Music: Jon Hassell — ‘Empire III’
TACO: Has Trump chickened out again?
Is Donald Trump backing down from a potential strike on Iran – or is this a strategic pivot? In this episode of the Fourcast, we unpack the latest twists in US-Iran tensions as Trump insists talks are “good and productive,” despite Tehran claiming a firm warning forced a retreat. With the Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the crisis and global markets reacting fast, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Meanwhile, Israel says its campaign is far from over,…
Pete Hegseth is promoting a nihilist cult of death
Jan-Werner Müller writes: It appears that members of Trump’s cabinet get chosen not despite their endorsements of violence, but because of them. Pete Hegseth was primarily known as a dapper TV host willing to defend war crimes. Markwayne Mullin is apparently still proud of challenging a witness to a fistfight at a Senate hearing; he also refuses to apologize for “understanding” an assault on fellow senator Rand Paul. Never before has an administration so openly glorified outright killing as the…
For Western oil companies, war in Iran means bigger profits, and risks
The New York Times reports: Western companies that pump and process oil and natural gas are among the biggest beneficiaries of the war with Iran, which has snarled production and shipping of fuels in the Persian Gulf. But even as many of them reap the rewards of much more expensive energy, executives are worried that what comes next could be bad for business. Should the war end — a possibility made real when President Trump said on Monday that the…
Trump has detained the parents of more than 11,000 U.S. citizen children
By Jeff Ernsthausen, Mario Ariza, McKenzie Funk, Mica Rosenberg and Gabriel Sandoval This story was originally published by ProPublica The baby needed somewhere to go. So in the frantic hours before officers took her parents away to immigration detention, her mom turned to their pastor and his wife. As squad cars waited outside the family’s Lakeland, Florida, trailer home, she gave them a crash course in how to care for the 4-month-old. Briany, with her plump cheeks and full head…
Trump’s ICE airport idea came after a radio host pitched it on Fox News
Brian Stelter reports: “Linda from Arizona,” a caller on a conservative talk radio show, might deserve the credit or blame for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deploying to airports across the United States today. The caller said on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” last Friday, “I think I have a solution to the TSA problem.” She said, “We need to bring in ICE agents.” “It’s kind of a brilliant idea,” co-host Clay Travis said. About 24 hours…
AI-generated ads are trickling into political campaigns, sparking big worries
NBC News reports: At least 15 campaign ads featuring AI-generated content have run since November, stoking concerns that the now-ubiquitous technology could cause confusion or even mislead voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In state, local and federal elections across the country, AI has been everywhere from school board campaigns to governor’s races, used to enhance speech, turn politicians into cartoons or, in one notable case in Massachusetts, mimic a rival politician’s voice. In the state’s gubernatorial race, the…
How to measure a good life – tips for moving beyond GDP
Richard Heys, Himanshi Bhardwaj and Cliodhna Taylor write: For decades, economists have known that using gross domestic product (GDP) alone to guide policy is problematic. The metric is mainly a measure of market production, albeit one with strong marketing and branding, and misses key elements of what makes a good life. Nevertheless, failure to agree on alternatives has held back the debate over what should replace it. This year will be pivotal for changing how policymakers use data to guide…
Music: Nuspirit Helsinki — ‘Subzero’
Targeting of energy facilities turned Iran war into worst‑case scenario for Gulf states
A view of the liquefied natural gas production at the Ras Laffan facility in Qatar. Stringer/picture alliance via Getty Images By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University The U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran took a dangerous turn on March 18, 2026, with tit-for-tat strikes on critical energy infrastructure that amount to the most serious regional escalation since the conflict began. First, an Israeli drone strike targeted facilities at Iran’s Asaluyeh complex, damaging four plants that treat gas from the offshore South…
U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is a disaster for the environment, analysis shows
The Guardian reports: The US-Israel war on Iran is a disaster for the climate, according to an analysis that finds it is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined. As warplanes, drones and missiles kill thousands of people, level infrastructure and turn the Middle East into a gigantic environmental sacrifice zone, the first analysis of the climate cost has found the conflict led to 5m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in its first 14 days. The analysis,…
Trump is already eyeing regime change in Cuba
Vivian Salama and Sarah Fitzpatrick write: A Russian oil tanker is creeping west across the Atlantic, quite possibly toward a confrontation with the United States Navy. The Anatoly Kolodkin is carrying tens of thousands of tons of crude oil apparently meant for Cuba, which is battling a fuel shortage. But it may not reach its destination: The U.S. Navy is policing the Caribbean to choke off Havana’s oil supply. The Trump administration is squeezing Cuba to a breaking point—and is…
I predicted the 2008 financial crisis. What is coming may be worse
Richard Bookstaber writes: At the start of the 2008 financial crisis, I was at a hedge fund. By its end, I was at the U.S. Treasury. At both, I worked with people only a few years out of college. The drama of 2008 was all they knew about financial markets. “Remember what’s happening,” I told them. “You’ll never see anything like this again.” Now I’m not so sure. Maybe they’ll see worse. We have returned to a period of risk,…
California sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 election
The Associated Press reports: A California sheriff running for governor has seized more than half a million ballots cast in a November special election from county election officials, saying he’s investigating a ballot count discrepancy. County elections officials have disputed the claims by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, called Bianco’s move unprecedented and says it is designed to sow distrust in elections. Bianco held a news conference Friday saying his office…
Pierre-Édouard Stérin: The billionaire funding France’s far right
The New York Times reports: As France elects thousands of mayors this Sunday, one of the most influential players is not on the ballot. His name is Pierre-Édouard Stérin. He is a billionaire entrepreneur who left France 14 years ago to pay less tax, but has since spent millions, he said in an interview, to “ensure France doesn’t disappear.” Inspired, he said, by George Soros’s support for liberal causes, Mr. Stérin has steered money to right-wing think tanks, political training…
Britain’s Conservative Party has become a cesspit of Islamophobic and racist bigotry
Peter Oborne writes: At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer turned brutally on Kemi Badenoch and demanded that the Conservative leader sack Nick Timothy as shadow justice secretary. He had every reason to do so. Timothy, who has ignited the latest culture war to engulf British politics, has a record of stirring up hatred and division against Muslims. Earlier this week, Timothy went on the attack yet again by sharing a video on social media of London Mayor Sadiq…