Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day.

On today's podcast:

(1) The US and Iran were circling around a fresh proposal to end the war on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump searches for an exit from a conflict that has elevated energy prices and damaged his political standing.

(2) A maritime coalition led by France and the UK is ready to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if Iran agrees to a US proposal to end the war, according to a French official.

(3) The Israeli army carried out an attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday, the first in the vicinity of the Lebanese capital since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last month.

(4) China’s financial regulator advised the country’s largest banks to temporarily suspend new loans to five refiners recently sanctioned by the US over their ties to Iranian oil, according to people familiar with the matter.

(5) Figures next week are likely to paint a rosy picture for the UK economy in the first quarter. The trouble is that fewer and fewer people believe them.

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