This is NewsCard Daily for Saturday, March 28, 2026... your briefing on the stories shaping our world.

We begin in the Middle East where the war with Iran spirals deeper into crisis. President Trump extends his ultimatum on the Strait of Hormuz by ten days to April 6th, after Iran slams the vital oil channel shut, sending Brent crude above $110 a barrel. US and Israeli strikes pound Iranian targets, while Tehran and Hezbollah unleash missiles on Tel Aviv and northern Israel, killing one and wounding dozens. Ground forces push into southern Lebanon for a buffer zone, as Iranian attacks hit US bases in Saudi Arabia, torching tankers at Prince Sultan Air Base. Families feel the squeeze worldwide, with blackouts and shortages crippling lives from Kuwait to Cuba.

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Shifting to the Persian Gulf, missing crew from two hijacked ships heighten the terror. Nine people, including a four-year-old child from Cuba, France, Poland, and the US, vanish amid the chaos, with no contact from the vessels. Families wait in agony as navies scramble.

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Across the Atlantic in Washington, political firestorms rage. House Republicans block a subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. over his firm's investments in a rare earth minerals company, just before it scored a $620 million Pentagon loan. Critics cry foul on conflicts fueling the war machine.

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Now to Europe where G7 foreign ministers huddle in France, grappling with the Hormuz blockade. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urges allies to secure the strait, warning Iran eyes a toll on every tanker passing through. Gas prices shatter records, hitting wallets from Paris to Tauranga.

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We turn eastward to the Russia-Ukraine front, where Ukrainian drones cripple Baltic Sea ports and refineries, slashing 40 percent of Russia's oil exports in its biggest disruption ever. Smoke plumes visible from Finland signal a bold escalation, as the Pentagon eyes redirecting Ukraine-bound weapons to the Middle East.

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