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US renews Russian oil waiver after pressure from countries dealing with Iran war price shocks

The Trump administration on Saturday renewed a waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for about a month, even as lawmakers accused the government of going easy on Moscow as its war on Ukraine grinds on. The United States Treasury Department’s waiver lets countries purchase Russian oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of Friday through May 16. It replaces a 30-day waiver that expired on April 11 and excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea. The move is part of the administration’s effort to control global energy prices that have shot higher during the US-Israeli war with Iran. It came after countries in Asia, suffering from the global energy shock, pressed Washington to allow alternative supplies to reach markets. Reversal by treasury “As negotiations (with Iran) accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure oil is available to those who need it,” a Treasury Department spokesperson said. Just two days earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Be...
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PM Shehbaz discusses global, regional issues during tri-nation tour

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed efforts to strengthen relations with brotherly countries, Pakistan’s role in promoting regional peace, and the evolving regional and global situation during his tri-nation tour, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Saturday. The PMO statement was issued as the premier departed on his flight back home from Antalya after concluding his diplomatic visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye. According to the PMO, the prime minister and the Pakistani delegation were seen off at Antalya Airport by Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Ambassador Tolga Bermek, Ambassador Nilufer Kaygisiz, parliament member Burhan Kayaturk, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkiye Dr Yousuf Junaid. “The prime minister’s three-day tour included visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye, where he held meetings with the leadership of all three brotherly countries, as well as with other world leaders participating in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum ,” the sta...
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Sarfaraz named Pakistan’s Test coach for Bangladesh series in May

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been appointed as head coach for the two-match Test series in Bangladesh next month, the Pakistan Sports Board (PCB) said on Saturday. The first of the two matches – part of the ICC World Test Championship — will be played at Sher-i-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka from May 8 to 12, while Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will host the second Test, which will be played from May 16 to 20. Sarfaraz, who led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017, has worked with the under-19 team as well as Pakistan Shaheens after his retirement . Since Australian Jason Gillespie quit as Pakistan’s red-ball coach in December 2024, Aaqib Javed and Azhar Mahmood temporarily guided the team led by Shan Masood, who will continue as captain in Bangladesh. Pakistan have named four uncapped players — Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori — to their 16-member squad for the Bangladesh series starting in Dhaka on May 8. Sarfar...
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Necropolitics and the manufacture of indifference in Iran and beyond

Ancient maps are often labelled with a warning: “Hic Sunt Dracones”* (here be dragons), marking the point where civilisation ended, and the unknown began. Today, we have updated the legend for a colder, more administrative age: “Here be collateral damage.” The modern cartography of power trades the dragon for the statistic. And human loss is codified as a necessary friction of a global machine. This logic does not remain confined to maps or language; it settles into terrain. The geographic transition from the Anatolian heights in Turkiye to the scorched arteries of the Levant and the sub-Saharan corridors marks the threshold of a profound moral silence. In this landscape, faces dissolve into grainy wide-shots of a crowd, dubbed over with the dry, percussive phrase of “regional volatility”, where deaths are merely the ticking of a metronome: expected, rhythmic, and, eventually, ignored. The value of human life is determined by its proximity to the centres of Western hegemony. Peerin...
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As commodities reshape geopolitics, currency pecking order gets a reset

The war in the Middle East is the latest reminder of how commodities are reshaping the geopolitical landscape, leaving currencies from Norway, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand well placed to outperform larger rivals. These commodity currencies — so called due to their close correlation to the fortunes of their countries’ main export commodities — include two of the best performers among 10 developed market economies: the Norwegian crown and Australian, or Aussie, dollar. Both are up over 7 per cent versus the US dollar for the year so far as the war creates the worst global energy disruption in history with knock-on effects for economies worldwide. And some investors see potential for even bigger gains as an increasingly fragmented global order accelerated by the United States’ go-it-alone shift and the rise of China drives nations to prioritise energy security and secure commodities essential to the AI-buildout and green transition. Via Reuters Manish Kabra, multi-asset st...
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Aurangzeb lauds Beijing’s support for Pakistan’s IMF programme during meeting with Chinese counterpart

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb appreciated China’s support in facilitating Pakistan’s engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, the finance ministry said on Friday. Aurangzeb arrived in the United States on Monday to participate in the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2026, taking place from April 13 to 18 in Washington, DC. The Spring Meetings bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers and development experts from around the world amid ongoing global economic uncertainty. While there, the finance minister held an important meeting with China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on the sidelines of the meetings, the ministry said in a statement on X. During the meeting, he expressed deep appreciation for China’s “long-standing and unwavering bilateral support” to Pakistan, as well as the constructive role played by China’s Executive Director at the International Mo...
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Can Iran legally impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz?

Tehran has sought to tighten its grip over the Strait of Hormuz by charging tolls on vessels to ensure safe passage, in conjunction with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The following explains law governing toll collections and actions that countries opposed to tolls might take. What is the Strait of Hormuz? The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway connecting the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, and is located within Iran’s and Oman’s territorial waters. It is perhaps the world’s most important energy shipping lane. About 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes through it. The waterway is about 104 miles (167 km) long. Its width varies, and at its narrowest point provides 2-mile channels for inbound and outbound shipping, separated by a 2-mile buffer zone. Iran effectively closed the strait following US-Israeli strikes on the country, and has demanded the right to collect tolls as a precondition to ending the war. The status of any toll collections so far could not immediately be co...
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