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Mar 13, 2026 - World

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth interrupted his Pentagon press briefing on Friday morning to bash the press, taking particular aim at CNN and urging an ownership change.After opening by complaining the press was not willing to “admit” the success of his Iran war planning, he later added, “They see headlines. I used to be in that business, and I know that everything is written intentionally. For example, a banner or a headline ‘Mideast War Intensifies,' splashing on the screen the last couple of days, alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit. Because that's what they do.”“What should the banner read instead? How about Iran ‘increasingly desperate’ because they are,” he lectured. “They know it, and so do you ... more fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz — patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do hold —the strait hostage.”“CNN doesn't think we thought of that,” he accused. “It's a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner [Paramount’s] David Ellison takes over that network, the better. Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday: ‘War widening.’ Here's a real headline for you, for an actual patriotic press. How about ‘Iran shrinking, going underground?’"Hegseth: "Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday -- 'War widening.' Here's a real headline for you for an actual patriotic press. How about, 'Iran shrinking.'"[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 13, 2026 at 5:18 AM

Mar 13, 2026 - World

Swedish authorities are investigating a tanker that was allegedly sailing under a false flag in the Baltic Sea

Mar 13, 2026 - World

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the U.S. 30-day waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the Iran war is “not the right decision” and won’t help bring a stop to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine

Mar 13, 2026 - World

A Nobel Prize winner has warned there could be further spikes in the cost of oil, and it would be far worse than predicted. Paul Krugman believes estimates from experts predicting how high the cost of oil will reach could be understating just how expensive it could get. Writing in his recent Substack post, the economist suggested there is a chance that oil prices could spike much higher than either experts or Donald Trump's administration will admit. Krugman claimed, "Given time to adjust, the world can conserve oil in many different ways. For example, gas mileage roughly doubled in the decades that followed the 70s oil shocks — and that was before hybrid and electric vehicles. In the long run, the world economy could make do without Persian Gulf oil, at minimal cost in terms of global GDP."But in the long run we are all dead. In the short run, the economic impact of a sustained loss of Gulf oil could be very ugly. In fact, it would have to get ugly to persuade the world to buy a lot less oil.""I’ve seen some alarmists warn that a long war in the Gulf could lead to oil at $150 a barrel. That looks low to me." Though Krugman's opinion may be a rude awakening for some, the economist believes change will only come if the price hike persuades people to give up driving. He wrote, "Around 20 percent of the world’s normal flow of oil is bottled up inside the Strait of Hormuz — and as we’ve seen in the past day, even tankers and oil facilities inside the Strait are vulnerable to attack. If this blockade persists, it will be a much worse shock to world oil supplies than the 1973 embargo, the 1979 Iranian revolution, or the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.""So what happens if the Strait remains closed for months? It’s a matter of supply and demand. If the quantity of oil supplied to world markets can’t rise — which, as far as we can tell, it won’t until the mullahs decide to let tankers through again — the price of oil will have to rise high enough to reduce the quantity demanded.""And how high would that price have to be? It would have to be high enough to persuade drivers to stop driving, trucks to stop trucking, airlines to stop flying.""In other words, the price of oil would have to rise enough to cause a global economic crisis even though the world is much less oil-dependent than it used to be."

Mar 13, 2026 - World

The first proper show since Valentino’s death is about the late designer, about beauty – and about Michele’s mother Valentino Garavani wanted to make beautiful clothes for the women who could afford them. The perpetually tanned designer, whose vision of jet set glamour was matched only by his own yacht-and-pug lifestyle, died in January. So there was an obvious logic in taking the first proper catwalk show since his death off the fashion week schedule and back to Rome, where he lived, worked, and died. Milan and Paris may be the capitals of European style, but Rome looks better.Garavani left his own brand almost 20 years ago. But his singular approach to beauty has not been without its obstacles for his most recent successor, Alessandro Michele, who took over the fashion house in 2024. “It’s a complicated DNA because beauty is always changing,” he said after the show, which took place in the 17th-century Palazzo Barberini. “This collection is about Valentino. It’s about beauty. But it’s [also] about the tension between me and the brand, a beauty I’m trying to translate.” Continue reading...