U.S. Steps Up Fight to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

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Oil futures retreat as countries step in to try and call markets.

Plus Dubai pairs an advertising blitz with a social media crackdown to protect its image.

So part of Dubai's appeal is its safety and it only took a few days to puncture a reputation

that took them decades to build.

And we'll get the latest from DC as Congress ends another week no closer to resolving a

partial government shutdown.

It's Friday, March 20th.

I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal.

And here is the AM edition of What's News,

the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

The US military is scaling up efforts to try and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

We report that the operation involves attacking Iranian naval vessels with low-flying jets

and hunting drones with Apache helicopters.

An effort meant to clear away a web of Iranian assets that have harassed traffic

through the maritime choke point.

Well, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US has now damaged or destroyed more than 120

Iranian naval vessels. Experts say the mission could take weeks to show results,

with Iran still believed to have a vast stockpile of mines and hundreds of undamaged boats stored

in tunnels along its coast and on islands.

Well, adding urgency to that mission is a new projection from Saudi officials that oil prices

could top $180 a barrel if disruption to the region's energy supplies continues late into next

month. We report it's not an outcome that Kingdom wants, with prices that high,

potentially leading consumers to slash oil use, triggering a recession, or casting Saudi Arabia

as profiteering off of the war. Saudi Aramco, the country's national oil company, declined to

comment. Meanwhile, oil is steadying today, as countries announced steps to keep prices in check

in a bid to stop tit-for-tat attacks on energy infrastructure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu says that President Trump asked him to hold off on more strikes against Iran's oil fields.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says the US could remove sanctions on Iranian oil that's

already at sea. And EU leaders are floating a range of consumer supports, including state-funded aid

to offset cost increases and electricity price cuts. Here was European Commission President

Ursula Von der Lein. In some cases, electricity is taxed much more than gas, partially up to 15 times

more. And this cannot be. So we will propose to lower tax rates on electricity and to make

sure that electricity is taxed less than fossil fuels. Elsewhere, golf leaders are fighting to uphold

their country's reputations. A head of the war, the United Arab Emirates had built a reputation as

being a safe place to live in holiday. An image that journal Middle East correspondent Omar

Abdel-Baki said is being bolstered on social media. Influencers are showing videos of malls and

cafes that have a lot of people, so that it just looks like everything is normal and that it's

a normal day in Dubai. And for its part, Dubai has also created its own marketing campaign.

But with the UAE on the receiving end of more than 1600 Iranian drones and more than 300 missiles,

Omar says that officials are now supplementing those glossy marketing efforts with a crackdown

on contradictory posts. Dubai police have issued stern warnings against any content that may cause

public panic. They say that sharing rumors, false information, or any content that contradicts

official announcements is prohibited, violators could risk prison time of at least two years

and fines of more than $50,000. And they started an arrest campaign and they arrested at least

two dozen people, including people who just filmed and posted video clips documenting missile

attacks and interceptions. The UAE official told me that the government is urging people to rely on

official announcements and they say that inaccurate information can incite panic.

Well, back in Washington, we are approaching the end of another week with no end inside for

a partial government shutdown that's causing mounting disruption at airports nationwide.

Damian Paleta is the journal's DC coverage chief. Damian, here we are Friday morning. Is there

any plan taking shape to fund DHS at this point or at the very least maybe to pay TSA agents,

more of whom seem to be quitting by the day? Well, there's no plan yet, but I mean, we're heading

into peak spring break season with a lot of travelers and people are going to be missing flights.

