Oil prices are rising again and Asian stocks are trading lower on skepticism over a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Australia has agreed to underwrite two companies buying fuel at inflated prices, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warning of extended supply disruptions even if the Iran ceasefire holds.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to block the Pentagon from blacklisting artificial intelligence laboratory Anthropic in a decision that differed from the conclusions reached in another judge’s ruling on the same issues.

A group of new accounts on the prediction market Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for those users.

Longtime media executive Jeff Shell is leaving Paramount.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he favors a national ban on online betting platforms, whose revenues in the South American nation are estimated in more than $4 billion per year, one of the biggest markets in the world.

More Federal Reserve policymakers were willing to consider an interest rate hike this year at their March meeting than in January, as higher gas prices stemming from the Iran war threatened to worsen inflation in the coming months.

Southwest Airlines said Wednesday it is raising its checked baggage fees by $10 less than a year after ending its famous “bags fly free” policy.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced plans to tap into unconventional natural gas deposits to reduce reliance on foreign energy.

Exploratory oil drilling off the coast of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is reshaping life in Oiapoque, a small city in the poor state of Amapa that is receiving thousand of migrants looking for work.

Tariff-driven uncertainty, rising costs and tax law changes have prompted many companies to reconsider their strategies.

Exploratory oil drilling off the coast of Brazil's Amazon rainforest are reshaping life in Oiapoque, a small city in the poor state of Amapa that is receiving thousand of migrants looking for work.

Car shoppers looking for a new SUV want to know the model they’re considering will hold its value.

A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based conglomerate started arbitration proceedings against Danish logistics and port group Maersk, accusing the company of aligning with Panama and scheming to replace its port operation on the Central American country’s critical canal.

A ceasefire deal to pause the war in Iran appears to be hanging by a thread after the Islamic Republic closed the Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Oil prices plunged below $95 per barrel, and stock markets surged worldwide after President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat of devastating attacks against Iran.

Travelers will soon face restrictions on how many portable chargers they can carry on a flight as airlines continue to try to reduce the risk of another lithium battery fire aboard their jets.

Delta Air lines is joining a growing list of U.S. carriers raising checked bag fees.

Hundreds of Cuban women have gathered in Havana to decry a U.S. energy embargo and other measures imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump that are strangling the Caribbean island.

Donald Trump Jr. has lashed out at the European Union.

Deere & Co. has agreed to pay $99 million as part of a settlement that would resolve a class action lawsuit accusing the farm equipment giant of monopolizing repair services.

Scam compounds have mushroomed across Southeast Asia since the pandemic.

Russia and China have vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

New research reveals that financial gains for many Black-led nonprofits after George Floyd’s murder were short-lived.

Activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management is offering to purchase Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny’s music label, Universal Music Group, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $64 billion.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has maintained his innocence on conspiracy charges in an appeal hearing in Paris.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulls back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran, swerving to deescalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate.

A Utah court commissioner says Taylor Frankie Paul, star of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” can't have unsupervised time with her 2-year-old son.

Oil prices plunged below $100 a barrel and Asia markets and U.S. stock futures jumped after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

As sponsors pull out from London’s Wireless Festival over headliner Ye, its organizer is standing by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Two risks for retirement spending: unanticipated early retirement and big long-term care outlays at the end of life.

A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warns that a resilient U.S. economy could face renewed inflation pressures if the war in Iran disrupts global energy markets.

Samsung is saying goodbye its namesake texting app, at least for United States customers.

The Associated Press says it will offer buyouts to an unspecified number of its U.S.-based journalists as part of an acceleration away from the focus on newspapers and their print journalism that sustained the company for more than 1½ centuries.

Matthew Shifrin loved building Lego sets as a child.

Skyrocketing power demand from massive data centers and rising household electric bills are injecting a wave of attention into who is getting elected to watch over electric utilities.

President Donald Trump has expanded his threat against Iran to include all power plants and bridges as his Tuesday ultimatum approaches.

Women suffering through the hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems that can come with menopause — all while looking in the mirror and noticing signs of aging — are being bombarded with products.

The U.S. stock market drifted higher in tentative trading ahead of a deadline President Donald Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants.

Screenwriters and Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal after a few weeks of negotiation.

Workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants plan to return to work next week and halt a three-week strike to resume negotiations with the plant's owner.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has praised police after the arrest of alleged organized crime boss Roberto Mazzarella.

Authorities in Bangladesh say five people have died in a fire that broke out at a factory manufacturing gas lighters near Bangladesh’s capital.

The economic fallout from the war with Iran is driving up the cost of buying a home, even as other housing market trends in many parts of the country favor home shoppers this spring.

Finance ministers from five European Union member states are urging the bloc to introduce a windfall tax on energy companies as surging oil and gas prices raise inflation fears.

U_S_ President Donald Trump has again warned Tehran over his Monday deadline to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and allow ship traffic to flow again, and Iran has responded by threatening to open “the gates of hell.”.

