Authored by Anthony Esolen via American Greatness,

No kings? But millions of little queens of both sexes, tyrants in both public and private life, who would make sure, if they were in the position to do so, that I would pay dearly for the very sentence I am writing right now; who police both what you say and what you would very much like to be left alone not to say; who use exceptional cases to justify surveillance over people who teach their children at home, and who agitate to make that choice more difficult if not illegal; who have in fact made it illegal, by the agency of the national government, for people to refrain, without suffering a stiff financial penalty, from buying health insurance which they may not need or want.

No kings, but millions of people dancing with glee at the assassination of Charlie Kirk and hoping that that’ll teach those rednecks from getting uppity; headsmen glad to lop off inconvenient lives at their beginning, exercising total and tyrannical power against the most vulnerable, whose very existence is owing to the voluntary actions of those who would slay them; shedding crocodilian tears of sympathy if someone who is sad and lonely at any age decides to end his life, corralling a doctor or nurse to assist in suicide, and thus corrupting the profession; eager to embroil the nation in a war with Russia, yet crying out in rage at the prospect that Cuba and Venezuela might now have the chance to pick themselves up out of their socialist miseries; no kings but Moloch and Marx.

No kings, but fantasy queens, all the touchier and more vindictive if anyone should laugh at the fantasy, or even say, hat in hand, scraping and ducking, that maybe, well, maybe, the fantasy isn’t real; wrenching the very definition of marriage away from common law and common sense; glad to compel girls to compete against mentally ill boys in sports, and even gladder to have them invade their locker rooms; continuing, with all the might and weight of schools, colleges, and the media, to thrust upon a still-hesitating populace one experiment after another against sexual reality and against the most reliable means for climbing out of poverty, the family; no king and queen but Baal and Astarte.

No kings, but people with the souls, though not the courage, of tyrants, who, if someone in a favored group is murdered or is alleged to have been murdered by a policeman, will organize en masse to shut down your city, vandalize businesses that get in their way, and block traffic on major highways, stranding ambulances and the desperate people they are carrying, and who will in general carry on so as to make a fair trial impossible; people, including some who hold political office, who issue open threats to judges, demanding the judgment they approve and saying that they will pay for it if they judge otherwise; no kings, but wannabe dictators everywhere, armed with organizational money and power, going after an ordinary fellow with a bakery, making a federal case of it if he declines politely to contribute his efforts toward the celebration of perversion.

No kings, no kings, but people eager to suppress the native population by conniving at the non-enforcement of immigration laws, laws duly passed by the people’s own representatives in Congress; no kings, but people content to make it trivially easy to cast a vote by mail, which you are not authorized to cast; no kings, but people who hate the less populous states and would overwhelm them with the might of numbers, by eliminating one of their few frail signs and guardians of autonomy, the Electoral College.

No kings, whose appetites for wealth were kept in check in old times by the charters they gave to townsmen and their merchants and who could only take what actually existed, but grubby politicians ready to tax notional wealth, which does not even exist but only might exist, wealth not even on paper but floating in the air of suppositions; no kings, but despisers of intergenerational family wealth, ready to soak up all your assets when you die, on the grounds that every generation should begin from scratch, that it is not “fair” for your children to inherit what you have worked so hard to give them after you are gone; no kings, but Jabba the State.

No kings, but NGOs everywhere, with vast resources in wealth and no legal directives or oversight as to how it is spent, and spent not in charity but in political action, orchestrating demonstrations; no kings, but a million verminous thought-controllers in high technology, invisibly promoting or suppressing what they wish, via the algorithms that would govern our collective thoughts; no kings, but Google, and its court jester Disney.

No kings, but schoolteachers and principals who think it is all right to do with a large classroom of boys and girls what would get the creepy man down the street arrested if he did exactly the same thing with but one; no kings, but people who bar the door against parents who want to find out what is going on in school behind them; no kings, but Kinsey set free from all restraint.

No kings, but a tangle of human resource personnel, lawyers, judges, and political interest groups ranged against you if you attempted to hire a Thomas Edison without formal schooling, thus driving up the costs of higher schooling and higher indoctrination, saddling families with exorbitant debt while providing, in return, very little in the way of a truly human education.

No kings, but haters of religion and people of religious faith, the main obstacle to their power, as the family is the fundamental social unit of possible opposition to the ambitions of the non-religious and their aims to mold the minds of other people’s children, especially since they have rather few of their own; no kings but the murderous and atheistical Mao Zedong and his even crueler wife Jiang Qing; Charlemagne, no, Confucius, hell no, but Mao, yes; Washington, no, but Castro, yes.

No kings, no one to join with the middle class in a flanking action against innumerable rapacious aristocrats; insulation for the exercisers of real political and economic power, whatever they happen to call themselves, but exposure of everyone else; no kings from one horizon to the other, but you will hit a duke or duchess wherever you spit, and God help you when you do.

No kings, but politicians and their wealthy or addle-pated enablers, who would, to “save the planet,” compel everyone to draw their power from centralized electrical grids, even the power to travel by car from Mayfield to Springfield; no kings, then, but controllers of artificially established turnpikes, bottlenecks, and checkpoints, with the power to bring an entire nation to its knees; no kings, but a new kind of Andrew Carnegie with ten thousand times the power and none of the bracing experiences of hard manual labor.

No kings, but censors in everyone’s hair, like lice, not to police public morals and keep obscenity from the eyes of children, but to police people who object to the obscenity; Cato everywhere, on the lookout for demands for decency, to punish those who dare to demand it.

