Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets.

Prices eased only after French President Emmanuel Macron said the Group of Seven nations could dip into their emergency oil stockpiles in response.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel early in the day but later was trading above $101 per barrel, up 9%.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, also soared above $119.48 per barrel but fell back closer to $100.

Iran named the hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, signaling no letup in the war. The appointment marked a new sign of defiance by Iran’s embattled leadership after more than a week of heavy U.S. and Israeli bombardment, suggesting that Tehran is not close to giving up on what it considers a fight for the country’s existence.

The war’s toll on civilian targets grew as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies. Bahrain’s national oil company declared force majeure for its shipments after an Iranian attack set its refinery complex ablaze. The legal declaration releases the company of contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.

Oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight strikes by Israel.

Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second week, ensnares countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf.

Prices moderated after the Financial Times reported that some members of the Group of Seven industrial nations were considering releases of strategic oil reserves to alleviate pressure on the markets.

Macron said Monday that “the use of strategic reserves is an envisaged option.” He said G7 leaders could meet this week to coordinate a response to climbing energy prices. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group. Separately, finance ministers from the G7 nations are meeting Monday by video conference to discuss the repercussions from the war.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump downplayed the idea of turning to America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying U.S. supplies were ample and prices would soon fall.

Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil — about 20% of the world’s oil — typically are shipped every day through the Strait of Hormuz, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy. The threat of Iranian missile and drone attacks has all but stopped tankers carrying oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran from traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran.

Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE have cut oil production as storage tanks fill due to the reduced ability to export crude. Iran, Israel and the United States also have attacked oil and gas facilities since the war started, worsening supply concerns.

The surge in costs for oil and natural gas is pushing fuel prices higher, cascading through other industries and jolting Asian economies that are especially vulnerable due to the region’s heavy reliance on imports from the Middle East.

Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which has called for an immediate end to the fighting. Beijing may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.

“All parties have their responsibility to ensure stable and smooth energy supplies,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a briefing Monday. “China will take necessary measures to safeguard its own energy security.”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Monday of strict penalties for refiners and gas stations caught hoarding or colluding on prices, saying it would be wise to find alternatives to supplies that must travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

Across Southeast Asia, the spike in prices has led to long lines outside filling stations.

“Higher oil and gas prices will affect everyone and our economy,” said Le Van Tu, who was waiting outside a gas station in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. “All activities, including those using petrol based transportation will be affected.”

South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 6% to 5,251.87.

The last time Brent and U.S. crude futures traded near the current level was in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Higher energy costs push inflation higher, straining household budgets and denting the consumer spending that is a main driver of many big economies. Those worries have spilled into financial markets, pulling share prices sharply lower.

In the U.S., the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.48 as of early Monday, up nearly 50 cents from a week earlier, according to AAA motor club. Diesel, used heavily in shipping, sold for about $4.66 a gallon, a weekly increase of more than 80 cents.

The price of natural gas in the U.S. also has climbed during the war, though not by as much as oil. It was selling for about $3.34 per 1,000 cubic feet early Monday. That’s up from Friday’s closing price of $3.19.

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This story has been corrected to show that the Israel-U.S. attacks on Iran started Feb. 28, not March 1.

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Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. Associated Press journalist John Leicester contributed from Paris.

The hit BBC show is taking a break after 15 series, but fans can expect more from the drama.

Call the Midwife won the best family drama gong for a 10th consecutive year at the TV Choice Awards last year.

What happens with Call the Midwife now?

While fans have said goodbye after the series 15 finale, it’s not completely over for the show.

That’s because a film and prequel TV series set during the Second World War are being made, according to the BBC.

This means fans will see a pause in the show rather than it being axed altogether.

Speaking to the Radio Times this month, Helen George, who has starred in the show since the first series, said: “It is just a pause, because we know it’s coming back.

“But it won’t be the same, with different characters leaving and whatever.”

Call the Midwife fans ’emotional’ as BBC series takes a break

As the final episode aired last night, the official Call the Midwife Instagram account posted a goodbye from Nonnatus House.

