Oil jumps above $100 as US to blockade Iranian ports after peace talks fail

Reuters Some birds fly past a large vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, on 12 April Reuters
A ship at the Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices rose back above $100 a barrel as energy markets reopened in Asia on Monday after talks between the US and Iran ended without a new deal and President Donald Trump said he would blockade Iranian ports.

Global benchmark Brent crude is up by 8.5% at $102.37 (£77.15), while West Texas Intermediate is 9% higher at $105.34.

The failure of negotiations at


Orbán era swept away by Péter Magyar's Hungary election landslide

Watch: BBC reports from Hungary as Viktor Orbán concedes defeat

Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power is over, and the system condemned as an "electoral autocracy" lies in tatters, defeated by a 45-year-old former party insider who convinced a majority of Hungarians to bring it to an end.

"We did it," Péter Magyar told a crowd of cheering supporters in a square beside the River Danube, overlooking Budapest's magnificent parliament on the other side

Reuters A man in the dark holding the flag of Hungary
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Political turmoil in Indian border state as nine million lose voting rights

Hindustan Times via Getty Images Official checking voters details in list as part of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Officials verify voter details during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls

Muhammad Daud Ali, a former Indian army technician, recently discovered that he was no longer a voter in his home state of West Bengal.

His name - and those of his three children - had been struck off the electoral rolls despite valid documents, including his passport and service records. Only his wife remained on the list.

Ali, 65, and his children are among nine million voters - about 12

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The Dutch village at risk of being demolished

AFP via Getty Images An aerial view of the Dutch village of Moerdijk AFP via Getty Images
Moerdijk's location has made it vulnerable to being knocked down

In the south of the Netherlands, beside a wide estuary, a village of around 1,100 people is likely to disappear from the map.

Moerdijk, a small fishing community 34km (21 miles) south of Rotterdam, is on the fault line of the nation's green energy transition.

The Dutch government says the country needs vast new sites to build high-voltage substations where cables carrying electricity from growing

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Pope prioritises world's fastest-growing Catholic region in major Africa tour

AFP via Getty Images A woman, in a pink top is smiling and holding both hands in the air. Her left hand is open, in a wave, and her right hand is holding a small wooden crucifix AFP via Getty Images
Previous papal visits, such as this one by Pope Francis to South Sudan in 2023, have been greeted enthusiastically

Pope Leo XIV wants to "turn the world's attention to Africa", according to a senior Vatican official, as he embarks on a significant tour of the continent addressing themes of peace, migration and dialogue between religions.

The 11-day trip, which starts on Monday, is Pope Leo's second major foreign visit since being elected to the papacy in

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Frostbite is least of worries for Canada forces grappling with new Arctic reality

Eloise Alanna/BBC Two men -in the red, fur-trimmed parka uniforms of the Canadian Rangers. One has his face completly covered by shaded goggles, the other wears a hat and has his hood down. Eloise Alanna/BBC
Two Canadian Rangers on the final stretch of a 5,200 kilometre journey across the Arctic.

A simple row of spruce trees marked the finish line for Canadian army reservists and combat members after a marathon two months pushing through one of the harshest environments on Earth: Canada's vast Arctic.

The patrol, which ended on Friday in Churchill, Manitoba, was the largest northern mission in the history of the Canadian Rangers - a branch of the Canadian Armed Forces responsible for monitoring the country'

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What is a naval blockade and how would it work in Strait of Hormuz?

AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump speaks about the conflict in Iran in the Press Briefing Room of the White House on 6 April 2026, in Washington DC. AFP via Getty Images

The US military said it would begin enforcing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on Monday.

It added that ships coming or going from elsewhere would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which Iran effectively closed in response to US-Israeli strikes.

It comes after negotiators from both sides failed to reach a deal to end the war, which began on 28 February.

US President Donald Trump said direct talks with Iran in Pakistan failed because Iran

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'A truly historic moment': BBC reports from Hungary as Viktor Orbán concedes election

Rajini Vaidyanathan broadcasts from outside Hungary's parliament as crowds hear about the prime minister's concession.

Trump's Strait of Hormuz blockade threat raises risks and leaves predicaments unchanged

Anadolu via Getty Images A woman waves Iran's national flag in front of a giant billboard Anadolu via Getty Images
A woman waves Iran's national flag in front of a giant billboard reading 'The Strait of Hormuz remains closed' at the Revolution Square in Tehran on 12 April

After a diplomatic team led by Vice-President JD Vance tried, and failed, to reach a negotiated agreement to end the US war with Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump had to decide his next move.

That came on Sunday morning, in a series of Truth Social posts.

The US will impose a naval blockade of

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Civilians feared killed after reports of air strike on Nigerian market

AP Photo/Sunday Alamba Two government forces personnel wearing all black and beige vests. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba
Members of Nigeria's armed forces (file picture)

Civilians are feared to have died after reports that Nigerian military jets struck a village market in the north-east of the country.

The attack took place near the border between Yobe and Borno states while an aircraft was said to be engaged in an operation against Islamist militants in the area, according to the Reuters news agency and local reports.

The Nigerian Air Force said it carried out "mop-up" air strikes on "identified terrorist