British forces based in Iraq shot down two drones overnight, Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed. Continue Reading »

Oil price moves have made headlines since the Iran conflict started - but why have there been such sharp swings? Continue Reading »

Mandy Wixon, 56, forced the victim to clean her squalid home and subjected her to a miserable life. Continue Reading »

The Lloyds Banking Group customers reported being able to view payments and charges from other sources. Continue Reading »

Documents show Sir Keir Starmer was warned the peer's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein posed a "reputational risk". Continue Reading »

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• Fox-Dominion trial delay 'is not unusual,' judge says • Fox News' defamation battle isn't stopping Trump's election lies Continue Reading »

The judge just announced in court that a settlement has been reached in the historic defamation case between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems. Continue Reading »

A settlement has been reached in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation case against Fox News, the judge for the case announced. The network will pay more than $787 million to Dominion, a lawyer for the company said. Continue Reading »

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said all U.S. military bases in the Middle East should close immediately as those bases will be attacked. Continue Reading »

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling Feb. 20 ruled that President Donald Trumps IEEPA tariffs were illegal. Continue Reading »

The Senate passed the bill 89-10, but House lawmakers say more changes are needed before it could go to President Donald Trump's desk. Continue Reading »

The EV company is aiming to hit that target through market expansion into midsize vehicles, robotaxis and new counties, specifically in Europe. Continue Reading »

Leonardo said Thursday that it is on "a path of strong growth," as defense companies see opportunities in the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Continue Reading »

Par AFP Par Raphaël HERMANO © 2026 AFP Le prix Pritzker, l'équivalent du Nobel dans le monde de l'architecture, a été décerné jeudi au Chilien Smiljan Radic Clarke, connu notamment pour son utilisation des matériaux bruts."Son travail paraît souvent austère ou élémentaire, mais cette impression dissimule une ingénierie et une construction précises", salue dans un communiqué à propos de l'architecte de 60 ans la fondation basée à Chicago qui décerne le prix.Qualifié en 2014 par le New York Times de "rock star parmi les architectes", le Chilien est davantage connu dans les cercles intellectuels et artistiques qu'au sein du grand public."C'est un immense honneur. Et peut-être, très prochainement, un léger casse-tête, car cela signifiera probablement une exposition médiatique bien plus importante que je ne le souhaiterais", a réagi Smiljan Radic Clarke auprès de la radio américaine NPR.Parmi ses œuvres marquantes, le Pavillon de la Serpentine Gallery à Londres est probablement la plus connue : une coque translucide en fibre de verre suspendue sur des pierres brutes monumentales, qui joue avec la lumière et le rapport entre abri et nature. La House for the Poem of the Right Angle (au Chili), conçue avec la sculptrice Marcela Correa, est considérée comme ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP Par Sally JENSEN, Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE © 2026 AFP Ordinateurs brisés, uniformes de policiers contrefaits, faux billets de cent dollars: ces vestiges témoignent de la fuite précipitée des employés d'un centre d'escroquerie en ligne, à la frontière entre le Cambodge et la Thaïlande.Ces employés étaient contraints d'y travailler, selon l'armée thaïlandaise, avant qu'elle ne s'en empare. Jeudi, l'AFP¨a participé à une visite du site cambodgien d'O'Smach, dont l'armée a pris le contrôle au cours des affrontements frontaliers de 2025, et que Bangkok présente comme une base utilisée à la fois par l'armée cambodgienne et des réseaux criminels transnationaux d'arnaque en ligne. Fichier vidéo Les deux pays voisins se sont livrés à des affrontements meurtriers pendant trois semaines en décembre 2025 le long de leur frontière commune, dernier épisode guerrier d'un différend frontalier de longue date.La Thaïlande a alors annoncé que ses forces avaient lancé une attaque contre plusieurs casinos situés de l'autre ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP Par Benoît PELEGRIN avec Antoine AGASSE à Brest © 2026 AFP Le gazole "est arrivé à un prix assez critique pour nous", tempête le fileyeur David Le Quintrec, en déchargeant mercredi sur le port de Lorient les soles et bars pêchés pendant la nuit, alors que la profession réclame des mesures d'urgence.Le marin, par ailleurs patron de l'Union française des pêcheurs artisans (UFPA), a vu le prix du carburant s'envoler en l'espace de 10 jours, après le déclenchement de la guerre en Iran: il est passé de 60 centimes le litre à près de 90 centimes, raconte-t-il à l'AFP. Fichier vidéo Cette hausse est "énorme", soupire-t-il, tout en donnant des consignes à ses quatre marins, de retour comme lui de plus de 10 heures en mer à bord de l'Izel Vor II.Cette flambée des prix a des conséquences concrètes : le marin a choisi d'aller moins loin que d'habitude pour économiser ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP © 2026 AFP Les syndicats de journalistes et Reporters sans frontières (RSF) ont alerté jeudi le Conseil d'Etat sur les risques pour l'avenir et l'indépendance du magazine Challenges après son rachat par le géant du luxe LVMH, qui contrôle déjà plusieurs titres économiques dont Les Echos."L'économie a besoin de concurrence, l'information économique aussi", a lancé la présidente de la Société des journalistes (SDJ) de Challenges, Delphine Déchaux, lors d'un rassemblement après cette audience. Elle a appelé à des "garde-fous (...) quand la première fortune de France rachète le deuxième titre économique français", en référence à Bernard Arnault, propriétaire de LVMH.Depuis leur rachat fin 2025 par LVMH à l'homme d'affaires Claude Perdriel, avec les titres scientifiques Sciences et Avenir et La Recherche, les journalistes de Challenges demandent le maintien de leur charte d'indépendance, qui octroie à la rédaction un pouvoir d'approbation pour la nomination de son directeur et prône "l'adhésion à une économie sociale de marché".Les salariés des trois titres avaient voté le 10 février, à près de 85%, une motion de défiance à ce sujet envers leur direction et LVMH.Mais "le 21 février (...) LVMH nous annonçait à tous que notre charte d'indépendance était dénoncée", a ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP © 2026 AFP Ilyas Kherbouch, détenu qui s'est évadé samedi de Villepinte, a été condamné en appel jeudi à Paris à six ans de prison ferme, lors d'une audience où la cour a demandé un mandat d'arrêt à son encontre."Je crois que je ne suis pas la seule personne dans cette salle pour qui c'est une première...", a déclaré son avocate, Me May Sarah Vogehult, qui le défend mais dont le client est "en état d'évasion"."Il a un casier épouvantable et pourtant, on avait pris du temps avec lui, car je considérais que c'était important, mais malgré cela, il a décidé de s'évader", a regretté la présidente de la cour d'appel de Paris, qui a délivré un mandat d'arrêt à son encontre.Ilyas Kherbouch a été condamé à six ans d'emprisonnement ferme, comme en première instance, pour complicité de tentative de vol aggravée par trois circonstances, pour un homejacking le 7 février 2024 à Paris.La cour d'appel a également délivré un mandat d'arrêt.M. Kherbouch se voit aussi condamné à payer, en réparation du préjudice matériel, 529 euros aux parties civiles, ainsi que 6.000 euros et de 4.000 euros en réparation du préjudice moral de deux parties civiles, ... Continue Reading »