No kings, not even God Almighty, but everyone to be a king or a queen only in those matters that enervate and corrupt; free to be weaklings, slaves, louts, and harlots, all true self-reliance lost, along with the nobility of the divine image; “Non serviam,” cries the slave as he submits his hands to the state, ready to clap them in irons; no king but the Self, and the driver of the Self without God, a driver sometimes called Satan.

No kings indeed.

Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau investigates a large-scale insurance fraud operation in the Himalayan trekking sector. Authorities charge 32 individuals – including trekking company operators, guides, helicopter rescue coordinators, hospital owners, and doctors – with organized crime and fraud. The scheme allegedly triggers unnecessary and expensive helicopter evacuations that insurers foot the bill for.

According to The Independent, the probe focuses on activities between 2022 and 2025 across popular routes that include the path to Everest Base Camp, Annapurna, Manaslu, and Langtang. Investigators examine more than 4,700 international patient cases at implicated Kathmandu hospitals and review thousands of helicopter flights. They identify hundreds of rescues as fraudulent or exaggerated, with operators allegedly inflating symptoms, forging medical records, and billing single flights as multiple separate emergencies to multiply payouts.

Between 2022 and 2025, investigators identified 4,782 foreign patients treated across the implicated hospitals. Of these, 171 cases were confirmed as fake rescues. Over that period, Era International Hospital received deposits of more than $15.87 million linked to these activities. Shreedhi International Hospital received over $1.22 million.

Among rescue operators, Mountain Rescue Service conducted 171 fraudulent rescues out of 1,248 total charter flights, claiming approximately $10.31 million from insurers. Nepal Charter Service carried out 75 fake rescues from 471 flights, claiming $8.2 million. Everest Experience and Assistance was linked to 71 suspicious rescues from 601 flights, with insurance claims totalling $11.04 million.

In one instance that illustrates the brazenness of the scheme, police documented a case in which four tourists were rescued on a single helicopter flight, on the same date, using the same helicopter and manifest. Insurance claims were nonetheless submitted as multiple separate rescues, with the total rescue bill reaching $31,100, plus a separate hospital bill of $11,890. –Kathmandu Post

According to the report, the rescue companies “managed to extract nearly $20m in payouts from international insurance companies for rescues that were unnecessary or, in some cases, completely fabricated.”

The fraud centers on paperwork manipulation and kickback arrangements among trekking firms, hospitals, and helicopter companies. A common tactic involves claiming routine ailments – mild fatigue, stomach issues, or early signs of altitude discomfort – as acute emergencies that require immediate airlift. One documented pattern shows four trekkers on a single charter flight billed as four distinct rescue missions, turning a modest private flight cost into a $30,000-plus insurance claim. Hospitals submit charges for treatments that never occur or prove unnecessary. The scheme primarily targets travelers from countries with straightforward insurance policies, such as the UK, Australia, and Canada.

Some witness statements mention guides adding baking powder to food or giving clients excessive medication and water to induce nausea and symptoms that mimic altitude sickness. Media reports highlight these details and fuel speculation about deliberate poisoning on Everest routes. Nepal police, however, state clearly that the official investigation uncovers no evidence of actual poisoning. In their April 2026 public statement, the Central Investigation Bureau declares: “To date, the official investigation has not found any evidence of ‘poisoning.’ No facts have been found to suggest that poisonous substances were mixed into food.”

The distinction matters. The scam primarily affects trekkers on lower-altitude trails rather than the roughly 500 technical climbers who attempt the Everest summit each year. High-altitude summit expeditions operate under stricter medical protocols, oxygen support, and professional oversight that make staged emergencies far more difficult to execute undetected. The Everest name draws global attention, but the bulk of the documented fraud occurs on approach hikes and other regional circuits where helicopter access remains relatively straightforward.

The investigation highlights systemic weaknesses in Nepal’s rapidly growing adventure tourism industry. Helicopter services, essential for genuine high-altitude emergencies, expand quickly but operate with limited oversight. Earlier government attempts to require tourism authority approval for rescues fail to curb the practice. Insurers now face pressure to tighten verification, while legitimate rescues risk greater scrutiny and delays.

Antares Nuclear reached the most significant regulatory milestone to date for a microreactor. The company announced that its Mark-0 reactor became the first advanced reactor to receive Department of Energy approval for a Documented Safety Analysis under the new DOE-STD-1271. 

DSA approved. ✅

Antares is the first advanced reactor to receive DOE approval of a Documented Safety Analysis under DOE-STD-1271.

Our Mark-0 reactor now moves to Readiness Review.

Onward. pic.twitter.com/DovqJsVVwz

— Antares (@AntaresNuclear) April 6, 2026

The company will now proceed with preparations for taking the reactor critical for the first time. This includes forming a joint test group to oversee the startup planning and execution. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright holds permission for starting up the reactor as the Startup Approval Authority. 

Bob Boston, manager of the DOE Idaho Operations Office, granted the approval of the DSA on Monday afternoon and clarified “The Department of Energy DSA is equivalent to an NRC license”.

We have closely tracked Antares and other reactor developers in the rapidly advancing microreactor race. The company’s R1 design is a sodium heat pipe cooled microreactor engineered to provide up to one megawatt of flexible, carbon-free power. It targets applications including remote communities and military installations where conventional power infrastructure is limited. BWXT is completing TRISO fuel fabrication for the pilot with a planned criticality date before July 4th.

