By Emma Tucker
Unless peace talks between the U.S. and Iran pan out fast, high prices for Middle Eastern crude could soon cascade to the U.S. and elsewhere. A resolution means oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz again. Even then, for prices to fall, traders want to see Gulf producers reverse output cuts from the start of the war. Oil prices appear to move on every headline, but it can take weeks or months for them to ripple from wellheads to gas stations. And with utility bills climbing, WSJ's Rachel Wolfe asked Americans how they're recalibrating their budgets.
Today's Headlines
Mediators from Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan are pushing for a meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials.
Iran's combative Parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, is emerging as an unlikely figure in Washington's search for a deal to halt the war.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating several problems that could have played into the deadly LaGuardia Airport crash.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's party suffered its worst election in a century, despite plaudits for her defense of Greenland against President Trump.
A New Mexico jury found Meta Platforms liable for failing to protect young people from online dangers, including sexually explicit content and trafficking.
Live From The Markets
Wall Street is betting on a veteran of both the Marines and bare-knuckle New Jersey politics to fight New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's push to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
New bank regulations could favor loans to private credit, writes Telis Demos.
Read It Here First
He had a full ride at Duke -- until America cut him off.
Student visas for Africa's best and brightest have been canceled by the Trump administration, leaving empty seats and broken dreams. As a boy, Majok Bior escaped a country engulfed in war. As a gifted student, he won a full scholarship to Duke University and looked toward a dazzling future. Bior studied computer science at the North Carolina campus during his freshman year. After finishing the fall semester of his sophomore year, Bior returned to Uganda for winter break. Then Trump began to ban students from Africa, starting with South Sudan, where Bior was born. He hasn't returned to campus since, reports Caroline Kimeu.
As China encroaches, even New Zealand is getting serious about its military.
New Zealand is known for majestic landscapes, epic filmmaking and once-in-a-lifetime vacations. Now, the country is embarking on a more off-brand project: bolstering its tiny military, as China sends forces deeper into the Pacific. New Zealand plans to spend some $7 billion on its military in the next few years; it is also on a recruitment drive. The urgency of a well-equipped force was on display last year, when a Chinese naval task force conducted live-fire drills between Australia and New Zealand. The exercises reminded New Zealanders that the country can't rely on its remote location to keep it out of trouble, Judith Collins, New Zealand's defense minister, told the WSJ's Mike Cherney.
Expert Take
Q: How has the ICE operation in Minnesota continued to impact the Twin Cities' economies?
National affairs Reporter Joe Barrett spoke with business owners in Minneapolis and St. Paul about the economic ripple effects from the ICE surge there:
A: Six weeks after the Operation Metro Surge immigration crackdown wrapped up in the Twin Cities, local businesses that rely on immigrants -- both as workers and -- are still struggling to recover.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have estimated that the operation cost the local economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and wages, while spending on police overtime soared.
"Though the actions of ICE are now off the headlines, the economic impacts will ripple out for months, and probably beyond," Matt Varilek, commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development, told me.
Many businesses that shuttered during the height of the operation have come back, but their customers largely haven't. Others are just glad to be back to a sense of normalcy.
Luis Reyes Rojas, owner of Pinedas Tacos Plus, no longer has to keep his front door locked against potential ICE raids. He said it's "better times for everybody."
Watch: Local business owners discuss the challenges they're still facing.
See The Story
They're rich but not famous -- and they're suddenly everywhere.
The number of Americans worth tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars has boomed in the past few decades, thanks to a rising stock market, lucrative private investments and swelling valuations for small and midsize businesses. This growing class is now a huge force in the economy, driving the demand for everything from lavish hotel rooms to private jet travel. In charts, WSJ's Rachel Louise Ensign shows how much this class has grown and how it is transforming the U.S. economy.
Happening Today
Economic data: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release import and export price indexes for February.
Earnings: Jefferies Financial, Cintas, Beyond Meat, Chewy
Number Of The Day:
>$10,000
The retail price of some vintage Eames Lounge Chairs. Since its launch in 1956, the chair has become a status symbol in Hollywood films and design aficionados' homes alike. Authentic versions carry a legacy of craftsmanship shaped by designers Ray and Charles Eames. In this video, WSJ went inside the Michigan factories where the chair is made.
And Finally...
Our travel columnist let artificial intelligence plan her seaside break and wound up swimming in the North Sea.
With Google's Gemini chatbot as her travel agent, WSJ's Dawn Gilbertson traveled to the little-known, but quaint English town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea for a recent trip. The goal: a trip planned entirely by AI, with no outside research or human recommendations. While the "Jim-and-I" adventure successfully uncovered a far-flung gem, she found the chatbot stumbled on real-time logistics like weather forecasts and shifting restaurant hours.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2026 06:28 ET (10:28 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments