Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Sunday the government could expand restrictions on passenger car use beyond public institutions if crude prices rise to around $120–$130 a barrel

International News via Reuters:

South Korea is considering extending driving curbs to the general public if global oil prices climb further, senior officials said, as authorities seek to rein in energy demand amid supply strains due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Sunday the government could expand restrictions on passenger car use beyond public institutions if crude prices rise to around $120–$130 a barrel, up from the current $100–$110 range.

If expanded to the entire public, the policy would mark the country’s first nationwide driving curbs since the 1991 Gulf War, when the government imposed a 10-day vehicle rotation system to conserve energy.

“If the Middle East situation worsens, the crisis alert would have to move up to the ‘warning’ stage, and around that point we would need to curb consumption,” Koo said on a local broadcast, referring to a move up to the third-highest level in the country’s four-stage resource security crisis alert system.  

He added the government may also consider further fuel tax cuts to ease the burden on households.

The finance ministry said in a separate media release on Monday that mandatory driving curbs for the private sector remain undecided, adding that authorities would weigh energy supply conditions and broader economic factors before taking any action.

South Korea imports about 70% of its crude oil from the Middle East, leaving the country highly exposed to supply disruptions and sharp price swings stemming from tensions in the region.

The government last week enforced a mandatory five-day vehicle rotation system for the public sector, restricting vehicle use based on licence plate numbers.

Energy Minister Kim Sung-whan said last Thursday authorities were reviewing tighter demand-management measures should the alert level rise further, including widening enforcement of driving curbs, while encouraging voluntary participation by companies and the financial sector.

Major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics and SK Group have joined the effort, urging employees to cut back on private car use and adopt fuel-saving measures.

Lawmakers and senior politicians have also taken to social media, posting about using public transport and bicycles to set an example and calling on the public to join energy-saving efforts.

Kim also tried to stop the panic buying of trash bags, as some consumers are hoarding the plastic bags in anticipation of a possible shortage stemming from the Middle East energy crisis.

In a Facebook posting, he said that more than half of the local governments have an over six-month inventory of rubbish bags, and Korea would allow the use of regular bags for waste in the “worst-case situation.”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged the country to accelerate a shift to renewable energy such as electric vehicles, saying that the energy issue is “so severe that even I can’t sleep at night.”

Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim, Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Sonali Paul, William Maclean

Europe’s heavy reliance on energy imports has left it exposed to spiralling prices since the key shipping route the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed

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European Union energy ministers will hold talks on Tuesday to coordinate their response to the disruption to oil and gas markets triggered by the Iran war, an internal EU briefing document showed.

Europe’s heavy reliance on energy imports has left it exposed to spiralling prices since the key shipping route the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed and Tehran started attacking energy infrastructure in the Middle East.

European gas prices have ​jumped more than 70% since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began ​on February 28.

Ministers are invited to “indicate which concrete measures could be put in place to address the tightening of the oil and gas markets in a coordinated manner,” the EU document read.

“It remains important to avoid uncoordinated and fragmented national responses and disruptive signals to the market,” the document added.

The document said ministers should focus their efforts on filling gas storage for next winter and on stabilising oil product markets and ensuring these supplies.

The EU says its oil and gas supplies remain secure in the short term, since the bloc’s top suppliers are Norway and the United States, rather than producers directly affected by strikes and shutdowns in the Middle East.

But Europe is watching with concern as global supplies of certain products – in particular, diesel and jet fuel – tighten.

Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan last week warned that the continent could face energy shortages by April, with jet fuel, diesel and gasoline among the products being hit early.

EU officials are trying to encourage countries to start filling their natural gas storage caverns early ahead of next winter, to avoid a dash for supplies later in the year which could cause further price spikes.

The ministers will meet by video conference at 1300 GMT on Tuesday.

Reporting by Kate Abnett;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Andrew Heavens

Banks currently must seek the ECB’s prior approval for any material change in their internal models

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The European Central Bank will simplify and speed up approvals for changes to banks’ internal credit risk models, easing a supervisory process that can delay capital benefits and trigger lengthy on-site inspections, it said on Monday.

Banks currently must seek the ECB’s prior approval for any material change in their internal models, a requirement that can spur on-site investigations and force lenders to run their old and new models in parallel for extended periods.

Under new rules effective from October 1, banks will be allowed to implement material changes to their internal models shortly after submitting their application, and fewer of these changes will trigger an on-site review, the ECB said.

If a new model produces lower risk weights, banks will still get a quick go-ahead for their use, but any capital benefits will be capped until the ECB has assessed the model on-site.

“Under the new approach, the ECB will conduct these on-site investigations of internal models primarily where higher risks warrant closer scrutiny,” the ECB said in a statement.

“Material model changes will no longer automatically trigger an on-site investigation.”

Separate guidelines from the European Banking Authority, also on Monday, reduce the number of model changes classified as material and subject to ECB approval.

The ECB, which supervises just over 100 of the euro zone’s biggest banks, said that for sensitive cases, it retained the option to follow the standard approval process, under which banks must wait for the outcome of a dedicated on-site investigation before implementation.