AI chatbots routinely helped users plan violent attacks, including school shootings and assassinations, an investigation has found Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

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Ukrainian drones hit a hospital in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, killing eight medics and injuring ten, the MOD has said Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has criticized the US and Israel for their war on Iran Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned about escalating risks that the US-Israeli war on Iran poses Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Об этом сообщил губернатор региона Михаил Развожаев Continue Reading »

Заместитель военного министра Соединенных Штатов по снабжению и военным закупкам Майкл Даффи отметил, что их производство увеличится до 400 в год Continue Reading »

К проекту присоединились 10 новых регионов Continue Reading »

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Норвежец покинул трассу в сопровождении двух организаторов Continue Reading »

Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, new supreme leader says... (Top headline, 1st story, link) Related stories:Ayatollah 'obsessed with end of days'...But is he in coma?No proof of life...Trump Told Tankers to 'Show Some Guts.' Then They Were Bombed...UPDATE: US Intel Warns Regime 'Not in Danger' of Collapse...Russia Continues to Rake In Billions... Continue Reading »

Ayatollah 'obsessed with end of days'... (Top headline, 2nd story, link) Related stories:Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, new supreme leader says...But is he in coma?No proof of life...Trump Told Tankers to 'Show Some Guts.' Then They Were Bombed...UPDATE: US Intel Warns Regime 'Not in Danger' of Collapse...Russia Continues to Rake In Billions... Continue Reading »

But is he in coma? (Top headline, 3rd story, link) Related stories:Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, new supreme leader says...Ayatollah 'obsessed with end of days'...No proof of life...Trump Told Tankers to 'Show Some Guts.' Then They Were Bombed...UPDATE: US Intel Warns Regime 'Not in Danger' of Collapse...Russia Continues to Rake In Billions... Continue Reading »

No proof of life... (Top headline, 4th story, link) Related stories:Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, new supreme leader says...Ayatollah 'obsessed with end of days'...But is he in coma?Trump Told Tankers to 'Show Some Guts.' Then They Were Bombed...UPDATE: US Intel Warns Regime 'Not in Danger' of Collapse...Russia Continues to Rake In Billions... Continue Reading »

