Main PointsKey ReadsDisruptions to jet fuel supply expected from early May – Ryanair chief
Disruptions to jet fuel supply are expected from “early May” if the war continues beyond the end of April, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said.
“The fuel companies are happy there won’t any disruption until early May. But if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June,” he said, speaking on Sky News on Wednesday.
“Obviously, we hope the war will finish sooner than that and that the risk to supply will be eliminated.”
O’Leary said Ryanair was “reasonably well hedged” on 80 per cent of its fuel but added it is paying almost double (at around $150 a barrel) on the other 20 per cent.
He said if the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens by the end of this month, “then there’s no risk to supply”.
“Like everybody else in the industry, we hope that this war will end sooner rather than later,” he said.
Oil tanker in Qatar struck by Iranian missile
Qatar was targeted by three Iranian cruise missiles on Wednesday, Qatar’s ministry of defence has confirmed.
Its armed forces intercepted two of the missiles, while the third struck an oil tanker leased to QatarEnergy in northern waters.
The crew of 21 people were evacuated from the tanker and no injuries have been reported, the ministry said.
QatarEnergy, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, said there is “no impact on the environment as a result of this incident”.
Houthis claim responsibility for missile attack on Israel
Houthi forces in Yemen have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on southern Israel this morning, saying it was a joint operation with Iran and Hizbullah.
In a statement, the Houthi movement said it carried out its third missile attack in the conflict in conjunction with Iran and Lebanon’s Hizbullah.
The Houthis targeted “sensitive Israeli enemy targets” with a “barrage of ballistic missiles”, the Tehran-backed group said.
It threatened “further escalation” if Israel continues to attack Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The statement comes about three hours after the Israeli military said a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen at southern Israel was intercepted. No injuries were reported. – The Guardian
11-year-old in serious condition and 12 others wounded in central Israel after missile attack
A first responder gestures at the scene of an impact following an Iranian strike over Bnei Brak in central Israel on Wednesday. The Israeli military said its air defences responded to a missile attack from Iran, with warning sirens activated across central Israel. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images
Israel’s emergency medical service said an 11-year-old girl was in serious condition after a missile attack the military blamed on Iran and police said caused damage at several sites, reports AFP.
The military said it had identified missiles launched from Iran for the first time in about 20 hours, with air raid sirens activated across central Israel.
Another warning of incoming missile fire came less than an hour later, prompting alerts across large parts of northern and central Israel.
The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said an 11-year-old girl was seriously wounded by shrapnel in central Israel as a result of the first launch.
Spokesman Zaki Heller told Israeli TV that at least 13 others were also wounded, including a 13-year-old boy and a woman (36) in moderate condition, all from the same impact site.
Israeli media said cluster munitions, which explode mid-air and scatter bomblets across a wide area, were used in the attack. Iran and Israel have previously accused each other of using cluster bombs.
IDF working to intercept missiles from Iran
Missiles launched from Iran streak across the sky over central Israel. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
A number of missiles have been launched from Iran towards Israel on Wednesday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In several alerts posted on social media, the IDF warned those living in affected areas to enter a “protected space” and remain there until further notice.
It said defensive systems are operating to intercept the missiles.
One person killed by drone debris in UAE
One person has been killed after debris from an intercepted drone fell on a farm in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, state media said. The individual killed was a Bangladeshi national. – The Guardian
Strikes reported across Middle East as war rages
Large numbers of aerial attacks have been reported in various parts of the Middle East on Wednesday, with drones hitting fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international airport causing a big blaze and authorities in Bahrain reporting a fire at an undisclosed company facility from an Iranian assault.
A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile near the Qatari capital Doha causing damage to the hull at the waterline, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, adding the crew were safe.
Explosions were heard in multiple areas of Tehran early Wednesday after US-Israeli air attacks, Iranian state media reported, adding that its air defences were activated.
Israel’s military said early on Wednesday it had carried out a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran. Separately, it said an Israeli military drone had been downed by a surface-to-air missile during operational activity in southern Lebanon overnight on Tuesday.
Shahid Haghani Port, Iran’s largest passenger terminal located in Bandar Abbas port on the Gulf, was hit by an overnight air strike but there were no casualties, the deputy governor Ahmad Nafisi told state media, calling it a “criminal” attack against civilian infrastructure.
Israel said early on Wednesday it had also struck a plant supplying Iran with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons programme.
Rescue workers check the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, early on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations. The strike happened on Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.
Gulf countries, some home to US bases, have been repeatedly fired on by Tehran during the US-Israeli war, with concerns mounting about Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ability to use the vital waterway, a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, as a bargaining chip.
Oil markets were subdued as trading resumed in Asia on Wednesday but stocks and bonds rallied at the start of the session on hopes of a de-escalation.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.7 per cent after a four-day losing streak as the Nikkei 225 jumped 3.9 per cent at one point.
Rubio says US should ‘re-examine’ Nato relationship
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said Washington could see the “finish line” in the Iran war, which is now in its fifth week, and the US will have to re-examine ties with Nato after the conflict.
“We can see the finish line. It’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, but it is coming,” Rubio told Fox News Channel’s Hannity show.
The war began on February 28th when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Tehran responded by launching its own attacks on Israel and Gulf states with US bases.
Joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. The war has also raised oil prices and shaken global markets.
Rubio said there were messages being exchanged between Iran and the US and there is the potential to have a “direct meeting at some point” between the two sides.
“There are messages being exchanged, there are talks going on. There is the potential for direct meeting at some point,” Rubio said.
Donald Trump – who has offered shifting timelines and objectives for the war, ranging from toppling Iran’s government to weakening its military and regional influence – said on Tuesday the US could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio: ‘We can see the finish line.’ Photograph: SMIALOWSKI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Rubio said “that there’s nothing any government is doing, or any country in the world is doing now to help Iran that is in any way impeding our mission.”
He added Washington will have to re-examine its relations with Nato after the Iran war.
“Ultimately, that’s a decision for the president to make, and he’ll have to make it,” Rubio said.
“But I do think, unfortunately, we are going to have to re-examine whether or not this alliance that has served this country well for a while is still serving that purpose, or has it now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe, but when we need the help of our allies, they’re going to deny us basing rights, and they’re going to deny us overflight,” he added in reference to use of military bases.
European leaders have refused to get directly involved in military attacks against Iran.
Iran foreign minister in contact with Witkoff
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has acknowledged receiving direct messages from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
In an interview with Al Jazeera aired late on Tuesday, he said: “I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations.
“We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”
Asked about a possible ground offensive by the US, Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” he told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”
Smoke rises after an air strike in central Tehran. A joint Israeli and US military operation, launched on February 28th, continues to target multiple locations across Iran Trump claims war will end in ‘two or three weeks
US president Donald Trump said securing the Strait of Hormuz is “not for us” and estimated that the US will be done attacking Iran in two to three weeks.
Trump said the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens in the strait, instead telling reporters on Tuesday that the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open will rest with countries that rely on it.
The president said there is “no reason for us to do this”.
“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” Trump said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump lashed out at US allies such as the United Kingdom and France for not doing more to support the American efforts in the Iran war.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” he wrote.
Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said on Monday that it had closed its airspace for US planes involved in the conflict.
The White House said the president would deliver a prime-time address on Wednesday evening to update the public on the war.