Latest news with #DavidSmith
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Gulf shipping costs drop as Israel-Iran ceasefire holds
Shipping costs for the Gulf have fallen in the past two days after a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Iran, although rates could rebound if tensions increase, shipping and insurance industry sources said on Thursday. The conflict had raised concerns that Iran could close Hormuz, the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows amid broader fears that oil could soar to $100 a barrel. Shipping rates for supertankers, which can carry 2 million barrels of oil, jumped over the past week before the ceasefire - more than doubling to over $60,000 a day. Rates were quoted around $50,000 a day on Thursday, freight data showed. "Tanker rates ... have been pulling back following the halt to hostilities between Israel and Iran," Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta said in a note. Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday after 12 days of war. Greece's shipping ministry on Thursday eased requirements for its merchant fleet, no longer advising them to report voyages through Hormuz, saying the situation "appears to have been improved". War risk insurance premiums for Gulf shipments softened to between 0.35-0.45%, from a peak of 0.5% on Monday, sources said. This compares with levels of around 0.3% in recent months. The cost of a seven-day voyage is based on the value of the ship and the drop will translate into tens of thousands of dollars less in additional costs each day. "Rates have definitely softened," said David Smith, head of marine with insurance broker McGill and Partners. "Whilst war premiums are still significant there is a large number of war risk insurers looking to underwrite risks and offer capacity, which in combination with the improved political situation is adding ever downward pressure on rates. That said, the situation remains very fluid." Iran would respond to any future U.S. attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday, in his first televised remarks since the ceasefire. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis with Reuters, additional reporting by Michael Jones with The Insurer, editing by Ed Osmond)
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
West Northamptonshire Council votes through new flag protocol
A council has approved a "divisive" policy change which will mean it no longer fly an LGBTQ+ rainbow flag from any of its newly elected Reform UK administration on West Northamptonshire Council made changes to the local authority's flag protocol after coming to power last month, and it was formally passed on leader Mark Arnull said its "revised approach ensures consistent and respectful use of public buildings."But Conservative councillor David Smith called on the authority to "think again" on the protocol, which dictates that only the union jack, St George's flag and council flag will be flown outside its buildings. The administration previously said it remained "committed to supporting community-led events and activities", including Pride, despite the change of Thursday's full council meeting at the Guildhall in Northampton, 40 ward councillors voted in favour of the new policy and 26 against it, while one councillor the new flag protocol, the council said additional flags would be flown on specified dates for royal or national is flying flags this week to mark Armed Forces Day, but no flag has been flown to reflect this month's international Pride month, as has been the case in previous years. Speaking before the vote, Arnull said: "The administration maintains our support for community-led events and inclusive engagement across West Northamptonshire, and I state for the record this administration supports all community groups everywhere."However, the move was heavily criticised by opposition parties on the councillor Smith said the Reform administration had "no manifesto" and "no strategic vision". He added: "Your only notable initiative is a divisive flag policy that sidelines symbols of inclusion and unity. [It] is shameful you doing this, you should think again. Understand the community you now represent, and do the right thing and actually vote against this."Labour councillor Zoe Smith, who attended the meeting in a rainbow-themed dress, said: "Our community, my community, will not be erased by a flag protocol, but it does diminish dignity and civic responsibility of this council and the way we represent all our people to remove respect for the LGBT community and others." 'Heartbroken' The enforcement of the policy means that no flag will be flown for a number of events, as in previous Cole, the co-founder of the Northampton Windrush Generation organisation, said his group was "heartbroken" by the policy added: "This decision is not only unjust but strikes at the heart of our values. As a society that celebrates diversity, inclusion and the rich tapestry of cultures that define us. "The Windrush generation has long stood as a symbol of resilience, unity, multi-culturalism, the very essence of British identity. Raising global flags is more than a symbolic act. "It is a statement of solidarity recognition and respect for the communities that have contributed to the vibrancy of this nation." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
Israel-Iran Ceasefire Lowers Gulf Shipping Costs
Taarek Refaat Shipping and war-risk insurance costs in the Arabian Gulf have fallen significantly over the past 48 hours, following the implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. However, they cautioned that any renewed tensions could swiftly reverse the trend. Calm Brings Relief—but for How Long? Rates for chartering very large crude carriers (VLCCs)—capable of transporting around 2 million barrels of oil—dropped from over $60,000 per day last week to around $50,000 on Thursday, according to shipping data. The decline comes as fears ease over a potential Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of the world's oil and gas consumption flows. 'The rates have come down, yes, but the market remains extremely cautious,' said a senior executive at a European shipping firm. 