The company stands out as an early leader in securing formal safety analysis approval ahead of other contenders such as Radiant, Valar, Aalo Atomics, and Oklo.

This development occurs just after we highlighted the Department of Energy’s requested $45 billion in nuclear funding for fiscal year 2027, and recent discussions from Jay Yu of Nano Nuclear pointing out nuclear energy’s new spotlight in light of the Iran conflict. 

Today, India takes a defining step in its civil nuclear journey, advancing the second stage of its nuclear programme.

The indigenously designed and built Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has attained criticality.

This advanced reactor, capable of producing more fuel…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 6, 2026

In related international news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India’s 500 megawatt Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has attained criticality. The sodium-cooled fast reactor designed by BHAVINI advances the second stage of India’s three-stage nuclear program and brings the country closer to utilizing its large thorium reserves in the final phase.

These advancements in both advanced microreactors and large-scale fast breeder technology reflect growing worldwide interest in expanding reliable clean baseload nuclear capacity.
 

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

It’s not the price of oil per se that triggers recession, it’s the underlying vulnerabilities that have been cloaked with happy story narratives to keep the game going.

Recessions don’t require a spike in the price of oil/gasoline, but spikes in energy prices trigger recessions. This makes sense, as hydrocarbons are the foundation of every industry, from the so-called “green” industries to all the high-tech industries (SpaceX, AI data centers etc.) to transport, plastics and everything else.

Recessions have other causes, of course: the business cycle of over-indebtedness and speculative excesses leading to defaults and the contraction of credit and spending, the collapse of speculative asset bubbles, the inflationary spiral of overborrowing to fund “guns and butter,” and disruptive events such as plagues and wars.

Inflation reduces discretionary income as a larger share of earnings must be devoted to essentials. In a consumer economy, this reduction of discretionary income leads to households borrowing more to fill the widening gap between what they reckon is their rightful lifestyle and the purchasing power of their earnings.

This increase in debt leads to a higher percentage of net earnings being devoted to interest and principal, further reducing discretionary income. The eventual retrenchment–reducing debt by reducing spending and default–leads to a contraction in consumption, i.e. recession.

Recessions occur when a happy story about the economy that doesn’t reflect reality encounters reality. Before recessions, the happy story is always the same: corporate profits are solid and rising, consumer spending is rock-solid, employment is strong, unemployment is low, the household balance sheet is healthy, technology is increasing productivity, and so on.

According to the happy story, a recession is impossible, so borrow and buy, buy, buy–stocks, houses, experiences, cruises, buy it all because the good times are permanent.

The vulnerabilities generated by over-reliance on borrowing to fund spending and the corrosive effects of inflation are buried beneath statistical trickery: add all the wealthy households to the mix and then take the average, and voila: look how rich the average household is. All is well, borrow and buy to your heart’s content. Mix in hedonic adjustments and pixie-dust and voila, 8% inflation is magically reduced to 2.5%.

The suspension of disbelief / confidence is the magic of the happy story narrative. As long as people are complacent and confident, they act on the belief that their income and wealth will continue rising, enabling more borrowing and spending.

That this is not necessarily in their best interests in the long term is what must be hidden, lest they curtail borrowing and spending because the whole point of the economy is to maximize profits and this is only possible if people who don’t earn enough money to spend freely borrow to spend freely.

This is where the other magic in the happy story becomes essential: the wealth effect generated by credit-asset bubbles. If people see their house and stock portfolios rising in value, they feel wealthier and are more confident in borrowing and spending because they have this wealth piling up in the background.

It’s like a savings account that increases without the sacrifice of deferring consumption: in credit-asset bubbles, we get to have our cake and eat it, too.

The problem that must be hidden by the happy story is that excessive debt and speculation are self-liquidating: the machinery that makes them work self-destructs by its very nature. Debt accrues interest which reduces discretionary income which sets up contraction of credit and consumption, and all credit-asset bubbles pop, regardless of the intensity of the propaganda / happy story that this isn’t a bubble, it’s “capitalism” or “technology” or “animal spirits.”

It’s not a specific price point or metric that causes recession: it’s the decay of confidence and discretionary income that leads to recession. Confidence is fragile by its very nature. We’ve been selected to be wary of surplus suddenly becoming scarcity, and rising prices of energy cascading through the entire economy activates a reappraisal of our complacent confidence.

Every business is hammered by rising costs for literally everything they buy to operate, and since the discretionary income of the bottom 80% is already under pressure, they can’t raise prices much without losing sales.

Households feel the pinch of rising utilities and fuel immediately, and for both enterprises and households, confidence in the future is at risk of eroding like a sand castle in a rising tide.

Here is a chart of the average price of gasoline in the US from 1976 to February 2026. I’ve added the recent spike to the current average price of $4.11 / gallon. Interestingly, this is pretty close to the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline in the 1973-74 Gas Crisis, and the nominal price in July 2008. Adjusted for inflation, $4.11 in July 2008 is $6.11 in today’s dollars.

The point I want to make here is that there is no price trigger for recession, as it depends on the underlying fragilities and vulnerabilities of the economy. Put another way, it depends on the width of the gap between the happy story narrative intended to keep confidence and complacency high and the realities of higher costs and rising debt service reducing discretionary income.

Credit-asset bubbles pop for many reasons, but what we experience is a collapse of confidence that the bubble will continue inflating, making us richer every day, in every way. The core fragility of today’s economy is the expansion of consumption now depends on the spending of the top 10%, who just so happen to own the lion’s share of income-producing assets such as real estate, stocks, corporate bonds and enterprises.