Trump Told Tankers to 'Show Some Guts.' Then They Were Bombed... (Top headline, 5th story, link) Related stories:Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, new supreme leader says...Ayatollah 'obsessed with end of days'...But is he in coma?No proof of life...UPDATE: US Intel Warns Regime 'Not in Danger' of Collapse...Russia Continues to Rake In Billions... Continue Reading »

US president, who won the FIFA Peace Prize says Iran would be welcome but should not come for its players' safety. Continue Reading »

Iran is asking for 'reparations' and a guarantee that the US and Israel will not attack in the future. Continue Reading »

Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei says strait should remain closed as Donald Trump claims US benefits from high oil prices. Continue Reading »

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued his first statement since being appointed. Continue Reading »

Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed has been signed by Indian-owned Sunrisers Leeds in UK cricket's Hundred auction. Continue Reading »

British forces based in Iraq shot down two drones overnight, Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed. Continue Reading »

Oil price moves have made headlines since the Iran conflict started - but why have there been such sharp swings? Continue Reading »

Mandy Wixon, 56, forced the victim to clean her squalid home and subjected her to a miserable life. Continue Reading »

The Lloyds Banking Group customers reported being able to view payments and charges from other sources. Continue Reading »

Documents show Sir Keir Starmer was warned the peer's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein posed a "reputational risk". Continue Reading »

Countries already walloped by a breakdown of the international trading order, war in Ukraine and chaotic U.S. policymaking are facing potentially lasting economic damage. Continue Reading »

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose and vengeful rhetoric describing the military’s war in Iran grew out of his experience in Iraq. Continue Reading »

The war in the Middle East has sent oil and gas prices soaring. Our energy reporter Rebecca F. Elliott breaks down how much the world continues to depend on reliable sources of oil. Continue Reading »

Beyond talking about the economy and voters’ hardships, the president is showing that he still has control over the Republican Party. Continue Reading »

A Washington Post appeal for information about the military qualified as prohibited “solicitation,” according to defense officials. Continue Reading »

The Chinese upstart says it has trained high-performing AI models cheaply, without using the most advanced chips. Continue Reading »

DeepSeek, SoFi and more in the latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom. Continue Reading »

DeepSeek is called “amazing and impressive” despite working with less-advanced chips. Continue Reading »

The LinkedIn co-founder is starting Manas AI with “The Emperor of All Maladies” author Siddhartha Mukherjee. Continue Reading »

Apps can add flexibility and freshness to your routine. Just try not to get injured. Continue Reading »

Israel allowed displaced Gazans to begin crossing a military zone that bisects the enclave after a deadlock over hostage releases was broken. Continue Reading »

Troubles at Vanke raise questions about the continued spread of the property crisis and whether the Chinese state will step in. Continue Reading »

Some of the women were held alone for extended periods and spent eight months in tunnels, an Israeli medical official said. Continue Reading »

The alliance mounted its first coordinated response to a suspected sabotage campaign against critical infrastructure after another cable was severed in the Baltic Sea. Continue Reading »

Residents of Goma reported gunfire and shelling after rebels overran Congolese troops. U.N. officials estimated that more than one million displaced people were now inside the city. Continue Reading »

The cost of the U.S. war against Iran is rapidly climbing into the tens of billions of dollars, according to congressional briefings and economic analyses, raising new concerns about federal spending as Washington already faces mounting deficits and debt. Continue Reading »

Pentagon officials told lawmakers during a briefing on Tuesday that the approximate cost of war against Iran is more than $11.3 billion in the first six days of action, a source briefed on the figure told The Hill on Wednesday. Continue Reading »

US officials told lawmakers that the first six days of the war with Iran cost more than $11.3 billion, a person familiar with the matter said, giving the most detailed assessment yet of the expense involved in President Donald Trump's military campaign. Continue Reading »

An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings. The Feb. 28 strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was the result of a targeting mistake by the U.S. military, which was conducting strikes on an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part, the preliminary investigation found. Officers at U.S. Central Command created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, people briefed on the investigation said. Continue Reading »

A strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children may be the result of U.S. use of outdated targeting data, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, providing new details about what would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts. Reuters first reported on Thursday that an ongoing, internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the strike on the girls' school in Minab. Continue Reading »

An ongoing military investigation is pointing toward the U.S. being responsible for a missile strike that hit an Iranian elementary school on the first day of Operation Epic Fury. According to multiple reports, a Feb. 28 Tomahawk strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeb elementary school building was the result of targeting mistakes by U.S. Central Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency. "Officials emphasized that the findings are preliminary and that there are important unanswered questions about why the outdated information had not been double-checked," The New York Times reported. Continue Reading »

Ticketing employees at Live Nation joked about trying to "gouge" people for parking and V.I.P. upgrades at concerts, calling fans "so stupid" for paying the inflated charges and boasting that they were "robbing them blind baby," according to internal messages released late Wednesday. Continue Reading »

