With less than three months remaining before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, uncertainty has emerged over Iran’s participation. U.S. President Donald Trump advised Iran to withdraw from the tournament, citing concerns over safety amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The war, which began after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, has entered its second week and is now affecting global discussions, including preparations for the World Cup scheduled to begin on June 11 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Iran had earlier expressed security concerns about playing in the United States. Trump initially downplayed the issue but later suggested that Iran should consider withdrawing for safety reasons. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, after meeting Trump, stated that the U.S. was ready to welcome Iran to the tournament. However, Trump reiterated his caution, saying participation might not be suitable for Iran’s team.

In response, Iran’s national football team issued a statement on its official Instagram account asserting that participation in the World Cup is determined by FIFA, not by any individual or country, emphasizing its rightful qualification through consistent success.

Several commercial vessels operating near the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf have begun identifying themselves as China-linked in their destination signals to reduce the risk of being targeted during the ongoing Iran war, according to marine traffic data analyzed by the Associated Press. At least eight ships changed their transponder messages to phrases such as “CHINA OWNER” or “CHINA OWNER&CREW,” data from MarineTraffic showed. These ships were either transiting the strait or remaining in nearby waters.

Trade risk analysts said the move is intended to signal neutrality and avoid confusion with vessels that might be targeted by Iranian forces or affiliated groups. Iran has generally refrained from attacking ships associated with China, given Beijing’s neutral stance and economic ties with Tehran. Most of the ships identified were not registered under the Chinese flag but under countries such as Panama and the Marshall Islands.

Experts noted that while many bulk carriers have Chinese ownership or cargo links, it remains unclear whether declaring a Chinese connection effectively prevents attacks. Similar tactics were previously observed during Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Facebook Marketplace has launched new Meta AI-powered tools designed to make selling faster and more efficient for users in the US and Canada. Sellers can now upload item images and let Meta AI automatically generate draft listings, fill in details, and suggest prices based on similar local listings. The platform also enables sellers to offer shipping with prepaid labels and manage all shipped orders through a centralized dashboard.

To improve communication, Meta AI can now draft and send automatic replies to buyer inquiries using information from the listing, such as item description, availability, pickup location, and price. Sellers can preview and edit these replies during listing creation. Additionally, Meta has introduced AI-generated profile summaries that display key details about a seller’s Facebook activity, including account age, friend count, and Marketplace history, to enhance transparency and trust.

These updates mark a continued evolution of Facebook Marketplace, which has been connecting millions of buyers and sellers for a decade and now hosts over 3.5 million daily listings across the US and Canada.

Google has introduced Groundsource, a new AI-powered methodology designed to improve the prediction of urban flash floods. Announced on March 12, 2026, Groundsource uses the Gemini model to analyze decades of public reports and Google Maps data, creating a high-quality historical dataset of flood events. The system identified over 2.6 million historical flood incidents across more than 150 countries and trained a new model capable of forecasting urban flash floods up to 24 hours in advance. These forecasts are now available through Google’s Flood Hub platform.

The initiative is part of Google’s broader Crisis Resilience efforts, which aim to provide early warnings for natural hazards. Groundsource addresses a long-standing data gap that had limited the ability to predict flash floods before they occurred. By transforming public information into structured datasets, the project enhances global preparedness and supports scientists and partners with an open-source benchmark for further research.

Google noted that the same AI-driven approach could be extended to other natural disasters such as landslides or heat waves, contributing to improved global resilience and disaster readiness.

Perplexity announced on Wednesday a new AI agent called Personal Computer, designed to run continuously and integrate local applications with Perplexity Computer. The system operates on Perplexity’s secure servers but is powered by Apple’s M4 Mac mini hardware. The company describes the platform as working within a secure environment that includes safeguards such as approval requirements for sensitive actions, full audit trails for each session, and a kill switch for user control. Each query runs in its own secure sandbox.

The announcement follows earlier social media interest in using Mac minis for AI workloads, including the open-source assistant Clawdbot. Perplexity claims its Personal Computer is “more powerful than any AI system ever launched.” However, details remain unclear regarding which Mac mini configuration is used, whether Apple supplies the hardware, and how the system will be sold. Currently, only a waitlist is available, with no pricing information disclosed.

