The Iran war’s economic consequences risk outlasting the war, Axios’ Courtenay Brown reports.
Why it matters: Any swift ceasefire or arrangement allowing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz won’t undo supply shocks that could linger for months — and in some cases, years.
The intrigue: Economists across Wall Street, plus the Fed, are penciling in higher forecasts for inflation this year.
United CEO Scott Kirby said yesterday in a letter to employees: “[O]ur plans assume oil goes to $175/barrel and doesn’t get back down to $100/barrel until the end of 2027. Honestly, I think there’s a good chance it won’t be that bad, but as you’ll read below, there isn’t much downside for us to preparing for that outcome.”
What’s happening: The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has already upset the global flow of commodities. This week’s damage to energy facilities in the Gulf could deepen that disruption.
Attacks this week on Iran’s South Pars gas field and Iran’s retaliation wiped out 17% of the nation’s natural gas export capacity, Qatar’s top energy official, Saad al-Kaabi, told Reuters.
The damage likely means less natural gas from the region in the long term — with nearly 13 million tons of liquefied natural gas sidelined annually for as long as five years, Kaabi said.Today’s headlines in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian.
After extensive shipping blockage and infrastructure destruction, the economic reverberations are vast:
Fertilizer. Natural gas is a key ingredient for fertilizer. About a third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer supply — and almost half of the world’s urea, a critical solid nitrogen fertilizer — is transported through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. farmers who didn’t preorder fertilizer might not get enough in time for spring planting, the American Farm Bureau told AP.
Higher prices for diesel — which powers agriculture equipment — already risk aggravating food inflation.
Helium. The damage to Qatar’s natural gas facilities will also squeeze the production of an important byproduct: helium, a critical input for semiconductor manufacturers racing to keep up with AI-related demand.Share this story.
Revenue Ireland is almost certainly referring to a Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) charge on the “benefit” of free (or below-market) accommodation from the trust—not a classic employee Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) under income tax. The provided AI overview is broadly directionally correct but mixes terminology and needs some clarification based on official Revenue rules (as of 2026). I’ll break it down accurately, highlight disability-specific reliefs that can eliminate or greatly reduce the liability, and outline next steps.What Revenue is Charging & How It’s Valued
When an adult child (not yet “beneficially entitled in possession” to the full property) lives rent-free in trust-owned property, Revenue treats this as an annual taxable gift/benefit under section 40 CATCA 2003 (free use of property).
The benefit is deemed taken on 31 December each year (or the day before it ends). Value = market rental value for that year (less the €3,000 small-gift exemption per disponer).
If the trust deed gives an explicit right of residence (common in wills), it is a limited interest. Revenue accepts a practical valuation of 10% of the property’s market value annually (or 20% if the trust also provides support/maintenance). You subtract any actual rent paid and claim the small-gift exemption.
This is CAT (not income tax), charged at up to 33% on the excess after your Group A threshold (€400,000 lifetime from parents, plus aggregation rules). The trust (trustees) or the child may have filing/payment obligations.
It is not the same as employee BIK (which is irrelevant here unless trustees pay you as an employee, which they don’t).
Strong Exemptions/Reliefs Because of DisabilityYour situation is much more favourable than a standard adult child case because of the permanent disability:
Section 82 CAT exemption – “normal & reasonable” support/maintenance Gifts or benefits provided to a child (any age) who is permanently incapacitated (physically/mentally unable to maintain themselves) for their support/maintenance are fully exempt from CAT. Free accommodation in a property set aside for this purpose is widely accepted as qualifying “maintenance”. Revenue’s own guide explicitly extends this to incapacitated children (unlike healthy adults over 25).
Discretionary Trust Tax (DTT) exemption (6% once-off + 1% annual) If the trust is (or can be shown to be) exclusively for a person incapable of managing their affairs due to physical/mental incapacity, it is fully exempt from DTT. Apply via MyEnquiries or your Revenue office with a medical certificate/evidence (e.g., Disability Allowance, medical reports). Many special-needs trusts from wills qualify.
Section 84 CAT – qualifying expenses of incapacitated persons Any benefit used exclusively for medical care, therapies, home adaptations, etc., is exempt. Accommodation enabling independent living can tie into this.
Dwelling House Exemption (section 86) Possible on a future absolute distribution/appointment of the property (if the child has lived there 3+ years as main residence, has no interest in any other dwelling, and continues living there). Less straightforward for a “second property” that was never the parent’s PPR or if held in trust, but worth checking with the trust deed. Gifts to dependent relatives (incapacitated) also qualify in some cases.
