Blockade threat in vital strait and Trump’s stance lift crude, pushing pump prices to highest level since 2022

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

Average US gas prices have hit a new high at $4.23 a gallon, their highest since 2022 and a record since the start of the war with Iran, according to the motor club AAA.

The price of Brent crude, the benchmark that influences the price of gasoline in the US, now stands at $114.60 a barrel, up nearly 25% from the recent low since mid-April. US gas prices a year ago averaged $3.16 a gallon.

Chair had said he’d leave after inquiry into building renovations but now says there are ‘remaining steps in the process’ he’s watching

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

The US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, is staying on the central bank’s rate-setting board after his term as chair ends in May, a contentious move that signals continued uncertainty at the Fed.

Powell made the announcement after the Fed board left interest rates unchanged for the third time this year on Wednesday, despite Donald Trump’s continued demands for interest rate cuts.

The Trump administration’s policy of detaining most migrants facing deportation without bail has just suffered a setback in court. A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the administration cannot broadly apply mandatory detention by classifying nearly any undocumented migrant as an “applicant for admission,” even if they have been living in the United States for years.

Seguir leyendo

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark achievement of the civil rights era. In a 6-3 decision, in which the conservative bloc used its supermajority, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs who challenged the State of Louisiana for creating a second majority‑Black district to comply with Section 2 of the law.

Seguir leyendo

Royal Navy chief says unified naval force will deter future Russian threats from the ‘open sea border’ to the north

Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced.

Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”.

Article 42.7 had languished in obscurity for decades – until Donald Trump began casting doubt on US commitment to Nato

• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

Most people have heard of Nato’s article 5. The “one for all, all for one” clause states an armed attack on one member country should be considered an attack on all, requiring member states to come to the victim’s aid – including with “the use of armed force”.

Not so many, till this week, had heard of the EU’s own mutual defence clause, article 42.7 (pdf), which says that if a member state comes under armed attack, the others “shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power”. That’s perhaps because there hadn’t, until recently, been much need for Europeans to consult article 42.7. More than 40 US military bases and 85,000 troops across the EU (and UK) were testament to Washington’s defence commitment to the old continent.

That the world has been spinning at double or triple speed since Donald Trump’s return to the White House is something that European leaders are well aware of. Just like the Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal, 50, they are all trying to maintain their composure and stay on course amidst Washington’s dangerous accelerations. Since the liberal politician sat down with EL PAÍS in Nicosia last Friday during the summit that brought together EU leaders for the first time since the start of Trump’s latest military adventure in the Middle East, the fragile truce with Iran is threatening to collapse, Washington has issued further threats against its European allies, and Trump himself has been the victim of another assassination attempt.

Seguir leyendo

NAACP decries 6-3 decision that ruled Louisiana must redraw its congressional map, a landmark case that guts major section of Voting Rights Act

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

• US supreme court ‘demolishes’ key Voting Rights Act provision that prevented racial discrimination

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a key policy meeting, likely the last chaired by central bank chief Jerome Powell, a frequent target of president Donald Trump’s ire.

Policymakers will weigh the risks of surging energy prices and snarled supply chains due to the US-Israel war on Iran, with analysts widely expecting a third pause in a row as the effects of the conflict ripple through the world’s largest economy.