How the Iran war is disrupting everyday lives in these 7 countries

Here’s how ordinary people from around the world are dealing with the impacts of a war that is thousands of miles away.

Enzo Garbaglia refuels his tractor while harvesting potatoes on his farm in Fiumicino, Italy, on Friday, June 12, 2026. [Photo: Andrew Medichini/AP Photo]

Across seven countries, seven people woke up to days that no longer looked the way they once did.The war in Iran began months ago and thousands of miles away. But its effects quickly ricocheted across the world — oil markets first, sending fuel prices higher. Then the shock moved outward — into farms, factories and family budgets. Into the fabric of life.The global economy remains tethered to fossil fuels that also drive climate change. A severe shock to that system could push 45 million more people into poverty, the United Nations Development Program warned.For those far from the battlefield, the war arrived not as missiles or air raids, but through the disruptions of everyday life: businesses that no longer worked, goodbyes filled with fear, and livelihoods pushed closer to the edge.Here are a few of their stories.

The Philippines: Bathing with laundry soap

WHO/WHERE: Edgar Funelas, ManilaDAY OF DISRUPTION: April 10

Funelas bathes beside his vehicle, moving quickly before the city wakes. He pours water over his head from a green pipe. Behind him, his jeepney stands still and worn. His 10-year-old daughter is asleep inside.He uses laundry soap — harsher, but cheaper — to wash his body and his clothes in the same motion, stretching what little money he has. Even before the war in Iran, he was........

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