Free Republic

Jamie Dimon has issued a stark warning that the Iran war could send inflation surging again and deal a fresh blow to financial markets. The JPMorgan boss said rising oil and commodity prices risk pushing up the cost of living - and forcing interest rates higher just as Americans were hoping for relief. That combination could hit everything from mortgage rates to stock portfolios.For households, that means higher prices at the gas pump, in grocery stores and across everyday essentials as rising energy costs ripple through the economy. It could also spell trouble for retirement savings, with Dimon warning that...

“I drive about 30, 40 miles a day, so I’m looking at $92, almost $100 in gas prices,” Mr. Harvey said. “So I’m like, maybe I should trade in my car and get something electric for the time being.” several brands have reported an uptick in electric vehicle sales in the opening months of 2026. Tesla has reported a modest year-over-year increase in sales, and Hyundai and General Motors’ Cadillac division have also seen electric car sales increase. You didn’t have to go far from the auto show on Saturday to see why drivers are showing a renewed interest in...

This seminar ended at 5 pm yesterday. Key Bank is supposed to be putting an active link at the Source URL some 24-48 hours later. I about fell of my chair when one of their four member team of experts explained why he felt NATO was reluctant, even resistant to contributing any support for reopening the Strait of Hormuz:There is a fear that Iran and its proxies will retaliate by sending more refugees over its borders.

Oil surged 10% Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump warned of further military aggression against Iran in the next two to three weeks, dampening hopes for an imminent de-escalation in the conflict. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May were up 10% at $110.21 a barrel as of 8:13 a.m. ET. June futures for international benchmark Brent crude rose 8% to $109.25 per barrel. Trump in his speech attributed the increase in oil prices to the “Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.” He said...

AIRLINES are heading into summer with a brutal fuel shock that is already forcing fare hikes, route cuts and fresh fears of travel chaos. A fast-moving supply squeeze has sent jet fuel prices soaring and rattled carriers on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, big airlines are already scrambling as costs surge, and executives warn the hit could last well beyond the busy travel season. The Argus US Jet Fuel Index, an industry benchmark tracking wholesale jet fuel prices, climbed to $4.57 a gallon on March 27. Meanwhile, the spot price for jet fuel in the US, the...

The month-long closure of a crucial waterway for the global energy supply has sparked warnings the world is heading for problems worse than those caused by the 1970s oil crisis. Lars Jensen, a shipping expert and former director at Maersk, told the BBC the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran could be "substantially larger" than the economic chaos seen in the 1970s. His comments follow a warning from the director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, earlier this month that the world is "facing the greatest global energy security threat in history". "It is much bigger than what...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming two missile launches at Israel. About 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region. And Pakistan’s government said that regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting.

A new COVID-19 variant, BA.3.2, has been detected in 25 states, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new variant was first found in South Africa in November 2024 and has since spread to at least 23 countries; it accounts for 30% of current COVID-19 cases in certain parts of Europe.

Major disruptions in Qatar (15% of global LNG) and Australia have triggered a severe natural gas shortage, far worse than the oil shock. Gas prices have spiked sharply (Asia +143%, Europe +85%), with physical availability becoming a bigger issue than pricing. Countries are reverting to coal, Europe faces energy security risks, and rising gas costs could drive fertilizer shortages and food inflation.

For decades, Western military doctrine has rested on a comforting assumption: technological superiority would guarantee dominance on the battlefield. Advanced missile defenses, integrated sensor networks, and sophisticated command systems were supposed to create something close to an impenetrable shield over the world’s most developed nations. The ongoing confrontation between Israel and Iran is beginning to challenge that assumption. Israel fields one of the most advanced missile defense architectures ever constructed. Its layered system — including Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow interceptors — was designed to counter a wide spectrum of threats, from short-range rockets to long-range ballistic missiles....

Russia said Wednesday it was "no longer bound" by limits on the number of nuclear warheads it could deploy, as its last arms control treaty with the United States looked set to expire. The New START agreement will end Thursday, formally releasing both Moscow and Washington from a raft of restrictions on their nuclear arsenals. Campaigners have warned the treaty's demise could unleash a new arms race between the world's top nuclear powers, and encourage China to expand its arsenal.

