The Daily Populous Thursday April 30th, 2026 night edition
Authored by bbc.co.uk and submitted by Alternative-Win4058

The price of oil has seen sharp swings since the start of the war, as the key Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for weeks due to the conflict.

Iran has severely restricted shipping through the strait — which usually carries about a fifth of the world's supply of oil and liquid natural gas — in response to US and Israeli strikes that began on 28 February.

Earlier this month, Tehran warned that any vessel that approaches the strait would be targeted.

The US then announced that its forces would intercept or turn back vessels travelling to or from Iran's ports.

Analysis by BBC Verify shows that at least four vessels tracked from Iranian ports appear to have crossed the US blockade line.

Despite the fluctuations of recent weeks, the price of oil remains much higher than the pre-conflict price of a barrel.

The price of Brent crude dropped to $90 a barrel on 17 April, after a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced. The US said it would pause attacks on Iran on 8 April. It remains much higher than the pre-conflict price of a barrel.

However, the oil benchmark has been rising steadily over the last 12 days, as the US continued its blockade.

despenser412 on April 29th, 2026 at 14:19 UTC »

And Trump is still more concerned about his top secret military ballroom for a cool $400 million.

MAGA 2016: "Let's vote for a wealthy businessman with no experience in politics, military, or government! What could possibly go wrong?"

Everything goes wrong.

MAGA 2026: "Everything is terrible and it's obviously the liberals, democrats, and the lefts fault!"

Johnny55 on April 29th, 2026 at 14:00 UTC »

So the market is starting to reflect what's been obvious for weeks now that Wall Street has fleeced what it can from the people who were right too soon. Cool.

yamirzmmdx on April 29th, 2026 at 13:57 UTC »

> In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the country 'couldn't get its act together.

It's kinda sad that without any context you can't tell which country he is referring to