'Any breach of the ceasefire—or even a credible threat—could send prices surging again within hours.' War Risk Insurance Also Falls Slightly In tandem with shipping rates, war risk insurance premiums have eased. According to insurance sources, the cost for voyages through the Gulf has fallen to between 0.35% and 0.45% of a vessel's value, down from a peak of 0.5% earlier in the week. For comparison, the pre-conflict average was around 0.3%. 'Premiums have definitely come down,' said David Smith, head of marine insurance at McGill and Partners. 'While war risk costs remain significant, more insurers are now willing to underwrite Gulf voyages, which, combined with improved political optics, is putting downward pressure on rates. Still, the situation remains extremely volatile.' Greece Relaxes Maritime Alerts Adding to the signs of de-escalation, Greece's Ministry of Shipping on Thursday relaxed its safety requirements for commercial vessels in the region. The ministry no longer advises mandatory reporting for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, citing what it called 'an improved outlook.' Outlook: A Pause, Not a Resolution While the drop in rates may signal temporary market relief, analysts warn that this is not a structural recovery. The geopolitical fragility surrounding the Strait of Hormuz means that risk pricing in shipping and insurance will remain sensitive to even the smallest flare-ups. 'This isn't the end of the crisis—it's a pause,' one Gulf-based risk analyst told us. 'Markets are breathing, not exhaling.' read more CBE: Deposits in Local Currency Hit EGP 5.25 Trillion Morocco Plans to Spend $1 Billion to Mitigate Drought Effect Gov't Approves Final Version of State Ownership Policy Document Egypt's Economy Expected to Grow 5% by the end of 2022/23- Minister Qatar Agrees to Supply Germany with LNG for 15 Years Business Oil Prices Descend amid Anticipation of Additional US Strategic Petroleum Reserves Business Suez Canal Records $704 Million, Historically Highest Monthly Revenue Business Egypt's Stock Exchange Earns EGP 4.9 Billion on Tuesday Business Wheat delivery season commences on April 15 News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
The US and Iran have had bitter relations for decades. After the bombs, a new chapter begins.
A B-2 bomber arrived at Whiteman Air Force Base Mo., on Sunday, the same aircraft used to carry out the US's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend. David Smith/Associated Press This change of tone, however fleeting, came after the intense U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear-development sites this week, Iran's retaliatory yet restrained attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar and the The U.S. attack on three targets inflicted serious damage but did not destroy them, Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Here are some questions and answers about the long history of bad blood between the two countries: Advertisement Why did Trump offer blessings all around? In the first blush of a ceasefire agreement, even before Israel and Iran appeared to be fully on board, Trump exulted in the achievement. 'God bless Israel,' he posted on social media. 'God bless Iran.' He wished blessings on the Middle East, America and the world, too. When it became clear that all hostilities had not immediately ceased after all, he took to swearing instead. 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f— they're doing,' he said on camera. Advertisement In that moment, Trump was especially critical of Israel, the steadfast U.S. ally, for seeming less attached to the pause in fighting than the country that has been shouting 'Death to America' for generations and is accused of trying to assassinate him. Why did U.S.-Iran relations sour in the first place? In two words, Operation Ajax. That was the 1953 coup orchestrated by the CIA, with British support, that overthrew Iran's democratically elected government and handed power to the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Western powers had feared the rise of Soviet influence and the nationalization of Iran's oil industry. The shah was a strategic U.S. ally who repaired official relations with Washington. But grievances simmered among Iranians over his autocratic rule and his bowing to America's interests. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, with a heavy escort, as he entered a car to leave the airport in Tehran in 1979 after arriving back in the country. FY/Associated Press All of that boiled over in 1979 when the shah fled the country and the theocratic revolutionaries took control, imposing their own hard line. How did the Iranian revolution deepen tensions? Profoundly. On Nov. 4, 1979, with anti-American sentiment at a fever pitch, Iranian students took 66 American diplomats and citizens hostage and held more than 50 of them in captivity for 444 days. It was a humiliating spectacle for the United States and President Jimmy Carter, who ordered a secret rescue mission months into the Iran hostage crisis. In Operation Eagle Claw, eight Navy helicopters and six Air Force transport planes were sent to rendezvous in the Iranian desert. A sand storm aborted the mission and eight service members died when a helicopter crashed into a C-120 refueling plane. FILE - Remains of a burned-out U.S. helicopter lis photographed in the eastern desert region of Iran, April 27,1980, one day after an abortive American commando raid to free the U.S. Embassy hostages. (AP Photo, File) Uncredited/Associated Press Diplomatic ties were severed in 1980 and remain broken. Iran released the hostages minutes after Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981. That was just long enough to ensure that Carter, bogged in the crisis for over a year, would not see them freed in his term. Advertisement Was this week's U.S. attack the first against Iran? No. But the last big one was at sea. On April 18, 1988, the U.S. Navy sank two Iranian ships, damaged another and destroyed two surveillance platforms in its largest surface engagement since World War II. Operation Praying Mantis was in retaliation against the mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf four days earlier. Ten sailors were injured and the explosion left a gaping hole in the hull. Did the U.S. take sides in the Iran-Iraq war? Not officially, but essentially. The U.S. provided economic aid, intelligence sharing and military-adjacent technology to Iraq, concerned that an Iranian victory would spread instability through the region and strain oil supplies. Iran and Iraq emerged from the 1980-1988 war with no clear victor and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, while U.S.