Alternative ways being used to move fuel out of Gulf region, but flows of refined products such as diesel still constrained

Exports of crude from the strait of Hormuz have largely returned to levels seen before the outbreak of the Iran war, as oil producers and the shipping industry have found alternative ways of transporting crucial fuel out of the Middle East.

Pipeline exports and ship-to-ship transfers are among the methods being used, according to analysts tracking the situation, while the US military continues to escort some vessels. However, flows of refined products such as diesel remain constrained, pushing prices higher.

Alleged flydubai attacker interrogated by Saudi security services as investigation into apparent crash attempt opens

The Omani co-pilot who stabbed his captain in an apparent attempt to crash an Israel-bound flight from Dubai had previously undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was suicidal, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has claimed.

Israeli passengers intervened to stop the attack on Wednesday, restraining the co-pilot, while a reserve crew in the plane was able to stabilise the plummeting plane and ultimately land it safely in Saudi Arabia.

Swift actions of Smit Machchhar allowed passengers and off-duty pilots to subdue attacker and land plane safely

Smit Machchhar was lying on the floor of the flydubai flight deck, covered in blood, when he managed to click the release to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to gain entry, overpower his attacker and save 174 passengers onboard.

Moments earlier, Machchhar’s fellow pilot had stabbed him, in an apparent effort to crash the plane, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Machchhar, from Mumbai, is being treated in a hospital in Saudi Arabia’s north-western city of Tabuk, where the plane landed safely.