The annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to be held in Cebu on Friday, comes amid mounting pressure on member states following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for the majority of Asia’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas imports.

Marcos said discussions would center on strengthening regional preparedness, stabilizing energy supplies and accelerating diversification efforts to reduce reliance on external sources vulnerable to geopolitical shocks.ASEAN’s 11 member states are among the most affected by the disruption, with many heavily dependent on Middle Eastern energy imports.

The Philippines, which relies almost entirely on the region for crude oil, declared a national energy emergency in March after fuel prices more than doubled.Supply shortages have also been reported in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, with fuel stations in some areas forced to suspend operations.

Rising energy costs have driven up production and logistics expenses, weakened currencies and slowed economic growth across the region.The summit is expected to address coordinated responses to the crisis, including maintaining open trade flows and avoiding restrictive measures that could exacerbate shortages.

“What do we do? How can we help each other?” Marcos said in earlier remarks, adding that the meeting would focus on oil, food security and the welfare of migrant workers.Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial said leaders were expected to issue a joint statement outlining collective measures to manage the crisis and strengthen long-term coordination.

Regional officials have highlighted the need for deeper cooperation, including sharing energy reserves and pursuing joint exploration projects, to reduce dependence on supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.

“The protracted Middle East conflict has had an impact on the region, slowing down economic growth and lowering projections,” said Tereso Panga, head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, noting that closer coordination could help stabilize supply and mitigate volatility in energy markets.

Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur and newcomer to state politics, consolidated support early in the race with endorsements from former President Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party, helping him clinch the nomination in a competitive primary.

Trump’s backing underscored his continued influence in Ohio, a state that has supported him in three presidential elections. However, Ramaswamy’s campaign could face challenges in the general election amid concerns over Trump’s declining popularity tied to the ongoing war in Iran and rising living costs, factors that may shape voter sentiment.

Acton, a physician who gained prominence as Ohio’s COVID-era health director, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Her established public profile and strong fundraising network have buoyed Democratic hopes of reclaiming the governor’s office for the first time in two decades.

The gubernatorial race is expected to draw significant financial resources from both parties, reflecting its strategic importance in a politically competitive state.In Ohio’s other key contest, former Senator Sherrod Brown secured the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Senator Jon Husted in November.

Brown, who retains a strong voter base from his previous tenure, is seen by Democrats as a viable contender to flip the seat.Republicans have signaled a robust defense, with the Senate Leadership Fund, a leading GOP-aligned super PAC, committing $79 million to support Husted’s campaign. Husted faced no opposition in his primary.

The twin races are expected to serve as indicators of broader political trends in a state that remains pivotal in national elections.

Shipping disruptions linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran are worsening Somalia’s hunger emergency, delaying life-saving food supplies for severely malnourished children and forcing health clinics to ration treatment as the country faces the combined pressures of drought, aid cuts and rising fuel costs.

Aid agencies and health workers say the delays have become critical for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, also known as wasting, the most dangerous form of hunger. Nearly half a million Somali children under the age of five are currently affected, according to humanitarian agencies, with interruptions in treatment carrying long-term physical and cognitive consequences.

In clinics across Mogadishu and Baidoa, health workers say stocks of specialised therapeutic milk and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a high-energy peanut-based paste essential for treating acute malnutrition, are running dangerously low.

“Since the needs are large and we don’t have a lot of supplies, we have had to keep reducing the amount we give children,” said Hassan Yahye Kheyre, a nurse at a clinic in Baidoa supported by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).The facility, which treats more than 1,200 children, had only 225 cartons of therapeutic peanut paste remaining and expected stocks to be exhausted within two weeks, according to the IRC.Kheyre warned that interrupted treatment can have permanent consequences.

“If treatment is on-and-off, the children will become very weak, physically and mentally. And it may not be possible to reverse it,” he said.Somalia is already confronting one of its most severe food security crises in years. A new drought has pushed 6.5 million people roughly one in three Somalis into acute hunger, according to government and United Nations estimates.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the global hunger monitoring system, says more than 2 million people are now in the “Emergency” phase, one step below famine.The crisis has been compounded by deep reductions in foreign humanitarian funding.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says more than 200 health facilities have already been closed and mobile health teams disbanded because of funding shortages.In December, OCHA said more than 60,500 severely malnourished children had gone untreated as a direct result of these gaps and warned the number could rise to 150,000 if funding shortages continue.

Somalia was not included among the 17 countries selected to receive a share of this year’s reduced humanitarian allocations from the United States, the donor that has made the sharpest cuts among major foreign aid contributors.OCHA has appealed for $852 million from global donors this year to prevent famine conditions from worsening.