Once the Everything Bubble pops, the confidence of the top earners and spenders will collapse, leading to a decline in their borrowing and spending.

Oil doesn’t need to hit $147/barrel and gasoline doesn’t need to reach $6/gallon to trigger a recession. (Gasoline is over $6/gallon in California and over $5/gallon in states with high fuel taxes.) There is no specific price-point, any more than there is some specific metric that enables us to predict an avalanche. It all depends on the underlying vulnerabilities and excesses of the economy at that moment in time.

When he’s confident, Wile can walk on air. It’s when he suddenly discerns reality that his confidence vanishes. Recessions always catch conventional economists by surprise because the collapse of confidence triggers a sudden rise in unemployment and defaults and a sharp decline of credit and spending.

It’s not the price of oil per se that causes a recession, it’s the underlying vulnerabilities that have been cloaked with happy story narratives to keep the game going.

*  *  *

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For weeks, we mapped out for readers how the Gulf energy shock dominoes would fall, spreading outward from the Middle East and striking Asia first through tightened energy-product flows that risk destabilizing the global economy. That transmission of tightening energy flows is now becoming alarmingly visible on factory floors across Asia.

Goldman analysts, led by Georgina Fraser, warned clients on Monday that the petrochemical shock is worsening across Asia, with textile and packaging plants emerging as the first major downstream casualties.

“The supply shock is transmitting faster and at a greater magnitude than we had anticipated,” Fraser emphasized in the note. 

She said the supply shock is moving beyond higher energy prices into production cuts, margin compression, and early demand destruction, adding that “signals are materializing fastest, with textiles and packaging among the first downstream sectors affected.”

Impact chain on the Chemicals sector from the Middle East conflict

Last week, supply chain disruptions in critical plastic feedstocks began to emerge, with several producers of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) declaring force majeure, while tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz remained heavily disrupted. These feedstocks are essential in the production of plastics, the very material that is core to the modern economy.

Fraser noted that China’s PTA supply chain accounts for roughly three-quarters of global PTA capacity. She said spot PTA prices have jumped by more than 30% since the U.S.-Iran conflict began.

At the same time, about 15% of China’s PTA capacity and 11% of global capacity have been taken offline due to shutdowns and curtailments.

For context, MEG and PTA are the two primary feedstocks used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester fibers. These petrochemicals are essential to the production of everyday consumer goods that make life in the developed world convenient, including plastic bottles, food packaging, clothing, home furnishings, and a wide range of consumer and industrial goods.

The analyst then shifted focus to India, where she said the first signs of a petrochemical supply shock are already emerging: In Surat, the country’s main synthetic textile hub, producers have reduced operations to a single 12-hour shift, halving output as soaring plastics costs collide with weak demand.

She noted that for apparel and textiles, where petrochemical-linked inputs account for 50% to 65% of the cost of goods sold, the latest moves in raw material spot prices imply a 17% COGS shock, enough to idle less efficient plants.

Packaging is also at risk. While demand is lower for discretionary goods than for clothing, elevated price pressures in PTA and related petrochemicals threaten to spill over into food, beverage, and consumer goods packaging, increasing the odds of inflationary pass-through.

Circling back to JPMorgan’s commodity expert on how the energy shock dominoes fall: Asia first (happening now), then Africa and Europe, before settling on the US – primarily California.

“Even an imminent end to the conflict would not fully unwind the supply chain disruption already in motion,” the analyst warned. 

Professional subscribers can read the full “Petrochemical supply shock hits textiles and packaging faster and harder than anticipated” note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. Fraser 

Tucker Carlson has publicly called on White House aides and Pentagon officials to refuse President Donald Trump’s orders if they involve mass attacks on Iranian civilians or the possible use of nuclear weapons, telling them to “say no, absolutely not” directly to the president and, if necessary, to “figure out the codes on the football yourself.” The remarks, made on his popular podcast, come amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran and have triggered an immediate backlash from the White House.

Carlson framed the potential escalation as “evil” and a desecration of Christian and Islamic values, specifically criticising Trump’s recent social-media rhetoric urging the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Carlson argued that such actions would mark “the end of the American empire as we understand it” and run directly counter to the “America First” principles Trump campaigned on.

Carlson’s comments come after the US and Israel’s aggressive bombing of Iran, which began with airstrikes earlier this year and has escalated into broader operations aimed at degrading Iranian military infrastructure, chemical-weapons facilities and ballistic-missile capabilities. Trump has repeatedly threatened overwhelming force if Iran does not comply with U.S. demands, while critics inside and outside the administration have questioned the intelligence justifying the campaign and warned of unintended regional fallout.

This intervention is perhaps the most high-profile act of public dissent from within Trump’s former base since the war began – as Carlson explicitly told listeners in direct contact with the president: “Those people who are in direct contact with the President need to say, ‘no, I’ll resign. I’ll do whatever I can do legally to stop this, because this is insane.’” He added that officials should refuse to carry out any nuclear-related order and leave the president to handle the nuclear “football” (the briefcase containing launch codes) himself.

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 BREAKING: Tucker Carlson says Trump is considering to use NUKES against IRAN

He publicly urges the US military and Pentagon officials to actively defy Donald Trump and refuse orders if he attempts to launch NUCLEAR WEAPONS against Iran pic.twitter.com/NMxbHPrpJm

— Alerte Info (@AlertesInfos_ca) April 7, 2026

Trump responded swiftly, telling the New York Post that Carlson is “a low IQ person that has absolutely no idea what’s going on.” White House officials later clarified that nuclear weapons are “not under consideration.”