"We're extremely vulnerable" — top U.S. drone expert says Iran could make deadly California strike any second Read more about "We're extremely vulnerable" — top U.S. drone expert says Iran could make deadly California strike any second Continue Reading »

California Officials See No Imminent Threat of Drone Attacks by Iran Read more about California Officials See No Imminent Threat of Drone Attacks by Iran Continue Reading »

FBI warns Iran 'aspired' to strike California coast with drones Read more about FBI warns Iran 'aspired' to strike California coast with drones Continue Reading »

TRUMP: 'WE'VE ALREADY WON … BUT WE HAVEN'T WON ENOUGH': When it comes to describing where we are on the 11th day of Operation Epic Fury, President Donald Trump is all over the map. Is it "very complete, pretty much" as he told CBS News in a phone interview yesterday afternoon? Or is it "only just the beginning," as War Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS's 60 Minutes over the weekend? Is the war a "short-term excursion," that will be ending soon, as he told Republicans at an issues conference in Miami, or are we "going to go further," as he told reporters later at a news conference? "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all," Trump told Republicans at their annual retreat. "Forty-seven years. It should have been done a long time ago. The world would have been a different place had some president had the courage to go and do it." Continue Reading »

Some perspective is in order. For decades, the United States and its allies have been gaming out what a full-scale war against the Islamic Republic of Iran would look like. As recently as 2020, in the immediate aftermath of the airstrike that neutralized Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani, mainstream and center-left media outlets summarized the forecasts of American war planners. Their conclusions were sobering. Continue Reading »

The United States has granted India a 30-day waiver to continue purchasing Russian crude oil, according to a Treasury Department notice issued on March 5. The short-term measure will not offer a "significant financial benefit" to Moscow, as the license only "authorizes transactions involving oil already standardized at sea." "India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of U.S. oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran's attempt to take global energy hostage," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a March 5 statement. Continue Reading »

For much of last year, Washington sought to starve Moscow's war machine of cash, in part by removing one of its most loyal customers: India. Under President Donald Trump's pressure campaign, the White House slapped high tariffs on many of New Delhi's exports and sanctioned two of the Kremlin's largest oil firms. The strategy appeared to be working. While India didn't quit its Russian oil habit entirely, it sharply reduced its purchases in favor of supplies from the Middle East. Continue Reading »

Democratic senators are demanding answers after the Trump administration moved to ease sanctions on Russian oil reserves in an attempt to offset the impact of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on global oil supplies. The minority members on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs requested a congressional hearing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent by the end of March in a Tuesday letter to Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), which was reported by Punchbowl News. Continue Reading »

Forgoing food. Cutting back on utilities. Driving less. Borrowing money. These are the sacrifices that tens of millions of people are making to afford their health care expenses, according to a West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America survey released Thursday. Roughly one-third of respondents – equivalent to more than 82 million Americans – said they have had to cut back on at least one daily living expense to cover their health care bills, according to the survey of nearly 20,000 adults, which was conducted from June through August. Continue Reading »

It was about 01:30 in the morning when a loud explosion tore through the Raouche neighbourhood in the heart of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The Israeli strike on the four-star Ramada Plaza hotel marked the first time in this war that Israel's bombing campaign had struck the city centre - a bustling coastal area full of restaurants and hotels. Inside, the Israeli military said, was a secret meeting of Iranian operatives - an allegation that has now been denied by Iran's government. Continue Reading »

The FBI warned police departments in California in recent days that Iran could retaliate for American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by ABC News. "We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran," according to the alert distributed at the end of February. "We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack." Continue Reading »

President Trump—faced with rising oil prices and pushback from his MAGA base—is signaling that he wants to wind down the war he launched against Iran less than two weeks ago. But stopping the fighting carries big risks, even if Iran lets him. If Trump proclaims victory, stops the bombing and begins to withdraw the huge air and naval assets he assembled in the Middle East, it could soothe global markets, at least in the short term, and reassure American voters uneasy about the prospect of another forever war. Continue Reading »

GB News reports: The Bank of England has confirmed Sir Winston Churchill will be scrapped from banknotes and replaced with images of wildlife. The central bank will soon ask the public which animals they want to appear on the next set of £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes - but confirmed the wartime hero Prime Minister would not be staying. The move to replace historical figures with animals was described as "significant" and "overdue" by celebrity bird-watcher Nadeem Perera, who sits on the bank's panel of wildlife experts who will choose which English species will appear on the next set of banknotes. Continue Reading »

