Hungary Cuts Energy Shipments to Ukraine, Slovakia Threatens to Follow

US Retail Sales Jumped Most In 8 Months In February Bank of America's omniscient analysts forecast a very strong month for Retail Sales in February data (released today)... The actual print was +0.6% MoM (better than the 0.5% consensus, but less than BofA's forecast) comes after a revised higher 0.1% MoM decline in January (and December's nothingburger)... Source: Bloomberg That is the highest MoM rise since June 2025, and sales rose 3.7% YoY... Core Retail Sales (Ex Autos) rose 0.5% MoM (much better than expected) and Ex Autos and Gas also rose more than...

Germany Restricts Emigration To Prevent Young Men From Escaping The Military Draft Authored by Ryan McMaken via the Mises Institute, Late last year, German lawmakers passed new legislation paving the way for military conscription. As the Guardian reports, “The change will include the obligatory screening of all 18-year-old men to gauge their suitability to serve in the military from 1 January..” This is not (yet) full-blown conscription, but clearly moves in that direction, providing the German state with a plan to measure and assess the availability of young men who...

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday that Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians and injured 17 over the previous 24-hour period, marking an escalation of IDF attacks in the Strip amid the US-Israeli war against Iran. The Quds News Network reported that just after midnight, an Israeli strike hit a tent in the Nuseirat […]