Needless to say, the neocons are buzzing.

Do you feel an exciting tingle going up your leg?

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) April 7, 2026

Others Speaking Out

Anti-war voices across the political spectrum have amplified Carlson’s long-running opposition to the Iran war. Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has appeared multiple times on Carlson’s show to discuss the conflict and related free-speech crackdowns, described Tucker’s sustained pushback against endless Middle East wars as “herculean” in late March – noting that Carlson had already “sacrificed his relationship with President Trump” by taking a public stand.

Greenwald has slammed Trump administration’s rapid shift from campaign promises of restraint to “large-scale military destruction, including attacks on infrastructure and natural resources,” arguing that earlier talk of “liberating Iranians” has been replaced by regime-change rhetoric that echoes past neoconservative failures.

Comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore, a longtime vocal opponent of U.S. interventionism, has used his show in recent weeks to hammer the Iran escalation as a betrayal of Trump’s “no more forever wars” pledges. Dore has linked the conflict to rising domestic costs – particularly gasoline prices – and accused both parties of falling back into the same “war machine” trap that plagued previous administrations. In episodes leading up to Carlson’s remarks, Dore has urged viewers to pressure officials to reject illegal or immoral orders, echoing Carlson’s call for internal resistance.

Dore points out that Iran has been doing some “epic” trolling of Trump with clips that are going absolutely viral.

Libertarian comedian and podcaster Dave Smith – a longtime anti-war voice and frequent guest on Carlson’s show – quickly amplified the moment on X, writing: “I can’t believe how hard Tucker just went at Trump and he is legitimately a modern American hero for doing it.” Smith has been consistently criticising the Iran escalation for weeks, including in his 1 April appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show, where the two discussed Trump’s “critical next move in Iran,” the influence of Mossad and neoconservative hawks, and the unsustainable costs of another Middle East war.

I can’t believe how hard Tucker just went at Trump and he is legitimately a modern American hero for doing it.

— Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith) April 7, 2026

And here’s Smith on Tucker from last Tuesday:

* * * Thank you for your support

Summary: 

• Bloomberg counters Nikkei Asia’s reporting on possible foldable iPhone delays

• Nikkei Asia says the foldable iPhone has hit “engineering snags,” with shipment delays possible

• Polymarket odds of a foldable iPhone release this year stand at 81%

Bloomberg counters Nikkei Asia’s reporting

Hours after Nikkei Asia reported that Apple’s first foldable iPhone could face delays in mass production, Bloomberg pushed back on the report, citing sources who say the foldable iPhone remains on track for a September debut alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Apple shares fell as much as 5.1% in the U.S. cash session after the Nikkei report raised concerns about engineering test issues with the new device, potentially delaying mass production.

Initial production could be heavily constrained by the complexity of the foldable phone, but Bloomberg’s sources suggest Apple is still aiming to put it on store shelves within the same launch window as the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Bloomberg’s report, countering Nikkei Asia’s earlier story, fits a familiar pattern of information operations, and Apple was likely not thrilled with the stock’s performance after the overnight note.

Polymarket odds of the foldable iPhone launching before 2027 stood at around 81% as of early Tuesday afternoon, up from 75% during the overnight hours.

Nikkei Asia says the foldable iPhone has hit “engineering snags” 

Apple is about 8 years late to the foldable smartphone space, with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold released in October 2018. Now, Tim Cook’s big launch of Apple’s first foldable smartphone could face “delays in its mass production and product shipment schedule,” according to new Nikkei Asia sources deep within the handset supply chain.

Supply chain sources told the Japanese business outlet that the complexity of the new foldable iPhone is causing engineering problems during early testing, and these issues could delay mass production and shipments by months.

Some suppliers have already been warned that component production schedules could be pushed back.

“It’s true that more issues than expected have emerged during the early test production phase, and additional time will be needed to resolve them and make necessary adjustments. … The current situation could put the mass production timeline at risk,” one of those sources said.

The source added, “April will mark a crucial stage of the engineering verification test, and this month through early May is extremely critical.”

Nikkei previously reported that Apple adjusted its iPhone launch strategy for 2026, pushing back production of base model iPhones to early 2027 to prioritize production of premium models, including foldable iPhones. This move is intended to allocate constrained supplies of memory chips and other key components more efficiently.

Another person in the handset supply chain said the potential schedule delay has very little to do with memory chips, but rather with “engineering challenges” for Apple’s first foldable iPhone: “Apple and the supply chain are working under a tight timeline, and the current solutions are not enough to completely solve the engineering challenges. More time is needed.”

Nikkei Asia’s supply chain checks suggest Apple will initially produce 7 million to 8 million foldable iPhones.

Summary: 

• Tehran Times: All communications with US side suspended – THEN ISSUES CORRECTION, REVERSES. This after Trump’s Tues. morning threat: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Axios cites “glimmer” of progress on negotiations.

• In a call with FOX’s Bret Baier, Trump says 8 PM deadline today “could change if negotiations move forward, but sticking to deadline for now.”

• Kharg Island heavily bombed in preparation for potential US Marine/Special Forces ground seizure. Reports of ‘human chains’ at bridges, power plants, in Iran forming.

