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US inflation jumped to 4.2% in May, the third consecutive increase since start of Iran war

10 June 2026 at 13:34

Before the conflict began, inflation was at 2.4%, but the closure of the strait of Hormuz has affected energy prices

US inflation jumped to an annual rate of 4.2% in May, the third consecutive monthly increase since the start of the Iran war and a three-year high, as Americans continue to face steep oil prices.

Prices have increased sharply over the past several months, rising at an annual rate of 3.3% in March before going up to 3.8% in April. In February, before the conflict began, inflation was at 2.4%.

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© Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock

Friedrich Merz: Meet the Most Unpopular Chancellor in Modern German History

10 June 2026 at 05:59
Germany’s economic decline is no longer merely an economic story. It has become a political one. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has become the focal point of this broader crisis of governance and legitimacy. For decades, Germany was regarded as the economic engine of Europe and, alongside France, a principal political architect of the European Union. Today, […]

The Strait of Hormuz Blockade: A Threat to Indonesia and Its Defense Strategy

9 June 2026 at 05:59
The escalation of the conflict between Iran and the US-Israeli coalition has caused a multidimensional crisis that has a significant impact on Indonesia, requiring it to develop a maritime defense strategy that is in line with international law and ensures national resilience. Tensions peaked when Iran officially closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 1, […]

Digital Hormuz: Iran Turns Underwater Cables into a Trump Card Against the US and Israel

8 June 2026 at 05:59
The global economy has yet to grasp the main military secret of the Middle East: the next big war will not begin with a strike on oil rigs but with a “silent shutdown” of the internet. While the Pentagon spends billions on missile defense, Iran has found an asymmetric response to the technological superiority of […]

On China, Trump picked the right battle but the wrong strategy

6 June 2026 at 12:00

A long trade war looms. Trump’s scattershot protectionism, chaotic tariffs and belligerence against our natural allies guarantees that US trade policy will remain a hot mess

We are in for a long trade war.

In the months since “Liberation Day” last year, when Donald Trump let loose a volley of tariffs against imports from everywhere, countries have rushed to build new relationships in the hope of maybe circumventing the US to protect the global trading system.

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© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

Greece Shakes Off Crisis-Era Label With Major EU Economic Upgrade

4 June 2026 at 16:50
European Commission headquarters
The Commission’s assessment highlights a reduction in risks associated with Greece’s public and external debt. Credit: tiseb, CC BY 2.0/flickr

The EU’s Commission removed Greece from its list of macroeconomic imbalances on Wednesday, marking a turning point in the nation’s post-crisis recovery. The move formally winds down a painful sixteen-year chapter of heightened economic surveillance that led to the era of bailouts.

Among the factors emphasized in the European Commission’s report are: Greece’s resilient growth rate of 2.1% of GDP in 2025 in spite of conditions of global uncertainty, projections for continued strong growth, the continuous high primary surplus, reaching 1.7% of GDP in 2025, and the significant decline in public debt, projected to drop to 123.4% of GDP in 2027, making it one of the fastest rates of debt reduction in Europe. The country’s extensive reforms and speedy progress in the digital transition, especially in tax and public administration, were also taken into consideration.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the milestone on social media, writing that the decision effectively “closes a negative chapter that began 16 years ago.” He emphasized that the achievement was not merely a technocratic assessment but rather the “foundation for a better life” made possible by the sustained hard work of Greek citizens and the state.

According to Mitsotakis, the structural budget surpluses achieved through recent reforms can now be directly “channeled into higher wages and pensions,” offering tangible domestic relief to a population that endured years of harsh austerity. “This also marks the official end of all surveillance,” he stressed.

The Commission’s assessment highlights a reduction in risks associated with Greece’s public and external debt, alongside solid economic growth, progress on structural reforms, and a stabilized banking sector.

EU says Greece still lags behind

While the removal from the imbalance list signals Brussels’ confidence in Athens’ current trajectory, the Commission also issued a stark reminder: Greece still lags behind its European Union peers in several key economic areas. The country continues to carry a heavy public debt burden, and average disposable income remains well below Western European standards.

Nevertheless, analysts say that the formal easing of surveillance provides a major psychological and financial boost, potentially lowering market borrowing costs and attracting crucial foreign investment. For a nation that spent over a decade as the epicenter of the Eurozone crisis, the validation from Brussels confirms a hard-fought return to economic normalcy.

RelatedItaly Set to Overtake Greece as Eurozone’s Most Indebted Country in 2026

The African century begins with unity – or it does not begin Part 2: Money or Freedom – a single currency to break the last colonial lock

22 May 2026 at 12:30
Africa is the richest continent in the world, yet it is inhabited by some of the poorest people. This paradox is not inevitable. It is a two-pronged form of organized crime, the second pillar of which is addressed by the single economic zone. There is a form of violence so normalized that it has become […]

Reactions of Tehran and the Approach of France in the War Against Iran

20 May 2026 at 14:59
Post-2022 geopolitical developments and escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf have significantly strained relations between Iran and France, raising questions about the future of diplomatic engagement between the two countries. After the June 2025 military strike against Iran, France did not condemn it, and the subsequent triggering of the snapback mechanism caused relations between the […]

The Eurasian Rebalancing

17 May 2026 at 09:59
The emerging Eurasian era reflects not the collapse of the Western system but a gradual redistribution of global power toward a more complex multipolar order. For much of the post-Cold War era, the dominant assumption within the Atlantic world was that history had entered a permanent phase. Liberal globalization, maritime financial dominance, and Western institutional […]

The Contest to Redefine the Middle East

16 May 2026 at 09:59
The Middle East is not being remade; it is being contested widely and publicly. The emerging alignment between Israel and the United Arab Emirates appears, at first glance, to signal a decisive geopolitical shift. Yet beneath the optics of normalization and wartime cooperation lies a more complex struggle: not over whether the region will change, […]

UAE’s OPEC Exit Is No Cartel Killer—It’s a Calculated Power Shift

13 May 2026 at 14:59
The United Arab Emirates’ decision to leave OPEC has sparked intense debate about the future of the global oil market and the stability of collective production management. What would an expert tell me in layman’s language, particularly about who or what really stands behind this decision? Reports of the UAE leaving OPEC are often portrayed […]

Kazan as a Strategic Interface in a Fragmenting Global Order

12 May 2026 at 05:59
Amidst growing global disorder and a lack of central power, the Kazan Forum’s increasing significance reflects the rise of Russia’s diplomatic outreach. Kazan Forum as an Emerging Eurasian Interface The Kazan Forum has emerged as a reconfiguration of economic imagination, connectivity, and power across the Eurasian region. The XVII International Economic Forum “Russia-Islamic World: Kazan […]

Afghanistan: America’s Other Ongoing Proxy War

11 May 2026 at 13:59
The development of Afghanistan’s mineral resources has become the center of an information and geopolitical struggle where economic projects intersect with security issues, propaganda, and great-power rivalry. A recent article published by the US arms-industry, big-tech, banking, and other Western special interests-funded Lowy Institute’s “Interpreter,” boldly claims, “Afghanistan is surrendering its mineral wealth — and its […]
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