Other possible reliefs
LPT exemption or deferral for incapacitated owners/occupiers (medical evidence required).
If the trust qualifies as a “special trust” (rare—needs public fundraising element), full income/CGT exemptions apply, but DTT exemption above is more relevant here.
Key Actions You Should Take Immediately
Gather documents
Full copy of the will/trust deed (to confirm: fixed right of residence vs discretionary; any specific wording about the child’s entitlement).
Medical evidence (doctor/specialist letter confirming “permanently and totally incapacitated from maintaining himself/herself”).
Property valuation/rental estimate.
Engage professionals (do this first)
A solicitor specialising in trusts/estates + a tax advisor (ideally STEP-qualified or with Revenue CAT experience). They can:
Apply for DTT exemption.
Draft a response/claim to Revenue citing s.82/s.84.
Possibly restructure (e.g., appoint a life interest or confirm the trust as qualifying).
Cost is worth it—many cases end with zero tax via exemptions.
Deal with Revenue
File Form IT38 (CAT return) online via myAccount/ROS even if claiming full exemption—deadlines are strict (4 months from valuation date).
Reply to their notice within the timeframe, attaching claims + evidence. Ask for a “Revenue opinion” or meeting.
If DTT applies, file DT1 if not already done.
Practical next steps
Contact Revenue MyEnquiries (or your local office) referencing the specific notice.
Check Citizens Information or Inclusion Ireland guides on special-needs trusts—they align with the above.
Consider whether the child has any other property interest (this can block dwelling-house relief).
Disclaimer: This is general guidance based on Revenue.ie publications and the CAT Consolidation Act 2003 (current as of early 2026). Every trust deed and medical situation is unique—professional personalised advice is essential to avoid penalties/interest and secure the exemptions. Tax law changes and interpretations can shift; a qualified advisor can obtain binding confirmation from Revenue.If you share (anonymised) details like the exact wording in the will/trust or the Revenue letter, I can help refine this further. In the meantime, the disability angle gives you very strong grounds to push back successfully—many similar families end up paying nothing once the claims are properly made. Act quickly on the professional consultation.
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration released its highly anticipated recommendations for Congress on AI today.
Why it matters: The National AI Legislative Framework marks a starting point from the White House. But it’ll be incredibly hard for Congress to pass anything like it — even with Republicans in control, Axios’ Ashley Gold, Maria Curi and Mackenzie Weinger write.
What’s inside: As part of “winning the AI race,” the four-page White House proposal calls on Congress to: Address the use of AI replicas that simulate someone’s likeness or voice.
Codify President Trump’s pledge to require tech companies to pay for their increased energy demands.
Establish “regulatory sandboxes” to allow developers to experiment with AI under relaxed rules.Focus on kids’ online safety.
Reality check: The plan isn’t tied to specific bills, and it doesn’t resolve long-standing issues around protecting kids and overriding state law.
What’s next: A renewed clash with states and Congress over the future of AI regulation. Disagreements over AI policy go well beyond R vs. D.
The push to preempt state laws will also continue to draw resistance from local politicians on both sides of the aisle.
Debates over federal reach, copyright and kids’ safety remain the same sticking points that have stalled action for years.Read the plan … Get Axios AI+.
In a landmark medical technology milestone, a fully autonomous AI-powered robotic dentist — built by US company Perceptive — completed a full crown preparation on a human patient in just 15 minutes. The same procedure typically takes a human dentist 2–2.5 hours. The robot used real-time 3D scanning, AI decision-making, and a precision robotic arm to perform the entire procedure without any human guidance or intervention mid-surgery. This isn’t a concept or prototype — it’s already been performed on real patients and a peer-reviewed study was published in the Journal of Dentistry in January 2026. Experts say this is the beginning of a transformation: robotic dentists could eliminate human error, work at any hour, and eventually bring high-quality dental care to remote and underserved communities where trained dentists are unavailable. The dental office of 2035 may look very different from today’s.
Slain Iranian Official’s Sons Hold $29M in Dubai Property Using Assumed Names
Scoop
Hossein Shamkhani is sanctioned for allegedly running a shipping empire that generated billions of dollars for Iran and Russia. OCCRP has found that he and his brother own Dubai real estate under aliases in Caribbean passports.
Banner: Philippe Turpin/Photononstop/Photononstop via AFP
Ali Ansari said he plans to fight U.K. sanctions. The Iranian banker has acquired properties around Europe, including a luxury villa on the coast of Spain that he owns through a U.K. firm.
An EU-based researcher has been secretly applying for money from a sanctioned Russian state organization to produce and present reports that place Moscow in a favorable light.
