Oil price tops $100 again as Iran strikes economic targets across Middle East

Oil prices again topped $100 a barrel on Thursday as widespread Iranian attacks on Middle Eastern energy facilities overshadowed a vast release of government reserves.As Donald Trump vowed to “finish the job” and press ahead with the US-Israel war on Iran, the country’s regime stepped up retaliatory strikes on economic targets across the region.Several merchant ships were struck in and around the strait of Hormuz, one of the most important arteries in global trade. Three crew members aboard one of the ships – the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree – were “believed to be trapped”, the vessel’s owner said.Meanwhile, Iraq halted all operations at its oil ports after an attack on two nearby oil tankers

How will Australians’ flights to Europe be affected, and at what cost, as the Iran war rages on?

Australians planning to fly to Europe in the northern summer face uncertainty over routes, insurance and even safety, as well as rising prices, as a result of the Middle East war.Major airlines operating through the region – including Emirates and Qatar, both popular choices for Australians heading to Europe – are still reeling amid the war between Israel, the US and Iran. Both carriers are only operating limited flights as they work to alleviate a backlog of passengers stuck in Dubai or Doha.But with European summer on the horizon, Australians are questioning how they may get overseas, and what it might cost.Zara Zarezadeh, a lecturer in tourism at Griffith University, says any international event, whether it be a conflict, political instability or a pandemic, would influence tourist behaviour in both the short and long term

Binance sues Wall Street Journal over reporting on Iranian sanctions

The US government is investigating Binance over allegations that Iran used the crypto exchange to evade sanctions and illegally move funds, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday.Binance has denied these claims and even sued the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday for defamation.The Journal reported in late February that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, shut down an internal investigation into more than $1bn in transactions with a network funding Iran-backed terror groups; Binance fired employees for looking into the matter and allowed the network to remain active, according to both the Journal and the New York Times.A Binance spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “Binance categorically did not dismantle any compliance investigation. The WSJ continues to report the same falsities

Meta disables more than 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks

Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said on Wednesday.The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai police anti-cyber scam center, alongside the FBI and the US justice department’s scam center strike force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement.Alongside the enforcement action, Meta announced a series of new protective tools, including alerts on Facebook for suspicious friend requests and a WhatsApp warning system to flag potentially fraudulent device-linking attempts.One of Meta’s tools aims to detect when a potential Facebook friend shows signs of falsifying details about their profile – like, for example, an account operating out of a different country than the one stated in the profile. The tool provides users details on the account, highlighting potential issues, such as a lack of mutual friends or that the account was recently created, and gives options to either block or report it for inauthentic activity

Trust at 100km/h: how Bluetooth bond helps skier Neil Simpson see his way to glory

Neil Simpson and his guide Robert Poth won silver at the Winter Paralympics on Tuesday, the first medal for Great Britain at these Games. But to watch the athletes in visually impaired alpine skiing descend the slopes of the Dolomites at speeds of up to 100km/h is to be strongly reminded that everyone needs at least another medal, just for being brave enough to do it in the first place.Talk to the 23-year-old Simpson, however, and the concept of taking one’s life into one’s hands doesn’t come into the equation. Born with the condition nystagmus, which causes involuntary eye movements, he has been skiing since he was four, first on the dry slopes in Aberdeen, then at the Glenshee resort, before competing in national competition aged 16. “I think it’s something that’s never really fazed me”, he says

Kit clash farce looms as France set to wear special pale blue shirt against England

England’s Six Nations finale in Paris on Saturday could descend into farce with France poised to wear a special edition pale blue kit that threatens to clash with the white strip worn by Steve Borthwick’s side.Fabian Galthié’s team have confirmed they will don the anniversary kit, which is significantly lighter than their traditional blue strip, for a match that marks 120 years of rivalry between France and England. It is understood, however, that England will still wear their white kit despite the potential for a clash. Match officials are also understood to have given both kits the green light.Six Nations organisers have been wary of issues with kits in the past and no longer permit Wales and Ireland to wear predominantly red and green strips respectively because of the difficulty colour-blind spectators have in differentiating between the two sets of players