House GOP urges Trump to choke off Iran ally's oil profits as Middle East turmoil spikes US gas prices House Republicans are urging President Trump to block profits from a major Russian oil company as Iran turmoil pushes gas prices higher across the U.S.

Some in the GOP have been pushing to take over Lukoil oil and gas assets

www.foxnews.com/politics/hou...

Koalas show how species can bounce back from genetic dead ends Scientists have discovered a potential path out of devastating genetic bottlenecks that could help these Australian animals, as well as many other vulnerable and endangered species

Koalas show how species can bounce back from genetic dead ends. Via @scientific_american #Conservation #WildLife #Zoology #Nature 🐨 #Science 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬

1. Fish and chips on a rainy night
2. The dignified way a Tawny Frogmouth sleeps
3. The Teen chuckling at Sam Cotton videos

The Obvious Is Taking Its Revenge on Trump The reasons other U.S. presidents avoided war with Iran are becoming all too evident.

"By trumpeting unachievable objectives—unconditional surrender, regime change—as his war aims, Trump has given his enemies the opportunity to claim survival as victory. He’s left with no end point to a “short-term excursion.” - Frank Foer

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Speaking of skills. Thought you’d get a dark laugh out of this one

bsky.app/profile/juli...

“Meloni now joins EU leaders including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in criticizing — with varying degrees of vigorousness — the strikes against Iran”

Iran retaining significant launch capabilities, if that is the case, makes doing things like mine clearance in the Strait of Hormuz potentially much more difficult. The missile problem and the mine problem are potentially interconnected and greater than the sum of their parts.

U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says

BREAKING NYT:

An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/u...

47/ US military experts have been studying this question for decades. Read Prof Talmadge assessment of how difficult it would be to force open Hormuz as a military matter given Iranian capbilities.
Paper www.caitlintalmadge.com/uploads/8/5/...
Thread
bsky.app/profile/prof...

BREAKING: We've now been able to confirm 13.7 million barrels of Iranian crude oil exports since 2026-02-28; with the latest 2MB currently heading to China via the SoH. Multiple VLCC's are still loading crude oil at Kharg per today's satellite imagery.

#OOTT #Tankers #Iran

Scientists warn axing CSIRO jobs will harm climate change response Scientists are calling on the Australian government to push back on a plan to scrap hundreds of jobs at the nation's science agency, as they await the release of further details this week.

It's going to be a difficult week for many of Australia's climate researchers. 🧪

I'll say more once the details of the proposed cuts are known but it's looking like Australia is going to heavily reduce our climate science capacity and capabilities.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Where American support for Trump’s Iran strikes stand as new polls roll in Most but not all of the latest national polls indicate majority opposition to the U.S. military strikes President Donald Trump ordered against Iran in Operation Epic Fury.

If he puts boots on the ground…

“Nearly three quarters of voters opposed sending U.S. ground troops into Iran, including 95% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 52% of Republicans” www.foxnews.com/politics/whe...

Where American support for Trump’s Iran strike stands as new polls roll in Most but not all of the latest national polls indicate majority opposition to the U.S. military strikes President Donald Trump ordered against Iran in Operation Epic Fury.

“The Quinnipiac poll joins other recent surveys from NPR/PBS/Marist (44%–55%), CBS News (44%–56%), NBC News (41%–54%), Washington Post (39%–52%), CNN (41%–59%), and Reuters/Ipsos (27%–43%), in indicating minority support for U.S. military action”

www.foxnews.com/politics/whe...

2/ Thusly a new generation of founders rediscovers fire: the data they route is more valuable than fees they get for routing it.

Spoiler: Your ISP discovered this. And now sells your data. Financial services companies discovered this. And now sell your data.

AI middleware companies are next.

A key feature of complex adaptive systems is that they require disturbances to adapt and usually major shocks in order to transform to a qualitatively different and more desirable system state.

Gulf Oil War 3 may make us transform energy systems to renewables based. It could be a good outcome.

MSC announces multiple surcharges across global routes - Container News MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company announced a series of rate increases and surcharges across multiple trade routes.

