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Americans lament soaring inflation driven by U.S.-Israeli war with Iran

“Prices are going up everywhere you look and families everywhere are struggling to keep up,” said Janelle Jones, a visiting senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

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May 12 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer inflation increased further in April, with the annual rate posting its largest gain in three years, heightening political risks for President Donald Trump and his Republican party ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The back-to-back rises in the Consumer Price Index reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday, reflected strong gains in the costs of energy products amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. ‌

Food prices surged last month and inflation also spilled over to the services sector, with higher rental costs and airfares.

Trump won re-election in 2024 in large part because of his promise to reduce inflation, but Americans have soured on his handling of the economy and many blame him for the pain at the pump.

Rising inflation outpaced wage gains for the first time in three years, and underscored the financial strain on households.

With no end in sight to the conflict, economists warned prices would continue to push higher and broaden in the months ahead.

Trump on Monday proposed reducing the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax to lower prices at the pump.

“Prices are going up everywhere you look and families everywhere are struggling to keep up,” said Janelle Jones, a visiting senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

“Measures like suspending the gas tax will provide short-term relief, but it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. What families really need is an ⁠end to this war and leaders that are committed to ending the affordability crisis.”

The CPI increased 0.6% last month after surging 0.9% in March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI rising 0.6%. Estimates ranged from a 0.4% gain to a 0.9% increase.

The moderation after posting the largest increase since June 2022 was mechanical. Oil prices shot above $100 a barrel in March following strikes against Iran, before pulling back to still-high levels after a ceasefire in early April.

While the conflict’s impact was immediately reflected in more expensive gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, economists said the second-round effects were around the corner, including for goods trucked by road. Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are straining supply chains.

A 3.8% increase in energy prices accounted for more than 40% of the rise in the CPI last month.

That followed a 10.9% jump in March. Gasoline prices rose 5.4% after a record 21.2% surge in March. Other motor fuels, which include diesel, increased 17.0%.

Consumers also paid higher prices for electricity amid strong demand from data centers to power artificial intelligence.

Food prices accelerated 0.5% after being unchanged in March.

Grocery store inflation shot up 0.7%, the largest increase since August 2022.

Beef prices increased 2.7%, the most since November 2024. Coffee prices rose 2.0%.

Fruits and vegetable prices climbed 1.8% while nonalcoholic beverages cost 1.1% more. There were also strong increases in the prices of dairy and eggs.

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Democrats Win US midterm elections

Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”

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The Democrats win the Senate and the House in US midterm elections, taking control of Congress for the rest of Donald Trump’s tenure.

Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at ‌Trump’s stewardship of the country.

Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”

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In Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott.Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago, and in South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.

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JUST IN: Plane Crash Near Trump’s Florida Home Kills All 9 Aboard

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A private Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people on board, officials confirmed.

The aircraft, flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, went down around 12:50 p.m. local time near Cresthaven/Greenacres, roughly 7–11 kilometers (about 4–7 miles) from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

It struck near a busy roadway at the entrance to a mobile-home community, creating a large fireball and leaving a crater in the road. Debris was scattered across a wide area, and nearby power and water lines were damaged.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash a “horrific tragedy” and confirmed there were no survivors among the nine occupants.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact as “cataclysmic,” saying it “looked like a missile going down.” No injuries were reported among people on the ground. About 600 residents of a nearby mobile-home park were evacuated.

Trump had been at Mar-a-Lago earlier Sunday but departed on Air Force One from the nearby airport about an hour before the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with support from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Early reports noted the crew had discussed moderate turbulence and ice shortly before the steep descent.

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Tens of thousands protest against Narendra Modi regime in Delhi

The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.

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Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in Delhi as protests against the Narendra Modi government continue to gather momentum.

Led by the Congress party, India’s opposition alliance has brought together supporters from across the country, amid growing anger over a large-scale revision of the country’s voter roll that has seen 130 million names erased.

Opposition leaders have alleged the process gives Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) an electoral advantage, and have called for the resignation and impeachment of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.

The BJP has denied the claims.

Addressing tens of thousands of party workers and supporters, the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said Kumar had “carried out the biggest crime. He has tried to silence the voice of people, strangulate our country.”

Gandhi said the opposition, united under the acronym India (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), would not let “democracy be finished in the country” and warned Modi: “You can’t run anywhere.”

The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.

The Guardian Uk

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