His government also hauled Singapore before two different international tribunals, over both Pedra Blanca and a Singaporean land-reclamation scheme along the Johor strait, the narrow channel separating the two countries.

ECONOMIST: A truce across the Johor strait

Known as the Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers, or Cibbows for short, the group considers the stretch of Brooklyn's oceanfront an ideal spot to prepare for endurance swimming in waters as disparate and famous as the Bering Strait and the Beagle Channel.

WSJ: Brighton Beach: Brookyln's Swimming Mecca

In recent days, Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the channel through which about a third of global seaborne oil exports pass.

WSJ: Oil Market's Iran Fears Might Be Overdone

Furthermore, the general ratcheting up of diplomatic tensions between the West and Iran over the republic's nuclear ambitions raises fears of a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important shipping channel for oil deliveries.

WSJ: Oil's Tug of War Is Poised to Continue