Deutsche Bank Dumps After Flagging $30 Billion Exposure To Private Credit Yet another canary in the ever growing coalmine that is private credit appeared this morning as Deustche Bank's annual report flagged a significant €26 billion ($30 billion) exposure to private credit, an asset class that’s grappling with fund redemptions, scrutiny of underwriting standards and the impact of AI on some borrowers such as software makers. As the slow-motion train-wreck gathers steam (most recently with Morgan Stanley, Cliffwater, and BlackRock gating investors in their private credit funds), investors are searching various financial entities balance sheets for exposures with the giant German lender itself warning: "Failures of a select number of sub-prime lenders in the U.S. increased investor focus on risks associated with private credit and raised wider concerns around underwriting standards and fraud risk." The report showed the private credit portfolio increased to €25.9 billion of loans at amortized cost, from €24.5 billion in 2024. Its loan exposure to the technology sector, including software, accounts for €15.8 billion at amortized cost, up from €11.7 billion. Bloomberg reports that the lender said it is not exposed to "significant risks" related to non-bank financial institutions, ... Continue Reading »

Why Constant Talk Of TACO Is Likely Wrong, With Both Sides Escalating By Michael Every of Rabobank The only way out of this crisis is through We warned 2026 would tell 2025, which revolved around tariffs, ‘Hold my beer’: yesterday, the US launched two new Section 301 trade investigations, and it hardly registered in the headlines even if it could lead to higher, court-immune US tariffs this summer vs China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland, and Norway. The focus is instead on Iran and Hormuz, as Brent oil tests towards $100 a barrel this morning. As also warned, things are going to escalate before any de-escalation on those fronts. Ignore that “There's "practically nothing left" to target in Iran”; balance news that US intelligence says Iran’s government is not at risk of collapse with reports suggesting potential cracks forming in it; and above all heed our underlying geopolitical logic, echoed in the Wall Street Journal, that ‘Ending Iran War Quickly Carries Big Risks for the US and Allies’ because “Leaving the regime undefeated could motivate Tehran to develop nuclear weapons and ... Continue Reading »

In From The Cold Already: Putin Envoy Met With US Team On Energy Markets Crisis With the globe's attention focused on the now almost two week long ongoing Iran war, Moscow is busy in the sidelines making strides to improve bilateral relations with the United States, while demonstrating how vital Russia is to global energy markets. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's directly appointed special envoy, held a meeting in the US "with the heads of the working group on economic cooperation between Russia and the United States," according to his Telegram statement and fresh reporting in Bloomberg. Dmitriev and US officials discussed "promising projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations, as well as the current crisis in global energy markets" - according to the top Kremlin official's statement. More to come as the world recognizes Russia as a must-have supplier of energy. https://t.co/YnIlEhm25b — Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) March 6, 2026 The US-Russia meeting comes on the heels of Washington having declared a temporary ease in targeted energy sanctions earlier in the Iran conflict, allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stranded at sea. The US Treasury Department Secretary described the one-month waiver as a "deliberate short-term ... Continue Reading »

Trump Set To Suspend Jones Act To Help Tame Oil Prices One day after the Trump administration flip-flopped on using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) - eventually deciding to release 172 million barrels to try and counter the rising price of oil, they're now planning to issue temporary waivers for a century-old maritime law, the Jones Act, that requires American-built ships to be used to transport goods between US ports, in yet another attempt to control crude.  Under the plan, 30-day waivers would be issued that would allow foreign tankers to help supply refiners on the East Coast with fuel from the Gulf Coast and elsewhere, according to Bloomberg. The US government can temporarily waive the Jones Act, but it cannot permanently lift it without Congress. The law requires that goods transported between US ports be carried on ships that are US-built, US-flagged, and US-crewed. However, under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 framework, the administration can grant temporary waivers if it determines they are necessary for national defense or in response to emergencies, typically through coordination between the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Defense. Such waivers have been issued several times, ... Continue Reading »

Nearly 20% Of House Hunters Looking To Relocate: Report Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), In the fourth quarter of 2025, 18.8 percent of house hunters across the United States were looking to relocate to a different part of the country. A house for sale in Washington on May 19, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times This was up from 17.9 percent a year back and 15.9 percent five years ago during the COVID pandemic period, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a March 10 statement. During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the average weekly mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage mostly hovered around 2.5–3.5 percent, according to Freddie Mac. Pandemic-fueled remote work was also common. These factors drove many people to relocate, the brokerage said. Mortgage rates began to climb in the following years, hitting a peak of 7.79 percent in October 2023. In January 2025, rates hit 7.04 percent and have been declining since. For the week ending March 4, the rate was 6 percent. “Migration from one part of the country to another ticked up in 2025 as mortgage rates eased and more homes came on the ... Continue Reading »

