The map of the Middle East is being redrawn in real-time. Today, March 19, 2026, we go inside the most critical diplomatic gathering of the decade. As the sun set over the Saudi capital last night, foreign ministers from across the Arab and Islamic world descended upon Riyadh for an emergency summit. The mission: to prevent a total regional collapse.

Following the Feb 28 joint strikes and Iran’s subsequent "chokehold" on the Strait of Hormuz, the geography of the Gulf has turned into a "Zone of Interception," with over 438 drones and 36 missiles neutralized over Saudi soil alone in the last three weeks.

I wrote this preview note, not sure if I’m even allowed to, but in today’s modern Wild West, it feels like we can do whatever we want.

Briefly, though, this story is important—it affects the American economy, and I wanted to share it. Yet Americans—all of us included—don’t suffer in the ways others around the world do. We often view the world as a source of entertainment, spending money and enjoying lives untouched by the wars we have created.

While Americans Worry About Grocery Bills, Israel’s U.S.-Backed War Is Devastating the World

SHEERPOST

So once again, here we have a story that hits our wallets. No kidding. We are in the midst of genocide and mass destruction on a global scale, brought on and funded by our tax dollars, and yet most of us only care about food costs and gas prices.

• Shipping fuel prices have nearly doubled due to the Middle East war and Strait of Hormuz blockade, reaching "truly unprecedented" levels, according to IBIA.
• VLSFO prices have surged; Fujairah saw a doubling since February 27, and Singapore is up 106%. This impacts shipping costs globally.
• Shipping firms are adapting by slowing ships or finding alternative routes. The UN began talks March 18 to address the shipping crisis.

LONDON - Shipping fuel prices have reached “truly unprecedented” levels, having nearly doubled from the cargo crunch driven by the Middle East war, an industry leader told AFP on March 18.

One of the key architects of the GST deal that will cost federal taxpayers $60 billion has defended the policy as affordable and vital to protecting the federation, putting him at odds with one of his fellow former ministers, who says it is hurting the nation’s economy and should be dumped.

Cormann v the rest: Why former finance minister is still backing this $60b blowout

Shane Wright

Mathias Cormann, finance minister under Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison and now the head of the OECD, has used a Productivity Commission inquiry into the 2018 GST deal to argue it was a “sound long-term investment” and should be maintained.

New laws are poised to pass the Senate and enshrine ASIO’s extraordinary powers of interrogation without proper judicial, parliamentary or public review. Marcus Reubenstein reports.

In July 2025, an extension of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) powers to detain suspects without judicial warrants and with limited access to legal representation was rammed through the House of Representatives in just two days, with the full support of the Government and Opposition.

Civil liberties. Senate to approve extraordinary ASIO powers
by Marcus Reubenstein

The name of the long game is to destabilise/destroy RUSSIA.

Since 1917, America has vowed to become the master of the world. In order to achieve this, it needs to control the HEARTLAND [Russia]. This is in the footsteps of Mackinder's theory — AN ENGLISH DUDE who invented the game of WORLD GEOPOLITICS. And in 1917, RUSSIA had invented the antithesis to CAPITALISM: Communism.

The WEST needs to influence politics in RUSSIA.

The West needs to get rid of PUTIN, from the inside of Russia.

PUTIN SAVED RUSSIA FROM FALLING INTO THE WESTERN’S CLUTCHES.

WE HATE PUTIN.

Who can the WEST find to DESTROY PUTIN politically.

Several candidates come to mind…

One of them is called NAVALNY. Navalny is a small time crook, crusading on ANTI-CORRUPTION...

Navalny is made an offer:

MI6 will help him become president of RUSSIA.

Navalny hates PUTIN.

Joe Kent resigned [....] as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the top U.S. government post responsible for integrating and analyzing terrorism-related intelligence, because of his opposition to the war in Iran. Let’s hear it for the boy!!! Before taking this job, Joe served as a Army Ranger, as a Green Beret, as a member of a Top Secret special access program Army Intelligence unit and served with the CIA’s Special Operations Division. The man had 11 combat deployments and was awarded SIX bronze stars. And the despicable, loathsome Donald Trump had the audacity to call this man “weak” on security matters.

