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‘Plenty of oil’ in market despite Mideast turmoil, IEA chief says
UN demands prompt investigations into Israeli strikes on Lebanon
‘Operation Epstein Distraction’: Sexual assault allegations against Trump emerge
PRESS REVIEW – Friday, March 6: International papers discuss US President Donald Trump’s “warrior transformation” and speculate about how the new war in the Middle East could benefit Russia. Also: the US Department of Justice publishes an interview that outlines sexual assault allegations against Trump. Finally, is the US president trying to distract attention from the Epstein files with the new war? This question has inspired quite a few cartoons.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon: Tel Aviv seeks to ‘eliminate Hezbollah’
The Israeli military said on Friday it had begun fresh strikes against Iran‑backed Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold targeted after a mass evacuation order for local residents.
“One of Israel’s goals is to allow residents of northern Israel along the Lebanese border to live in peace,” FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky said, adding that Israel is also seeking to “eliminate Hezbollah” amid the militant group’s deep unpopularity among many Lebanese as the conflict escalates.
Qatar energy minister warns war will force Gulf to stop energy exports within weeks, FT says
Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil to $150 a barrel, the country’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.
“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure,” Kaabi told the FT.
Kaabi said even if the war ended immediately it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal cycle of deliveries.
Qatar halted its production of liquefied natural gas on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes. The country’s LNG production is equivalent to about 20 percent of global supply and plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.
WHO says Dubai global emergency logistics hub ‘resuming operations’
The World Health Organization said its global health emergencies logistics hub in Dubai was resuming operations on Friday after a pause caused by the war in the Middle East.
“One of our most immediate concerns is the disruption of humanitarian health supply chains. After a temporary pause, WHO’s Hub for Global Health Emergencies Logistics is today resuming operations,” Hanan Balkhy, the UN health agency’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, told a press conference in Geneva, speaking from Cairo.
Middle East crisis declared ‘major humanitarian emergency’: UN
The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday it had declared the crisis in the Middle East a major humanitarian emergency, stressing the need for an immediate response.
“UNHCR has declared the escalating crisis in the Middle East as a major humanitarian emergency requiring an immediate response across the region,” Ayaki Ito, the agency’s emergency chief and its cross-regional refugee coordinator, told reporters in Geneva.
Azerbaijan says evacuating diplomats from Iran after drone attack
Azerbaijan said on Friday it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from neighbouring Iran, a day after Iranian drones targeted an airport and a school in an Azerbaijani border region.
“Azerbaijan is evacuating its diplomatic personnel from Iran. The process applies to both the embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Tabriz,” Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said, adding: “Work in this direction is currently underway.”
Israel strikes southern Lebanese city of Sidon, state media reports
Israel struck a building on a main thoroughfare of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Friday, state media said, without prior warning.
The strike targeted the tenth floor of an office building near two shelters for displaced people, an AFP photographer said.
Rescuers removed at least one body and were gathering human remains, the photographer said.
Danish shipping giant Maersk temporarily suspends more routes over Mideast war
Danish shipping giant Maersk said on Friday it was suspending two intercontinental transit routes because of the war in the Middle East.
The firm had already said it was suspending bookings in the Gulf “until further notice”.
“Considering the escalating conflict affecting safe navigation in the Gulf region, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the FM1 Service (connecting Far East to Middle East) and as well the ME11 Service (connecting Middle East to Europe),” the firm said.
Kremlin says Russia in dialogue with Iranian leadership
The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia was in dialogue with representatives of Iran’s leadership, but declined to provide further details when asked by reporters whether Moscow was helping Tehran.
Middle East being overrun by ‘madmen’ showing total disregard for international law, specialist says
As civilians in southern Beirut are ordered to evacuate ahead of an Israeli offensive, FRANCE 24 spoke to Nadim Houry, Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI).
The interview aired just prior to French President Emmanuel Macron pledging armoured vehicles for the Lebanese government.
Houry described the war on Iran and the conflict now spreading across the Middle East as “one large illegal war”, warning that its consequences are overwhelming Lebanon and threatening to reshape the entire region.
Kremlin says the war in Iran has fuelled demand for Russian energy
The Kremlin said on Friday that the war in Iran had fuelled demand for Russian energy products, noting that buyers like China and India were guided by their national interests.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia has been and remained a reliable supplier of oil and gas, both via pipelines and in liquefied form.
Lebanese PM says ‘a humanitarian disaster is looming’ from displacement
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned on Friday that “a humanitarian disaster is looming” as a result of Israeli evacuation orders that are causing a massive displacement of the population.
“The humanitarian and political consequences of this displacement could be unprecedented,” the premier told foreign ambassadors.
Residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut and of the south of the country, both Hezbollah strongholds, have fled in large numbers following unprecedentedly wide evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
UN rights chief says US probe of Iran school strike must ‘happen very quickly’
The United Nations rights chief stressed Friday the need for “transparent and impartial investigations” into an alleged deadly strike on a school in Iran, urging Washington to move “very quickly” with its announced probe.
“What we have asked for is obviously prompt, transparent and impartial investigations, which we understand has been announced by the United States of America,” Volker Turk told reporters in Geneva, stressing that “we need this to happen very quickly and we need to also make sure that there is accountability as well as redress for the victims”.
Scenes of destruction in southern suburbs of Beirut after Israeli strikes
Damage from overnight Israeli air strikes is pictured in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 6, 2026. AFP
A view of a damaged building after an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, March 6, 2026. Reuters
People stand on the rubble of a damaged building after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, March 6, 2026. Reuters
Blanket evacuation orders in Lebanon raise international law concerns, UN human rights chief says
Large-scale evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs raise serious concerns under international law, the UN human rights chief said on Friday.
“These blanket, massive displacement orders we are talking here about hundreds and thousands of people,” said United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk.
“This raises serious concern under international humanitarian law, and in particular when it comes to issues around forced transfer,” he added.
UN urges Middle East warring parties to ‘give peace a chance’
UN urges Middle East warring parties to ‘give peace a chance’
Iranian official says 20 people killed in strikes on Shiraz
An Iranian official said on Friday that at least 20 people have been killed in US and Israeli strikes in the southern city of Shiraz.
The toll could not be independently verified.
“Twenty innocent citizens have been martyred and 30 others have been injured in this terrorist attack,” said Jalil Hasani, deputy governor of Fars province, the official IRNA news agency reported.
He said the attack took place in a “residential area in the town of Zibashahr in Shiraz.”
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