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Iran attacked and set alight a fully loaded crude oil tanker anchored at Dubai port, causing damage to the vessel’s hull, in the latest strike on merchant vessels in the Gulf and the strait of Hormuz. The fire was extinguished within hours and no injuries were reported.

The drone attack on the Al Salmi tanker came hours after Donald Trump warned that the US would “obliterate” Iran’s energy plants and oil wells if it did not open the strait of Hormuz. The US-Israel war against Iran has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening economic chaos.

• What has Trump said about the war’s end? He has continued to give mixed messages, threatening to destroy Iran’s energy facilities unless it agrees to peace terms – while simultaneously claiming diplomatic progress in ending the war the US started together with Israel. Iran has accused the US of using diplomacy as a smokescreen to prepare for more attacks.

• Which countries are most vulnerable to economic shocks? The Philippines, which imports almost all of its crude oil from the Middle East, is particularly exposed to surging prices, which have triggered protests and widespread anger.

US directs American embassies to wage campaign against foreign ‘hostility’ – with Musk’s help

The United States has directed all American embassies and consulates to launch coordinated campaigns to resist foreign propaganda and push US narratives, partly using Elon Musk’s X.

The cable, signed by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and obtained by the Guardian, tells embassies to pursue five broad goals: countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local voices who support US interests, and promoting those “telling America’s story”.

• Why now? The government of Iran, which the US has attacked, is a prolific and sophisticated disinformation actor, while Russian and Chinese influence operations continue to target US allies globally.

• How would the embassies do it? They have been told to use local influencers, academics and community leaders abroad to make US-funded narratives feel more organic.

Two-year-old held by ICE sick and not getting adequate care, Democrat warns

A two-year-old boy held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Dilley, Texas, is sick and not getting adequate treatment, said Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from San Antonio.

The boy, Kaleth, has a fever and is not eating the food being served at the family detention center, which Castro said detainees have complained of having mold and worms.

• Has anyone died in ICE centers? In 2026 so far, at least 14 people have died in ICE custody, with José Guadalupe Ramos, a Mexican immigrant, dying recently at a detention center outside Los Angeles.

In other news …

• Israel’s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, in a move condemned as discriminatory by rights groups and European countries.

• Online threats against Ethiopian female activists have rapidly intensified, forcing some to leave the country, feminists and rights defenders have said.

• A US judge has called aspects of the Pentagon’s new media policy “weird” and Kafkaesque, and expressed alarm that journalists could be penalized for asking questions of military officials.

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees received back pay on Monday after an executive order by Donald Trump, as a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continues.

Stat of the day: Chinese property prices fell 40% between 2021 and 2025

Chinese real estate prices plummeted by 40% between 2021 and 2025, caused partly by Xi Jinping’s campaign to curb excessive property speculation. While apartment prices have fallen, China has the second-highest funeral expenses in the world. It has led some to keep their relatives’ ashes in empty apartments, rather than fork out for the limited cemetery plots in cities – a trend the government is clamping down on.

Culture pick: James McAvoy on his directoral debut, California Schemin’

He has played Professor X; the protagonist in Shyamalan’s Split; Mr Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia; and a range of other movie and theater roles. Now, James McAvoy is releasing his directoral debut, California Schemin’, the true story of two Scottish rappers who pretended to be American to snag a record deal. McAvoy – described by one of the rappers as “such a genuine guy ‘you forget he’s a Hollywood A-lister’” – opens up about challenging stereotypes of his homeland through this remarkable story.

Don’t miss this: how to start learning a new language

The benefits of learning a new language are myriad: it’s good for your brain, allows you to connect with new people and another culture, and enjoy a wider variety of art and media. So, if you’ve found your progress stalling on Duolingo, how do you get ahead? Experts share valuable insights into the science of language learning – and their tips for making progress.

Climate check: more drilling in North Sea ‘not the answer’ for UK energy security, say former military leaders

Further drilling in the North Sea would not improve the UK’s energy security, former military leaders have said, calling on the government to instead focus on wind, solar, tidal and nuclear energy. It came as a new analysis found no fossil fuel importer is immune to bottlenecks in the global supply chain.

Last Thing: ‘extremely rare’ Bob Dylan draft lyrics discovered inside signed Allen Ginsberg book

A draft of Bob Dylan’s lyrics for I’m Not There has been discovered tucked inside an Allen Ginsberg paperback. Almost 60 years after the lyrics were written, the draft – found in a book once owned by Sally Grossman, the wife of Dylan’s first manager – will be auctioned in April, where it could bring in £40,000 ($52,800).

• In yesterday’s First Thing, the item on an art theft in Italy used an image of Paul Cézanne’s Still Life With Cherries And Peaches, rather than Still Life with Cherries. You can see an image of the painting that was stolen here.

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