over export restrictions and economic coercion at a Quad meeting in Atlanta, U.S., on Saturday, 31 October 2026, according to their joint statement.
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