The Strait of Hormuz is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, but it’s once again the biggest waterway in the news headlines, after Iran seized a British oil tanker in what is widely regarded as the world’s most strategically important passage for international trade. Twenty percent of the global oil supply flows through the Strait, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. And though it is technically regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS), Iran has signed but not ratified that convention and has historically acted to protect its interests in the passage.

The Strait’s geopolitical significance means it has long been a focal point of international tensions between Tehran and the West, which have increased in recent months. In the latest escalation on July 19, Iranian authorities seized the British-flagged Stena Impero oil tanker, claiming that it was “violating international maritime rules.”

Former Iranian ..

Apple has asked the Trump administration to exclude components that make up the forthcoming Mac Pro high-end desktop computer from import tariffs, weeks after planning to re-locate production of the line to China from Texas.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is seeking relief from duties of 25% on key Mac Pro parts and accessories that go with it, ranging from the stainless steel and aluminum frame, power supplies, internal cables and circuit boards, and its optional wheels, according to filings posted by the Office of U.S. Trade Representative. The documents don’t specifically mention the Mac Pro, but the features and dimensions listed by Apple in the filing closely resemble the planned computer.

The exclusion requests from the iPhone maker were posted July 18 and are now subject to a public comment period before they’re reviewed. Some Apple products have been spared from tariffs in the past, including the Apple Watch and AirPods. Apple declined to comment on the fili..

A libel trial against Maria Ressa, the editor of the Philippines-based news site Rappler, began Tuesday, the latest step in what is widely seen as an attempt from the Philippine government to intimidate journalists.

Ressa, the editor of influential news site Rappler, was arrested for cyber libel in February but later released on bail. She faces years in prison if convicted.

Rappler has been critical of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, and in particular of what Amnesty International has called its “murderous war on drugs” that possibly amount to crimes against humanity.

Ressa was among four journalists and one news organization named TIME 2018 Person of the Year for their “pursuit of greater truths” in the face of threats. She was also included on TIME’s 2019 list of the 100 most influential people. “My only crime is to be a journalist, to speak truth to power,” she said in her speech at the TIME 100 gala this year.

Ressa has already been indicted multiple times on..

Singapore said Tuesday it confiscated 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory in a record bust.

The city-state, often a stopover in the illegal wildlife trade, caught the haul in a container en route from the DR Congo to Vietnam. Officially, the shipment was supposed to contain timber.

The ivory, worth more than $12.9 million, was packed into 132 bags and estimated to have come from nearly 300 African elephants, according to a joint statement by the country’s National Parks Board, Customs and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority.

“Singapore has always been inadvertently implicated in the global ivory trade for two reasons: its global connectivity, as well as the presence of a small domestic market where pre-1990s ivory can be legally sold,” Kim Stengert, chief communications officer for WWF Singapore told Reuters.

The same shipment also contained a massive haul of pangolin scales, Singapore’s third major bust involving the world’s most trafficked mammals this year. Authorities said they se..