• Israel has begun attacking Iran’s railway infrastructure, telling civilians to not take trains, cancelations across country. IRGC still defiant – announces new retaliatory attacks on petrochemical plants in eastern Saudi Arabia.

• Iran’s 10-point counter to the US 15-point ceasefire shows signs of willingness to compromise (‘reparations’ from US dropped as a demand). Vance says war will end “very shortly”. Russia, China veto UNSC Hormuz resolution.

*  *  *

Axios Cites ‘Glimmer’ of Progress as Trump Deadline Looms

More from Axios’ Barak Ravid, though we should note that it’s increasingly difficult to know what has legitimacy:

Progress has been made in the past 24 hours in the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, though reaching a ceasefire deal by President Trump’s 8pm ET deadline still looks like a long shot, according to a U.S. official, an Israeli official and two other sources with knowledge of the talks.

• A U.S. official said the thinking in the White House has shifted from “can we get there?” to “can we get there by 8 o’clock tonight?”

These wild headline swings (and in markets) concerning positive or negative signs on the status of indirect negotiations have been going for weeks at this point. 

WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt thinks it’s assuring to inform the public that only Trump knows “where things stand and what he will do,” adding: “The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States.”

Russia, China Veto Hormuz Strait Resolution at UNSC

On Tuesday a UN Security Council resolution on opening the Strait of Hormuz failed due to Russia and China vetoing it. It was drafted by Bahrain and authorized countries to use military force if necessary to open the strait for the free flow of shipping and commerce.

The resolution garnered 11 votes in favor, but permanent veto-wielding members China and Russia blocked it by registering no votes. This comes after days of pressure from Gulf countries to restore free passage in the strait, amid Trump’s Operation Epic Fury. Russia complained that the UN res would damage “very fragile truce negotiations” by given broad allowance to use military force to reopen the waterway.

Tehran Times Reverses in Astounding Correction, Now Says Talks Are Not Closed

The NY Times had also said it only within the last hour, based on the initial headline out of Tehran, that all backchannel talks were suspended.

Tehran Times deleted this post from 2 hours ago saying all communication with US has closed.

Trump Hints at Possible Deadline Extension

In a call with FOX’s Bret Baier, Trump says 8 PM deadline today “could change if negotiations move forward, but sticking to deadline for now.” And yet Tehran has said it has suspended all back channel negotiations. TACO Tuesday? 

TRUMP TELLS FOX NEWS IF NEGOTIATIONS ADVANCE AND THERE IS SOMETHING TANGIBLE WE MIGHT EXTEND THE DEADLINE: AL ARABIYA

Meanwhile, per news wires and CNN:

The Israeli military is on standby and ready to launch strikes on Iran ahead of US President Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an Israeli security source tells CNN. The Israeli security source said plans have been prepared for a combined US-lsraeli operation with full military coordination pending a green light from Trump.

Iran: All Diplomatic Channels With US Have Ceased

“Iran has closed all diplomatic and indirect channels of communication with the US,” Tehran Times has reported. The publication says that “Any and all message exchanges have also been suspended.”

The Tehran Times is seen as tied to the hardline factions of the government, and calls itself the “voice of the Islamic Revolution” – but is not directly state-owned per se.

The NY Times also confirms “Iran has stopped negotiating with the US and it told Pakistan that it will not continue ceasefire talks.”

Meanwhile President Masoud Pezeshkian has praised the willingness of “14 million” Iranian citizens to “sacrifice” by taking to the streets, seeking to protect power plants and other sensitive vital infrastructure, as the US-Israeli bombs rain down. US conservative MSM publications have decried this as a form of “human shields”. 

‘Human chains’ seen on some bridges…

Iranians form human shield at Kazeroun power plant ahead of Trump’s threatened strikes. pic.twitter.com/Le2VcEpPQv

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 7, 2026

And apparently at nuclear sites…

JUST IN:

Iranians are gathering on bridges and around power plants, forming human chains after threats of US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s civilian infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/DrGFZlfP0E

— Current Report (@Currentreport1) April 7, 2026

WH Trying to Manufacture ‘Mission Accomplished’? Vance Says Objectives Completed

Vice President JD Vance has said that “very shortly” this war will be “completed” in a Tuesday morning statement. He stated specifically that the military objectives have been accomplished, adding there are “two pathways” – and that optimistically this will involve “lots of negotiations” – but with a deadline of 8pm ET. The US is “confident it will get an Iran response.”

The below is from Hala Jaber, a longtime Sunday Times journalist and veteran Middle East war correspondent:

Trump is scrambling behind the scenes for a ceasefire with Iran, according to claims emerging via Fars News Agency. Allegations point to urgent outreach through multiple governments & intelligence channels. Citing what it describes as an “informed source,” the report claims the U.S. has been pushing for a ceasefire via backchannels, using countries it believes have credibility with Tehran.

According to the same account, Iran received calls from five heads of government & eight intelligence agencies, all seeking to open a path toward a ceasefire. It further claims Washington is considering reshaping its negotiation team, including removing Witkoff due to his ties to Netanyahu’s circle & replacing him with Vance to lead a more serious track. The urgency, the source says, is driven by mounting military & economic pressure, including fears of surging fuel prices. If true, it would mark a stark contrast to the public posture.

“I hope they make the right response,” says @VP on Iran.

“They’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. @POTUS can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct.” pic.twitter.com/UUiQ5SdEO5

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2026

Trump: A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight

Trump seems to be openly announcing plans for genocide – saying he’s going to annihilate an entire civilization. What else do you call this? “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he threatened in a Tuesday Truth Social Post. “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” – he continued.

