Stocks sink as Trump pushes back Hormuz deadline – Breaking News, Latest Updates

Kuwait’s main commercial port, Shuwaikh, was damaged in a drone attack, but authorities said there were no casualties.

The port was targeted on Friday morning “by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties,” according to a statement from the Kuwait port authority on X.

The authority offered no other details.

Kuwait has been multiple times by Iranian strikes, with one such incident sparking a large fire at its international airport on Wednesday.

February 28: War starts, the US and Israel launch attacks across Iran. Within hours of the strkes, Iran announces closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

March 5: Oil price tops $100 for the first time. US President Donald Trump says he wants a say in who will replace Iran’s killed supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and rules out Khamenei’s son Mojtaba who ends up being picked anyway.

March 13: The US conducts a large-scale bombing raid on Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil export hub. The strikes hit over 90 Iranian military sites but left the oil and gas infrastructure intact.

March 14: Initial reports that more US Marines are being deployed to the Middle East. These reports will continue later in March.

March 21: Trump threatens to attack Iran’s energy facilities if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Tehran rejects the threat.

March 23: Trump walks back his threat and extends the deadline by five days. He also speaks of “very good” talks with an unidentified Iranian official, Iran denies any talks.

March 24: The US sends a 15-point peace plan to Iran via intermediaries in Pakistan.

March 25: Iran says it is still not talking to the US and cannot trust them after being attacked twice in the past nine months during ongoing negotiations

March 26: Trump extends the deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz by 10 days. He says Iran is “begging” for a deal, and the talks are going well. The Wall Street Journal reports the Pentagon is considering sending a further 10,000 troops to the region amid speculation over a ground invasion.

Israel strikes Beirut, Tehran — reports

Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs at dawn on Friday, according to media reports.

According to Lebanon’s official National News Agency, “enemy aircraft” raided Tahouitet al-Ghadir in the southern suburbs at dawn on Friday.

AFP correspondents also heard several explosions in the Hezbollah stronghold, an area that Israel has repeatedly attacked since the outbreak of war this month.

Although Israel had previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area, it provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike.

The Israeli military Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee told residents of Sejoud village in southern Lebanon to evacuate just hours later.

According to the AP news agency, Israel’s military announced early Friday that it had also conducted a series of strikes “in the heart of Tehran.”

There have been no reports of casualties or damage in the Iranian capital yet.

Iran has barred its national and club teams from competing in countries it calls “hostile,” citing security concerns.

The move comes as Iran’s Tractor FC is due to face an Emirati club in Saudi Arabia in the AFC Champions League.

“The presence of national and club teams in countries that are considered hostile and are unable to ensure the security of Iranian athletes and team members is prohibited until further notice,” Iran’s Ministry of Sport said.

The Iranian ministry added that the soccer federation and clubs “will be responsible for notifying the Asian football Confederation of this matter in order to relocate the games.”

The ban also casts doubt on Iran’s 2026 FIFA World Cup games scheduled in the United States. Iran has asked FIFA to move the games but the football body refused. 

Meanwhile, tensions remain after members of Iran’s women’s team sought asylum in Australia. Two players are still there; others have returned to Iran.

Why data hubs and undersea cables in the conflict zone affect users far beyond the Middle East.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon was considering sending as many as 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East.

The report added to concerns that the war could escalate into a broader ground conflict.

The force would likely include infantry and armored vehicles, the newspaper reported, citing US Department of Defense officials.

The new troops would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who have already been ordered to the region.

US President Donald Trump says he will extend a pause on attacks against Iran’s energy facilities into April, insisting that talks with Tehran are “going very well.”

The announcement came after Trump first threatened to increase pressure on Iran if it failed to agree to a deal. He later posted that the pause would last 10 days, until April 6.

Tehran, however, maintains it is not engaged in talks with Washington.

Despite Trump’s upbeat tone, Iran has continued retaliatory strikes targeting Israeli and US bases, as well as Gulf states. It has also disrupted fuel exports by effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor that carries about 20% of global oil and LNG shipments.

The conflict has taken a heavy toll on global markets, threatening an economic downturn. Wall Street on Thursday suffered its worst day since the conflict began.

The S&P 500 fell 1.7%, the Dow dropped 1%, and the Nasdaq sank 2.4%, with the S&P on track for its fifth straight weekly loss, its longest slide in nearly four years.

Trump appears to be conscious of market volatility. His threat to strike Iran’s power plants came on a Friday evening after markets closed, but was walked back before they opened again on Monday morning.

Welcome to our coverage

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Friday that they launched missile and drone strikes a day earlier on targets in Israel, as well as on Gulf military sites used by US forces.

Here’s a wrap of the biggest headlines from Thursday:

• US President Donald Trump said that talks aimed at ending the war were ‘going very well’ 
• Trump pushed back his pause on strikes to Iranian energy facilities for another 10 days
• Iran has continued to publicly insist that it is not negotiating with the White House
• CENTCOM chief has said that an Iranian naval commander was killed in an Israeli strike
• Trump has slammed NATO allies, while NATO chief Rutte defended the alliance

If you missed out on any of Thursday’s coverage of the Iran war, you can catch up on it here.