Kia ora and welcome to your Monday summary of international business and political news from the weekend.
First up, reports suggest the body in charge of selecting a new supreme leader in Iran has reached a decision, but the name of the person was not clear.
Israel had warned it would target any person chosen to replace Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war, the Guardian reported.
“The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” a member of the selection body, Mohsen Heydari, said.
Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested oil and gas prices could fall when the US started to prevent Iran’s ability to stop tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reported.
“The plan is to get oil and natural gas and fertiliser and all the products from the Gulf flowing through the straits before too long,” Wright said.
“We’re massively [weakening] their ability to strike with missiles and drones, and that rate of attrition will increase in the coming days. So, we’ll be cautious, we’ll be careful, but energy will flow soon.”
On the ground, Israel launched new strikes on the capitals of Iran and Lebanon over the weekend. The Israeli military said Iran also launched new strikes on Israel, while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain reported intercepting attacks, the BBC said.
The US and Israel hit oil storage depots and refining facilities in Tehran for the first time, while an Iranian drone attack caused material damage to a water desalination plant in Bahrain, Al Jazeera noted.
US President Donald Trump said there would be no deal with Iran except "unconditional surrender". His post on Truth Social came hours after Iran claimed mediation efforts were underway, the ABC reported.
"There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!," Trump wrote.
"After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).”
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi described his country as a defender of peace and stability as the war in Iran continues, CNN reported.
“This was a war that should never have happened, and a war that benefited no one,” he said.
He reiterated China’s call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent the situation from escalating and avoid the “spillover and spread” of war. “All parties should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and resolve their differences through equal dialogue.”
Elsewhere, a hardware executive at OpenAI, Caitlin Kalinowski, resigned over the weekend amid concerns about the company’s agreement with the US Department of Defence, CNBC reported.
Kalinowski wrote on social media that OpenAI did not take enough time before agreeing to deploy its artificial intelligence models on the Pentagon’s classified cloud networks.
“AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorisation are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got.”
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney called special elections to fill three vacant seats as he attempts to get a majority in the House of Commons.
The by-elections will be held in April to fill two seats in Toronto and one in Montreal. If Carney’s Liberal Party wins all three, it would hold 172 of 343 House seats – a bare majority, Bloomberg reported.
That would allow his cabinet to push through legislation without necessarily having to negotiate with opposition parties in advance.
In economic news, US February jobs data was materially weaker than expected, pointing to a cooling labour market and a delicate economy. Non-farm payroll data fell by 92,000, missing expectations of a 58,000 gain.
The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4%, while the participation rate held steady at 62%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% from January, in line with expectations, and up 3.8% year-on-year.
Capital.com senior market analyst Daniela Hathorn described the data as “growth-negative” because the labour market might be losing momentum more quickly than expected.
She said markets were balancing two opposing forces – slowing growth and weaker employment – as well as rising energy prices and geopolitical risks.
Over the Ditch, online buying platform Carconnect has entered voluntary administration and left some customers without vehicles.
The platform, which launched in the early 2000s, connected Aussie buyers with dealers. Customers could use the platform to compare models and Carconnect would then negotiate on their behalf. The ABC said some customers had spent about A$40,000 on cars they never received.
The first creditors' meeting with the administrators is scheduled for March 10.
Finally, European Union lawmakers agreed to ban some meat names, including steak and bacon, for vegetarian and vegan foods, but an earlier proposal to also ban burger and sausage was abandoned.
Negotiators eventually compromised on rules for food names, but critics said they were still creating unnecessary complexity. The naming rules were part of broader regulation aimed at strengthening the position of farmers in food supply markets, the Guardian said.