The ECB last year conducted 74 on-site investigations of internal models, 90% of which were triggered by banks requesting initial model approvals or material model changes.

Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Bernadette Baum

The plight of Timmy, who is thought to measure 12 to 15 metres in length, shows the difficulty of freeing such creatures given their size

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A young humpback whale named Timmy by rescuers was struggling to find its way out of shallow bays off the Baltic coast of Germany on Sunday morning, after a week-long ordeal that has put its survival in doubt.

The plight of Timmy, who is thought to measure 12 to 15 metres in length, shows the difficulty of freeing such creatures given their size, with rescuers using dredging equipment and boats to guide the whale back onto a long route to the Atlantic.

After days of efforts to free the animal, rescuers are now hoping the whale will manage to make it out on its own.

“The whale is quite weak. We’re still hopeful that it will pull through,” Daniela von Schaper, a marine expert at Greenpeace, told Reuters.

The whale, whose gender has not been established, was named after Timmendorfer Strand, the white sandy beach on Germany’s resort-filled Baltic coastline where it was first spotted on a nearby sandbank on Monday.

Repeated rescue attempts have failed since, with Greenpeace and its partners documenting an animal in severe stress with skin irritation and fishing gear entangled in its mouth.

There were brief glimmers of hope over the weekend, when the whale managed to free itself twice before running into difficulty again.

Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic Sea. While uncommon, large whales are spotted in the region every couple of years, according to von Schaper.

Conservationists say disrupted migration routes and human influence play a role in whale strandings around the world, though animals can also lose their way while searching for food.

“Some of them find their way out again, others unfortunately do not,” von Schaper said.

Reporting by Rachel MoreEditing by Ros Russell

In the celebration that opens the holy week leading up to Easter for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff called the conflict “atrocious” and said Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars

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Pope Leo said on Sunday that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood”, in unusually forceful remarks as the Iran war entered its second month.

Addressing tens of thousands in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, the celebration that opens the holy week leading up to Easter for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff called the conflict “atrocious” and said Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars.

“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo, the first U.S. pope, told crowds in brilliant sunshine.

“(Jesus) does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’,” he said, citing a Bible passage.

Leo did not specifically name any world leaders, but he has been ramping up criticism of the Iran war in recent weeks. 

During an appeal at the end of Sunday’s celebration, the pope lamented that Christians in the Middle East “are suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict” and may not be able to celebrate Easter.

The pope, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict and said on Monday that military airstrikes are indiscriminate and should be banned.

Some U.S. officials have invoked Christian language to justify the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that initiated the expanding war. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has started leading Christian prayer services at the Pentagon, prayed at a service on Wednesday for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy”.

In his homily on Sunday, Leo referenced a Bible passage in which Jesus, about to be arrested ahead of his crucifixion, rebuked one of his followers for striking the person arresting him with a sword.

“(Jesus) did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war,” Leo said. “He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross.”

Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by David Goodman

Under French law, suspects in terrorism cases can be held in custody for up to 96 hours, with further extensions possible under judicial oversight

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French authorities have arrested two more suspects over a foiled attack on Bank of America’s Paris offices, the country’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said on Sunday.

“Two further individuals were taken into police custody last night as part of the investigation launched on March 28, 2026 into the offences committed against Bank of America,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement to Reuters. The custody of the first suspect arrested on Saturday, a minor, has been extended, it added.

Under French law, suspects in terrorism cases can be held in custody for up to 96 hours, with further extensions possible under judicial oversight.

The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said on Saturday it had opened an investigation into attempted destruction by fire or other dangerous means, as well as the manufacture, possession and transport of an explosive or incendiary device.

Asked about possible sponsors, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez pointed to suspicions involving Iran but said no conclusion had been reached.

“In this type of conflict, you have a number of Iranian services that are likely to carry out actions such as these through proxies… There is a significant suspicion, but it is for the investigation to determine,” he said.

The Iranian embassy in France declined to comment on Nunez’s remarks.

The probe has been assigned to the Paris police judicial unit and France’s domestic intelligence agency.

Nunez said police intervened in the early hours of Saturday morning in Paris’ 8th arrondissement after a patrol assigned to protecting sensitive sites spotted two individuals placing and attempting to ignite an improvised explosive device outside the bank.

Officers moved in and arrested one suspect at the scene while the second fled, Nunez told BFM TV late on Saturday. 

“One individual was trying to light an improvised explosive device made with a container likely containing hydrocarbons and a crude ignition system, while another was filming,” Nunez said.

He added that the device, though rudimentary, could have been lethal, and that officers prevented it from being ignited.

Nunez said the individuals appeared to be “common-law” offenders acting as paid intermediaries, in what he described as a known modus operandi involving proxies recruited to carry out such attacks.

He said authorities had identified similarities with incidents in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and Norway, where improvised devices targeted sites linked to U.S. interests.

Reporting by Mathieu RosemainEditing by Christina Fincher