UK inflation rises to 3.3% as Iran war makes first impact
Inflation in the UK has rose to an annual rate of 3.3% in March, up from 3% in February, as the Iran war begins to take an impact on prices.
Economists had mostly expected inflation to accelerate to 3.3%, driven by a rise in petrol and other fuel costs during March, they told Reuters news agency.
Before the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, the Bank of England said Britain’s inflation rate – the highest among the G7 economies for much of the last four years – was likely to be close to its 2% target in April.
But the BoE last month sharply increased its inflation forecast due to the energy price shock, predicting it would rise towards 3.5% by the middle of 2026.
The International Monetary Fund last week predicted British inflation would peak at 4% in the coming months.
Alex Croft22 April 2026 07:30
Israeli soldier jailed for smashing Jesus statue
Israel’s military has removed two soldiers from combat duty and placed them in military detention for 30 days after they destroyed a Jesus statue in southern Lebanon.
An investigation was launched after a picture showed an Israeli soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross. The image drew widespread condemnation Monday from Israeli politicians, the United States and church leaders.
It was posted by Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian reporter who has also posted images of Israeli soldiers’ apparent misconduct in Gaza.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 07:15
Container ship ‘ignored the warnings’ before attack, Iranian website says
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on the container ship after it had “ignored the warnings of the Iranian armed forces”, claimed Nour News, a website long affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Nour News added that the ship sustained “extensive damage” in the attack.
Although the US focused much of its fire in the war on Iran’s navy, sinking and heavily damaging dozens of vessels, the Guard operates a fleet of small attack boats, some of which apparently survived the war.
Those vessels typically carry mounted machine guns and can be used for mining operations.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 07:06
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opens fire on ship in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard this morning opened fire on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the ship and further raising the stakes as planned ceasefire talks in Pakistan failed to materialize.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said the attack happened around 7.55am in the strait and targeted a container ship.
The UKMTO said a Guard gunboat did not hail the ship before firing. It said no one was hurt and there was no environmental impact from the attack.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies, believed to be close to the Guard, both reported on the attack, citing the UKMTO.
Fars went further to describe Iran as “lawfully enforcing” its control over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of the world’s crude oil and natural gas traded once passed.
The strait had long been considered an international waterway for the world’s shippers, despite being in the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 07:01
Oil prices held near $100 a barrel this morning after US president Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran just hours before it was due to expire.
The Strait of Hormuz remained closed and it was unclear whether Iran or Israel had agreed to the new arrangement.
Brent crude slipped 0.17 per cent to $98.27 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate fell 0.42 per cent to $89.29, swinging between gains and losses as markets weighed a ceasefire extension that seemed to be unilateral against the continued closure of the waterway through which a fifth of the world’s energy supply flowed before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 07:00
Army chief says Lebanon will recover ‘every inch of land under Israeli occupation’
Lebanese army commander Rodolphe Haykal has said that the country will “regain every inch of its land under Israeli occupation”.
Commander Haykal condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese forces, mourning a soldier killed on Friday and wishing a swift recovery to those wounded when an army patrol came under fire during a security operation in Bab al-Tabbaneh.
Civil peace remains “the strongest weapon” to protect Lebanon, he said, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency.
He warned that any attempt to undermine or question the military institution, knowingly or not, serves “the objectives of the Israeli occupation” and risks fueling internal strife.
Israeli forces have intensified operations across southern Lebanon, carrying out widespread demolitions, ramping up aerial surveillance and issuing evacuation warnings despite a 10-day ceasefire, state media reported.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 06:45
Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel, Mizan reports
Iran has executed yet another man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reported this morning.
Mizan identified the man as Mehdi Farid, saying he had held a position in a civil defence unit within a sensitive organisation and had used his access to gather and transmit information to Israel’s Mossad.
His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and carried out after legal procedures were completed, Mizan said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 06:30
Israeli drone strike kills one in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike overnight on the outskirts of al-Jbour in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese state news agency said this morning.
At least two other people also sustained injuries, according to the National News Agency.
Israeli forces have intensified operations across southern Lebanon, carrying out widespread demolitions, ramping up aerial surveillance and issuing evacuation warnings despite a 10-day ceasefire, it added.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 06:20
London to host military planners for talks on Strait of Hormuz
Military planners from countries seeking to join a UK and France-led mission to keep the Strait of Hormuz open once the Iran war ends will meet in London today.
More than 30 nations are expected to send planners to the two-day conference starting today and co-hosted by the UK and France at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, north London.
They aim to build on talks held by Sir Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week with a view to setting up a joint defensive mission after a sustainable ceasefire agreement has been reached.
The talks in London will focus on military capabilities, command and control, and how military forces could deploy to the region.
Defence secretary John Healey said: “The task, today and tomorrow, is to translate the diplomatic consensus into a joint plan to safeguard freedom of navigation in the strait and support a lasting ceasefire.
“I am confident that, over the next two days, real progress can be made. International trade, energy security and the stability of the global economy depend on freedom of navigation.”
By building on our common purpose, strengthening multinational co-ordination and planning for effective collective action, we can help reopen the strait, stabilise the global economy and protect our people.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 06:15
UK maritime agency receives report of Iranian gunboat attack near Oman
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said this morning that it had received a report of an incident 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, where the master of a container ship reported being approached by an IRGC gunboat.
The vessel was subsequently fired upon, sustaining heavy damage to its bridge, though no fires or environmental impact were reported and all crew members were safe.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 April 2026 06:14