It said: “Nonnatus House may have closed its doors for now, but don’t despair!

“Call the Midwife returns with a new prequel series later in the year! xxx ❤️❤️❤️”.

Fans were quick to share their thoughts on the final episode with one saying: “Amazing episode but I am totally bereft.

“15 years of my life – my children have grown up with it.

Top 10 best British TV series

“Going to have to start from the beginning again!”

Another commented: “What a wonderful episode-it contained a bit of everything that makes the show great!

“I’m so looking forward to the prequel series-I’d love it to tell the stories of the nuns in their younger days!💖”

This person said: “I cried so much 😢 so sad but so beautifully done.

“Anyone else think that Rosalind and Cyril will have a baby girl and they will call her Pearl? X”

Another fan shared: “Excellent finale . Acting of the very highest standard . Sunday night’s will never be the same .👏👏👏👏”

Who is your favourite Call the Midwife character? Let us know in the comments.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets shuddered worldwide Monday on worries about whether the global economy can withstand spiking prices for oil, which briefly got to nearly $120 per barrel, their highest level since four summers ago.

The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, coming off its worst week since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 721 points, or 1.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower. That followed even worse losses in European and Asian stock markets.

Since the war with Iran began with attacks by the United States and Israel, the central worry for financial markets has been how high oil prices will go because of it and how long they will stay there. Early Monday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, briefly touched $119.50. It hasn’t been that expensive since the summer after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, another military conflict that likewise raised the risk for blockages in the global flow of oil.

If oil prices stay very high for very long, households’ budgets that are already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure. Companies, meanwhile, would see their own bills jump for fuel and to stock items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses. It all raises the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the global economy “stagflation,” where growth stagnates and inflation remains high.

To be sure, oil prices pared their huge gains Monday following talk that some of the world’s largest economies could coordinate a response to the spiking price of oil. A barrel of Brent crude pulled back to $101.76, though that’s still up 9.8% from Friday.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, jumped 9.6% to $99.59 after briefly spiking as high as $119.48.

The U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly from past military conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as long as oil prices don’t stay too high for too long. And for all of the recent swings in the market, the S&P 500 index that sits at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is still within 5% of its record set in January.

That has some professional investors suggesting drops in prices for stocks could ultimately offer opportunities to buy them at cheaper levels before they rise again.

“We continue to believe that the current acute shortage of oil will be reversed in the coming months as new supply comes online and oil should drop significantly,” according to Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

All that hinges, though, on the flow of oil returning toward normal. At the moment, it’s far from that.

Consider the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that a fifth of the world’s oil sails through on a typical day. Now, tanker traffic has all but stopped because of worries about a possible attack by Iran.

If the strait remains closed for only a few weeks, the price of oil could push to $150 per barrel of higher, according to oil and gas strategists at Macquarie Research.

“Although we are not attempting to predict how long Hormuz transit will be substantially or completely curtailed, we are growing more confident that without an agreement and a fast cessation of all kinetic activity, the crude market will begin to break in days, and not in weeks or months,” the strategists led by Vikas Dwivedi wrote in a report.

The most immediate pain on Wall Street is hitting companies that have already big fuel bills.

Carnival lost 7.3% because it has to fill huge cruise ships with fuel. United Airlines sank 6.9%, and Old Dominion Freight fell 3.8%.

Retailers who have to ship in products from far away, while also needing their customers to have enough budget space leftover after gasoline to spend, also struggled. Best Buy fell 4.4%, and Williams-Sonoma dropped 4%.

In stock markets abroad, where economies are more dependent on the import of oil and natural gas, stocks fell even more. South Korea’s Kospi sank 6%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 5.2% and France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.7%.

A Chinese special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, called for an end to the attacks and said strikes on non-military targets and civilians should be condemned. Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned against hoarding, panic buying and collusion between refiners and gas stations.

Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Bahrain accused Iran of hitting one of the desalination plants that are crucial for drinking water in Gulf countries. Its national oil company declared force majeure after the country’s sole oil refinery was attacked. Israel struck oil depots in Tehran, sending up thick smoke and causing environmental alerts.

