Hormuz Closure Traps 20% of World Oil, Forcing Gulf Production to Shut Down

Regional War Goes Global as Russia Feeds Iran Targeting Data and Ukraine Deploys Anti-Drone Tech for U.S.

Iran Taps Khamenei's Son as Leader, Defying Trump's Surrender Demands

DHS Shutdown Fuels Hours-Long Airport Security Lines

Senate Bill Forces Large Investors to Sell Rental Homes

Hormuz Closure Traps 20% of World Oil, Forcing Gulf Production to Shut Down

Crude oil prices surged past $100 a barrel Monday as the U.S.-Iran war choked off production and shipping across the Persian Gulf, delivering the most severe energy shock since the 1970s. The Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical oil chokepoint, has effectively closed to tanker traffic after reports of Iranian naval warnings spread through industry channels, forcing Iraq to cut output by more than two-thirds and Kuwait to halt production as storage capacity filled. Norway's DNO shut down its Iraqi oil wells on Feb. 28 in the first production closure of the war, and Abu Dhabi's national oil company signaled it was also slowing output. JPMorgan Chase analyst Natasha Kaneva estimated that daily regional output could fall by more than four million barrels by Friday and around nine million by the end of March, representing nearly a tenth of global demand.

The disruption spread beyond crude markets as Bahrain's Bapco Energies declared force majeure on operations after an Iranian drone strike sent thick smoke rising from the country's main oil refinery in the Sitra area. Higher gasoline, diesel and mortgage costs are now cascading through the U.S. economy, threatening the Trump administration's economic priorities. G7 finance ministers convened an emergency call Monday with International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol to discuss a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves in an effort to stabilize global oil markets.

Al Jazeera · WSJ · FT

Regional War Goes Global as Russia Feeds Iran Targeting Data and Ukraine Deploys Anti-Drone Tech for U.S.

The Iran conflict expanded into a global confrontation as Russia began providing Tehran with targeting intelligence on U.S. military assets, including the locations of warships and aircraft, since the war began on Feb. 28, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence. The assistance marks the first indication that a major nuclear-armed U.S. adversary is participating in the conflict, even indirectly. In a countermove, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country dispatched interceptor drones and a team of anti-drone warfare specialists to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan after Washington requested the technology and expertise Thursday.

WaPo · NYT

Iran Taps Khamenei's Son as Leader, Defying Trump's Surrender Demands

Iran's Assembly of Experts appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, signaling that Tehran intends to fight rather than surrender. The younger Khamenei, a conservative with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is expected to take a confrontational stance toward the West, despite Trump's declaration that the appointment was "unacceptable" and his demand for "unconditional surrender." Chatham House Middle East director Sanam Vakil said the appointment "suggests the continuation of the same old strategy: repression at home and resistance internationally."

A classified National Intelligence Council report completed before the war began found that even a large-scale U.S. assault on Iran would be unlikely to oust the country's entrenched military and clerical establishment, according to three people familiar with the findings. The report concluded that Iran's leadership would follow protocols designed to preserve continuity of power after the killing of Khamenei, and described the prospect of Iran's fragmented opposition taking control as "unlikely." The assessment raises doubts about Trump's stated plan to dismantle Iran's leadership structure and install a ruler of his choosing, even as the administration says the military campaign has "only just begun."

WSJ · Truth Social · WaPo

DHS Shutdown Fuels Hours-Long Airport Security Lines

Airline passengers in New Orleans and Houston waited hours to clear security Sunday as unpaid Transportation Security Administration agents continued working through a partial government shutdown now in its fourth week. The shutdown, which began Feb. 14 after Congress failed to extend Department of Homeland Security funding, has left TSA agents without paychecks as spring break travel surges. Officials at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport advised travelers to arrive at least three hours before departure.

CBS News

Senate Bill Forces Large Investors to Sell Rental Homes

The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote as soon as this week on a bipartisan housing bill that would require large single-family home investors to sell newly built rental properties to individual buyers within seven years of completion. The provision, inserted into broader housing legislation, targets the build-to-rent industry by making it difficult for institutional investors to secure long-term financing on properties they would be forced to sell. Trade groups including the National Association of Home Builders warned the measure would dismantle the single-family rental business for large companies and raise housing costs, while the National Association of Realtors supports the package. The White House had previously proposed banning large institutional investors from buying existing homes but exempted build-to-rent developers, a gap the Senate provision now closes.

WSJ

March 9 1974: Hiroo Onoda Finally Surrenders, Nearly 30 Years After World War II Ends

Japanese intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, who had been hiding in the Philippine jungle since World War II, finally laid down his arms on March 9, 1974. He refused to believe the war was over until his former commander traveled from Japan to personally relieve him of his duty.

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Sources

1. Al Jazeera · WSJ · Al Jazeera · FT
2. WaPo · NYT
3. WSJ · Truth Social · WaPo
4. CBS News
5. WSJ