LONDON (AP) — Police in London said Friday they were investigating an incident near the Israeli Embassy involving a number of discarded items.
The Metropolitan Police said the embassy was not attacked but that its officers, including some in protective clothing, were combing the area around the plush neighborhood of Kensington Gardens.
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Police vehicles are parked in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli embassy, in London, Friday April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police are seen inspecting an area in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli Embassy, in London, Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police are seen inspecting an area in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli Embassy, in London, Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police officers investigate in Kensington Gardens, central London, Friday April 17, 2026, as the whole of the park is cordoned off and has been closed since Friday morning, as police investigate whether items discarded near the Israeli embassy are linked to a video saying an attack on the embassy was planned. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
A cordon was set up and access to the gardens and the surrounding area was restricted. Police vans and a white tent can be seen at scene.
“We do not believe there to be any increased public safety risk at this stage, but we would urge people to avoid the area while officers carry out their work,” a police spokesperson said.
The police also said detectives were investigating whether the unidentified items found near the embassy are linked to a video posted online claiming it was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. It said Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of the video.
The video, which appears to have been shared by the group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, shows a target over an image of the Israeli embassy and people dressed in hazmat suits flying drones, according to PA Media.
The group, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, allegedly posted a video on Telegram last month, showing a map of the location in north London where four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire and footage of them ablaze.
Israel’s government has described it as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Police vehicles are parked in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli embassy, in London, Friday April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police are seen inspecting an area in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli Embassy, in London, Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police are seen inspecting an area in Kensington Gardens, near the Israeli Embassy, in London, Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Police officers investigate in Kensington Gardens, central London, Friday April 17, 2026, as the whole of the park is cordoned off and has been closed since Friday morning, as police investigate whether items discarded near the Israeli embassy are linked to a video saying an attack on the embassy was planned. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices dropped more than 10% Friday, and U.S. stocks raced toward another record after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
The S&P 500 leaped 1.5% as Wall Street rallied to the finish of a third straight week of big gains, its longest streak since Halloween. A freer flow of oil would take pressure off prices not only for gasoline but also for groceries and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest or mortgage bills.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1,130 points, or 2.3%, as of 12:52 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% higher
The U.S. stock market has jumped more than 12% since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war. Friday’s reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which may only be temporary, is the clearest signal yet for optimism, and President Donald Trump said late Thursday that the war “should be ending pretty soon.”
The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude plunged immediately after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” as a ceasefire appears to be holding in Lebanon. He said it would stay open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, and U.S. oil tumbled 12.2% to $83.18 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 10.4% to $89.01 per barrel. To be sure, it remains above its $70 price from before the war, indicating some caution is still embedded in financial markets.
Several times since the war began, optimism on Wall Street has quickly swung to doubt about a possible end to the fighting. That in turn has caused vicious and sudden swings of prices for everything from stocks to bonds to oil.
Minutes after the Iranian foreign minister’s announcement of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said on his social media network that the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remains “in full force” until both sides reach a deal on the war. He, though, also said that “should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated” and emphasized it by using all capital letters.
Companies with big fuel bills soared to some of Wall Street’s biggest gains following the easing of oil prices.
United Airlines surged 9.2%. On Thursday, the head of the International Energy Agency had said that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of remaining jet fuel supplies.
Operators of cruise ships, which guzzle fuel, also steamed higher. Norwegian Cruise Line jumped 8.1%, and Royal Caribbean Group gained 10.3%.
Housing and auto-related companies also got some relief from the drop in oil prices.
With less threat of high inflation hurting the economy, a sustained drop in oil prices could convince the Federal Reserve to resume its cuts to interest rates to invigorate the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.23% from 4.32% late Thursday, and lower yields can bring down rates for mortgages and other loans going to U.S. households and businesses.
Builders FirstSource, a supplier of windows and other products, rose 7.8%, and homebuilder Lennar gained 6.1% on hopes that lower mortgage rates will spur more people to buy houses. Carvana climbed 8.2% because lower loan rates can get more customers into new autos.
A strong start to the earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies has also helped to support the U.S. stock market, and several more financial companies joined the list of companies delivering bigger profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.
State Street rose 4.7%, and Fifth Third Bancorp added 3% after both reported better results for the latest quarter than expected.
They helped offset a 9.7% drop for Netflix, which fell even though it likewise delivered a better profit than expected. It did not raise its forecast for revenue growth for the full year, which analysts said may have disappointed some investors.
It also said Reed Hastings, cofounder and chairman of the streaming company, will step down from its board of directors in June when his term expires.
In stock markets abroad, stock indexes leaped in Europe following Iran’s announcement about the Strait of Hormuz. France’s CAC 40 jumped 2%, and Germany’s DAX returned 2.3%.
In Asia, where trading finished for the day before the announcement, indexes were weaker. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.8%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% for two of the bigger losses.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
