Mediators Say Talks 'Difficult But Not Dead' After Iran Rejects US Proposed Ceasefire, Counters With 5 Conditions

Taiwan Test Fires US Mobile Launchers Into Waters Directly Facing China For First Time China's PLA military has long been known to intimidate and threaten the self-ruled island of Taiwan, mainly with large military exercises which sometime encircle it partially or completely, or else with a heavy naval boat presence in the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan's military often reacts by scrambling its own fighter jets to closely monitor the PLA maneuvers - seen as a natural defensive and reactive move. But this week, in a rare moment, Taiwan is finally doing...

Despite Tumbling Rates, US Home Price Acceleration Slowed In January US home price acceleration slowed significantly in January (according to the always lagged and smoothed Case-Shiller indices). After rising 0.50% MoM in December, the price of homes in America's to 20 cities rose just 0.16% MoM in January (the lowest MoM rise since August and well below the 0.35% MoM expected)... Source: Bloomberg This left the 20-city composite index up just 1.18% YoY - the lowest since July 2023. "Price levels remain elevated, but the rate of appreciation has slowed materially," according to Nicholas...

Bessent Gloats Over Iran's Collapsing Currency, Signals Hope For Uprising Amid Reports Israel Preparing Fresh Attack Summary Bessent on X: "Amid the impact of Economic Fury, Iran’s currency has hit an all-time low. The Iranian people deserve a new era, which the corrupt and shambolic Iranian regime cannot provide." Signals hope for uprising, regime change. Israeli Defense Minister Katz: "soon we will need to act again in Iran to ensure that the regime cannot threaten Israel for years to come." Oil spikes on this and new reports of Israeli defense build-up at...