President Donald Trump said late Sunday that high oil prices at the moment are worth the cost.

“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” he said in a posting on his social media network.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.15%, where it was late Friday.

Worries about high inflation and oil prices are pushing upward on Treasury yields. But worries about a potentially slowing economy are pulling downward at the same time.

Worries about possible stagflation worsened Friday following a surprisingly weak report on the U.S. job market showing that employers cut more jobs last month than they added.

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AP Writers Matt Ott, Kim Tong-hyung and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Paul Quinn, 51, in on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of raping the woman, then in her 30s, off an isolated motorway embankment between Little Hulton and Farnworth in 2003.

The jury were told how innocent security guard Andrew Malkinson was arrested, convicted and jailed for 17 years for a crime the prosecution say he had no part in, while Quinn went undetected for years.

Giving evidence as the trial returned this week the alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that at the trial back in 2004 she was unsure she had the right man.

But she said an authority figure she described as “higher than a policeman” told her that this was “trial nerves”.

The woman said: “I said that I wasn’t sure it was the right man and they said it was trial nerves, a lot of people think this.”

The prosecution say Andrew Malkinson was wrongly jailed for 17 years (Image: GMP)

Quinn looked on from the dock as the woman said that during the trial that convicted Mr Malkinson back in 2004 she had been “naïve” and “scared”.

Pressed by Lisa Wilding KC who had told her that her doubts about having the right man were “nerves” and if he had been a police officer, the woman said he was “higher than a policeman”

But she said she could not remember who it was who had told her this.

The woman said: “At one of the trials I said I wasn’t too sure that I’d got the right man and they said don’t worry it’s just trial nerves.”

She added that before the trial she had not seen the “gentleman in the glasses on and I think that threw me a bit”.

Ms Wilding suggested that the woman had in fact been sure that this was the man who attacker her.

The trial opened at Manchester Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

She said: “I suggest that you did say this because you were 100 per cent sure that the man you had picked out of the line up was the man who attacked you.”

Ms Wilding said that at no stage did the woman go to the police to say she was concerned she had got the wrong man, instead they eventually came to her.

The trial heard how after the horrifying attack near Cleggs Lane, the man had described her attacker as “looking like a Gipsy” with dark, wavy hair, olive skin and a muscular body.

Cross examined by Ms Wilding, the woman said the man’s skin was “more like sunburned than olive”.

She said the man’s accent had sounded local to Bolton but with “something else there that wasn’t, I don’t know how to describe it”.

The woman said she believed that the man had brown eyes but that she could not see properly because it had been dark after the attack happened.

She said during the attack she had scratched the left side of her assailants face which she “hoped” would have left a mark”.

Quinn, of Whipton Barton Road, Exeter, denies two counts of rape, one count of attempt to strangle, and one count of assault, intending to cause grievous bodily harm.

The trial, before Mr Justice Robert Bright, continues.

Flights between the two cities had been cancelled for seven days following the US and Israel’s military operation against Iran which was launched on Saturday, February 28.

Emirates has said services between Dubai and the UK will gradually resume, including flights to and from Newcastle.

The first flight from Newcastle to the UAE, EK36, took off on Friday, March 6, the first for seven days.

The flight also went ahead on Sunday (March 8) today (Monday, March 9).

On its website, Emirates said: “Following the partial re-opening of regional airspace, Emirates is operating a reduced flight schedule.

“Customers can check the flight schedule for upcoming flights, as well as book seats to travel.

“Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating. Please do not go to the airport unless you hold a confirmed booking for these flights.

“Emirates continues to monitor the situation, and we will develop our operational schedule accordingly.

“Customers are advised to check flight status, review the latest operational updates on emirates.com, and check their email for any notifications about changes or cancellations to their flights before travelling to the airport.

“The safety and security of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority, and will not be compromised.”

The airline also said customers booked to travel between Saturday, February 28 and Tuesday, March 31 can either rebook on an alternate flight or request a refund.

Passengers were left stranded with flights diverted and cancelled after the US launched missile strikes on Iran which killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .

