What happened
Global oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022 as the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran intensifies, fuelling concerns about continuing disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Early trading in Asia today saw Brent crude rise to about $107.16, roughly 15.5% higher, while Nymex light sweet crude gained more than 17% to hit $106.77. Traders had anticipated prices reaching the $100 mark this week, but the move happened rapidly once the markets opened.

Who said what
US President Donald Trump described the spike in energy costs as a “small price to pay” for eliminating what he called Iran’s nuclear threat. His Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Israeli forces, rather than Washington, were responsible for targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure.

Rising oil prices “threaten to push up prices for consumers and businesses around the world”, said Faisal Islam on the BBC. This means “pain for consumers, many of whom don’t support the war and didn’t have any real warning that it was coming”, said Ben Geman on Axios. It’s also a “political setback for President Trump, who has relished touting lower gasoline prices on his watch”.

What next?
Analysts warn that oil prices could climb much higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains unusable for an extended period.

What happened
A man has died outside the UK’s first supervised drug consumption centre. Police cordoned off the entrance to The Thistle facility on Hunter St in Glasgow after emergency services were called at about 10.20am yesterday.

The death occurred outside the building (pictured above during a visit by Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney and Glasgow City council leader Susan Aitkenrather) rather than within the centre itself. The Thistle opened in January last year as a pilot project, allowing people to inject drugs such as heroin or cocaine under medical supervision without facing prosecution.

Who said what
Police Scotland said inquiries were ongoing, but that there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

The death comes “amid growing concerns surrounding the centre – which is the only one of its kind in the UK”, said Lisa Hodge in The Scottish Sun. “The ‘fix room’ allows addicts to inject substances such as heroin and cocaine under medical supervision – at an eye-watering cost of £362 per hit.” Yet supporters of the project say this type of service will help reduce the number of overdoses and connect users with health and social support services.

What next?
Authorities will submit a report to the procurator fiscal. The consumption facility continues to operate as a three-year pilot programme.

Businesses in the Australian state of Victoria will be “forced to allow staff to work from home two days a week” under what the state government describes as “world-first” laws.

According to The Times, the “sweeping measures” will apply to employers of all sizes and put in place a legal guarantee that every Victorian employee who can “reasonably” work from home will be eligible.

However, the Labor state government, which faces an election in November, has raised concerns among small businesses, who claim that the laws will restrict growth, while the proposed policy has also sparked fears that some firms would move interstate or abroad as a result.

Working from home suits families because it “saves time and money and it gets more parents working”, said Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan. “If you can work from home for a small business, you deserve the same rights as someone working for a big bank.”

In last year’s federal election campaign the Liberal-National Coalition, which was resoundingly beaten, had promised to “crack down on ‘unsustainable’ remote working patterns” and force staff back to five days a week in the office. That policy produced a “political spark” and Allan’s Labor Party is seeking to benefit from it. Its work-from-home initiative will form a large part of her re-election campaign in November.

“It is hard to keep up with Australia,” said Pilita Clark in the Financial Times. It has recently passed “some of the toughest anti-vaping laws on the planet”, a “world-first ban on social media for kids under the age of 16” and banned “artificial stone used for kitchen worktops that is linked with lung disease”.