Rumors also suggest Apple may soon release an M5 Mac mini, though Perplexity’s announcement does not mention chip specifications or configurations.

Fuel shortages have led to long queues and protests in multiple countries as the global energy market faces severe disruption. The shortages are linked to rising fuel prices that have intensified public frustration and logistical challenges worldwide.

According to the source, the continuing US-Israeli war on Iran has disrupted global energy supplies, contributing to the surge in fuel prices. The resulting scarcity has affected transportation and daily life in many regions, prompting widespread demonstrations and long waiting lines at fuel stations.

The situation underscores the vulnerability of global energy markets to geopolitical conflicts and suggests potential for further unrest if supply disruptions persist.

Uncertainty is growing over Iran’s participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, scheduled to be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Due to recent political circumstances, Iran has yet to make a final decision on whether it will compete. The country’s sports minister, Ahmad Doniyamal, stated that Iran is currently not in a position to take part in the tournament.

If Iran ultimately withdraws, FIFA will need to fill the vacant spot. According to standard procedure, a replacement team is usually selected from the same continent as the withdrawing nation. This has led to speculation that either Iraq or the United Arab Emirates could take Iran’s place. FIFA rules allow the runner-up from the same qualifying group or the highest-ranked team from the same confederation that failed to qualify to be considered.

The UAE’s higher ranking in Asia strengthens its case, while Iraq remains in contention as it is scheduled to face Bolivia or Suriname in an intercontinental playoff. FIFA could directly award Iraq a World Cup berth, with the UAE potentially taking Iraq’s playoff position instead.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that the ongoing war in the Middle East has triggered an unprecedented disruption in the global oil supply. In its latest market report released on March 12, 2026, the agency described the situation as the largest supply interruption in the history of the world oil market. According to IEA data, global crude oil production has fallen by at least 8 million barrels per day, while an additional 2 million barrels of petroleum products are no longer being supplied. The decline is mainly attributed to pressure from Iran on regional supply systems, forcing Gulf producers to cut output.

The crisis has been further aggravated by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route that typically carries about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil. Iranian attacks and growing security threats have reduced oil transport through the strait to less than 10 percent of pre-crisis levels. The IEA warned that there are no clear signs of a ceasefire or restoration of normal oil flows through the strait.

The agency’s warning underscores the scale of the disruption and the uncertainty surrounding the timeline for recovery in global oil supply.

Meta announced that it is expanding its custom silicon program with four new generations of Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) chips to be developed and deployed within the next two years. The new chips will support ranking, recommendations, and generative AI (GenAI) workloads, marking a faster release cycle than typical industry standards. MTIA 300 is already in production for ranking and recommendations training, while MTIA 400, 450, and 500 will focus primarily on GenAI inference production through 2027.

The company’s AI infrastructure strategy centers on a portfolio approach that combines its own MTIA chips with silicon sourced from other industry leaders. Meta has deployed hundreds of thousands of MTIA chips for inference workloads across organic content and ads, achieving higher compute efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to general-purpose chips. The modular design of MTIA allows new chips to integrate seamlessly into existing rack systems, reducing time-to-production.

Meta’s roadmap emphasizes rapid, iterative development, an inference-first design philosophy, and alignment with industry standards such as PyTorch, vLLM, Triton, and the Open Compute Project. This approach aims to sustain innovation speed and scalability as the company advances toward its goal of enabling personal superintelligence.

NVIDIA has launched Nemotron 3 Super, a 120‑billion‑parameter open model with 12 billion active parameters designed to power complex agentic AI systems at scale. The model, available immediately, integrates advanced reasoning capabilities to complete tasks efficiently and accurately for autonomous agents. It features a 1‑million‑token context window to maintain full workflow memory and prevent goal drift in multi‑agent applications.