That's going to hurt. We're focusing on tankers but don't forget around 80% of fresh produce for the Gulf region comes from containerships from Asia/Europe. CEO from logistics company Kuehne+Nagel predicts Dubai will run out of fresh produce middle of March. container-news.com/msc-announce...

Iran war fallout grows as China struggles to import vital fertiliser chemical Supplies of sulphur – a key fertiliser ingredient – are tightening in China just as the spring planting season begins.

“China relies on imports for 47 per cent of its sulphur supply, according to a December report by Guosen Securities. More than half of those imports come from six Persian Gulf nations, which ship goods through the Strait of Hormuz to reach international markets”

www.scmp.com/economy/chin...

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

How targeting of desalination plants could disrupt water supply in the Gulf The military targeting of desalination plants poses a huge risk to water security in the water-scarce Gulf region.

“About 42 percent of the UAE’s drinking water comes from desalination plants, while that figure is 90 percent in Kuwait, 86 percent in Oman, and 70 percent in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia also produces more desalinated water than any other country”
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/...

Hostilities will have serious repercussions for region’s security and stability: Sayyid Badr Oman takes part in ministerial meeting of the Arab League Council

“To achieve this he also emphasised the importance of using the language of truth and adhering to human values ​​and principles as the foundation of Arab positions in confronting injustice and aggression…, even if it comes from a friendly or allied party”

timesofoman.com//article/169...

Delhi Records 35°C in First Week of March, Highest in 50 Years; IMD Alerts 7 States Including UP Clear skies and lack of weather systems contribute to this trend. Residents are advised to take precautions against heat.

“Weather experts say most parts of North and Central India are witnessing warmer-than-usual conditions, with temperatures in several places rising well above the normal range for this time of year”

www.republicworld.com/india/delhi-...

Tanker Trackers have a good pic of the drop

bsky.app/profile/tank...

As pointed out yesterday, #Iran is currently loading 2 million barrels of crude oil south of the Strait of Hormuz (SoSoH) at the Jask Oil & Gas Terminal in Kooh Mobarak. Mind you, this is only their 5th loading there in as many years.

Journalists, kindly cite us as TankerTrackers.com

kthxbye,
/TT

Tehran plunged into midday blackout from Israeli strikes on oil depots The strikes unleashed toxic black smoke from raging fires, blocking out the sun and enveloping the city in a dense cloud on Sunday morning.

Tehran plunged into midday blackout from Israeli strikes on oil depots

Will higher fuel prices drive EV uptake? We crunched the numbers As deepening conflict in the Middle East causes fuel prices to rise, will EVs boom? We've compared operating costs to see how they compare to petrol cars.

“A sustained 30–50 cent increase in the cost of petrol could increase EV uptake by 10 per cent, according to modelling by JET Charge”

www.abc.net.au/news/science...

Iranian foreign minister condemns US attack on freshwater desalination plant <article data-history-node-id="435062" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/iranian-foreign-minister-condemns-us-attack-freshwater-desalination" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/iranian-foreign-minister-condemns-us-attack-freshwater-desalination" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Iranian foreign minister condemns US attack on freshwater desalination plant</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday condemned the US attack on Iran's&nbsp;freshwater desalination plant and warned Washington of "grave consequences."</p> <p>"The US committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted," he said.</p> <p>"Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The US set this precedent, not Iran."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The U.S. committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted.<br> <br> Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.</p> — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) <a href="https://twitter.com/araghchi/status/2030285674528616916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div> </div> </article>

Iranian foreign minister condemns US attack on freshwater desalination plant - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/iranian-foreign-minister-condemns-us-attack-freshwater-desalination

“OpenAI needs to generate $200bn in annual revenue by 2030 to justify their projections. That’s 15x growth in five years while costs keep exploding,”

“One of the great weaknesses of our era is that we get lone superhero movies that suggest that our big problems are solved by muscly guys in spandex, when actually the world mostly gets changed through collective effort”

That is hilarious. Up there with chopper-gate.