US and Iran threaten energy and water facilities as investors brace for Monday shock

I'm your weekend host, Sharon Reichgarson in New Jersey.

It's Sunday, March 22nd, today.

Trump threatens to obliterate Iran's power plants if the straight of Hormuz isn't reopened

within 48 hours.

Kevin Durant passes Michael Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

And hair filters take on pollution in Mexico City.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines

in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

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Five million Americans go to work because we make medicines here at home, and not relying

on other countries keeps us safe.

But China is racing to overtake us.

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When America leads, America cures.

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Learn how at AmericaCures.com, paid for by Pharma.

The war between the US, Israel, and Iran is moving into a new and more dangerous phase.

Now the United States and Iran are openly threatening to hit each other's energy and power

infrastructure.

President Trump is dialing up the pressure, warning in a social media post that Iran has

48 hours to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or face what he calls obliteration of its power

plants.

It's a sharp reversal from the day before, when he was talking about, quote, winding down

the war, which is now in its fourth week.

Iran isn't backing off.

Because they're saying if the US strikes, they'll target American energy, IT, and desalination

sites across the Gulf.

This is all happening as Iran's attacks have effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, choking

off the route for a fifth of the world's oil and gas.

Iran's threats to hit desalination plants are especially acute and water-scarred states

along the Gulf, where entire populations and economies depend on water from the facilities.

Analysts call this next 48 hours a ticking time bomb for global markets.

Oils are ready at a four-year high, and energy and commodities enter Dmitry Zhdanikov says

fears of a black Monday are spreading.

Based on previous Mondays, when there were a lot of bullish headlines, we've seen oil

jumping between 5 and 10 percent instantly.

It's probably the most significant crisis since the Arab oil embargo in the 70s.

And every day it continues, it's actually looking, beginning to look even more dramatic.

So unless this kind of stops somehow, miraculously in the next few days, we're going to see a very

big jump in prices in every single material around the world, from energy to food, because

actually farmers depend on fertilizers, and there's a lot of fertilizers that are being produced

in the region.

There's a lot of scarcity, which is coming our way if it doesn't stop fairly quickly.

I think we all should be watching for a few more headlines with people descalating this,

because in the current environment, when everyone is sending these bullish headlines,

it's not looking good.

I mean, someone needs to somehow, as a lot of market people say, someone needs to be a grown-up

intervene and de-escalate these things, because it's looking too dangerous at the moment.

The Iran war is also disrupting the flow of life-saving medicines into the Gulf.

Major air routes are down because of the conflict, and with big international hubs like

Johan and Abu Dhabi still shut, drug makers are scrambling to find workarounds to reroute cargo.

Reuters' farm industry correspondent Maggie Fick tells us what this could mean for patients.

The medicines that are most at risk here, in particular, are the high-value, cold-chain products,

especially cancer treatments, where even short delays have serious consequences for patients.

Delays in oncology medicines can mean treatment is postponed or interrupted,

and in some cases, patients may have to restart a course of therapy.

And the reason that these medicines are vulnerable is because they often need to be kept within a very

tightly narrow refrigeration range throughout transit, so if a shipment is delayed or misses a connection

or loses proper cold-chain handling, the product may no longer be safe or effective.

While there aren't currently signs of major shortages, that could soon change if the conflict

continues. The industry message for now is no major shortages yet, but the window is now measured

in weeks, not months. Prashant Yadavav, the counsel on foreign relations, said that stocks of short

shelf-life temperature-sensitive medicines are typically around three months, but he also said that

some customers were already warning they could run low within four to six weeks if conditions

do not improve. So if the conflict continues and these routes remain disruptive, hospitals could

start to come under real pressure within a month or so.

Still more clear at one year with monthly dosing?

You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Ebglus. Before starting Ebglus,

tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who led the investigation into Russia's interference

in the 2016 election, has died. He was 81. His law firm confirmed the news with no cause of death

mentioned. First, our investigation found that the Russian government interfered in our election.

Mueller's best known for a sweeping probe that indicted three dozen people and exposed how Russia

worked to boost Donald Trump's campaign. The U.S. president has responded to the news with a

blistering social media post saying, good, I'm glad he's dead.

Voters in France head to the polls today in mayoral runoff elections that will decide who runs

Paris, Marseille, and more than 1,500 other cities and towns. These local races won't predict next

year's presidential election, but they do reveal how political alliances are shifting,

and how a divided left is trying and sometimes struggling to come together between rounds.

This week's on assignment podcast looks at what these races tell us about France after Macron,

and whether the far right is gaining real momentum ahead of next year's presidential vote.

Your attention has really shifted towards the next political cycle and who will succeed Macron.

It's also one of the things that people will scrutinize in the local elections,

because they don't always translate neatly into national politics, but it can give us a sense of

momentum. We'll drop a link to the episode in the show notes.

Kevin Durant has passed Michael Jordan and moved into fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

He dropped 27 points in the rocket's 123-122 win over the Miami Heat, and the shot that pushed

him past Jordan, a three-pointer, giving Durant 32,294 career points. That's two more than Jordan.

And we end our show today in Mexico City's ancient Sochimilco canals,

where conservationists are turning an unlikely material into a pollution-fighting tool.

Human hair. At the Axelotel Sanctuary director Michel Balam lived a long mesh tube packed with hair,

a boom, from the water.

He says untreated wastewater from about 75,000 households flows straight into these canals,

so they're experimenting with hair to trap oils, fats, and heavy metals.

Once the booms come out, the polluted hair is treated with bacteria,

then reused as compost. In nearby Chinampa farms, Augustine Galicia says the processed hair mulch

helps his pepper crops hold moisture and reduces how much water he needs. For him,

it's a fertilizer and a water saver. Across town, the hair gets collected and pressed into thick

filtering knots. Locals salon supply the clippings that keep the program running.

At Lola's house salon, owner Dara's Martinez sweeps up the fresh-cut hair.

She says clients love knowing their haircut is helping clean the city's water.

And for today's recommended listen, check out a special episode of our sister podcast on

assignment. It's called In Search of Banksy. It follows two Reuters reporters on a global hot for

the artist's identity. We'll drop a link in the pod description. For more on any of the stories

from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast

player. And if you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news for Reuters

seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.