Nemotron 3 Super employs a hybrid mixture‑of‑experts architecture that delivers up to five times higher throughput and twice the accuracy of its predecessor. Running in NVFP4 precision on the NVIDIA Blackwell platform, it achieves up to four times faster inference than FP8 on NVIDIA Hopper without accuracy loss. The model has achieved top rankings on Artificial Analysis and DeepResearch Bench leaderboards for efficiency and reasoning coherence. NVIDIA is releasing it with open weights under a permissive license, enabling deployment across workstations, data centers, and cloud environments.

Industry partners including Perplexity, Amdocs, Palantir, Siemens, and Dell Technologies are integrating Nemotron 3 Super into their AI ecosystems to enhance search, software development, cybersecurity, and manufacturing automation. The model is accessible through build.nvidia.com, OpenRouter, and Hugging Face.

International crude oil prices have risen again, with Brent crude climbing 9.3 percent to reach $100.50 per barrel on Thursday. The increase occurred despite announcements from the United States, the United Kingdom, and several other countries to release record amounts of emergency reserves. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also rose 8.8 percent to $94.92 per barrel.

The surge in prices has been linked to renewed Iranian attacks on energy supply systems and infrastructure in the Middle East. The instability has disrupted market confidence and contributed to sharp fluctuations in oil prices. Earlier in the week, oil briefly exceeded $110 per barrel before experiencing significant volatility.

The situation underscores ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, where multiple ships have reportedly been attacked, further heightening concerns about global energy security.

The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s attacks in the Gulf region and calling on Tehran to immediately cease hostilities. The resolution passed with 13 votes in favor, while Russia and China abstained. Iran criticized the measure as one-sided. The vote took place at the UN headquarters in New York, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent Gabriel Elizondo, who noted that China and Russia could have used their veto powers but chose not to.

The resolution follows escalating hostilities that began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks inside Iran. In response, Iran has been firing missiles and drones targeting Israeli positions and U.S. military sites across the Arab Gulf region. The situation has heightened tensions around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, where several ships have also been attacked.

The Security Council’s decision signals growing international concern over regional stability and maritime security, though Iran’s rejection of the resolution suggests continued friction in the near term.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has approved the release of 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves to address supply shortages caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol announced that all 32 member countries unanimously voted to release what he described as the largest amount of emergency oil ever authorized by the agency.

Birol stated that the oil market is facing unprecedented challenges, and he welcomed the collective emergency action taken by member nations. According to the IEA, each member country will release its share of reserves within an appropriate timeframe based on national circumstances.

The agency noted that this marks the sixth coordinated release in its history, following similar actions in 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022. IEA members currently hold over 1.02 billion barrels of emergency reserves, with an additional 600 million barrels held by industry under government obligations.

Fuel prices have risen sharply in 85 countries since the outbreak of war between Iran and the United States-Israel alliance on February 28, 2026. The conflict has severely disrupted global oil supply chains, with the closure of the Hormuz Strait causing acute shortages, particularly in Asia. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of regular gasoline in the United States increased by 20 percent to $3.58 per gallon, while in California it exceeded $5 per gallon, the highest in two years.

Global Petrol Prices data show Vietnam experienced the steepest rise, with prices jumping nearly 50 percent per liter, followed by Laos, Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. Japan is preparing to release oil from its strategic reserves, and South Korea has imposed maximum price caps for the first time in 30 years. Bangladesh and Pakistan have implemented emergency measures, including university closures and reduced workweeks, to conserve fuel.

Economists warn that disruptions in transport and logistics are increasing inflation and unemployment simultaneously, raising the risk of global stagflation similar to past oil crises.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned that a closure of the strategically vital Hormuz Strait could lead to a significant rise in global food prices. The organization stated in an analytical report released on Tuesday that such a disruption would increase the cost of living worldwide, with the greatest impact falling on low-income populations.

According to the report, higher energy, fertilizer, and transport costs could drive up food prices, putting marginalized communities under severe pressure. UNCTAD’s data show that the strait is essential for global trade, carrying 38 percent of the world’s crude oil, 29 percent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 19 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It also plays a key role in food security, as one-third of all fertilizer shipped globally passes through this route.

The findings highlight the vulnerability of global supply chains to geopolitical disruptions in critical maritime corridors such as the Hormuz Strait.