War breaking news. CNN: Iran and US not far from an agreement

Bankitalia, war slows demand for loans and mortgages to banks

Italian banks expect a drop in demand for loans and mortgages from households and businesses in the current quarter due to the war and energy price developments. This is what emerges from the credit survey conducted by the Bank of Italy as part of the ECB. The events ‘would have favoured a wait-and-see attitude on the part of companies,’ it says. Credit institutions report that, for the same reasons, there will be a ‘tightening of financing’ with a more pronounced impact on the most exposed sectors.

In the first quarter of 2026, lending criteria for corporate loans remained unchanged and terms and conditions were also broadly stable. The lending criteria for household loans remained unchanged in the mortgages segment, while they were slightly tightened for consumer credit. For the current quarter, banks expect a tightening of the lending criteria, which is marked for business loans and slight for consumer credit.

Cnn: Iran and the US are not far from an agreement

The US and Iran are not as far from an agreement as it might seem after the failed meeting in Islamabad, CNN reported, citing Trump Administration sources. The ongoing talks, according to the sources, focus on a multi-stage process in which the first part of a potential agreement would focus on a return to the pre-war status quo and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions or tolls; the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme – which both the US and Israel have pointed to as a casus belli – would instead be addressed later.

The US Administration has repeatedly stated that any agreement would require Iran to give up its stockpiles of enriched uranium and abandon enrichment, demands that Tehran has always categorically refused.

Iran: first ship loaded with liquefied natural gas leaves the Gulf

An LNG carrier, with its cargo of liquefied natural gas, has crossed the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the beginning of March when the US and Israeli attack on Iran disrupted shipping in the region. This was reported by the maritime monitoring company Kpler, according to which the LNG carrier Mubaraz, controlled by the Emirati national oil company Adnoc, left the Gulf in April with its cargo of 132,890 cubic metres of LNG on board, which was stored on 2 March at the port of Das Island in the United Arab Emirates.