More than 300 petrol stations have shut in the Philippines, government monitors said, as the country faces fuel supply constraints due to the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
More than 300 petrol stations have shut in the Philippines, government monitors said, as the country faces fuel supply constraints due to the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
According to the Philippine National Police’s monitoring, 365 stations are closed as of today.
Fuel prices have more than doubled across the country since the war started on February 28.
The Israeli military says it is continuing its operations in the southern suburbs of Beirut and is ordering residents of seven areas to flee their homes.
These areas are Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, Laylaki, Haddad, Borj el-Brajneh, Tawhidat al-Ghadir and Shiyah.
The military claimed it was targeting Hezbollah military sites in the areas, but did not offer evidence.
Ministers from the G7 will hold talks on Monday to unpack the economic consequences of the war in West Asia, the French government said, as oil and gas prices continue to soar.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the G7 meeting, to be held via videoconference, would include energy and finance ministers as well as central bank chiefs and the heads of other international agencies.
“There are already differences in the responses largely linked to differences in exposure to the crisis,” Lescure told a news conference on Friday, stressing that Asia was particularly exposed to the turmoil.
He added that the idea was to exchange views on the impact on financial markets and the economy, later telling local media it was the first time in half a century the G7 had used this format.
Source: AFP
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says inflation in New Zealand was likely to rise “much higher” this year and stay outside the central bank’s target range if the US-Israeli attack on Iran drags on.
She told reporters that the latest modelling by the Treasury department had inflation peaking higher than previously expected based on a scenario with “a longer conflict with deeper disruption to supply chains”.
“They think inflation will go much higher this year, and it will stay out of our target band,” Willis told reporters.
Source: Al Jazeera
Asian shares mostly dipped in Monday (March 30, 2026) morning trading as worries continued about soaring oil prices and the potential for further escalation in the US war with Iran.
The drops in Asia follow the deep declines on Wall Street last Friday (March 27) that finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years.
Source: AP
Israeli authorities say they intercepted two drones over the strategically important port city of Eilat in the south and claimed that they had come from Yemen.
Now, ever since the Houthis entered this conflict a couple of days ago, the Israeli military, and especially their air defences, have known they have now engaged on a third front, and have been looking southwards to see what has been coming from Yemen.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry has confirmed that all four of the victims were its nationals. It said the death and injuries happened due to “indirect artillery fire in the vicinity of the Indonesian UNIFIL contingent’s position near Adchit Al Qusayr”.
The ministry strongly condemned the incident and called for a thorough and transparent investigation.
“We are profoundly saddened by this loss,” it said. “The safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be fully respected at all times, in accordance with international law. Any harm to peacekeepers is unacceptable and undermines collective efforts to maintain peace and stability.”
UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel – an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Petron Corp, the Philippines’ sole oil refinery, has secured nearly 2.5 million barrels of crude from Russia, out of “extreme necessity”, according to the AFP news agency.
In a report to the Philippine stock exchange, Petron said it had agreed to purchase Russian crude after seeing at least four million barrels in shipments cancelled since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The purchase came after the US eased sanctions on Russian oil tied to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“The purchases were undertaken strictly out of extreme necessity as an extraordinary emergency measure in response to unprecedented geopolitical and supply-chain disruptions and only after exhausting all commercially and operationally viable alternatives,” Petron said. “A refinery shutdown for failure to secure crude would lead to serious nationwide fuel shortages and sharp price spikes,” said the company, whose refinery accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s fuel needs.
Source: AFP
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday said that the US-Israel war had achieved regime change in Iran, even as he assured that he would “make a deal” with the Iranians.
“I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure... but we’ve had regime change,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, citing the number of Iranian leaders killed in the month-long war.
“We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change,” Trump said.
Source: AFP
US President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday (March 30, 2026) morning and continuing over the next few days “out of a sign of respect.”
“I would only say that we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” Trump told reporters on Sunday (March 29) night board Air Force One as he flew to Washington
A tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia has arrived at an oil refinery in Japan, according to the NHK national broadcaster, as the ongoing US-Israel attack on Iran continues to raise concerns about crude oil supplies.
The tanker was carrying about 100,000,000 litres of crude oil, and arrived at a petroleum wholesaler’s refinery in Ehime Prefecture’s Imabari City on Sunday, the report said.
The oil was transported along a route that bypassed the Strait of Hormuz
The US president was also asked about an Iranian plan to charge toll fees through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said “I’d have to find out if that is true” but the US could shut that operation down vert fast.
“We could close that up in two minutes. We could close that up so fast, your head would spin,” he said.
Trump said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain are fighting back against Iran.
“There was surprised to be hit. I was very surprised they got hit. And once they got hit, they started fighting very well. [We have] very strong communications, but all of those kind of people said, they’ve all been fighting,” he added.