Meanwhile, according to The Associated Press:

Airstrikes pounded Tehran on Tuesday, and Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants, hours before the expiration of U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest deadline for the Islamic Republic to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face punishing strikes on its infrastructure.

Kharg Island Bombed (Again)

Kharg Island is being bombed again on Tuesday, with a senior US officials telling Fox’s Jennifer Griffin that the “U.S. hit dozens of military targets on Kharg Island overnight.” Per the fresh reporting the targets included bunkers, a radar station, and ammunition storage.

However, the same officials described that landing docks were not intentionally targeted – that they only would have been struck if Iranians fired something from next to them. This development has led to speculation that this could be another round of softening operations to prepare for some kind of US Marine or special forces seizure.

This send oil back to the highs…

This would without doubt be very high risk, with the potential for significant US casualties. More from Griffin:

The strikes on Kharg Island were carried out solely by the US, not  Israel, I am told. “This is a message to the Iranians,” a senior US official told me.

Axios cites a US official to say the strikes on Kharg island were not directed at oil infrastructure, but were “re-strikes” on military targets that were hit previously.

NOW: U.S. airstrikes targeting shelters and defensive facilities on Iran’s Kharg Island. pic.twitter.com/k1pauNpb6A

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 7, 2026

Bridges, Power Plants, Tit-For-Tat Warning

President Trump has been warning of the “complete demolition” of Iran’s power plants and bridges in a matter of hours – so by Tuesday’s end – if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened by his deadline. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, is urging some last minute diplomatic action, warning, “We are close to the point where the situation in the region could spiral out of control.” There have meanwhile been reports of more Iranian attacks on Qatar. “There are no winners if this war continues,” he said.

But Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not backing down, having on Tuesday claimed responsibility for attacks on petrochemical facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail region, stating the strikes were retaliation for earlier Israeli attacks on its Shiraz petrochemical facility.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that any strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges would trigger reciprocal attacks on regional infrastructure. The IRGC stated it targeted American companies in Jubail with missiles and drones, including Sadra, ExxonMobil, and Dark Chemical.

Images posted online show damage to a highway bridge between the northwestern Iranian cities of Hashtroud and Tabriz, following apparent Israeli strikes.

It also stated that a petrochemical complex in Juaymah belonging to the US company Shourdan Phillips was struck with medium-range missiles and drones.

Israeli Attacks on Iran Rail, Infrastructure Have Already Begun

Iran’s Mehr News Agency is reporting attacks on Iran’s rail system, including an Israeli strike hit the Yahya Abad railway bridge in the city of Kashan, in central Iran. The Deputy Governor of Isfahan has said that the strike killed two people.

The attack came after the IDF issued a warning telling Iranians against using trains for their “safety” until 9pm local time (17:30 GMT).

The governor of Mashhad has already announced the immediate suspension of all rail services departing the city amid the Israeli threat. It’s being reported as a precautionary measure that will remain in effect “until further notice”. Apparently this rail operation is being done only by the Israeli side of the bombing campaign.

More on Iran’s 10-Point Response to US Ceasefire Plan

Iran has delivered its highly anticipated “10-point” response to the US’ “15-point peace plan.” Iran’s 10-point plan includes, according to a paraphrase:

1. Guarantee that Iran will not be attacked again

2. Permanent end to the war, not just a ceasefire

3. End to Israeli strikes in Lebanon

4. Lifting of all US sanctions on Iran

5. End to all regional fighting against Iranian allies

6. In return, Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz

7. Iran would impose a Hormuz fee of $2 million per ship

8. Iran would split these fees with Oman

9. Iran to provide rules for safe passage through Hormuz

10. Iran to use Hormuz fees for reconstruction instead of reparations

Importantly, Tehran has dropped its demand for full war reconstruction reparations to be paid directly by the United States, providing a potential window to reach actual compromise with Washington.

75 Gulf Energy Assets Damaged In U.S.-Iran War As Supply Shock Intensifies

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol was interviewed by the French newspaper Le Figaro earlier on Tuesday and warned that the Gulf energy shock “is more severe than those of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined” because it is affecting oil, gas, food, fertilizers, petrochemicals, helium, and global trade all at once.

Birol said in the interview that more than 75 energy sites across the Gulf region have been attacked, with about a third severely damaged, suggesting tens of billions of dollars in repairs and a prolonged disruption of some energy flows, further tightening global supplies and compounding the disruption at the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint.

The newspaper asked Birol, “How quickly can Gulf production recover?”

He responded:

“We are monitoring energy infrastructure in real time—fields, refineries, terminals. Seventy-five facilities have been attacked and damaged, more than a third severely. Repairs will take a long time. Countries like Saudi Arabia may recover faster due to strong engineering capabilities and financial resources, but elsewhere, such as Iraq, the situation is far worse. About 15 million people depend on oil and gas revenues there, and the country has lost two-thirds of its oil income, approaching economic paralysis. It will take a long time for the Middle East—previously a reliable energy hub—to recover.”

Cherry-picking the most important parts of the interview:

Le Figaro asked: Who will suffer the most?

Birol responded: The global economy will suffer. Of course, European countries will struggle, as will Japan, Australia, and others. But developing countries will be the most affected due to high oil, gas, and food prices, and accelerating inflation. Their economic growth will be heavily impacted. I fear many developing countries will see their external debt rise significantly. That is why I am pessimistic—this crisis stems not from energy itself, but from geopolitics.