Reported by
James Dowsett
OCCRP
Kelly Bloss
OCCRP
Mahtab Divsalar
OCCRP
March 19, 2026
A sanctioned Iranian oil magnate and his brother have used aliases and Caribbean “golden passports” to amass a $29 million luxury real estate portfolio in Dubai, property records show.
Hossein Shamkhani and his brother, Abolfazl, are the sons of Ali Shamkhani, a political adviser to Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Their father was killed during recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that claimed the lives of Khamenei and other top officials, according to ILNA, a semi-official Iranian news agency.
Hossein Shamkhani was hit with U.S. and EU sanctions in July 2025 for allegedly generating billions of dollars in oil revenue for the regimes in Tehran and Moscow. He was identified by the U.S. Treasury as a citizen of Dominica, under the name “Hugo Hayek.”
OCCRP has now found that his younger brother Abolfazl — who has not been sanctioned — has also obtained a Dominica passport under the name “Sami Hayek.”
United Arab Emirates property records obtained by OCCRP show that the brothers are the listed owners of no fewer than four luxury Dubai villas. At the time of acquisition, these properties were worth nearly $29 million. They hold the properties under their Caribbean identities.
Neither Hossein Shamkhani nor his brother Abolfazl responded to requests for comment.
A man who answered a call to a phone number listed in Dubai property records for Sami Hayek said it was a “wrong number.” When told that the number appeared in the records, the man said: “I don’t care, okay. Thank you, bye.”
Calls to a phone number listed for “Hugo Hayek” in Dubai property records went unanswered.
Civil Forfeiture
The U.S. Treasury Department’s July 2025 sanctions notice claimed that Shamkhani leveraged “corruption through his father’s political influence… to build and operate a massive fleet of tankers and containerships.”
According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) the Shamkhani family funeled this “ill-gotten wealth” into “exclusive properties around the world and obtaining foreign passports in exchange for substantial financial investments.”
“These passports allow them to travel undetected and hide their connections to Iran when conducting business overseas in furtherance of their corrupt schemes,” OFAC added in a statement.
Following U.S. and EU sanctions, the U.K. sanctioned Hossein in August 2025 for allegedly supporting the Iranian regime’s “hostile activity.
The financial crackdown coincides with a sharp escalation in military tensions.
Just after the U.S. began battering Iran with missiles, American prosecutors launched a legal attack against the brothers.
Credit: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Anadolu via AFP
Smoke rises over Tehran’s residential areas amid ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes on March 1, 2026.
On March 6, the U.S. Department of Justice filed two civil forfeiture actions in federal court in Washington, D.C., targeting accounts holding more than $15.3 million. The Justice Department alleges the accounts are part of “a network of individuals, front companies, shipping companies, and financial institutions” led by Hossein Shamkhani.
U.S. authorities seized these funds in early 2026 after Hossein’s alleged “front companies” attempted wire transfers through the U.S. financial system. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that her country has “zero tolerance for foreign actors using the U.S. financial system to prop up our nation’s enemies.”
While Hossein’s brother, Abolfazl Shamkhani, is not personally under sanctions, prosecutors allege he manages several firms belonging to the network. These include a front company responsible for $2 million of seized wire transfers. He has not been criminally charged, but court filings in the forfeiture case reveal that Abolfazl uses multiple aliases, including“Hassan Shamkhani” and “Sami Hayek.”
Credit: Composite by James O’Brien/OCCRP
Left: A 2015 article from the Daily Shipping Times, an Indian trade publication, showing Abolfazl Shamkhani (second from right) – under the name “Hassan Shamkhani” – with his brother, Hossein Shamkhani (far left). Right: Abolfazl Shamkhani’s headshot from a 2006-07 yearbook for Lebanon American University in Beirut, where the brothers earned degrees.
‘Enhanced Life’
UAE property records show the brothers initially used their Iranian names to acquire high-end Dubai real estate. “Mohammad Hossein Sham Khani” and “Abolfazl Ali Shamkhani” were listed as the buyers of two villas in the exclusive Golf Place complex, three doors down from one another, in July 2019.
A marketing catalogue describes the development as a “luxury villa community” featuring “lush fairways, winding walkways, meticulously landscaped parks and gardens, as well as vast open spaces that would enhance the life of every resident.”
The villa purchased by Abolfazl is featured on the website of a design firm that claimed to have worked on the property for a “private client” in 2022. Photos show sleek, luxury interiors, a sumptuous terrace with outdoor lounges and entertaining spaces, and an azure swimming pool overlooking a sprawling golf course.