There's a lot of unpaid TSA employees who are quitting and it just seems like a matter of time

before Democrats and Republicans realize this is unsustainable. So I expect either part of your

both parties to look for some sort of excuse to cut a deal, whether it's a short term deal

or a permanent deal because this is going to become a catastrophe soon when people keep missing

their flights and they're going to get really furious at Washington for their inaction. Though the

question seems for Democrats is going to be, yeah, maybe we want to play a role in getting things

back up and running at airports, but doesn't require us to compromise on some of the things we want to

change about immigration operations. Right. So the origins of the shutdown go back to Minneapolis

and the two protesters who were killed and that's when Democrats felt like they had a lot of

leverage over the White House. Now we have Mark Wayne Mullen, the new DHS nominee, Christy Nomes out,

and so Democrats, I think, feel like they're making some progress there in terms of getting

the White House to change their approach to immigration. So the question is, did Democrats

need to keep pressuring the White House here, or do they feel like they've already made enough

strides to pass this spending bill because the White House is clearly not going to use the same

approach to deportations that they were using a few months ago? Yet to that point, our reporters,

Michelle Hackman and Josh Dossi overnight reporting that President Trump has told members of his

inner circle that some of these mass deportation policies did go too far. His advisors also

think that getting Mark Wayne Mullen in a DHS could serve as kind of a reset on immigration.

And yet we all saw that testy confirmation hearing he had this week. I mean, what is the real

prospect here that the temperature could lower around immigration? Yes, there's a good prospect of

it in part because the White House is heading into the midterm elections in November. They're

in really not in that position where they can keep quite frankly antagonizing some of these

communities because it wasn't playing well. And so they obviously are very still committed to

deporting people who are here illegally. But in such a public spectacle, I think that's what they

want to avoid now. Obviously, this is a huge agency. And Mark Wayne Mullen doesn't have a lot of

experience running at agency this big, but he definitely does not seem like he wants to have the

same adversarial approach that Kristi Nome used there. And so maybe that'll help a little bit with

the White House's messaging, or maybe it won't. Damian Paletta is the journal's Washington

coverage chief Damian. Appreciate you. Thanks. My pleasure. Thank you. And for much more on the

state of disruption to US and global air travel, check out our upcoming episode of What's New

Sunday, where we'll talk about the effect of the war, the shutdown, higher fuel prices, and more.

You'll find that Sunday morning right here in this feed. And we'll be back with the rest of the

day's news in just a moment. America leads the world in medicine development. It matters.

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Lou Origin has formally entered the race to develop AI data centers in space,

following Elon Musk's SpaceX and startup Star Cloud. In a filing with the Federal Communications

Commission, Jeff Bezos' company said it's seeking permission to deploy more than 50,000 solar-powered

satellites in order to meet the growing demand for AI computing. The company says the effort

known as Project Sunrise would allow it to operate in an environment free from the red tape

that's complicated the development of terrestrial facilities.

TV station owner Nexstar Media Group says it's closed it's more than $6 billion merger

with rival Tegna after winning approval from the FCC. A deal that'll create a broadcast

television giant and result in the consolidation of hundreds of local stations.

The Trump administration just approved the sale of this station nine news and its parent company

Tegna to Nexstar. This afternoon the FCC signed off on the deal allowing broadcast station owner

Nexstar to buy Tegna, the company that owns King Five. News of the deal's completion comes just

today after eight states filed a suit to block it on antitrust grounds. It was California Attorney General

Rob Bonta and New York's Latisha James. This merger would give one broadcast in behemoth

the power to raise prices for consumers and to control and degrade local news coverage sports

programming and other TV content and it would undoubtedly lead to job cuts. Nexstar and Tegna

currently compete directly with one another. This competition ensures communities get diverse,

affordable and high quality TV coverage. President Trump publicly endorsed the merger,

writing last month that a bigger Nexstar would balance out quote the fake news national TV networks.

In a statement, Nexstar CEO said the deal would make the broadcaster better positioned to

deliver exceptional journalism and local programming. And consumer goods company Unilever is in

talks to separate its food business and merge it with Maryland-based spice maker McCormick.

We report that an all-stock deal could come within weeks, assuming the talks don't fall apart.

Unilever, whose portfolio includes Dove, Vaseline, and Helmonds Manais spun off its

magnum ice cream brand last year. And heads up, we've got a special bonus episode coming later today.

In the latest, what's news and earnings? We'll look at how retailers are dealing with inflation

and price-conscious shoppers. That'll be in your what's news feed at midday.

And that's it for what's news for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by

Hadi Moyer, our supervising producer, was Daniel Bach. And I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street

Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend. And thanks for listening.

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