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Fed pick Kevin Warsh apt to cut interest rates anyway

Fed pick Kevin Warsh apt to cut interest rates anyway

Published by Sam Flores

The war in Iran has caused oil prices to spike, prompting concerns about a resurgence of inflation. That has led Federal Reserve officials to raise the possibility that they may pause the Fed’s recent efforts to lower interest rates, or potentially even raise rates. But that is the Fed as it’s now known. The central bank is likely to soon have a new leader who sees inflation very differently. Kevin Warsh, if confirmed by the Senate, would almost certainly be comfortable lowering rates despite a spike in oil prices. Warsh is President Donald Trump’s nominee for the next chair of the Federal Reserve. He would replace Jerome Powell, whose term expires May 15. Trump officially sent Warsh’s nomination to the Senate on Wednesday. Read more CNBC news on Kevin Warsh Warsh said in the run-up to his selection that he believed interest rates should be lower than the current federal funds rate of 3.5% to 3.75%, and Trump has made clear he chose Warsh because they share a desire for lower rates. A surge in …

What the fallout from the Iran war means for Havana

What the fallout from the Iran war means for Havana

Published by Sam Flores

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) takes part in the “Anti-Imperialist” protest in front of the US Embassy against the US incursion in Venezuela, where 32 Cuban soldiers lost their lives, in Havana on January 16, 2026. Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images “Cuba’s next,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, after the U.S. and Israel began strikes on Iran. The U.S. has imposed an oil blockade on the communist-run island nation since January, shortly after its ally and a key provider of oil, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was seized in an extraordinary U.S military operation. It has caused a worsening economic crisis and left Cuba facing its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now Iran, with which Cuba has a strategic partnership, is under sustained attack. “This communist dictatorship in Cuba, their days are numbered,” Graham told Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America.” Before the Iran strikes, Trump said he wanted a “friendly takeover” of the island, without giving details. The comments, alongside the …

How long will the Iran war last? Experts weigh in on the debate

How long will the Iran war last? Experts weigh in on the debate

Published by Sam Flores

A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on March 3, 2026. Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images Since the U.S. and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last weekend, Washington has been keen to stress that the military action will be over in a matter of weeks and won’t turn into a so-called “forever war.” But experts say the U.S. could easily get bogged down in “Operation Epic Fury” if the Iranian regime proves more resilient than expected. “What we’re seeing is going to be more complicated than the White House may have hoped,” Suzanne Maloney, Brookings Institution vice president and director of foreign policy, told CNBC Tuesday. “Obviously, the start of the conflict appeared to be tremendously successful with the very quick announcement that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, had been killed, that was a huge breakthrough in many respects and the U.S. and Israel have been able to do immense damage to Iran’s military capabilities.” “But the day after is going to be …

Senate votes to block war powers resolution

Senate votes to block war powers resolution

Published by Sam Flores

Canada does not rule out military participation in Iran war: Carney Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he would not rule out military participation in the Iran conflict, according to media reports. When asked if he could definitively say Canada would not get involved militarily, Carney said, “One can never categorically rule out participation.” In a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Carney said that Canada will stand by its allies, but also maintained that the U.S.-Israeli strikes are “inconsistent with international law.” — Lim Hui Jie Pentagon provides names of the remaining two soldiers killed in Kuwait attack The Pentagon has provided the names of the fifth and sixth U.S. Army Reserve soldiers who were killed. They are: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, Calif. Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa O’Brien died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an unmanned aircraft system attack, per the press release. “Marzan was at the scene of the incident on March 1, 2026, in Port Shuaiba, …

Israel bolsters forces in southern Lebanon

Israel bolsters forces in southern Lebanon

Published by Sam Flores

UAE says it has the right to defend itself UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy arrives at the second day of the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP) (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images) Pablo Porciuncula | Afp | Getty Images The UAE reaffirmed its right to self defense on Tuesday, stressing that any threat to Emirati sovereignty represents a threat to the wider Gulf. Reem Al Hashimy, the country’s minister of cooperation, said in a news conference in the capital Abu Dhabi, that the Gulf Cooperation Council operates as “one system,” and that an attack on any member state endangers the entire region. All six members of the GCC, the Arab monarchies of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, have all come under fire from Iranian missiles and drones since Saturday. Hashimy added that the UAE will not accept actions that compromise its sovereignty or security, warning that such escalations carry …

