An American journalist was kidnapped in broad daylight by an armed group in central Baghdad, in IraqThis is an episode that highlights the risks – widespread throughout the region – of the American-Israeli war against theIranThe reporter is Shelly Kittleson, 49 years old: collaborates with American and Italian media, including The paper andHandle. Just Tuesday on the website of the Sheet An article of his was published entitled: "The Price of Kurdish Neutrality. Attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan."
The news of the kidnapping was followed, in the following hours, by rumours about a possible release, never confirmed in a climate described in Baghdad as one of great confusion over the kidnapping. According to a colleague of the CNN, “could be held hostage in Baghdad by Kataib Hezbollah” (Kh), an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group allied with Tehran. One of the suspected kidnappers has already been arrested. Kittleson was born in Wisconsin but has long divided her life between Rome and the Middle East, where she is an expert. A freelance journalist, she also works for Al Monitor and has also collaborated with magazines such as BBC World, Politico e Foreign PolicyHe spent years working as a correspondent from war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
Trump: "The war in Iran will be over within three weeks."
Meanwhile, the US president Donald Trump continues to reel off statements about the war in Iran. From the most recent ones – he said he believes that the military operation will end “in 2-3 weeks” After having already postponed the date of the conflict several times since February 28th, adding that gasoline prices will drop as soon as it leaves Iran – to the repeated broadsides directed at the allies. “To all those countries that cannot obtain aviation fuel because of Hormuz, such as the UK, who refused to intervene in the beheading of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: number 1, buy from the United States, we have plenty; and number 2, take courage, go to the Strait and take it yourselves“, the US president wrote on Tuesday on Truth, adding: “You will have to start learning to defend yourselves, the US will no longer be there to help you, just as you have not been there for us.” Then the attack on France"It did not allow planes carrying military supplies to Israel to fly over its territory. France has proven very uncooperative. The US will remember that!"
Fuel prices are at their highest in the US and France.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the petrol negli United States has reached the cost of $4 a gallon, at its highest since 2022, but in some states, drivers are paying significantly more. The American Automobile Association's figure represents a national average, derived from a survey of 120.000 gas stations. There are differences between states: for example, drivers in California, which relies more on fuel imports from Asia, pay $5,89 per gallon for gasoline and $7,46 for diesel.
In France, the price of a liter of diesel reached last week the all-time high since 1985, surpassing the peaks recorded after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to data published by the government on Monday, the average price of a liter of diesel fuel reached 2,1888 €The previous record was set on March 11, 2022, at €2,1407 per liter, followed by June 17, 2022, at €2,1345.
Fuel prices: Europe raises alarm over consumption
And while in Italy the Meloni government the Council of Ministers could meet again on Friday 3 April – a meeting is reportedly being considered new intervention on fuels in view of the expiry, on Tuesday 7 April, of the cut introduced last 18 March – in Europe it is happening that the possibility, less and less remote, of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz the spectre of the awakens in Brusselsenergy austerity, an effect of the oil shock that followed the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.
The European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen, in fact, sent a letter in which it invites Member States to evaluate “demand reduction measures”, particularly in the sector of “transport”.
The problem lies precisely in fuels: "We depend on global markets," Jorgensen points out, "for our fossil fuel supplies, in direct competition with other consumers. Intensifying global competition for available supplies could introduce greater volatility into European markets."
“In the short term – underlines the commissioner – it is of particular concern the EU's dependence on the Persian Gulf region for refined petroleum products, compounded by the limited availability of alternative suppliers and refining capacity for specific products within the EU”.