That request is already significantly lower than the $1.42 billion sought last year, yet humanitarian officials say only around 14% of the current target has been funded.The outbreak of war involving Iran on February 28 added a new layer of disruption. After the United States and Israel launched attacks and Iran closed access to the Gulf, shipping routes were severely affected, reducing vessel availability and increasing freight costs for aid deliveries to East Africa.

Aid groups say the result has been slower deliveries and sharply higher prices for therapeutic food.In 2024, deliveries of therapeutic milk and RUTF from Europe to Somalia typically took between 30 and 35 days. In 2025, shipping diversions around Africa caused by Red Sea security threats extended delivery times to 40 to 45 days.

Since the Iran conflict escalated, those delivery times have stretched further to between 55 and 65 days, according to Mohamed Omar, head of health and nutrition at Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Mogadishu.Admissions of severely malnourished children to ACF-supported health centres during January to March this year rose 35% compared with the same period last year, reflecting the growing nutritional emergency.

At Daynile General Hospital in Mogadishu, where 360 children are currently being treated for wasting, staff said on April 20 they had barely enough therapeutic supplies for a single week.“Some children’s nutritional status has already worsened,” said Xafsa Ali Hassan, the hospital’s health and nutrition supervisor.

The International Rescue Committee said one of its key shipments of peanut paste from India became stranded at the western Indian port of Mundra, where cargo congestion intensified after vessels were diverted away from Gulf ports.

The shipment, enough to feed more than 1,000 children, had been delayed for two months. After being told it would take at least another 30 days to arrive, the IRC cancelled the order.Instead, the organisation placed an emergency order for 400 cartons from Nairobi and began transferring supplies from Mogadishu to Baidoa to cover immediate shortages.

But regional sourcing has become far more expensive.CARE International said increased freight and manufacturing costs pushed the price of a single carton of therapeutic food to $200 from $55. That means the same budget that previously bought enough supplies for 300 children now covers treatment for only 83.

For families already living through repeated drought cycles, the shortages are immediate and deeply personal.At the Baidoa clinic run by IRC’s local partner READO, mother-of-nine Muumino Adan Aamin has been trying to obtain peanut paste for her 11-month-old daughter, Ruweido.

The child requires three sachets a day, but Aamin said she had been turned away twice because the clinic had run out of stock.She recalled nearly losing another daughter, Anisa, during the 2017 drought crisis that pushed Somalia to the edge of famine.“Just bone and skin,” she said, describing the child’s condition at the time.

Therapeutic peanut paste saved her daughter’s life then, and she fears history repeating itself.Domestic fuel prices in Somalia have also risen by 150% since the Iran conflict began, increasing transport costs inside the country and further straining already fragile supply chains.“Somalia is really hard hit by the Iran war because people are still reeling from the impact of the previous drought,” said Shukri Abdulkadir, IRC’s Somalia coordinator.

“It’s very difficult for people to absorb these shocks.”For aid agencies, the crisis illustrates how conflict far beyond Somalia’s borders can directly determine whether children receive treatment in time.

For clinics facing empty shelves and mothers turned away at the door, those geopolitical disruptions are measured not in shipping schedules, but in survival.

Flight bookings to Spain jumped 32% year-on-year as of April 2, with hotel searches up 28%, data from travel marketing firm Sojern showed. Portugal recorded a 21% increase in flight bookings and a 16% rise in hotel searches over the same period.

The surge reflects a broader reallocation of global travel demand, with tourists avoiding regions impacted by the ongoing Iran war and related instability.

Travel analytics company Mabrian reported a pullback in demand for Middle Eastern destinations alongside increased interest in southern European markets, with Spain emerging as the primary beneficiary.Destinations in the eastern Mediterranean have been particularly affected.

Cyprus has experienced a wave of cancellations following a drone strike on a British air base in early March, underscoring the spillover effects of the conflict on regional tourism.Industry group Exceltur has raised its outlook for Spain’s tourism sector since the conflict began on Feb. 28, projecting real growth of 2.5% in 2026, up from an earlier estimate of 2.4%.

The sector is expected to generate 227 billion euros ($267 billion), with diverted tourist flows contributing an estimated additional 4.2 billion euros.“Summer holidays are planned months in advance.

As destinations that attract large numbers of tourists are affected by the conflict, a significant part of this safe-haven effect is already materializing,” said Oscar Perelli, vice president of Exceltur.Spain’s tourism sector, a key driver of economic growth, continues to outperform many European peers.

The country received a record 97 million visitors last year, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s most visited destinations.Hotel association Cehat expects occupancy rates to rise by up to 3% during the summer, with increased demand for locations perceived as distant from conflict zones, including the Canary Islands.

