LiveTrump says US operation to reopen Strait of Hormuz ‘paused’ in bid to reach deal with Iran
09:00
Chinese truck drivers are going electric as gas prices soar
As electric car sales soften in China after years of breakneck growth, electric trucks are taking off, with the emerging industry expected to get a boost from the Iran war.
At the recent Beijing auto show, a hulking silver electric truck towered over the showroom of passenger cars advertised at discount prices.
Electric trucks, like the battery-powered model offered by GAC Lingcheng New Energy Commercial Vehicle, now make up 20 per cent of the overall segment after sales tripled in 2025. Monthly sales doubled in March to more than 24,000, according to Bloomberg calculations.
While battery-powered big rigs remain more expensive than mainstream diesel models, Beijing has extended trade-in subsidies through the end of 2026.
PHOTO: AFP
08:30
US renews call on Japan, other allies to help reopen Strait of Hormuz
The United States on Tuesday renewed its call on Japan, South Korea and other allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a fresh spike in Middle East tensions after US President Donald Trump’s new initiative to break Iran’s chokehold on the key trade passage began this week.
“We hope South Korea would step up, just like we hope Japan would step up, just like we hope Australia would step up, just like we hope Europe steps up,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon.
The US mission, dubbed Project Freedom, began on Monday to help guide stranded commercial ships through the narrow shipping route.
However, only two US-flagged merchant vessels are known to have successfully transited the waterway with military escorts under the initiative.
PHOTO: REUTERS
07:46
Crude futures fall after Trump announces 'pause' in strait reopening
US crude futures fell US$2.30 to below US$100 per barrel after US President Donald Trump ‘paused’ the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate dropped towards US$100 a barrel, after sliding 3.9 per cent on Tuesday, while Brent closed near US$110.
Brent crude has climbed by more than 50 per cent since the conflict started at the end of February, cutting off hundreds of millions of barrels of Persian Gulf oil from global markets. Flows through the chokepoint are now constrained by a double blockade, with Tehran obstructing shipping while the US is stopping vessels from accessing Iranian ports.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House that “Operation Epic Fury is concluded,” 66 days after the US and Israel began bombing Iran. “We achieved the objectives of that operation,” he said.
07:16
Trump says operation to reopen Strait of Hormuz will be 'paused'
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was halting the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after just one day, in a bid to reach a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war.
“Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM REALDONALDTRUMP/TRUTH SOCIAL
06:45
The situation so far
US officials sought to maintain a shaky ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday while pushing forward an operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as US ally the United Arab Emirates said it suffered a new wave of Iranian missile and drone strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterised the effort to escort stranded tankers through the strait as defensive in nature, one day after the US military said it had destroyed several Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones.
“There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first,” Mr Rubio told reporters at the White House.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US had successfully secured a path through the waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through. The four-week-old truce with Iran was not over, he added.
Shortly after Mr Hegseth spoke, the UAE’s defence ministry said its air defences were again dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, though Iran’s joint military command denied carrying out attacks.
Here are the other latest developments:
- Mr Rubio said on Tuesday that peace between Israel and Lebanon was achievable but that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was a problem.
- US President Donald Trump dismissed Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so. He told reporters that Iran’s military has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and that Tehran privately wants to make a deal despite its public sabre-rattling.
- Israel’s new air force chief Major General Omer Tischler said that the country was prepared to deploy its entire fleet of fighter jets against Iran if necessary.
- Mr Rubio said 10 civilian sailors have died as “isolated, starving and vulnerable” due to the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.
