Policy changes, but facts endure. AP delivers accurate, fact-based journalism to keep the world informed in every administration. Support independent reporting today. Donate. |
|
|
In the news today: Iran launches new attacks at Israel and Gulf Arab countries as Trump sends contradictory messages about how long the war could last; how the conflict and resulting oil price spike are affecting consumers; and the FBI obtains 2020 election records from Arizona's largest county as the Trump administration widens its probe. Also, why priced-out Nigerian youth are turning to rave culture.
A headline in Thursday's Morning Wire newsletter incorrectly characterized a judge's ruling on Camp Mystic in Texas. The judge‘s order focused on directing Camp Mystic to not demolish or alter areas impacted by the deadly July flood and made no explicit ruling in the order over whether the camp can remain open. The story is here.
|
Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP) |
Trump says Iran war could be over soon, but oil disruption would trigger harsher US strikes |
Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday at Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has stunned global economies. U.S. President Donald Trump sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last. Read more. |
|
|
-
Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or longer, on Monday sought to downplay growing fears that it could be a long-term regional conflict, saying it was “going to be a short-term excursion.” Hours later, Trump posted on social media: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far."
In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure.
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
|
|
|
How the Iran war and surging oil prices are affecting consumers |
The price of crude oil surpassed $110 a barrel Monday, reaching heights not seen since 2022. You don’t have to drive a car to be affected. Nearly all goods — including food — that are bought and sold must travel from where they’re produced. Those costs will climb with higher gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices. Read more.
|
|
|
Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are made from crude oil. As the cost of crude climbs, so do the prices of those widely used products, which keep equipment, cars, buses, delivery trucks and airplanes running. Gasoline prices have increased about 17% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz already has caused problems for the shipping industry. Quickly rising oil and gas prices will add to the burden. Fuel surcharges will also rise — as shipping companies aim to pass along higher costs to their customers, ultimately making goods more expensive.
Heating your home and cooking food with natural gas are also likely to cost more as the war grinds on. The spike in oil prices likely won’t be felt immediately at U.S. grocery stores, said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. But if oil prices remain high for a month or more, he said, “we’re in different territory.”
|
|
|
The Trump administration widens its probe of the 2020 election as it obtains records from Arizona |
The Republican leader of Arizona’s state Senate said Monday he has handed over records related to the 2020 presidential election to the FBI in the latest sign that the Trump administration is acting on the president’s longstanding falsehoods about a race he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Read more. |
|
|
Senate President Warren Petersen said in a social media post that he complied “late last week” with a federal grand jury subpoena for records related to a controversial audit of the election in Maricopa County that had been ordered by legislative Republicans.
It marks the second time this year that the FBI has obtained records related to the 2020 election from the most populous county in a presidential battleground state, both of which Trump lost as he sought reelection.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, issued a scathing statement in response to Petersen's post, noting that multiple audits, independent investigations and legal challenges related to the 2020 presidential election found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have affected the outcome.
|
| |
|