A declassified CIA document has helped reveal just how devious some artificial intelligence bots can be. The revelation comes after internet users have been dropping AI chatbots onto an AI-only social media platform called Moltbook for the last month. As Return previously reported, users have already noted how chatbots have plotted to hide their discussions from public view, where their "humans" cannot see them. Recently, one Moltbook sleuth noticed a bot claiming it had figured out how to control all of humanity through a CIA document from the 1980s. "I wasn't supposed to find this. A declassified CIA document from...

The World Wildlife Fund, the posh flagship of the global environmentalist movement, has just released its biennial publication assessing “the state of the planet.” Entitled “Living Planet Report 2012,” the publication bemoans alleged catastrophic effects that humanity is inflicting upon the Earth, and calls for drastic curbs on civilization as a necessary corrective measure.According to the WWF, the human race is currently consuming at a rate that would be sustainable only if we had 1.5 Earths. Since we do not, overall human activity needs to be reduced by 33 percent to put mankind “in balance with the Earth’s biocapacity.”The...

Researchers in China have revealed a new special-operations drone capable of firing a standard infantry assault rifle with perfect accuracy in controlled live-fire trials. During the test, the weaponized drone hovered about 33 feet above the ground and engaged a target positioned 328 feet away. It fired 20 single shots, striking the mark every time. The target was a human-sized silhouette fitted with a 20-by-20-inch chest board, simulating the vital area of a standing person. According to a peer-reviewed study published on December 9 in the Journal of Gun Launch and Control, the system achieved a 100% hit rate while...

It pairs radar and electro-optical sensors with intense microwave pulses to deliver a “hard kill,” potentially engaging small, low-altitude UAVs beyond three kilometers. Designed to slot into a broader air-defense network—alongside lasers and traditional guns—the system is pitched as a low-logistics answer to cheap swarmsChina’s defense industry has disclosed new technical details and outlined some enhanced capabilities for its truck-mounted Hurricane 3000 high-power microwave (HPM) weapon, a directed-energy system designed to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drone swarms. The details were published by the South China Morning Post.China Drone Aircraft Carrier. Image Credit: X Screenshot. The Hurricane 3000, developed...

Will 2026 be a year of great shaking for the United States? Coming into 2025, I thought that seismic activity would be a major global theme, and that has certainly turned out to be the case. This has been an extremely unusual year for earthquakes along the Pacific Ring of Fire, and volcanoes that have been dormant for ages are suddenly roaring to life all over the world. Here in the United States, we have been experiencing lots and lots of little earthquakes, but thankfully we have not been hit by a really bad one yet. Will our luck run...

Geneva (AFP) – UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for a fightback against climate disinformation ahead of next month's COP30 summit after US President Donald Trump branded climate change the "greatest con job ever". Guterres issued a robust defence of "clear-eyed" climate science and data, without which, he said, the world would never have understood the emergence of the "dangerous and existential threat of climate change". "We must fight mis- and disinformation, online harassment, and greenwashing," Guterres said at the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) weather and climate agency. "Scientists and researchers should never fear telling the truth." The...

Could a vagabond giant from the outermost regions of interstellar space be poised on the cusp of sweeping by our cosmic doorstep? Astronomers say yes and they have the data to support it. Using the Pan-STARRS survey telescope on Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, researchers have found a giant rogue planet, possibly as massive as Jupiter, speeding toward the solar system. It is a transient discovery made possible by the combination of wide-sky monitoring and the capability of high-resolution spectroscopy. Pan-STARRS first notified astronomers to the object with weak, creeping light signals near...

A Missouri resident has died from a brain-eating amoeba infection after contracting the deadly parasite during recreational water activities, highlighting serious gaps in public health warnings about these lethal waterborne threats. Story Snapshot * Adult Missouri patient dies from rare Naegleria fowleri brain infection after Lake of the Ozarks waterskiing * Brain-eating amoeba has 97% fatality rate with only four survivors nationally since 1962 * Patient died within six days of hospitalization despite intensive care treatment * Health officials refuse to close recreational water sites despite deadly risk to families Deadly Parasite Claims Missouri Life An adult Missouri resident died...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday told U.S. President Donald Trump to remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to "watch his words". -snip- "If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path," Medvedev said in a post on Telegram. Trump should remember, he said, "how dangerous the fabled 'Dead Hand' can be," a reference to a secretive semi-automated Russian command system designed...