What is the strait of Hormuz and why is it crucial for oil supplies?

The US-Israeli war on Iran has ignited fears that escalating military aggression in the Middle East could send oil prices soaring, push up prices at the pump and drive a global economic downturn.The US began “major combat operations” in Iran on Saturday morning, shortly after Israel launched a strike against Tehran. Within hours of the US-Israeli strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly warned tankers in the strait of Hormuz that no ship would be allowed to pass through the world’s most critical oil trade route.Iran has not formally confirmed a block on the narrow waterway, which would be an unprecedented escalation in the region, but ships appear to be avoiding the strait after an attack on a ship off Oman. At least 150 tankers carrying crude, liquified natural gas and oil products had dropped anchor in open waters across the Gulf past the strait on Sunday, Reuters reported

Oil price expected to surge after Iran strikes and strait of Hormuz closure

The price of oil is expected to soar on Monday as the US-Israel war on Iran and the effective closure of the crucial strait of Hormuz rattles investors despite major producers’ pledges to increase its output.US crude is on track to rise by 11% when trading resumes, according to data from the broker IG. The jump comes as Opec+, the cartel of oil producers, agreed on Sunday to step up its output by more than expected as it assessed the impact of the conflict.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly told ships on Saturday that passage through the strait of Hormuz was prohibited, in effect shutting the key choke point and prompting the halt of some oil shipments.About $500bn (£372bn) of energy trade and 20% of global oil supplies pass through the strait each year

Trump’s Iran strikes accelerate the world’s drift from dollar dominance | Heather Stewart

Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, with its puerile Pentagon nametag Operation Epic Fury, is another show of violent force from a bullish administration.Aside from unleashing fresh instability across the Middle East, the strikes add to the sense of a US operating with little regard for international law or global norms – as with Trump’s on-off tariff regime, and the attack on Venezuela.In the financial sphere, that is only likely to add weight to an incremental but historic shift away from the global dominance of the US currency and towards a more complex world that may be less to Washington’s liking.The trade-weighted dollar, measured against a basket of global currencies, has lost 7% of its value over the past year despite strong US economic growth and soaring stock prices on Wall Street. That partly reflects the outlook for inflation, and therefore interest rates, but also perhaps a more nebulous sense that the US policy framework is not as solid and predictable as it may once have been

Young fashion fans help UK charity shops thrive on struggling UK high streets

Young people inspired by secondhand fashion websites such as Vinted and Depop are helping charity shops thrive despite rising energy and employment costs.Save the Children’s retail sales rose 3% last year, helped by a surge in December when the charity rang up 11% more than the same month a year before, raising more than £1m for its causes.Ian Matthews, the charity’s director of retail and communities, said it saw a “big spike”, with sales continuing to be pretty strong in January.It did better than the charity industry’s average of 1.4% last year, according to the Charity Retail Association (CRA), which was itself ahead of the wider retail industry’s 1

AI-resistant ‘halo’ stocks drive UK and EU markets to record highs

Investors have a new mantra as they prepare for AI to shake up the global economy – the Halo trade.Interest in Halo – short for “heavy assets, low obsolescence” - has risen as investors seek out companies with tangible, productive assets, which might be insulated from AI disruption, such as energy and transport infrastructure companies.While US mega-cap tech companies have had a rough start to 2026, the Halo trade helped to push UK and EU stock markets to record levels by the end of February.Goldman Sachs reported this week that its basket of more than 100 big-spending companies had outperformed a similar grouping of capital-light firms by 35% since 2025, as “asset intensity becomes a key driver of valuations and returns”.“After more than a decade of under‑investment (particularly in Europe), corporates are shifting decisively back toward physical assets,” Goldman analysts told clients

Square Mile strikes back: how the City of London is fighting disinformation about crime

“Just visit London and you’ll see that it’s filled with crime,” the tech billionaire Elon Musk said as he was beamed into Tommy Robinson’s far-right rally in the UK capital last September.The comments by the SpaceX and Tesla boss, part of a roving speech that was later condemned by the UK government, added to a growing wave of anti-London disinformation that has spread in recent months. That includes Donald Trump’s notorious comments of London “no-go zones” and Nigel Farage’s warnings against wearing jewellery after 9pm in the West End.But the panic over antisocial behaviour and petty crime plaguing the capital has burst out of rightwing circles and social media platforms and into City boardrooms and diplomatic meetings, raising the hackles of state officials and influential financial sector bosses who fear that, if left unchecked, trade, recruitment and business investment could suffer.“Nobody’s saying ‘it means that I won’t invest in the City’,” said Susan Langley, the City of London’s mayor