Rate rises, helium shortages, EV sales spikes: how is the disruption in Iran’s strait of Hormuz affecting Australia?

The Middle East conflict is causing huge disruptions to energy supplies, with knock-on effects reaching far beyond petrol prices.While the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran drew a muted response from global markets due to expectations it would be a short conflict, there are now questions over whether the US has a clean exit strategy that would guarantee a stable resumption of trade through the crucial strait of Hormuz.Here are five ways the “largest supply disruption in history” in global oil markets is affecting Australia, from the cost of crucial imported goods to the purchasing decisions made by consumers.There was already a strong shift to electrified vehicles before the war on Iran disrupted energy markets, with new battery vehicles selling at nearly double the rate from a year ago, according to February automotive data.James Voortman, chief executive of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, says car yards have been selling even more EVs since petrol prices started to rise

‘The sums don’t add up’: UK farmers struggle as Iran war drives up costs

The small green oilseed rape plants are buffeted by the wind on a blustery spring day. Sown last August, the crop is starting to shoot up and should be ready for harvesting in July, when it can be turned into cooking oil or biofuel.The peaceful 230-hectare (568-acre) arable farm owned by James Cox on the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire is a world away from the conflict in the Middle East. However, the consequences of US and Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s retaliation – are already rippling out to affect Cox and Britain’s other food producers.The prices of crucial farming inputs such as fuel and fertiliser have skyrocketed, just at a time when their use will increase in the coming weeks as the spring planting season gets under way and farmers use their tractors more

Trump administration to be paid $10bn for brokering TikTok deal

Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly poised to be paid $10bn by investors as part of a deal to create a US-controlled version of TikTok.The $10bn, considered by the US government as a sort of transaction fee, will be paid by the administration-friendly investors who took control of TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, according to reporting that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.The investors in the popular social media app include software company Oracle; MGX, an investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates; and private equity business Silver Lake. These entities, along with other backers, paid $2.5bn to the US treasury when the deal closed in January and are set to make further payments in the unusual arrangement until the total hits $10bn

Meta and Google trial: are infinite scroll and autoplay creating addicts?

It was as “easy as ABC”, claimed the lawyer prosecuting a landmark social media harm case against Meta and Google which heard closing arguments this week. The defendants were guilty, said Mark Lanier, of “addicting the brains of children”. Not true, replied the tech companies. Meta insisted providing young people with a “safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work”.Features such as autoplay videos, infinite scrolling and constantly chirruping alerts woven into the fabric of online platforms were central to the six-week trial in Los Angeles, which has been compared to the cases against tobacco companies in the 1990s

‘So close to being a special day’: Borthwick rues agony of England’s France defeat

Steve Borthwick says the pain of England’s last-gasp defeat to France can drive them on to better times despite their unsuccessful Six Nations campaign. Borthwick’s side finished second bottom of this year’s table but came agonisingly close to dashing French title hopes before losing 48-46 in one of the all-time great championship fixtures.Borthwick, who said he still believed he was “the right man to lead the team forward”, could not hide his disappointment after Thomas Ramos secured a last-gasp home victory with the final kick of an extraordinary game. “I’m really disappointed for the players and supporters … it was so close to being a special day,” he said.“We came into the tournament with high aspirations and we’re really disappointed we haven’t been able to meet those targets

Scheffler searches for form with Masters looming as Åberg leads the way at Players

There is a robotic element to Scottie Scheffler during periods of success but observing the world No 1 in times of adversity is far more intriguing. There is more – much more – to the American than meets the eye.This is a golfer who was once reduced to tears after a Ryder Cup trouncing. While all charges were eventually dropped, the mere fact Scheffler found himself in a prison jumpsuit before a round at the 2024 US PGA was highly unusual. Last summer, he was filmed in long and histrionic discussion with his coach amid struggles at the US Open