A Darlington family previously described the terrifying moment three missiles were “shot down” from the sky above them as they were lounging by the pool.

Retaliatory strikes by the Iranian regime ensued, and shrapnel from one on the UAE killed one person, state media said, and debris from aerial interceptions caused fires at the city’s main port and on the facade of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.

Hundreds of thousands of British nationals are believed to be present in the Gulf, and those in Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office.

A bunch of New Jersey Girl Scouts upset senior leaders recently by teaming up with a local weed dispensary to sell their world-famous cookies — but before they got shut down, the effort seems to have really paid off.

Last month, an unidentified troop sold cookies outside Daylite Dispensary in Mount Laurel as a trial run, according to store owner Steve Cassidy, after the idea had been rejected by the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey last year.

Cassidy said the girls’ effort was a success, which he attributed, in no small part, to the “munchies” that use of cannabis generally induces. But senior Girl Scout leadership was reportedly unhappy with the move, he told The Independent Thursday.

“It was about community,” Cassidy said. “If that means the local Girl Scout troop got in trouble, that is absolutely not what we wanted.”

“I think they were very pleased with the amount of cookies they sold that day. I didn’t get a true count on how many boxes of cookies they sold, but I believe it was a lot,” Cassidy told News12. “A lot was sold to our staff members as well, but the feedback from our customers was overwhelmingly positive.”

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It’s unclear whether the troop returned for a second scheduled sale that had been organized for Friday evening.

The Independent had no reply from attempts to contact the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey, as well as Girl Scouts headquarters for comment.

In a statement to News 12, the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey said: “Girl Scouts can set up booths outside of businesses that they would be able to enter and purchase something.”

Troops across the United States have long set up booths in spots where they expect high footfall or a particularly cookie-hungry clientele – from shooting ranges to marijuana shops and college-town bars. But where they are allowed to sell appears to vary, from state to state.

An undated Cookie Booth Essentials guide on the Girl Scouts’ website echoes what the regional chapter told News 12: troops shouldn’t sell cookies in or directly outside establishments where they aren’t legally allowed to enter.

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Girl Scouts have been selling cookies to fund troop activities and teach entrepreneurship since 1917. While door-to-door sales were the original approach, booths outside supermarkets and grocery stores soon became a familiar sight. Nowadays, many Scouts also accept credit cards and digital payments through apps like Venmo.

Reports of selling Girl Scout cookies at cannabis dispensaries is nothing new, especially on the West Coast. In 2018, an unnamed Girl Scout sold more than 300 boxes in six hours outside Urbn Leaf, a San Diego dispensary, with the store promoting her sale in a now-deleted Instagram post, KGTV reported.

In 2014, a 13-year-old in San Francisco sold 117 boxes in just two hours outside a medical marijuana clinic, according to a report in Mashable.

That same year, some Girl Scout councils, including Colorado, restricted sales near dispensaries, bars, and liquor stores.

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“If you are wondering, we don’t allow our Girl Scouts to sell cookies in front of marijuana shops or liquor stores/bars,” the organization’s Colorado branch tweeted at the time, KGTV reports.

In 2018, AnneMarie Harper, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Colorado, told the New York Times that those restrictions had been eased, but Scouts in the state still need to get approval for booth locations to ensure safety and legal compliance.

“Back then it was a blanket: ‘No, you may not,’” Harper said. “Now, it’s more of: ‘Come to us, tell us where you want to be and what you want to do,’ making sure we’re checking off all of the safety guidelines.”

At the time, Harper said that while some Girl Scouts had sold cookies near breweries, she was unaware of attempts to set up booths outside legal marijuana dispensaries.

“We really want girls to be cookie entrepreneurs, to find new and creative ways to reach customers,” she said.

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Even amid some controversies, Girl Scouts have found inventive ways to sell their cookies. In a February 2023 Reddit forum, one user said they have seen both Girl and Boy Scouts selling cookies at a local gun store or range.

Around the same time, seven-year-old Girl Scout Siena and her family hit the streets of West Hollywood, a neighborhood famous for its lively LGBTQ community, and sold out their entire inventory twice, with enthusiastic support from drag queens and patrons of local gay bars,Yahoo reported.

