U.S. Steps Up Fight to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

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0:17Oil futures retreat as countries step in to try and calm markets. Plus, Dubai pairs an advertising blitz with a social media crackdown to protect its image. So part of Dubai's appeal is its safety. And it only took a few days to puncture a reputation that took them decades to build. And we'll get the latest from D.C. as Congress ends another week no closer to resolving a partial government shutdown. It's Friday, March 20th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

1:01The U.S. military is scaling up efforts to try and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. We report that the operation involves attacking Iranian naval vessels with low-flying jets and hunting drones with Apache helicopters, an effort meant to clear away a web of Iranian assets that have harassed traffic through the maritime chokepoint. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. has now damaged or destroyed more than 120 Iranian naval vessels, Experts say the mission could take weeks to show results, with Iran still believed to have a vast stockpile of mines and hundreds of undamaged boats stored in tunnels along its coast and on islands.

1:40Well, adding urgency to that mission is a new projection from Saudi officials that oil prices could top$180 a barrel if disruption to the region's energy supplies continues late into next month. We report it's not an outcome the kingdom wants, with prices that high potentially leading consumers to slash oil use, triggering a recession, or casting Saudi Arabia as profiteering off of the war. Saudi Aramco, the country's national oil company, declined to comment. Meanwhile, oil is steadying today as countries announce steps to keep prices in check. In a bid to stop tit-for-tat attacks on energy infrastructure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that President Trump asked him to hold off on more strikes against Iran's oil fields.

2:24Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says the U.S. could remove sanctions on Iranian oil that's already at sea. And EU leaders are floating a range of consumer supports, including state-funded aid to offset cost increases and electricity price cuts. Here was European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In some cases, electricity is taxed much more than gas, partially up to 15 times more. And this cannot be. So we will propose to lower tax rates on electricity and to make sure that electricity is taxed less than fossil fuels. Elsewhere, Gulf leaders are fighting to uphold their country's reputations.

3:07Ahead of the war, the United Arab Emirates had built a reputation as being a safe place to live in holiday, an image that Journal-Middle East correspondent Omar Abdel-Baki said is being bolstered on social media. Influencers are showing videos of malls and cafes that have a lot of people so that it just looks like everything is normal and that it's a normal day in Dubai. And for its part, Dubai has also created its own marketing campaign.

3:39But with the UAE on the receiving end of more than 1 ,600 Iranian drones and more than 300 missiles, Omar says that officials are now supplementing those glossy marketing efforts with a crackdown on contradictory posts. Dubai police have issued stern warnings against any content that may cause public panic. They say that sharing rumors, false information, or any content that contradicts official announcements is prohibited. Violators could risk prison time of at least two years and fines of more than$50 ,000. And they started an arrest campaign and they arrested at least two dozen people, including people who just filmed and posted video clips documenting missile attacks and interceptions.

4:21A UAE official told me that the government is urging people to rely on official announcements and they say that inaccurate information can incite panic.

4:33Well, back in Washington, we are approaching the end of another week with no end in sight for a partial government shutdown that's causing mounting disruption at airports nationwide. Damien Paletta is the Journal's D.C. coverage chief. Damien, here we are Friday morning. Is there any plan taking shape to fund DHS at this point or at the very least maybe to pay TSA agents, more of whom seem to be quitting by the day? Well, there's no plan yet, but I mean, we're heading into peak spring break season with a lot of travelers and people are going to be missing flights. There's a lot of unpaid TSA employees who are quitting.

5:07And it just seems like a matter of time before Democrats and Republicans realize this is unsustainable. So I expect either party or both parties to look for some sort of excuse to cut a deal, whether it's a short term deal or a permanent deal, because this is going to become a catastrophe soon when people keep missing their flights and they're going to get really furious at Washington for their inaction. So the question seems for Democrats is going to be, yeah, maybe we want to play a role in getting things back up and running at airports, but does it require us to compromise on some of the things we want to change about immigration operations?

