![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/RULYQO34V2PFJKVVZGYCJOQBFI.jpg\")
A child looks at the damage as first responders work at a site hit during an Iranian strike over Petah Tikva on Tuesday. Photograph: Jack Guez\/ AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\nMain pointsKey readsInevitable EU will consider easing budget deficit rules if war persists, says Italian economy minister <\/p>\n
It is inevitable that \u200cthe European Union will consider \u200beasing its budget deficit rules if the US-Israeli \u200bwar with Iran \u2060persists, Italy\u2019s economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti \u200csaid \u200con \u200bFriday.<\/p>\n
Giorgetti also told reporters \u2060in \u200bRome that \u200bthe cabinet \u200chad approved a decree \u200bsetting aside some \u2060\u20ac500 million \u2060to extend, from April 7th until May 1st, a cut in \u200cexcise duties on \u2060fuels, in a bid to \u200cstabilise prices.<\/p>\n
Exports to Europe disrupted by conflict, says Hyundai Motor<\/p>\n
Hyundai Motor said \u200con Friday that exports to Europe and North Africa, which typically transit through the Middle East, were being disrupted by the conflict in the region, underscoring growing \u200bstrains on global supply chains.<\/p>\n
The disruption highlights how the conflict is choking key shipping routes, driving up logistics costs, delaying deliveries and adding pressure on the automaker and its suppliers.<\/p>\n
Hyundai Motor, the world\u2019s third-biggest automaker by sales with its affiliate Kia Corp, warned that even if the Iran war ended \u200bsoon the impact would linger. <\/p>\n
Kim Dong-jo, a senior vice-president at Hyundai Motor\u2019s Global Policy Office, said rebuilding supply chains would take time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if \u2060the conflict ends, it will take a considerable amount of time to rebuild and restore existing supply chains,\u201d said \u200cKim, \u200cwho \u200bwas speaking at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, southwest of the capital Seoul, where government officials, logistics firms and automakers met to assess the impact of the war.<\/p>\n
Kim said rising logistics costs and raw material constraints linked to \u200cthe conflict were also pressuring parts suppliers \u200band production, adding that Hyundai was working with suppliers and the government to minimise disruption.<\/p>\n
Hyundai Motor Group\u2019s logistics unit, Hyundai \u2060Glovis, said it was unable to access \u2060some Middle East routes, forcing it \u200bto temporarily store cargo at alternative locations until conditions stabilise.<\/p>\n
The company said that while routes to North America\u2019s west and east coasts have not been significantly affected so far, restricted access to the Middle East and higher fuel costs were hampering operations and efficiency.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s trade minister, Yeo Han-koo, told the gathering that some shipments were being diverted to intermediate hubs such as Sri Lanka, where they are being held while companies reassess when transport can resume.<\/p>\n
A child looks at the damage as first responders work at a site hit during an Iranian strike over Petah Tikva on Tuesday. Photograph: Jack Guez\/ AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n
Message from the Editor<\/p>\n
![\"Ruadhan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O4NJECCKSVBETH7XC64SI52AQY.jpg\")
Irish Times Editor Ruadh\u00e1n Mac Cormaic <\/p>\n
Thanks for reading. If you\u2019re interested in world news, The Irish Times has the largest network of foreign correspondents of any Irish news organisation. <\/p>\n
Our team provides sharp reporting, in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary. Receive our Global Briefing newsletter<\/a> in your inbox every morning to enjoy Denis Staunton\u2019s guide to understanding world events; what\u2019s happening, why it matters and how it affects you.<\/p>\n At The Irish Times, our journalism is free of any personal, political or commercial control. Unlike most publishers, we have no shareholders to satisfy, no media baron owner in the background telling us what we can and cannot publish.<\/p>\n We are owned by a Trust that mandates us to uphold a set of public-interest values. Those values describe a worldview that is outward-looking, tolerant, curious, interested in divergent views and attentive to the needs of minorities.<\/p>\n Our watchwords are fairness and accuracy. Our goal is to enable you to make informed and independent judgments. And any profit we make goes towards supporting our journalism. <\/p>\n Ruadh\u00e1n Mac Cormaic<\/p>\n Editor <\/p>\n To join Ireland\u2019s biggest community of news subscribers, sign up here<\/a>British government should consider abandoning increase in fuel duty, says cost-of-living tsar <\/p>\n The British government should consider abandoning the increase in fuel duty planned for September because of the rise in pump prices, prime minister Keir Starmer\u2019s cost-of-living tsar has suggested.