Six U.S. service members killed

Six U.S. service members killed

Published by Sam Flores

Speaker Johnson says Iran attack was ‘defensive operation’ U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media following a briefing for Congressional leaders on the situation in Iran, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. Ken Cedeno | Reuters Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday said following a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the U.S.’s attack on Iran was a “defensive operation,” the goal of which was not regime change. “Israel was determined to act in their own defense here. With or without American support. Why? Because Israel faced what they deemed to be an existential threat,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol following the briefing. “The objective was to take out those missiles, the short and midrange missiles, and their ability to produce them,” Johnson said, adding that the second objective was to eliminate Iran’s naval capabilities. “The ayatollah is no more. That was not the mission of the U.S. to go in and take out the regime, but that happened and in my …

How Iran chooses its supreme leader, and who could be next?

How Iran chooses its supreme leader, and who could be next?

Published by Sam Flores

FILE PHOTO: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting with students in Tehran, Iran, November 2, 2024. Office Of The Iranian Supreme Leader | Via Reuters Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death following joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes has thrust Iran’s leadership into the urgent process of selecting a new supreme leader. Under Iran’s constitution, the supreme leader is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body elected by the public every eight years. Candidates for the Assembly are first vetted by the Guardian Council, tightly controlling who can run. When the position becomes vacant, the Assembly convenes to deliberate and select a successor. The decision requires a simple majority vote. In the interim, a provisional three-member leadership council assumes the supreme leader’s duties until a replacement is formally appointed. On Sunday, local media reported that the temporary council comprises President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who serves as the Guardian Council’s representative. The council’s authority is strictly transitional, while the Assembly of Experts retains sole constitutional power to …

Iran may ‘lash out harder’ following Khamenei’s death

Iran may ‘lash out harder’ following Khamenei’s death

Published by Sam Flores

TOPSHOT – A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on February 28, 2026. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) Afp | Getty Images The escalating conflict in the Middle East is fueling fears that Washington’s pursuit of regime change in Iran, and Tehran’s retaliation, could destabilize regions from the Gulf to Europe, leaving global leaders scrambling to assess the fallout. The U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran over the weekend, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting waves of attacks by Tehran across the region. President Donald Trump made it clear in a video message Saturday following the initial wave of U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran that his objective was “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.” Geopolitical analysts warned that Saturday’s strikes could be the opening salvo of a sustained military campaign aimed at dismantling the Iranian regime, with the U.S. seeking to assert dominance over the world’s most critical oil-producing region. “The scale of the strikes by …

Trump says U.S. military has begun major combat operations in Iran

Trump says U.S. military has begun major combat operations in Iran

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. military has begun “major combat operations” in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday, as explosions were heard in cities around the Middle East. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump said in a video message on his Truth Social account. A U.S. official confirmed earlier that American forces attacked Iran by air and sea, Reuters reported. It also cited an unidentified Iranian official as saying that several ministries in the southern part of the Iranian capital, Tehran, were targeted Explosions were heard in key cities around the Middle East, including Jerusalem as Iran launched counterattacks. CNBC producer Joan Muwahed in Dubai reported hearing two explosions over the city in the United Arab Emirates. Qatar and the UAE condemned Iranian missile counterattacks. “The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation of the targeting of Qatari territory with Iranian ballistic missiles, considering it a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty,” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said …

U.S. and Iran wrap up ‘most intense’ nuclear talks with no deal — more negotiations ahead

U.S. and Iran wrap up ‘most intense’ nuclear talks with no deal — more negotiations ahead

Published by Sam Flores

Iranian negotiating delegation departs for the site of the talks with U.S., in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 26, 2026. Iranian Foreign Ministry | WANA | Via Reuters The latest round of U.S.-Iran talks did not lead to a breakthrough, with both sides agreeing to extend negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said, describing the discussions as the “most intense so far.” “Further progress has been made in our diplomatic engagement with the United States,” said Araghchi, adding that both sides planned to engage in a more “detailed” manner on critical issues including termination of U.S. sanctions on Iran and “nuclear-related steps.” The two sides made “significant progress” in the high-stakes talks in Geneva, Switzerland, and agreed to meet next week to discuss technical details in Vienna, according to Oman’s foreign minister Badr Al Busaidi, the mediator of the talks. Al-Busaidi is headed to Washington to meet with Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials on Friday, according to MS Now. Vance has previously downplayed the possibility of the U.S. entering into a years-long war …