The Trump administration said Friday it is rejoining two agencies that were split up in the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

United Airlines is raising checked bag fees starting Friday.

A California producer of raw milk and cheese products is recalling some of its products under pressure from federal officials.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, sharpening a longtime legal dispute between the southern Nevada newspapers.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been holding a series of “rental rip-off hearings” for disgruntled tenants to air their complaints about bad landlords.

Two U.S. military planes were shot down in separate incidents on Friday, escalating tensions in the ongoing conflict.

U.S. futures were trading modestly lower following surprisingly strong jobs data from the federal government.

President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs.

Amazon is slapping a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on third-party sellers that sell on its platform starting later this month amid a spike in fuel prices since the war in Iran.

The federal government is suing Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, challenging their efforts to regulate prediction market operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket.

Federal officials have arrested eight people they say were involved in various health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in and around Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could slap long-threatened pharmaceutical tariffs of up to 100% on some patented drugs from companies that don’t reach deals with his administration in the coming months.

How to increase wealth without the IRS taking a penny.

A drone maker backed by President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons is trying to win contracts with Gulf countries under threat by Iran and protected by the U.S. military led by their father.

The Trump administration has scaled back its plans to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February.

A growing number of Americans have “unretired” in recent years.

The Trump administration is appealing a judge’s order blocking the federal government from taking punitive measures against artificial intelligence company Anthropic after a dispute with the Pentagon over military use of AI.

Russia plans to send a second oil tanker to Cuba, according to Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilyov.

As “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” lands in theaters, coloring stations, collectible popcorn containers and mascot Marios are all in place to entice arguably the most prized moviegoers to Hollywood today.

Sales of Tesla vehicles rose in the last three months after a brutal year of boycotts over Elon Musk’s politics but still fell short of expectations.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain sparse despite a softening labor market and rising energy costs due to the Iran war.

McDonald’s is simplifying its value menu strategy.

U.S. gas prices are climbing fast, and drivers are paying the highest pump prices since 2022 as the Iran war shakes oil markets.

There has been little sign Friday of the war in the Mideast winding down as Israel says it faced incoming fire from Iran, and Kuwait and Bahrain also reported being under attack.

Expanding electricity access is transforming lives across Africa, from Nairobi’s informal settlements to rural fishing communities in western Kenya.

Britain has accused Iran of holding the global economy hostage as diplomats from over 40 countries discuss ways to press Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Stocks overcame early losses to finish with slim gains and close out their first winning week since the start of the Iran war.

The criminal trial of a former congressman is offering a glimpse into the prehistory of the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Elon Musk’s space exploration company has filed preliminary paperwork to sell shares to the public, according to two sources familiar with the filing, a blockbuster offering that is likely to rank as the biggest ever and make its founder the world’s first trillionaire.

An activist ship operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation struck a Norwegian krill trawler in Antarctic waters, raising accusations by its owner that it amounted to a “terroristic attack” against legal fishing activities.

Hershey said Wednesday it will use classic recipes for all Reese’s products starting next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Japan.

Pollution levels in Iowa's water have been abnormally high this winter.

Used electric vehicles can still be found at a bargain price, regardless of the federal tax credit.

Global leaders have been scrambling to contain the rising cost of oil and gasoline since the start of the Iran war.

President Donald Trump says U_S_ forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”.

A quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan shows business sentiment among major Japanese manufacturers improved slightly.

Advocacy groups and experts have slammed YouTube for serving up low-quality artificial intelligence-generated videos to its most vulnerable audience: children.

Stocks rushed higher worldwide, and oil prices eased as hopes built that the war with Iran could end soon.

A federal judge ruled against conservation groups in their efforts to block a proposed lithium-boron mining project in Nevada.

Environmentalist groups say Mexico’s government lied about the origins of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, accusations authorities promptly denied.

Travelers should expect delays when they fly through San Francisco International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration this week cut a third of its arrivals because of safety concerns and runway construction.

In a story published March 31, 2026, The Associated Press reported on a trademark infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift.

A federal appeals court in the United States has denied a request to reopen a criminal case against Boeing tied to two fatal crashes of 737 Max jets.

South Africans have rushed to buy fuel as the country braces for record price hikes tied to the US-Iran-Israel conflict.

After meandering for a couple of months, financial markets endured numerous frenzied swings during March as the war in Iran raged.

U.S. carrier JetBlue has raised its checked bag fees by as much as $9 as the war in the Middle East disrupts global oil supplies.

Haiti’s government says it is implementing new austerity measures as the war in Iran disrupts critical oil supplies and drives up prices worldwide.

The European Union's energy commissioner says skyrocketing oil and gas prices in Europe as a result of the ongoing Iran war won’t return to normal levels any time soon, even if peace is declared tomorrow.

In a new lawsuit, one of the first three women to officiate an NFL game describes her three years at the pinnacle of her profession as a descent into the grip of a sexist institution unable to treat a woman as an equal.

A federal judge has agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

Public hearings on proposed constitutional amendments in Zimbabwe have turned chaotic and violent.