-Iraq relations fractured spectacularly in the years after. What was the Iran-Contra affair? An example of U.S.-Iran cooperation of sorts — an illegal, and secret, one until it wasn't. Retired Air Force Major Gen. Richard Secord recieved some advice from his attorney Thomas Green while testifying on Capitol Hill before a congressional committee holding hearings on the Iran-Contra affair, in 1987, LANA HARRIS/Associated Press Not long after the U.S. designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984 — a status that remains — it emerged that America was illicitly selling arms to Iran. One purpose was to win the release of hostages in Lebanon under the control of Iran-backed Hezbollah. The other was to raise secret money for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in defiance of a U.S. ban on supporting them. President Ronald Reagan fumbled his way through the scandal but emerged unscathed — legally if not reputationally. How many nations does the U.S. designate as state sponsors of terrorism? Only four: Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria. The designation makes those countries the target of broad sanctions. Syria's designation is being reviewed in light of the fall of Bashar Assad's government. Advertisement Where did the term 'Axis of Evil' come from? From President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address. He spoke five months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the year before he launched the invasion of Iraq on the wrong premise that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He singled out Iran, North Korea and Saddam's Iraq and said: 'States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.' In this January 2002 photo, former President George W. Bush labels North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil" during his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill. DOUG MILLS/Associated Press In response, Iran and some of its anti-American proxies and allies in the region took to calling their informal coalition an Axis of Resistance at times. What about those proxies and allies? Some, like Hezbollah and Hamas, are degraded due to Israel's fierce and sustained assault on them. In Syria, Assad fled to safety in Moscow after losing power to rebels once tied to Islamic State terrorism but now cautiously welcomed by Trump. In Yemen, Houthi rebels who have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea and pledge common cause with Palestinians have been bombed by the U.S. and Britain. In Iraq, armed Shia factions controlled or supported by Iran still operate and attract periodic attacks from the United States. What about Iran's nuclear program? In 2015, President Barack Obama and other powers struck a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear development in return for the easing of sanctions. Iran agreed to get rid of an enriched uranium stockpile, dismantle most centrifuges and give international inspectors more access to see what it was doing. This image released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency shows President Hassan Rouhani has he listened to explanations on new nuclear achievements at a ceremony to mark "National Nuclear Day," in Tehran in April 2018. Uncredited/Associated Press Trump assailed the deal in his 2016 campaign and scrapped it two years later as president, imposing a 'maximum pressure' campaign of sanctions. He argued the deal only delayed the development of nuclear weapons and did nothing to restrain Iran's aggression in the region. Iran's nuclear program resumed over time and, according to inspectors, accelerated in recent months. Advertisement Trump's exit from the nuclear deal brought a warning from Hassan Rouhani, then Iran's president, in 2018: 'America must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace. And war with Iran is the mother of all wars.' How did Trump respond to Iran's provocations? In January 2020, Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran's top commander, when he was in Iraq. Then Iran came after him, according to President Joe Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland. Days after Trump won last year's election, the Justice Department filed charges against an Iranian man believed to still be in his country and two alleged associates in New York. Coffins of Gen. Qassem Soleimani and others who were killed in Iraq by a US drone strike were carried on a truck surrounded by mourners, in the city of Kerman, Iran, in January 2020. Uncredited/Associated Press 'The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran's assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump,' Garland said. Now, Trump is seeking peace at the table after ordering bombs dropped on Iran, and offering blessings. It is potentially the mother of all turnarounds.
CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
85 Koi fish stolen from pond outside of San Bernardino County restaurant
One person has been arrested after more than seven dozen Koi fish were stolen from a pond in front of the Oak House Restaurant in Yucaipa over the weekend. It happened early Saturday morning on the restaurant property, which is located in the 34000 block of Yucaipa Boulevard, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Investigators found that two male suspects entered the property and took 85 fish from the pond and fled from the area. "Through diligent investigative efforts, deputies tracked the suspect's vehicle to and from the scene, capturing crucial surveillance footage that led to the identification of the suspect," SBSD said. The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Yucaipa man David Smith, was arrested when deputies executed a search warrant at his home. "Deputies recovered five of the stolen Koi fish along with additional evidence linking Smith to the crime," SBSD's release said. "The Koi fish have since been returned to their grateful owners." He was booked for grand theft and remains behind bars in lieu of $30,000 bail, deputies said. There was no information provided on the second suspect. Anyone who knows more is asked to contact SBSD investigators at (909) 918-2305.
