UK - Towering over a packed Commons, spectacles in hand, index finger jabbing at heavy air, he declared that his government was “not prepared to embark on a policy of abject appeasement” over President Nasser’s “de-internationalisation” of the (Suez) canal. It is eerie to read the full debate now — its swelling rhetoric and underlying fragility — knowing that within four months Eden had resigned and Britain’s vanishing prestige would be laid bare. Just as with Suez — and subsequently with the rolling crises of the 1970s and the financial crash — one is left with the unnerving sense that Britain is about to be painfully sprung from its collective hibernation. If Suez revealed our imperial pretensions, the 1970s the limits of our Keynesian consensus and 2008 the weakness in global finance, then 2026 will surely bring to an end our extended holiday from reality. But now remorseless reality is knocking at our door. We are about to wake up collectively to how much poorer, weaker and softer we are than we pretend. Just as in the past, we are choosing to avoid reality because it is too painful, disruptive or embarrassing.

USA - Most Americans believe recent US military action against Iran has gone too far, and many are worried about affording gasoline, according to a new AP-NORC poll. As the war launched by the US and Israel continues in its fourth week, the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that while President Donald Trump’s approval rating is holding steady, the conflict could be swiftly turning into a major political liability for his Republican administration. While Trump is deploying more warships and troops to the Middle East, about 59% of Americans say US military action in Iran has been excessive. Meanwhile, 45% are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the next few months, up from 30% in an AP-NORC poll conducted shortly after Trump won re-election with promises that he would improve the economy and lower the cost of living.

USA - In yet another sign of the deep freeze consuming the transatlantic 'special relationship' the president lashed out at the Royal Navy's capabilities in a rant against US NATO allies. He claimed the UK had offered to send its two carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and the fleet flagship HMS Prince of Wales, once the fighting in the Middle East was 'over', and had told Keir Starmer 'don't bother.' The president's remarks come after Downing Street previously rejected Trump's claims that it offered to send any aircraft carriers to the war at all. Sir Keir Starmer is becoming increasingly reluctant to allow the UK to be dragged into the conflict which has triggered a surge in energy prices.

IRAN - Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the man who directed Iran’s naval strategy to choke one of the world’s most vital energy arteries, is reportedly dead. Reports indicate that Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy since 2018, was killed in an airstrike on the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on March 26, 2026. An Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that the strike eliminated Tangsiri, who had authorized and vowed to maintain the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Tangsiri’s death marks the latest in a series of high-profile Iranian military and political figures killed amid escalating conflict, following the reported deaths of IRGC spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, de-facto leader Ali Larijani, and anti-protest enforcer Gholamreza Soleimani.

MIDDLE EAST - "The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the strategic straits in the world, and Iran has the will to produce a completely credible threat against it," an Iranian official told Tasnim. With the building of the Suez Canal, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait assumed great strategic and economic importance, forming a portion of the link between the Mediterranean Sea and East Asia.

USA - Apollo Global Management capped investor redemptions at one of its largest non-traded private credit funds, Apollo Debt Solutions. According to a shareholder letter, it capped redemptions at 5% of outstanding shares after investors sought to withdraw roughly 11.2%. The move follows similar restrictions at other private credit funds in recent weeks, deepening concerns across the $1.8 trillion private credit market. Apollo’s $25 billion private credit fund received withdrawal requests of 11.2% this quarter and honored less than half of them, capped at 5%. BlackRock did the same with its $26 billion fund, Blue Owl replaced withdrawal requests with IOUs entirely, and Morgan Stanley got hit with 10.9% redemption requests. Fortune is calling it a $265 billion meltdown. Whether this is a manageable liquidity event or the leading edge of something larger is the question nobody can answer yet.

GERMANY - Germany’s push for a standalone military satellite network, independent of a parallel EU program, has alarmed some lawmakers in Brussels, who warn that the move risks weakening the bloc, according to Reuters. The plan comes amid a broader militarization drive by Germany and the EU, framed by Western officials as a response to an alleged threat from Russia, a claim Moscow has dismissed as “nonsense.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in September that Berlin would invest €35 billion (over $41 billion) in military space technologies over the next five years, citing various risks, including in orbit. The development comes as divisions persist within the EU over defense, trade, and relations with Washington. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, initially seen as a pro-European figure, has increasingly emphasized national interests following shifts in US policy under President Donald Trump.

GERMANY - A sharp and unusually public rift has opened in transatlantic relations, as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivered a blunt critique of the ongoing war with Iran, marking one of the most direct European challenges to American leadership in recent years. His remarks have ignited debate not only about the conflict itself, but about Europe’s future path in a rapidly shifting global order. Speaking before diplomats in Berlin, Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), described the war as a “politically disastrous mistake,” arguing that it represents a fundamental break from established norms. His tone stood out in a continent where many leaders have chosen more cautious language. “Our foreign policy does not become more convincing just because we do not call a breach of international law a breach of international law,” Steinmeier said. He added that, in his view, the war is “contrary to international law.”

IRAN - Radical Iranian army chiefs bent on continuing the war will start assassinating their own higher-level officials if they continue to negotiate on Donald Trump's terms, an expert has claimed. Iran's veteran Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a host of other top Revolutionary Guards commanders have been killed in US-Israeli strikes, but the ruling system has maintained its ability to operate in the conflict that began on February 28. Hooshang Amirahmadi, the founder and president of the American Iranian Council, said that while around 150 members of the regime's top brass have been eliminated, a new generation of younger officers have entered the scene and are 'increasingly in charge'. With Khamenei killed in one of the first strikes of the war, the 'vertical power structure' of the Islamic Republic has collapsed into a 'horizontal structure', giving more military agency to hardline second rank officers who are resistant to peace.

IRAN - Iran is claiming it is hunting US soldiers hiding out across the Middle East after drone and missile attacks on American military bases, it has been reported. Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari has called on people in the Gulf states to report hideouts and demand their expulsion, according to remarks attributed to Iranian media outlets. 'Considering that all American bases in the region have been destroyed, American commanders and soldiers have fled and taken refuge in hideouts outside the bases, and we are searching for them,' Zolfaqari is cited as saying.