"The Situation Is Dire": Half Of Available Global LNG Tankers Are Trapped In The Persian Gulf There are thousands of ships in the global oil tanker fleet, by some estimates nearly as many as 9000 (and that excludes sanctions vessels). Just a fraction of these are either waiting to enter the blockaded straits of hormuz, or to leave it.  By contrast, the global LNG fleet is a tiny fraction, and now most of it is stuck inside the Persian Gulf.  According to the WSJ, at least 20 LNG carriers a bout half the available global fleet – are trapped in the Persian Gulf, with daily freight costs soaring as demand from Asia surges, according to ship brokers. Bloomberg lists the known LNG tankers which are currently transmitting their positions as follows: Al Rayyan Al Kharaitiyat Umm Al Amad Lebrethah Gaslog Skagen Sohar Lng Disha Al Daayen Mubaraz Al Sahla Rasheeda Patris Seapeak Bahrain Fuwairit Mihzem Mraikh Al Ghashamiya Most are located just off the UAE coastline: “The situation is dire and will have a lasting impact on the market, regardless of how quickly the conflict ends,” Kostas Karathanos, the chief operating officer of Athens-based Gaslog, which operates 34 gas carriers, told The Wall Street Journal. Some 20% of global LNG exports come ... Continue Reading »

"Please, Please, Please": Denmark's Energy Minister Begs Citizens To Stop Driving As Global Energy Shock Spreads Iran launched another round of overnight strikes on tankers and Gulf energy infrastructure, sending Brent crude back above $101/bbl and sparking fears that chaos in the Middle East has triggered what the IEA warned could be the largest-ever supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. "The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market," the IEA said on Wednesday. With the record release of SPRs by IEA members announced on Wednesday, failing to halt Brent from re-entering triple-digit territory, Denmark's energy minister issued a dire warning to citizens across the Scandinavian country, urging them to immediately conserve fuel and electricity. "What the Danes should please, please, please do is, if there is any energy consumption that you can do without—if it is not strictly necessary to drive the car—then don't do it," Lars Aagaard, Denmark's minister for climate, energy, and utilities, told local broadcaster DR in an interview earlier today, quoted by CNBC.  Aagaard said energy shock has driven the country to rely ... Continue Reading »

Eat The Rich: Sanders And Khanna Introduce Federal Billionaires Tax Authored by Jonathan Turley, “Enough is enough.” With those words, Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt) launched a push to impose a 5% annual wealth tax on America’s billionaires. With Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Cal.), the legislation, “Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act,” echoes the growing “eat-the-rich” mantra on the left — seeking to replicate a disastrous push in California that has led to an exodus from that state and an estimated loss of $2 trillion in taxable assets. It is also flagrantly unconstitutional. Under the plan, Congress would target 938 billionaires to tap them for $4.4 trillion. That money would then be redistributed as a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman, and child in a household making $150,000 or less – $12,000 for a family of four. The timing of the move is telling. Not only is it calculated before the midterm elections, in which the Democrats hope to retake power, but it follows the push by California Democrats and unions to impose a similar wealth tax in that state. Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, has supported the state law, which includes a ... Continue Reading »

Tehran Denies Mining Hormuz, But Says War Isn't Ending Soon Summary: Iran's top security official to Trump: 'we will not relent until you are sorry' Oil pares gains after report that Iran lets some ships cross strait, denies mining Hormuz Bloomberg: Trump admin set to temporarily suspend Jones Act shipping rules to help cool rising oil prices. Ayatollah Mojtaba in first public message says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should be continued as a tool to pressure the enemy Mojtaba vows to keep attacking US bases, and signals 'new fronts' could soon open President Trump simultaneously says the US is stopping Iran "from having Nuclear weapons" and "destroying" the Middle East and "the World". Shipping turmoil escalates as multiple vessels (at least six) struck overnight Brent crude oil prices top $100 amid "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market," the IEA reports. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the US Navy is not yet ready to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as military assets remain focused on degrading Iran’s offensive capabilities. Dubai suffers significant drone attacks Northern Israel hammered by Hezbollah, "largest wave" of missiles since war began IDF says it struck key Iranian ... Continue Reading »

Fresh US Intel Assessment Says Iran Regime Not Close To Collapse After 2 Weeks At War A fresh report in Reuters says what should already be quite obvious to all: US intelligence has assessed that Iran's leadership and government are largely in tact and the system does not risk collapse, after two weeks of heavy sustained US-Israeli bombardment and 'decapitation' strikes which have killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and over forty top military leaders. One of the intel sources was cited as saying that "multitude" of intelligence reports provide "consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger" of collapsing and "retains control of the Iranian public". West Asia News Agency via Reuters The source in the Wednesday-issued Reuters report indicated the most recent US intelligence was only completed within a few days prior. This week President Trump has also been busy declaring that the war could end "soon" and that "we won". And yet, the intelligence assessments indicates Iran's clerical leadership has remained cohesive, now rallying around the late supreme leader's successor - his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to be more hardline. Other sources suggest that it is the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ... Continue Reading »