5:38Right. So the origins of the shutdown go back to Minneapolis and the two protesters who were killed. And that's when Democrats felt like they had a lot of leverage over the White House. Now we have Mark Wayne Mullen, the new DHS nominee, Kristi Noem is out. And so Democrats, I think, feel like they're making some progress there in terms of getting the White House to change their approach to immigration. So the question is, do Democrats need to keep pressuring the White House here, or do they feel like they've already made enough strides to pass this spending bill because the White House is clearly not going to use the same approach to deportations that they were using a few months ago?

6:11Yet to that point are our reporters Michelle Hackman and Josh Dossie overnight reporting that President Trump has told members of his inner circle that some of these mass deportation policies did go too far. His advisors also think that getting Mark Wayne Mullen in at DHS could serve as kind of a reset on immigration. And yet we all saw that testy confirmation hearing he had this week. I mean, what is the real prospect here that the temperature could lower around immigration? Yes, there's a good prospect of it, in part because the White House is heading into the midterm elections in November. They're really not in a position where they can keep, quite frankly, antagonizing some of these communities because it wasn't playing well.

6:49And so they obviously are very still committed to deporting people who are here illegally, but in such a public spectacle, I think that's what they wanna avoid now. Obviously, this is a huge agency, and Mark Wynn-Mullen doesn't have a lot of experience running an agency this big, but he definitely does not seem like he wants to have the same adversarial approach that Kristi Noem used there. And so maybe that'll help a little bit with the White House's messaging, or maybe it won't. Damien Paletta is the Journal's Washington coverage chief. Damien, appreciate you. Thanks. My pleasure. Thank you.

7:19And for much more on the state of disruption to U.S. and global air travel, check out our upcoming episode of What's New Sunday, where we'll talk about the effect of the war, the shutdown, higher fuel prices, and more. You'll find that Sunday morning right here in this feed. And we'll be back with the rest of the day's news in just a moment.

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8:12Blue Origin has formerly entered the race to develop AI data centers in space, following Elon Musk's SpaceX and startup StarCloud. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, Jeff Bezos' company said it's seeking permission to deploy more than 50 ,000 solar-powered satellites in order to meet the growing demand for AI computing. The company says the effort, known as Project Sunrise, would allow it to operate in an environment free from the red tape that's complicated the development of terrestrial facilities. TV station owner Nexstar Media Group says it's closed its more than$6 billion merger with rival Tegna after winning approval from the FCC, a deal that'll create a broadcast television giant and result in the consolidation of hundreds of local stations.

8:58The Trump administration just approved the sale of this station, Nine News, and its parent company, Tegna, to Nexstar. This afternoon, the FCC signed off on the deal, allowing broadcast station owner Nexstar to buy Tegna, the company that owns King 5. News of the deal's completion comes just a day after eight states filed a suit to block it on antitrust grounds. Here was California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York's Letitia James. This merger would give one broadcasting behemoth the power to raise prices for consumers and to control and degrade local news coverage, sports programming and other TV content.

9:37And it would undoubtedly lead to job cuts. Nexstar and Tegna currently compete directly with one another. This competition ensures communities get diverse, affordable and high quality TV coverage. President Trump publicly endorsed the merger, writing last month that a bigger Nextstar would balance out, quote, the fake news national TV networks. In a statement, Nextstar CEO said the deal would make the broadcaster better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming. And consumer goods company Unilever is in talks to separate its food business and merge it with Maryland-based spice maker McCormick.

10:17We report that an all-stock deal could come within weeks, assuming the talks don't fall apart. Unilever, whose portfolio includes Dove, Vaseline, and Hellman's Mayonnaise, spun off its Magnum ice cream brand last year. And heads up, we've got a special bonus episode coming later today. In the latest What's News in Earnings, we'll look at how retailers are dealing with inflation and price-conscious shoppers. That'll be in your What's News feed at midday. And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.

10:53We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend and thanks for listening.

11:20Visit deel.com slash wsj.