<\/p>\n Richard Walker, also the executive chairman of Iceland, told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme: \u201cThe 5p fuel duty cut that you allude to is an interesting one. That\u2019s going to expire in September.<\/p>\n \u201cI think given where we are, we do need to be thinking and talking about extending it or enlarging it.<\/p>\n \u201cInterestingly, the Australian government, I was reading, have recently taken 14p per litre cut to their fuel tax. I mean that this cut is 5p.\u201d<\/p>\n Macron tells Trump to get \u2018serious\u2019 about Iran war <\/p>\n French president Emmanuel Macron has said people \u201cwant to be serious\u201d about dealing with the Iran war. <\/p>\n Without referencing US president Donald Trump directly, Macron showed a cold fury to a man who insulted him in a long and rambling speech at the Easter gathering in the White House. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is too much talk … and it\u2019s all over the place,\u201d he said on a visit to South Korea \u201cWe all need stability, calm, a return to peace \u2013 this isn\u2019t a show!\u201d<\/p>\n Macron added: \u201cYou have to be serious. When you want to be serious, you don\u2019t go around saying the opposite every day of what you just said the day before. And perhaps you shouldn\u2019t talk every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Macron\u2019s patience with Trump\u2019s contradictory messages on support for Nato is also running out. <\/p>\n Tehran warns against \u2018provocative action\u2019 before UN Security Council vote on Strait of Hormuz <\/p>\n Iran has warned the UN Security Council against \u201cprovocative action\u201d ahead of a vote on the use of \u201cdefensive force\u201d to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reports AFP. <\/p>\n The security council had already postponed the vote, scheduled for Friday, on authorising the use of such force to protect shipping in the strait from Iranian attacks, according to the official programme. <\/p>\n The 15-member body was set to vote Friday morning on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain, but by Thursday night the schedule shifted. The reason given was that the United Nations observes Good Friday as a public holiday, according to diplomatic sources \u2013 despite this fact being known when the vote was first announced. <\/p>\n \u201cAny provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN security council regarding the situation in the strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation,\u201d Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n Hegseth tells US army chief to step down<\/p>\n Yesterday came the news, on the same day US attorney general Pam Bondi was fired by Trump, that US<\/a> army \u200cchief of staff Randy George was asked to step down \u200cby defence secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a>.<\/p>\n George\u2019s removal adds to recent upheaval at all levels of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of the \u200cjoint chiefs of \u2060staff, air force gen C Q Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and air \u200cforce vice-chief of staff.<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Iran claims US fighter jet shot down over Iran <\/p>\n Iran has said a second US F-35 fighter jet has been shot down over Iran, with the state news agency saying it is unlikely the pilot survived. <\/p>\n A spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya central HQ said on Friday the second F-35 jet was shot down over central Iran by Revolutionary Guard air defences, with low chances of pilot survival, Reuters reported. <\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from the US, and the Guardian has not been able to confirm the report. <\/p>\n Last month, the US military said in a statement that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing after flying a combat mission over Iran. The military said the pilot of that jet was in stable condition. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n Iran fires on targets across Middle East; Israel and US hit Tehran Iran fired on targets across the Middle East, sparking multiple blazes at a Kuwaiti oil refinery, while American and Israeli air strikes hit the Islamic Republic early on Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated.<\/p>\n Despite claims from the US and Israel that Iran\u2019s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours, hitting Kuwait\u2019s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery in a drone attack.<\/p>\n The refinery has been hit multiple times during the war and state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp said firefighters were working to control several blazes.<\/p>\n Sirens also sounded in Bahrain, warning of Iranian attacks and Israel reported incoming missiles.<\/p>\n Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and are impacting global economies.<\/p>\n The UN Security Council was expected to vote on Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorise defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait.<\/p>\n Bahrain\u2019s initial draft would have allowed countries to \u201cuse all necessary means\u201d to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France \u2013 who have veto power on the council \u2013 expressed opposition to approving the use of force.