Iran-war
23 briefs
China Did Not Fight in the Iran War. It May Have Won It Anyway.
The CFR and Times of India both say the same thing: Beijing watched the US burn through stockpiles, studied its weaknesses, and walked into the Trump summit holding a much stronger Taiwan hand than it had before the war started.
Inflation Just Crossed Above the Fed's Policy Rate for the First Time in Three Years
April CPI at 3.78% now exceeds the 3.64% Fed funds rate, turning real policy rates negative -- and the Fed's incoming chair has signaled no urgency to respond.
The Senate Has Voted Seven Times to End the Iran War and Lost Every Time. That Is Now the Point.
Murkowski flipped, the vote failed 50-49, and Democrats are not trying to stop the war anymore -- they are trying to force Republicans to own it before November.
Trump Wants to Suspend the Gas Tax. The Industry That Runs on Gas Does Not.
Gas is up 50% since the Iran war started. An 18-cent relief would cost the highway fund $30 billion and the trucking lobby is already fighting it.
The World Is Losing the Health Gains It Spent Twenty Years Building. The WHO Cannot Say Why.
The 2026 World Health Statistics report released today says malaria is rising, maternal mortality is stalling, and childhood vaccine coverage is slipping below herd immunity thresholds -- but the report conspicuously avoids naming the funding cuts causing it.
The Inflation Number Lands Three Days Before the New Fed Chair Does
April CPI is expected at 3.8%, a 3-year high. Kevin Warsh takes over Friday. His first decision will be whether to pretend the last five years didn't happen.
Pump Relief as Political Triage
Gas hit $4.52. Trump wants to kill the gas tax. Congress needs to pass it. The Highway Trust Fund will pay.
Europe Is Taking Over NATO. Washington Hasn't Noticed It's Losing the Alliance.
The Iran war forced Trump to fight alone, and in doing so he handed European capitals the leverage they needed to rewrite the alliance's power structure from the inside.
Trump Pulls Troops From Germany. Spain and Italy Are Next.
The withdrawal isn't about defense posture. It's punishment for not joining the Iran war, and every NATO ally knows it.
Four Ships Hijacked in Two Weeks. Somali Piracy Is Back and No One Is Watching.
The navies that suppressed Somali piracy are now chasing Houthi drones in the Red Sea. Armed groups on Somalia's 3,333-kilometer coastline noticed.
Trump Pulls 5,000 Troops from Germany. NATO's Nervous System Just Got Cut.
The withdrawal is not about Germany's defense spending. It is punishment for Merz saying the obvious about Iran.
US Jobless Claims Hit a 57-Year Low. Economists Say the Real Pain Is Still Coming.
At 189,000, initial claims are the lowest since September 1969. Analysts say tariffs and Iran war costs haven't hit payrolls yet, but they will.
Powell's Last Stand: The Fed Holds Rates and Its Ground
Jerome Powell holds rates steady in what is expected to be his final meeting as Fed chair, warning that legal attacks are 'battering' the institution.
Trump Wants Rate Cuts. His Own Nominee Says He Can't Have Them.
Kevin Warsh's Fed confirmation hearing exposed a trap: he was picked to cut rates into a war-driven inflation surge that makes cutting impossible.
Trump's 100% Pharma Tariffs Land in July. The Supply Chain Is Already Failing.
Section 232 tariffs on branded drugs take effect this summer. The Iran war is already disrupting pharmaceutical logistics. Nearly half of the 100 most vulnerable medicines depend on a single country for a key ingredient. The timing is not an accident. The consequences are not hypothetical.
The Fourth Time Is Not the Charm
Senate Republicans blocked the Iran war powers resolution again. But the 60-day War Powers Act clock is ticking, and their private words no longer match their public votes.
He Said It Was Defeated
In January, Trump told G7 leaders inflation was beaten. The IMF now projects the US will have the worst inflation of any G7 country in 2026.
The Spring Housing Market Is Dead. Oil at $115 Killed It.
Existing-home sales fell 3.6% in March. The NAR slashed its 2026 forecast from 14% growth to 4%. The Iran war doubled oil prices and pushed mortgage rates back above 6%, and now the most important homebuying season of the year is starting cold.
God's Man Versus Caesar's
Trump called the first American pope 'WEAK,' posted AI of himself as Jesus, and got the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in return. The feud is real and the stakes are not about optics.
War Tax at the Pump
The Iran war produced the largest single-month US price spike in four years. The Federal Reserve cannot fix a supply shock, and Polymarket is pricing April inflation at 3.5-3.7%. Nobody in Washington is explaining who actually pays.
Pakistan's Both Sides
Pakistan is hosting US-Iran peace talks while simultaneously sending fighter jets to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defense pact. The two moves are not contradictory. They are Pakistan's bet on being indispensable to everyone.
The War That Came Home at the Pump
American consumer sentiment just hit its lowest point on record. The cause is not the stock market. It is the price of gas, and gas is expensive because of a war the administration started.
The Fed Is Trapped Between a War and the Economy It Has to Protect
March CPI hit 3.3% on an Iran-war energy shock that the Fed did not cause and cannot stop. Rate cuts are now off the table. Rate hikes would crush a fragile recovery. There is no good option.