US PARATROOPERS PREPARE FOR MIDEAST

• US troop deployment: Around 1,000 US soldiers with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are expected to deploy in coming days to the Middle East, sources told CNN.

• Strikes persist: A residential area in Tehran was hit by an airstrike, according to the Iranian Red Crescent said. Drones struck a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, the country’s civil aviation authority said.

• Strait of Hormuz: Multiple vessels have passed through the strait since yesterday morning, tracking data appears to show, as Iran says it will charge countries a fee for safe passage through the critical waterway.

A trade expert has warned that disruptions along the Strait of Hormuz could fracture global trade systems and shift toward unilateral trade policies, hitting a handful of G7 countries.

Chris Southworth, secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce in the UK, said the “changing economic order is putting political pressure” on global trade and “increasing unilateralism.”

“This is fragmenting the system and making it much more complex,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson.

📰 Via Cnn