As we enter the second week of U.S. combat operations in Iran, NPR’s Leila Fadel considers the similarities and differences with the last time the United States waded into war in the region, in Iraq in 2003. Leila covered that war as well and talks to some experts about what lessons can be drawn.
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The benchmark oil price has passed $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022. But Donald Trump says the economic fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran is "a very small price to pay" for world peace. After Iran named a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, heavy explosions have continued to rock the capital Tehran. The Turkish opposition leader Ekrem Imamoğlu has gone on trial in Istanbul for corruption, in a case he describes as politically motivated. We report from South Sudan, where the world's youngest nation is grappling with instability and fears of a return to civil war. The Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky has said he is sending drone experts to the Middle East this week to help Gulf states under attack from Iran. There is concern about the safety of the Iranian women's football team after they refused to sing their national anthem at the first game of the Asian Cup in Australia. Scientists have discovered an ancient Egyptian equivalent of correction fluid.
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As the US and Israel's war on Iran enters its second week, concerns are rising about surging oil prices.
Crude has jumped above $100 a barrel and stock markets slumped over the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran. What are the effects likely to be?
Also in the programme: We'll profile Iran's new Supreme Leader, the son of the former cleric; we'll hear how the war is affecting daily life in the Gulf state of Qatar; and how the master artists of ancient Egypt may have invented correction fluid.
(Photo shows smoke rising following a strike on the Bapco Oil Refinery on Sitra Island in Bahrain on 9 March 2026. Credit: Reuters)
In recognition of International Women’s Month, we speak to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization. We discuss women representation in leadership, the impact of the latest Middle East conflict on African economies and the shifting balance of global trade and Africa’s place in it.
And, we also look at LGBTQ rights on the continent. In much of Africa, homosexuality remains criminalised in 33 out of 55 countries, according to the Institute for Security Studies. While South Africa recognises same-sex marriage, most African countries do not. In Botswana, two women are now challenging the government in court for the right to marry, despite same-sex relationships being decriminalised.
Presenter : Nkechi Ogbonna
Producers: Keikantse Shumba and Chiamaka Dike
Technical Producer: Jonathan Mwangi
Senior Producer: Bella Twine and Blessing Aderogba
Editors: Samuel Murunga and Maryam Abdalla
As the war rages into a tenth day, Iran has a new supreme leader. Oil prices top $100 a barrel. Long lines at some airports. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has those stories and more on the World News Roundup podcast.
A.M. Edition for Mar. 9. Oil is surging past $100 a barrel as Iran strikes critical infrastructure in the Gulf, leading states to dial back production and halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. WSJ reporter Joe Wallace says higher fuel prices are just one likely outcome as the inflationary impacts of shipping disruptions mount. Plus, correspondent Benoit Faucon analyzes Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection as Iran’s next supreme leader. And why VW dealers are up in arms as the automaker looks to sell direct to consumers. Luke Vargas hosts.
Israel struck Tehran's oil facilities as Iran named a new supreme leader, the hardline son of the Ayatollah Israel killed on day one, and a senior Israeli military official tells NPR the war needs three more weeks. President Trump reversed course on Kurdish fighters entering Iran, and Iraq's Kurdish deputy prime minister tells NPR in his first interview with western media since the war began that the Kurds will not be part of the fight and are not guns for hire. And the war is strangling the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of tankers and container ships are now stranded, raising fears of a global energy crisis.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Block, Tina Kraja, James Hider, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai. It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction (01:55) Iran War Escalates (5:17) Kurds Stay Out (10:52) Global Shipping Crisis
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Iran’s clerics choose a new ayatollah. American officials face questions over a strike at a girls’ school. And New York police say a pair of men threw improvised explosive devices during a clash with anti-Islam protesters.