Credit: Screenshot/villaandmore.com
Abolfazl villas featured on a design firm website.
Reporters found that the titles for these neighboring villas are now listed under the names in their Dominica passports — “Hugo Hayek” and “Sami Hayek” — but could not confirm when these changes occurred.
Subsequent real estate purchases were made directly under these Dominica aliases.
In July 2022, Hossein used the Dominican passport to purchase a villa on Jumeirah Bay Island, an exclusive, man-made, seahorse-shaped neighborhood off Dubai’s waterfront. In October of that year, Abolfazl used the name Sami Hayek to buy a luxury residence in the same area, property data shows. They are still owned by the brothers under the aliases.
It is not clear whether the brothers still hold the Dominican passports, however. Authorities of the island nation reportedly revoked Hossein Shamkhani’s passport in response to the U.S. sanctions. Dominican authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
Bros By Different Names
The Shamkhani brothers’ use of the “Hayek” aliases has extended beyond personal real estate assets.
Abolfazl’s alias, Sami Hayek, also appears in European corporate records. In Cyprus corporate filings dated November 2024, he used his Dominica passport and his residence address at the Golf Place villa address in Dubai to register as a limited partner at Saleya Fund RAIF LP, a Cypriot-incorporated “alternative investment fund.” There is no public information about the fund’s activities, and it has yet to file accounts in Cyprus.
The brothers’ Dominica identities also appear in corporate records for a company that OFAC sanctioned for helping ship oil for Russia and Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Company records list Hugo and Sami Hayek among the founding shareholders of the Turkish firm Green Energy Chemicals Enerji Kimyasallari Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, incorporated in 2021. The brothers transferred their shares in the firm to the Dubai-based Milavous Group Ltd in November 2023, the records show.
In July 2025, OFAC sanctioned the Turkish firm and Milavous Group, alleging that the parent company helped Hossein Shamkhani in “arranging sales of Iranian oil and gas and laundering the proceeds” and “disguising the Iranian and Russian origin of the oil it sold.”
The EU has also imposed sanctions on Milavous Group over similar allegations that Shamkhani has used it to conceal the origin of Russian oil, while the U.K. sanctioned the firm due to its alleged links to the Iranian oil magnate.
In March, U.S. prosecutors levelled a more direct charge in the civil forfeiture complaints, labeling Milavous Group “de factocorporate holding or management company for many of the Shamkhani associated businesses.”
In a statement to Bloomberg, Hossein Shamkhani said he had “neither founded nor owned” Milavous Group and denied having “any role” in the company’s management. He said he does not own any oil firms, and only operates in countries “not under sanctions,” Bloomberg reported.
In one of the U.S. civil forfeiture complaints, American prosecutors alleged that Hossein “entrusted his brother” to run parts of the Dubai-based company known as Admiral Group, which the EU sanctioned last year.
Hossein “uses the company to transport and sell Russian crude oil,” the EU said in its sanctions notice.
Fact-checking was provided by the OCCRP Fact-Checking Desk. Research and data expertise was provided by OCCRP’s Research & Data Team.
Want to feel more loved? Forget changing yourself. Change conversation.
Two psychologists offer science-backed framework on how to improve relationships
March 19, 2026 7 min read
Excerpted from “How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most” by Sonja Lyubomirsky ’89 and Harry Reis.
“Just be yourself.” It’s a cliché we’ve all heard before, maybe even rolled our eyes at. But when you’re in a relationship or friendship where you’re not feeling as loved as you’d like to feel, what does that expression actually mean? We’ve suggested that many people aren’t being themselves: Instead of showing themselves, they show off themselves. Yet herein lies both a paradox and a blessing. The paradox is that feeling loved is earned not through achieving perfection but through presenting more of your full self — your values, experiences, quirks, and dreams, even the small, unpolished details of your daily life. Sharing your struggles and imperfections can build connection, too, but feeling loved isn’t just about revealing your flawed, imperfect self — it’s about revealing what truly matters to you.
To be clear, feeling loved doesn’t hinge on oversharing or baring your soul to just anyone.It doesn’t mean unloading your trials and tribulations in the first five minutes after meeting. It means selectively and progressively revealing parts of yourself in a way that fosters genuine connection.
The blessing is that showing your full self is fully within your control. In fact, it’s a lot easier than contorting yourself into someone else’s ideal image. Many people believe that in order to feel more loved, they must persuade others to love them more — as if they were trying to sell someone a new car. Years of empirical studies and observation suggest that this approach is ineffective. That’s why our message is different: Feeling loved is more — much more — about you (and your mindset) than about trying to persuade the other person that you are worthy.