Joe Kent Hero… Tulsi Gabbard, a Contemptible, Craven Zero
by Larry C. Johnson

The rhetoric surrounding the war with Iran echoes the propaganda used to justify Iraq – a conflict that cost the life of the author’s husband, FLT Paul Pardoel.

Selling a product begins with a catchy slogan. Military operations are much the same. ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ glorified violent liberation to a mass audience to justify war. Operation ‘Epic Fury’ glorifies death and destruction, to justify war for personal gratification. Both wars – Iraq then and Iran now – are grounded in the same imperial hubris and delusional thinking; that they are justified, necessary and victorious.

Kellie Merritt

State governments and major hospitals are deeply are embedded in Israel’s health ‘ecosystem’, while Israel refuses to help 20,000 injured in Gaza. Wendy Bacon and Cathy Peters report.

NSW and Victorian governments’ support for Israel was on display during Israeli President Herzog’s visit. What has not been so public is how ties with Israel are already embedded in state health systems, while Israel continues to strike medical workers and centres as it bombs Iran and Lebanon, continues to block urgent medical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, and attempts to ban some 37 medical aid NGOs.

Medicide. Australian healthcare’s tight links with Israel, despite Gaza

Rumours about the death of Benjamin Netanyahu recently exploded across social media, triggered by a strange video where viewers believed his hand showed six fingers — a classic sign often associated with AI-generated images. Within hours, conspiracy theories spread, claiming Israel was using deepfakes to pretend the prime minister was still alive. Netanyahu responded with a new video from a café, joking about the rumours while showing both hands to the camera. But the speculation only intensified as users analysed every frame. Palki Sharma tells you more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJIwJleFqwc

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s top surrogates crashing and burning on live tv as his Iran war completely backfires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkBDPEDZGkg&t=385s

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WHETHER WE LIKE OR DISLIKE THE “REGIME” IN IRAN, EVEN SHOULD WE BE ATHEIST AND NOT APPROVE OF THIS “REGIME” RELIGIOUS BELIEF, LETTING DONALD TRUMP GET AWAY WITH MURDER WILL BE A STAIN ON OUR CONSCIENCE THAT WILL LAST FOR A LONG TIME.

US-German billionaire Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is holding a controversial series of lectures on the Antichrist in Rome this week, prompting criticism from Vatican-linked officials and institutions, according to multiple media reports. Thiel continues to face scrutiny over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The invitation-only conference, which began on Sunday and runs through Wednesday, is taking place at a secret location near the Vatican.

The content of the lectures – closed to the media and under tight security – is unclear, but is expected to focus on Thiel’s theory that the biblical Antichrist may appear not as a malevolent figure, but as “a reassuring actor” and heroic administrator aiming to manage technological risks.

As the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its third week, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria breaks down the United States’ latest attempt to reshape the political landscape in the Middle East through military action.

0:00 Fareed says America could learn from the British empire’s decline
3:02 Is America falling for the same imperial temptations that plagued the British empire?
4:40 Will the US intervention in Iran result in a tactical gain?
8:40 Is Iran’s new leader a win for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGDVTgOw_4Q&t=472s

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The RBA has managed to make a questionable interest rate decision worse by undermining its own credibility, as the dollar drops. Michael Pascoe writes.

The Law of Unintended Consequences is always at work. It’s a fair bet those who crafted the RBA review and the cheer squad who campaigned for it didn’t intend to diminish the institution,

an institution whose credibility matters as much as what it actually does.

But diminished the RBA is, and thus the message it tried to deliver with Tuesday’s rate rise is weakened, the pain of tighter monetary policy delivering less gain.

Instead of a strong message about the bank being committed to lower inflation, the mechanism invented by the review has resulted in a rise, the strength of which was quickly assessed by the market as being half-arsed.