Online cookie sales began in December 2014 with the launch of the “Digital Cookie” platform, allowing Scouts to sell through personalized websites, apps and email links. The platform was designed to teach modern entrepreneurship while maintaining in-person sales, according to the organization’s website.

More than a decade later, Girl Scouts are now using social media to expand their reach. Last month, six-year-old Pim Neill of Pittsburgh went viral on TikTok, selling some 121,500 boxes of cookies to set a new record in Pennsylvania.

There are some things in life that money can’t buy – but a good night’s sleep isn’t necessarily one of them. When sirens, traffic and loud neighbours disrupt your bedtime peace, the best white noise machines can block out the racket with a steady sound of their own. From the fuzz of a de-tuned radio to the replicated drone of an industrial fan, these little gadgets emit white noise sounds to help you drift off to dreamland.

“White noise contains all frequencies of sound at the same volume, like static,” explains Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist and neuroscientist at Trouble Sleeping and author of Navigating Sleeplessness with a doctorate in insomnia from the University of Oxford. “It can be quite unpleasant to listen to, so there are other options including green, brown and pink noise that have quieter high frequencies.”

You can read more about the different types of white noise, along with expert advice from Dr Browning, in the FAQ section below. First though, here’s a quick look at my top five:

The best white noise machines: At a glance

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How to choose the best white noise machine

Noise machines vary from little portable powerhouses that throw out a handful of fan sounds to complex and expensive wired “companions” that connect to your phone and train you in sleep-related habits, like meditation and mindfulness. As a result, they range greatly in price too. Some are aimed specifically at calming children, with long battery life and baby-proof clips for cots. Others are good for adults, thanks to more sophisticated designs and diverse audio options. Ultimately, you need to pick one which suits your specific circumstances.

For those with snoring partners, busy houses, noisy neighbours or who are disturbed by traffic and street commotion, white noise machines can work brilliantly to help you get to sleep. However, Dr Browning says it’s important to address why you’re struggling to sleep before you commit to buying a machine. She says, “I also help people with insomnia. For someone who can’t sleep because of stress, anxiety a busy brain or an overactive mind, a white noise machine is not at the top of the list of things I’d recommend.”

How we test white noise machines

Four people were injured during the fight

Two people have been taken to hospital after a fight broke out at a Cambridgeshire village pub. Cambridgeshire Police were called to a pub in Stilton at around 8pm on Sunday, March 8.

A number of people were involved in the fight. Four people were injured during the incident.

Two people sustained “serious injuries”. They were taken to hospital by ambulance.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Police were called shortly after 8pm last night to a report of a pub fight in Stilton.

“A number of people were involved and four people were injured of which two sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital by ambulance.

“No-one has currently been arrested.”

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The iPhone 17e has the same single rear camera as the iPhone 16e and the iPhone Air, but it’s a great snapper with excellent results in all lighting conditions.

Low-light images were sharp, while images under preferred lighting conditions delivered plenty of detail and excellent colour accuracy. From the single sensor, you can get an equivalent 2x zoom, too, and while it’s not the 8x zoom of the iPhone 17 Pro, it’s great for close-ups of your pets.

The iPhone 17e also includes what Apple calls ‘next generation portraits’, and that applies to both the front and rear cameras. This feature allows you to adjust both focus and depth control after you’ve taken a shot, so if you want to add background blur to a picture of your dog after the fact, you can, and it works well.

The one complaint I do have, however, is that the iPhone 17e lacks Apple’s new ‘Centre Stage’ front camera that launched on the other iPhone 17 models. It’s an 18-megapixel square sensor that allows you to switch between portrait and landscape selfies without rotating the phone, but the iPhone 17e retains the same 12-megapixel front camera as the iPhone 16e.

It still takes a decent image, and if Apple added all the good stuff to this entry-level model, it would make the iPhone 17 redundant, but it’s still a shame not to see it here.

I’ve compared the iPhone 17e to the iPhone 17 to help you see what you get for the extra £200 in terms of specifications. Here is how the two compare, on paper.