Yet people often behave in ways that work against feeling loved: They hide their deepest thoughts, emotions, flaws, and past misbehaviors because they are afraid of what others might think, or they fear being embarrassed or exploited. Paradoxically, the more you hide your innermost self and the less of yourself you reveal to others, the harder it is to feel truly loved and valued by the significant people in your life. This is a principle strongly supported not only by anecdotal evidence but also by relationship science.
Moreover, when you focus on how you are coming across to others, your attention is drawn to what you are doing — for instance, trying to say just the right thing, while doing your best to make sure your shortcomings are hidden, so that you are seen as witty or attractive or brilliant. Ironically, this approach to relationships puts your attention in exactly the wrong place. You’ll find that you actually make the best impression when you focus your attention on the other person.
It’s worth noting that unveiling the complexity of your multifaceted “true” self will almost always leave you feeling vulnerable because you are exhibiting your true colors and risking losing the other person’s regard. However, vulnerability is not the goal; it is simply a necessary preliminary step. Ironically, showing weakness will make room for you to feel genuinely loved because you’ll finally be confident that the other person is appreciating and loving the real you. (Otherwise, whatever love or admiration they express will ring hollow.) To paraphrase Nobel Prize winner André Gide: It is better to be known for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. Humility and authenticity and a caring interest in others create the conditions for you to feel fully known.
In summary, then, three things have to happen for you to feel loved:
1. You have to share the complexity of your full, multifaceted self — both your strengths and your contradictions — with the other person. (No, this isn’t as simple as saying, “Let me tell you everything.”)
2.The other person has to notice what you’ve shared.
3.The other person has to care about what you’ve shared.
How do you increase the chances that the other person will notice and care? The answer is simple — you go first! That means you first need to notice and care — to show curiosity — about their multifaceted self. It may seem counterintuitive initially, but in order to create a context for sharing more of yourself, you need to focus not on yourself but on your conversation partner. You encourage them to notice and care about your full self by first noticing and caring about their full self. To feel loved by them, you begin by making them feel loved by you.
This step begins a back-and-forth process that we call the Relationship Sea-Saw. Imagine yourself and the person you wish to feel more loved by sitting on a seesaw submerged under water (hence, the deliberate spelling of Sea-Saw). Only parts of your multilayered selves are visible above the surface — these are the aspects you feel safe to share, the parts that the other person sees and loves when they tell you that they love you.
However, consider what happens when you give the other person your undivided attention — when you approach them with curiosity, listen deeply to their response, and bring to the interaction genuine warmth and an appreciation for their multidimensional self. By doing so, you help lift their self a bit higher out of the water, making more of their true self visible. When they feel truly seen, valued, and accepted — not just for their best qualities but for their whole richly textured self — they will also feel more loved by you than ever before.
Continuing with this metaphor, by pressing down, you are placing the full weight of your attention on the other person, lifting them up. As the focus shifts to them, your own self becomes temporarily more submerged. Essentially, you’re holding them up and providing them support, you’re creating the conditions that make it possible for them to open up, to be fully known, and to feel safe in revealing more of who they truly are.
Importantly, this step of lifting the other person higher isn’t a sacrifice — it’s simply a stage in a cycle. When the other person experiences the security of being deeply understood and accepted, they’re likely to reciprocate. They, too, may express curiosity in you and listen to you more attentively and warmly, embracing your full complexity with an open heart. In doing so, they help lift more of your full self above the surface, enabling more of you to be seen, understood, and valued. In this way, the act of truly knowing and loving someone else becomes the very thing that opens the door for you to feel truly known and loved in return. It’s a virtuous cycle of connection: The more connection is experienced, the more love, as well as the greater curiosity about and care for each other, is felt.
If you don’t feel loved enough, we have a profound and empowering message for you: Feeling loved is not out of your control. For some, it will require a radical shift in how you orient toward conversations with loved ones. For others, it will simply call for more practice of that muscle that enables you to deeply know another person and become deeply known by them.
Because the secret to feeling more loved is not about changing yourself or about changing the other person — it’s about changing the conversation.
Ireland was blackmailed too– Ireland caved in Hungary stood its ground
📍 Brussels. Situation report.
It was a tough debate, but we stood our ground. We have the right to say no to the Ukrainian war loan. As long as @ZelenskyyUa does not lift the oil blockade, they will not receive any money from Brussels.
Today’s headlines in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian.
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Focus on kids’ online safety.
canisgallicus 