Epstein Guard Called To Testify As Oversight Committee Explores Potential Murder Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, House Oversight Chairman James Comer is ramping up the heat on the botched handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s custody, announcing a subpoena for prison guard Tova Noel amid bombshell revelations of suspicious cash deposits and online searches just before the disgraced elitist’s alleged suicide. With fresh DOJ documents unearthing red flags that scream cover-up, Comer’s move signals a long-overdue push for transparency against the bureaucratic stonewalling that has shielded powerful figures tied to Epstein’s web of abuse. Comer dropped the news during a Fox News interview, pointing to media reports and overlooked Justice Department records that cast doubt on the official narrative of Epstein’s 2019 death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Chairman Comer Calls for Epstein Prison Guard to Testify Under Oath Lawmakers push for answers on long-standing questions surrounding Epstein’s death as investigators seek sworn testimony from the guard on duty #WashingtonEye pic.twitter.com/Lx7BIvRSXl — Washington Eye (@washington_EY) March 11, 2026 “Well, the recent media reports, what you just said, are very concerning — especially the suspicious activity report on a $5,000 mysterious deposit that she had,” Comer told host ... Continue Reading »

US Housing Starts Highest In Over A Year As Mortgage Rates Tumbled In January With mortgage rates tumbling (before the war started) and a top-down push for affordability, Housing Starts printed better than expected for January while the more forward-looking Building Permits disappointed, falling more than expected. Starts rose 7.2k in preliminary January data (far greater than the 4.5% MoM decline expected while Permits plunged 5.4% MoM (worse than the 3.1% decline expected)... Source: Bloomberg This pushed the SAAR totals for Starts to their highest since Dec 2024, but Building Permits fell to their lowest since Aug 2025... Source: Bloomberg Under the hood, Multi-Family Permits plunged 13.5% MoM (biggest drop since June 2023) while Multi-Family Starts soared 29.1% MoM... Source: Bloomberg The lowest mortgage rate since Aug 2022 likely helped spark homebuilder appetite to start building... A mixed bag overall, and tough to project given the impact of surging Treasury yields on the mortgage rates currently. Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 08:48 Continue Reading »

Iran May Let Indian Tankers Through Hormuz Strait, Reports Of High-Level Talks First it was China, now an India exception?  Bloomberg reports another major potential exception Tehran could make for Strait of Hormuz oil transit. "India is in talks with Iran to secure the safe passage of more than 20 tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, according to people familiar with the matter," a Thursday morning report indicates. "Negotiations are still ongoing and are being handled by the ministry of foreign affairs, said the people, who asked not to be named as the conversations are sensitive," Bloomberg continues. "The narrow waterway, through which around a fifth of the world’s crude typically flows, has been effectively closed since the start of the war in the Persian Gulf." via India Today However, Reuters has separately cited an Iranian source to say no such agreement has been made for safe passage of Indian vessels.  India ranks as third among the world's top crude importers, with China at the top. New Delhi gets some 40% of all its global imports from the Mideast and based on transit through the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway. Since the US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury began, ... Continue Reading »

Once Again, Initial Jobless Claims Refuse To Signal Labor Market Stress Initial jobless claims dipped last week to 213k - basically unchanged since Nov 2021 - continuing to suggest an economy that is not seeing the average joe get canned at anything other than a de minimus rate... Continuing jobless claims also dipped last week, remaining well below the 1.9 million Americans Maginot Line... With ADP's strong job additions report earlier in the week, all indications (except the aberrant payrolls print) are that the US labor market remains solid. The 'no hire, no fire' economy may be improving to a 'some hire, no fire' economy... for now. Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 08:36 Continue Reading »

Futures Tumble As Oil Jumps Above $100 On Iran War Chaos US futures are sharply lower, as oil briefly surges back over $100 while markets start to accept the view that the Iran war will not end this week, and possibly any time soon. As of 8:15am ET, S&P and Nasdaq futures are down 0.7% and R2K futures slide more than 1%. Futures dropped more than 1% overnight as Iraq suspended oil terminal activity following an attack on two tankers; they recovered some losses after the resumption of normal operations at Oman’s Mina Al Fahal oil terminal. Global market moves overnight were relatively benign: KOSPI down 48bps the most muted day in weeks, China flattish, Europe mixed with Germany flat and France down 50bps. In premarket trading, Mag 7 names are all weaker, energy names are stronger, and defensives outperform cyclicals on the move lower. Iran offered an off-ramp (guarantee of no future attacks from US and Israel) but unclear if that will be accepted. Private credit fears continue to surface as Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater gated withdrawals from their private credit funds, pressuring both Equities and Credit. Bond yields are flat, the USD is bid, ... Continue Reading »

