The leaders of France and the UK will host an international summit to push forward plans to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Dozens of countries — but not, notably, the US — will be represented at the Paris meeting; President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are expected to push for mine-clearance operations and other “purely defensive” means of protecting commercial shipping.

The situation is urgent: The US and Iranian blockades are hitting energy supplies as well as key commodities, from semiconductors to fertilizer.

Japanese doctors fear a looming shortage of medical equipment, and the country’s prime minister is planning a release of emergency reserves of latex gloves, while South Korea and Singapore are taking similar urgent health sector measures.