US Nears Russia Deal To Free Detained Americans, Witkoff En Route To Moscow

Hormuz Shock Raises Recession Risk As Retailers Sound Alarm On Consumer Stress Oil market experts at Rapidan Energy Group warn that a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could trigger an oil shock severe enough to hit consumers hard and push the economy into a downturn on a scale approaching that of the 2008 Great Recession. That warning was reinforced by a UBS analyst, who cautioned that sharper slowdowns for working-class households could emerge this summer as gasoline pump prices average north of $4.50 per gallon this week and collide...

Domestic Flights To Resume In Iran Tuesday, Even As Ceasefire's End Looms Large The two-week Iran ceasefire ends Wednesday, and President Trump is saying he doesn't plan to extend it if a second round of talks in Pakistan fail. These Islamabad talks, it should be noted, have not so much as even gotten off the ground. President Trump has further said "lots of bombs" will fall if there is no deal, and if Iran doesn't hand over its nuclear material. And yet the Iranians are remaining defiant and proving their resiliency...

Relax, It's Only An Exxon Valdez On Steroids Authored by Larry C. Johnson via Sonar21,Good news from the Persian Gulf: the war is going so well that the sea itself has joined the fight. While Washington's experts debate missile counts and the price of oil (around $115 for Brent on Friday, in case anyone in the White House is still checking), Karl Miller, who is actually on the ground in the Gulf, sent me a note this week that nobody in the briefing rooms seems to have read. Don't underestimate...