However, the group cautioned that overall travel volumes could still be affected by broader economic and geopolitical uncertainties.Airlines have responded by increasing capacity, with seat availability rising nearly 6% year-on-year in April, according to Spain’s tourism agency Turespaña, particularly on routes from the United States and Britain.

Despite the positive outlook, industry officials warned that escalating risks tied to energy markets and transport routes could disrupt forecasts. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global oil and gas shipments, remains a key variable, with ongoing disruptions during the Iran conflict raising concerns over fuel costs and long-haul travel reliability.

“It will all depend on what happens in Hormuz, because all these forecasts could go out the window,” said Jorge Marichal, president of Cehat.

The selloff follows a sharp rise in global oil prices toward $100 a barrel, intensifying pressure on Thailand, which relies on the Middle East for nearly half of its oil and gas imports, according to Krungsri Research.

Data showed foreign investors were net sellers of $823 million in Thai equities in March, while bond outflows reached $705 million, marking the largest combined outflow since October 2024. The reversal came after a brief resurgence in inflows earlier this year, including $1.7 billion in equity purchases in February.

Investor optimism had been buoyed by the election of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, whose victory raised expectations of political stability and economic reform.

However, the outbreak of the Iran conflict at the end of February triggered a rapid reassessment of risk.Analysts say Thailand faces a more acute challenge than many regional peers due to its economic structure and policy constraints.

The economy had already been struggling, with growth of 2.4% last year and a prolonged period of deflation that prompted a rate cut by the central bank in February.“The risk remains that higher fuel costs hit consumption and disrupt exports and tourism,” said Daniel Tan, a portfolio manager at Grasshopper Asset Management, highlighting concerns about key growth drivers.

Thailand’s heavy reliance on natural gas, which accounts for more than half of its power generation, adds to its exposure. Rising liquefied natural gas imports are expected to further increase costs as energy markets tighten.

The Thai baht has weakened nearly 3% since the conflict began, though it has recovered some ground following a recent ceasefire. Analysts say the currency is acting as a key adjustment mechanism, helping absorb external shocks.

Market participants also point to limited policy flexibility. With public debt nearing the government’s self-imposed ceiling of 70% of gross domestic product, fiscal space is constrained, while monetary policy faces a trade-off between supporting growth and containing inflation.

“There’s a broad consensus among investors that Thailand is in a policy bind,” said Gary Tan of Allspring Global Investments, noting that the central bank has limited room to tighten or ease policy without adverse consequences.

Inflation, which had been contracting earlier this year, is now projected to rise as much as 3.5% depending on how the conflict evolves, marking a sharp shift in the economic outlook.

While a temporary ceasefire has supported a rebound in Thai equities and the baht, analysts caution that prolonged high energy prices could further weigh on growth, consumption and the external balance.

The state government said wages for unskilled workers would rise to about $165 per month from roughly $120, effective April 1, marking the first such policy move in response to the economic fallout from the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran war.

The decision followed clashes between police and workers in Manesar, located near New Delhi and home to major manufacturing facilities including Maruti Suzuki and numerous supplier units. Authorities urged workers to resume duties peacefully after the announcement.

Workers said surging food prices, driven by disrupted gas supplies, had strained household budgets. India, the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas, is facing one of its most severe supply disruptions in decades, prompting the government to prioritize household consumption over industrial use.

The wage hike is expected to ease pressure on workers but add to cost burdens for automakers already grappling with higher raw material prices. Companies such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have raised vehicle prices, while Maruti has indicated similar steps may follow.

Industrial activity in Manesar was partially disrupted as workers boycotted shifts and staged protests. Employees reported that food costs had nearly doubled, with some migrant workers returning to their home villages due to rising expenses and uncertain supplies.

Suppliers including Munjal Showa said production was affected, while firms such as Roop Polymers reported limited disruption and a return to normal operations after the protests subsided.India’s auto sector relies heavily on migrant labor, with millions traveling to industrial clusters for work.

Industry groups warned that retaining workers has become a priority, with some companies offering meals and bonuses to prevent further departures.

Executives said supply chains could take weeks to stabilize even if geopolitical tensions ease, as disruptions to energy supplies continue to ripple through manufacturing and labor markets.

The tender, issued on Saturday, covers 1.5 million tons for delivery via India’s west coast, with an additional 1 million tons planned through the east coast, according to a document published on the company’s website. Shipments are expected to depart load ports by June 14, while bids must be submitted by April 15.

India, the world’s largest importer of urea, routinely relies on global tenders to meet domestic demand, particularly ahead of the June monsoon season when sowing of crops such as rice, corn and soybeans begins.