DHS IG Launched Probe Into $220M Contract For Noem Ads Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearInvestigations, The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has for more than a month been investigating the process in which three businesses received $220 million for an ad campaign encouraging illegal immigrants to self-deport and featuring outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, according to sources familiar with the probe. The existence of the IG probe and its inquiries have raised concerns among other investigators within the watchdog agency that Noem and her leadership team have retaliated against them by blocking access to critical information and data necessary to provide congressionally mandated oversight of key DHS functions, including the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. A source in the DHS community accused Noem of “retaliating” by not allowing the IG to “work real cases” because she and her top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, could be implicated in the watchdog probe of the ad contracts. The $220 million ad contract sparked bipartisan Senate scrutiny during a Judiciary Committee hearing last week before Trump fired Noem, who will leave her role by March 31. Trump, who has since openly criticized the ... Continue Reading »

Carson Block Turns Bearish, Says AI Threatens 15% Of US Knowledge Jobs Carson Block says artificial intelligence has completely changed how he views markets over the past several weeks, according to Bloomberg. In a conversation with Barry Ritholtz at the Future Proof Wealth Management conference in Miami Beach, the founder and chief investment officer of Muddy Waters Capital said his outlook has flipped. “Up until one month ago, I was completely sanguine on the S&P 500 and markets in general and the economy,” Block said. “And my view has 180-ed.” Known for his short-selling campaigns, Block had been relatively constructive on equities as recently as late November, saying he preferred being long rather than short the U.S. market and even revealing several uncommon long positions. Since then, however, the S&P 500 has lost momentum after a stretch of successive record highs. Block now believes AI could meaningfully reshape both the economy and the stock market. Investor anxiety has been building over whether the hundreds of billions being spent on AI infrastructure will generate sufficient returns — or instead disrupt large parts of the corporate landscape and eliminate many white-collar jobs. At the center of ... Continue Reading »

US Reportedly Has Just Two Months Of Rare Earths Left The U.S. military’s reliance on Chinese rare-earth minerals is emerging as a strategic vulnerability as Washington’s conflict with Iran unfolds and President Donald Trump prepares for a closely watched visit to Beijing later this month. Blocks with symbols and atomic numbers of Rare Earth Elements (REE) are placed on a Chinese flag in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo US officials and analysts say the war has intensified concerns about supply chains for the specialized minerals used in advanced weapons systems, SCMP reports. According to people familiar with the issue, the U.S. may have only about two months of rare-earth inventories remaining, raising questions about how long current military operations could be sustained if access to Chinese supplies were disrupted. As we noted in 2023, former Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes admitted that Beijing effectively has the US military's supply chain by the balls thanks to its reliance on rare earths and other materials which come from, or are processed in, China. According to Hayes, Raytheon has "several thousand suppliers in China," because of which "decoupling ... is impossible." "We can de-risk but not ... Continue Reading »

Oil Soars As 2 Oil Tankers Explode In Persian Gulf, Iraq's Oil Ports Stop Operations  Top headlines of conflict  Oil prices surge as two oil tankers are attacked and explode in Iraqi waters, forcing Iraq to stop operations at its oil ports and sending oil toward $100/bbl. 'Largest wave of missiles since hostilities began' launched into northern Israel by Hezbollah The US Navy said it was 'too dangerous' to escort tankers through still. President of Iran demands reparations and guarantees against future aggression. Trump says the war with Iran will end soon, as there is 'practically nothing left to target."  Yet U.S. and Israeli officials plan at least two more weeks of strikes U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Iran's drone production has been significantly degraded. The IEA is preparing its largest-ever emergency crude oil release to counter surging Brent and WTI prices. Casualty estimates: over 1,200 killed in Iran from U.S./Israeli strikes (plus civilian reports), 13 deaths in Israel from Iranian retaliation, and 140 U.S. service members wounded (mostly minor). *  *  * Update (1850ET): As night fell across the Middle East, Hezbollah launched a huge wave of at least 150 rockets rained down ... Continue Reading »

Coffee King Howard Schultz Flees To Florida Hours After Washington Wealth Tax Passes House Yet another rich guy is fleeing their Democrat-controlled state over a new wealth tax. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, a huge liberal himself, announced that he's moving from Washington state to Miami, Florida - hours after state lawmakers advanced a tax bill targeting residents earning over $1 million per year.  Schultz, 72, who bought the company in 1987 and built it into the globally recognized chain it is today, made the announcement in a Tuesday LinkedIn post - writing that he and his wife Sheri were moving to Florida "for our next adventure together."  "We have moved to Miami for our next adventure together. We are enjoying the sunshine of South Florida and its allure to our kids on the East Coast as they raise families of their own," he wrote.  Under the new wealth tax, SB 6346, people making over $1 million per year would pay a $9.9% tax on income above that threshold starting in 2029. A final vote could come as early as today in the state Senate, after which it would go to Gov. Bob Ferguson's desk ... Continue Reading »