Brent crude rises after US president calls overture from Tehran ‘totally unacceptable’Oil prices have climbed after Donald Trump condemned Iran’s response to US proposals to end the war as “totally unacceptable”.The president’s rejection of Tehran’s overture in a post on his Truth Social platform triggered a jump in Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, by as much as 4% on Monday to $105.50 a barrel, before easing back to settle at $103.50. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 08:49 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Warsh would succeed outgoing Fed chair Jerome Powell as Trump continues his push to influence the US central bankSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh this week as chair of the Federal Reserve, as Donald Trump continues his campaign to influence the world’s most important central bank.The Fed’s influence over the economy spans from the job market to mortgage rates, and its every move is carefully scrutinized by investors on Wall Street. Warsh’s confirmation comes at a turbulent time for the central bank, which has fallen under intense scrutiny from Trump for not lowering interest rates. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 08:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

PwC survey reports fast fall in consumer confidence with people worried about Iran war’s impact on economy and personal financesBritish households are bracing for a new cost of living crisis, as the impact of the Middle East conflict dampens confidence in the economy and personal finances, a survey has suggested.Consumer confidence in the UK has dipped over the last three months at the fastest rate since June 2022, when inflation in the UK was soaring as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the spike in commodity prices. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 06:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Banknotes are now so tattered that even buses refuse to accept them, as a dollarised economy and mobile phone payments push up the cost of essentialsAs US troops withdrew from Somalia in the spring of 1994, a teenaged Muse Omar Jama began working as an exchange trader in Mogadishu’s Bakara market. More than three decades later, he still does the same job, but wonders for how much longer.Jama, 49, sits in a plastic chair in the one-room office he shares with other traders. The auto-rickshaws speed by outside, but inside is quiet; the noise of bargaining has faded and the traders exchange few words between themselves. Continue reading...

11 May 2026 05:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The economic warnings are bleak, but full extent of shortages are still not felt for many European countriesThe biggest energy shock in modern history, jet fuel shortages “within weeks”, a global recession – since Iran throttled shipping flows through the strait of Hormuz at the end of February the economic warnings have become increasingly dire.Yet 10 weeks on from the first US-Israeli attacks, share indices, companies and governments have been surprisingly sanguine. Every day the divergence grows between the eerie quiet on markets and alarming warnings of an imminent supply chain crunch. Continue reading...

10 May 2026 14:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Even with the Iran war weighing Trump’s party down, Democrats face a challenge turning the upper chamber blueThe county of Louisa in eastern Iowa is so rural that there is not a single stoplight on its roads, and its largest town, Wapello, boasts an appropriately wry nickname: “Capital of the World.”The moniker is not entirely off-base, for decisions made here have, in their own way, reverberated across the globe. Louisa is among a band of counties along the Mississippi River that backed Barack Obama both times he was on the presidential ballot, before, like Iowa as a whole, flipping to Donald Trump in 2016 and growing increasingly Republican each time he was on the ballot. Continue reading...

09 May 2026 18:27 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN