Blockade threat in vital strait and Trump’s stance lift crude, pushing pump prices to highest level since 2022

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

Average US gas prices have hit a new high at $4.23 a gallon, their highest since 2022 and a record since the start of the war with Iran, according to the motor club AAA.

The price of Brent crude, the benchmark that influences the price of gasoline in the US, now stands at $114.60 a barrel, up nearly 25% from the recent low since mid-April. US gas prices a year ago averaged $3.16 a gallon.

Fishing companies can also access subsidies in loosening of state aid rules to cover fuel and fertiliser price rises

The EU is to subsidise up to 70% of the extra cost of fuel and fertilisers caused by the Iran war for farmers, fishing businesses and road hauliers as part of a package of emergency measures.

Individual companies can claim up to €50,000 each between now and the end of the year with minimum paperwork, a measure the EU hopes will remove what it sees as an existential threat to hauliers and farmers.

Royal Navy chief says unified naval force will deter future Russian threats from the ‘open sea border’ to the north

Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced.

Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”.

Ursula von der Leyen later due to meet new Hungarian leader who is seeking to unlock EU funds in return for reforms

AFP is reporting that so far, officials in Brussels are hopeful that Péter Magyar – who once served under Viktor Orbán, before turning on his former boss – will genuinely launch a new chapter in ties.

But wary of celebrating too soon, they insist they need to see concrete moves and not just kind words.

“A huge mandate, a strong mandate, a great responsibility!

We know our task: we will bring home the EU funds that Hungarians are entitled to. More soon.”

Washington facing long economic war or risky military action to reopen strait of Hormuz – which may now be more valuable to Iran than a nuclear weapon

Donald Trump is learning first-hand about the perils of mission creep.

The US-Israel war in Iran has just passed its eighth week – twice as long as the president predicted it would take when US warplanes launched their joint attack with Israeli forces to decapitate the Iranian leadership and paralyse its military. The military attacks were successful. The predictions about the political cause-and-effect to follow were not.

Remarks by US president likely to cause embarrassment for aides of UK monarch, who usually remains neutral

• UK politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump has claimed King Charles agrees with him that Iran should never be allowed nuclear weapons.

Trump made the remarks at a White House state dinner on Tuesday in honour of the visiting Charles and Camilla, after the two men sat down to bilateral talks earlier that day.

Soaring oil prices and the blockade are preventing food, fuel and medicine being delivered to millions of people in desperate need, say NGOs

The volatility of global oil prices caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran is taking a toll on the most vulnerable people, by slowing or blocking food and medical aid from reaching them.

Now aid organisations are calling for a “humanitarian corridor” to be opened through the strait of Hormuz amid rocketing transportation costs.

Niesr says even under best-case scenario, economy would grow at slower pace in 2026 and 2027 because of conflict

Britain is facing a £35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession this year as the fallout from the Iran war adds to the pressure on Keir Starmer’s government, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said that even under a best-case scenario the UK economy would grow at a much slower pace this year and next because of the Middle East conflict.

US president says Americans ‘have had no closer friends than the British’ amid recent tensions between both nations

Donald Trump has praised the “special relationship” between the US and the UK, as he hosted a ceremonial military welcome for King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House.

Against a backdrop of recent tensions between London and Washington, the US president, speaking on the second day of Charles’s state visit, said: “In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British.”

Ceasefire frays further as Israel also carries out airstrikes and issues new displacement orders for south Lebanon

Hezbollah launched several drones at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, while Israel issued new displacement orders for south Lebanon and carried out airstrikes, as the fraying ceasefire failed to stop fighting between the two sides.

Hezbollah claimed Tuesday’s attack injured several Israeli soldiers, but no confirmation was given from the Israeli military, apart from a statement saying interceptor missiles had been fired at incoming Hezbollah drones.