European countries on Monday demanded to know more about U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for the war on Iran and when the conflict might end as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.

Trump has asked allies — including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain — to help secure the strait for global shipping. He said the U.S. was talking to "about seven" countries for military support to help reopen the trade route. But he wouldn't say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.

Every day more than $4 billion worth of goods cross the United States' borders with Canada and Mexico – U.S. auto parts headed for car factories in northern Mexico, cartons of Mexican avocados bound for California supermarkets, Canadian aluminum destined to become cans of Campbell Soup.

Much of this bustling cross-border commerce is duty-free, thanks to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, that President Donald Trump negotiated with America's northern and southern neighbors during his first term.

Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood's top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance.

The ceremony Sunday, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and "Sinners" cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of America's most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.

At least 12 Palestinians, including two boys, a pregnant woman and eight police officers, were killed Sunday by Israeli airstrikes in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.

A strike Sunday morning hit a house in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza and killed four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The woman had been pregnant with twins, the hospital said.

Fears of a global energy crisis rose Monday as the war in the Middle East raged on, with more U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Iranian capital and Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. An Iranian drone strike temporarily shut Dubai's airport, a crucial global travel hub, underscoring the threats to the world economy.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired on Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries' energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as Iranian strikes continued to rain down on Gulf countries Monday.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest, gradually restarted operations after a drone struck a fuel tank and started a fire. Authorities said it was quickly contained and no injuries were reported.

Seven people, including children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on south Lebanon Monday.

A strike on a home in the southern village of Kfar Sir had killed one person early Monday. Another strike occurred after paramedics from the Islamic Health Society, Hezbollah’s health arm, arrived at the scene, killing two paramedics and wounding another person.

Britain is sending 5 million pounds ($6.6 million) to humanitarian organizations in Lebanon.

The funds are intended to help provide food, water and shelter for some of the more than 800,000 people displaced by the Israeli war.

France's government is bolstering the country's military presence in the Middle East, dispatching its aircraft carrier and other warships, while President Emmanuel Macron engages with key players in the conflict, including Iran, in a bid to position Paris for future diplomatic talks.

Macron said that France's military involvement is strictly "defensive" and aims to avoid making the country a party to the war.

Hinting at voter anxieties in the U.S. as the conflict in the Middle East continues, U.S. President Donald Trump said the economy and American life will soon return to what it was before he launched strikes on Iran.