<\/p>\n More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 US service members have been killed.<\/p>\n More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than one million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hizbullah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there. \u2013 AP<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s dangerous road to escalation<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Irish Times editorial<\/a> says Donald Trump\u2019s recent boast that if there is no deal the US intends to bomb Iran \u201cback to the Stone Age, where they belong\u201d represents an outrageous threat to violate the international rules of war, specifically the Geneva conventions.<\/p>\n It notes those rules, particularly the failure to distinguish between military and civilian targets, have been breached many times in Gaza, Ukraine and now Iran. \u201cThose responsible have sought, however unconvincingly, to excuse themselves by insisting civilian casualties are accidental byproducts of strikes on legitimate military targets. Trump has no such scruples.\u201d<\/p>\n The writer says western powers are, rightly, rejecting his claim that the guaranteeing of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is now a matter for everyone else. <\/p>\n Any role in escorting ships and demining in the strait, they insist, will have to await an end to hostilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIn response, Trump has taken his bullying of allies to new levels, again threatening to pull out of Nato because they have refused to back his war. His recklessness will further convince these countries that the US is an unreliable \u2013 and dangerous \u2013 partner under Trump and that they must set their future strategies accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump mocks Starmer as \u2018weak\u2019 <\/p>\n Donald Trump has mocked British prime minister Keir Starmer <\/a>as weak and had a fresh dig at the UK\u2019s navy as Britain led diplomatic efforts to try and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, closed by the Iran war.<\/p>\n The US president impersonated Starmer as he recounted him saying he had to ask his team about sending \u201ctwo old broken-down aircraft carriers\u201d to the Middle East.<\/p>\n Trump said Britain \u201cshould be our best\u201d ally but had not been, in his latest sideswipe over the UK\u2019s refusal to be drawn into the conflict with Tehran. The latest criticism emerged in a video from a private Easter White House lunch.<\/p>\n It is not the first time the American leader has been critical of the UK\u2019s aircraft carriers, having previously dismissed them as \u201ctoys\u201d that \u201caren\u2019t the best\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> rounded on Britain for failing to send warships to the region, saying \u201clast time I checked there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Their disparaging remarks come as British king Charles, who is head of the armed forces, is due to travel to Washington later this month for a state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.<\/p>\n Europe must prepare for \u2018long-lasting\u2019 energy shock<\/p>\n The \u200cEU is assessing \u201call possibilities\u201d including \u200cfuel rationing and releasing more \u200boil from emergency reserves as it braces for \u200ba \u201clong-lasting\u201d energy shock from the \u2060Middle East war, the \u200cFinancial \u200cTimes \u200breported on Friday in an \u2060interview \u200bwith EU energy \u200bcommissioner Dan Jorgensen.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will \u200cbe a long \u200bcrisis … energy prices \u2060will be \u2060higher for \u200ba very long time,\u201d Jorgensen told the FT, saying that for some \u200cmore \u201ccritical\u201d products \u201cwe \u2060expect it to be even worse in \u200cthe weeks to come\u201d. <\/p>\n Trump renews threat to increase ferocity of Iran assault Donald Trump<\/a> said the US \u201chasn\u2019t even started destroying what\u2019s left in Iran<\/a>\u201d, reiterating vows to increase the ferocity of attacks on its infrastructure, as dozens \u200cof countries sought ways to restart vital energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Nearly five weeks after it started with a joint US-Israeli aerial assault,<\/a> the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and on financial markets, raising the \u200bpressure on Trump to find a quick resolution to the conflict.<\/p>\n Trump has stepped up his rhetoric in recent days as negotiations conducted via intermediaries with new leaders in Iran show limited signs of progress.<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/K46K7AQ6YTWA4VXUYUKF7PGOBE.jpg\")
Damage to an industrial zone in Petah Tivka, Israel, after an Iranian missile strike on Thursday. Photograph: Amit Elkayam\/The New York Times <\/p>\n![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ZWHL2KBHIRBSPKVXK4CBGDBVRU.jpg\")
Donald Trump renewed threats to Iran on Truth Social <\/p>\n