Fertiliser availability is critical for the agriculture sector, which remains a key component of the country’s economy.The Gulf region accounts for between 20% and 30% of India’s urea imports and roughly half of its liquefied natural gas supplies, a key feedstock for domestic urea production, according to Aparna Sharma, additional secretary in the Department of Fertilisers.

Disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict have constrained gas availability, leading to a drop in local output last month, although supplies have improved in recent weeks, she said.

A Mumbai-based industry official said domestic urea production declined by around 600,000 to 700,000 tons per month during the disruption, with imports expected to partially offset the shortfall.

However, limited global surplus due to supply constraints in the Middle East may affect participation in the tender and influence pricing, the official added.In a previous tender in November, Indian Potash Limited secured urea at $418.40 per tonne on a cost-and-freight basis.

Prices have since risen amid the conflict, and market participants expect the current tender to serve as a pricing benchmark for other buyers in the global fertiliser market.

The temporary tax cut will lower fuel costs by 26.3 Australian cents per litre, Albanese said, while the government will also remove the heavy road user charge.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the combined measures would cost about A$2.55 billion.

Global oil markets have tightened sharply after disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of global supply previously passed. Brent crude has risen 59% in March, reaching $115.66 per barrel at the start of trading on Monday.

Domestic fuel prices have climbed in response, with diesel exceeding A$3 per litre and petrol reaching A$2.50, according to industry data.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the government would use expanded powers to support fuel imports, including underwriting high-cost spot cargoes through Export Finance Australia to ensure supply continuity.

The move aims to assist smaller fuel importers that may be unable to absorb the risks of volatile prices.

Canberra said Australia currently holds fuel reserves equivalent to about 30 days of diesel and jet fuel, and 39 days of petrol, below the 90-day level recommended by the International Energy Agency.

Officials said the country remains at level two of a national fuel security framework focused on maintaining transport and supply chains, warning that prolonged conflict could intensify economic pressures.

The region, which imports more than 80% of crude shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, has been hit hard after disruptions linked to Iran’s actions since the conflict began on Feb. 28, tightening global supply and pushing policymakers to consider demand-curbing steps.

No country has formally reinstated remote work mandates, but officials say such measures are under active review. South Korea’s Energy Minister Kim Sung-whan said authorities would consult relevant ministries on expanding work-from-home policies, aligning with recommendations from the International Energy Agency.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol reiterated calls this week for reduced travel and remote work, citing earlier precedents such as Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where demand management helped offset supply disruptions.

South Korea has also launched a public campaign encouraging households to cut energy use, including reducing shower times and shifting electricity consumption to off-peak periods.

Across the region, governments have begun implementing targeted measures to stretch limited fuel supplies. The Philippines has shortened the work week for some public offices, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declaring a national energy emergency over risks to supply.

Pakistan has temporarily closed schools and expanded remote work for office staff, while Sri Lanka introduced a weekly public holiday to conserve fuel.Other economies are focusing on efficiency measures rather than mobility restrictions.

Singapore has urged businesses and households to adopt energy-efficient appliances, increase air-conditioning temperatures and accelerate electric vehicle usage.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered civil servants to limit overseas travel, adjust office cooling levels above 25°C and adopt remote work where possible.

The policy responses echo pandemic-era strategies aimed at reducing energy demand, as governments across Asia attempt to cushion the economic and supply shocks stemming from the ongoing conflict.

The price controls, introduced in December after widespread flight cancellations by market leader IndiGo drove up ticket prices across the sector, will be withdrawn as conditions stabilise, the civil aviation ministry said in the order dated Friday.

“The prevailing situation has since stabilised, with restoration of capacity and normalisation of operations across the sector,” the ministry said. The order has not been made public, and a ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The caps had been imposed following disruptions that tightened seat availability and triggered fare spikes at rival carriers. Authorities intervened to limit price volatility and protect passengers.

Indian carriers had urged the government to remove the caps, arguing they were incurring significant revenue losses amid rising expenses, particularly from higher jet fuel prices.

Analysts at HSBC have estimated that a $1 per barrel change in fuel prices can alter IndiGo’s annual fuel bill by roughly 3 billion rupees.Under the restrictions, one-way fares for routes up to 500 km were capped at 7,500 rupees, while tickets for journeys between 1,000 and 1,500 km, including the busy New Delhi–Mumbai sector, were limited to 15,000 rupees.

The government directed airlines to ensure pricing remains “reasonable, transparent and commensurate with market conditions,” adding that passenger interests should not be adversely affected as the controls are lifted.

The move signals a shift back toward market-driven pricing in India’s aviation sector as operational stability returns, even as cost pressures persist.