Le Figaro asked: Which countries are most exposed to shortages?

Birol responded: Import-dependent countries are most exposed: in Asia—South Korea, Japan, but especially Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. African countries will also be heavily affected, as developing nations have limited financial flexibility.

Le Figaro asked: How quickly can Gulf production recover?

Birol responded: We are monitoring energy infrastructure in real time—fields, refineries, terminals. Seventy-five facilities have been attacked and damaged, more than a third severely. Repairs will take a long time. Countries like Saudi Arabia may recover faster due to strong engineering capabilities and financial resources, but elsewhere, such as Iraq, the situation is far worse. About 15 million people depend on oil and gas revenues there, and the country has lost two-thirds of its oil income, approaching economic paralysis. It will take a long time for the Middle East—previously a reliable energy hub—to recover.

Le Figaro asked: How significant is the drop in Gulf oil production?

Birol responded: Enormous. These countries are producing just over half of pre-war levels. As for natural gas, exports have stopped entirely. March was already difficult, but April will be worse. If the Strait remains closed throughout April, we will lose twice as much crude and refined products as in March. We are entering a “black April.” In the Northern Hemisphere, April usually marks spring—but now it may feel like the beginning of winter.

Birol has painted a bleak outlook for energy markets and the global economy for weeks in various interviews. 

However, emerging through the fog of war, the U.S. appears poised to be a net beneficiary of the chaos across the Gulf, with energy flows expected to remain disrupted for some time.

• Qatar Dethroned As ‘LNG King’ As U.S. Seizes Throne, Reshaping Future Of Gas

• Wyoming’s Helium Empire Ascends As Qatar Gas Goes Flat

A reminder to readers of JPMorgan’s note last week, mapping how the energy shock dominoes begin to fall. Read it here.

* * *

On Tuesday a UN Security Council resolution on opening the Strait of Hormuz failed due to Russia and China vetoing it. It was drafted by Bahrain and authorized countries to use military force if necessary to open the strait for the free flow of shipping and commerce.

The resolution garnered 11 votes in favor, but permanent veto-wielding members China and Russia blocked it by registering no votes. This comes after days of pressure from Gulf countries to restore free passage in the strait, amid Trump’s Operation Epic Fury.

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi earlier in the week lamented, “Our countries are subjected to a sinful Iranian aggression, and GCC countries have a legitimate right to self-defense. The Security Council must take measures to ensure the protection of waterways, and we demand that the Security Council issue a resolution securing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

And Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, stated “Iranian attacks on neighboring countries cannot be justified. The draft resolution is consistent with international law and looks forward to a unified position.”

From Moscow and Beijing’s point of view, the resolution could be used to escalate US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic:

It appears that China and Russia expressed concerns about the invocation of Chapter VII, arguing that such authorization could be interpreted as legitimizing the use of force by member states without clearly defined limits. They also raised concerns about the potential imposition of sanctions and maintained that the draft failed to address the root causes of the current crisis in the Middle East. In their view, the text risked exacerbating tensions rather than promoting de-escalation, and they urged Bahrain not to advance the initiative. These reservations led China and Russia to break silence twice.

Also, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that if resolution passed it would disrupt “very fragile chances for negotiations.”

So essentially Russia and China viewed it as a ‘pro-war’ mandate which is too sympathetic to Washington’s aims in Iran.

President Trump has meanwhile been busy venting his frustration at the ongoing closure of the strait, warning Iran that its “whole civilization will die tonight” if it doesn’t agree to Washington’s ceasefire terms. Tehran has said it is only interested in a permanent truce which ensures it never gets attacked again.

Ahead of Friday’s CPI report, inflation fears are already rising, with the NY Fed’s latest monthly survey of consumer expectations reporting that Inflation expectations at the one-year horizon were higher at 3.42% in March from the previous month’s 3.00%, matching the highest since April ’25. Inflation expectations also increased by 0.1% to 3.1% at the three-year-ahead horizon, and were unchanged at 3.0% at the five-year-ahead horizon in March.

The jump in year-ahead expectations was driven by a surge in gas inflation which rose 5.3% to 9.4%, the highest reading since March 2022.

Other commodity price change expectations also rose, but to a more limited degree: food prices are now expected to rise 6%; medical costs to rise 9.7%; the price of a college education to rise 9%; rent prices to rise 7.1%.

Turning to the labor market, sentiment is deteriorating fast with respondents saying that the mean probability the US unemployment rate will be higher next year rose 3.6% to 43.5%; highest reading since April 2025

On the other end, median one-year-ahead earnings growth expectations decreased by 0.1% point to 2.4% in March, remaining below its 12-month trailing average of 2.6% and at the low end of its range seen since May 2021 of 2.4% to 3.0%.

More bad news: the mean perceived probability of losing one’s job in the next 12 months increased by 0.6 percentage point to 14.4%. The reading remains below the series’ 12-month trailing average of 14.6%. The mean probability of leaving one’s job voluntarily, or the expected quit rate, in the next 12 months also increased by 2.4 percentage points to 18.3%.

The mean perceived probability of finding a job if one’s current job was lost increased by 1.9 percentage points to 45.9%, while remaining below its 12-month trailing average of 47.5%. The increase was broad-based across age, education, and income groups.

Perceptions about households’ current financial situations also deteriorated compared to a year ago, with a larger share of households reporting a worse financial situation and a smaller share reporting a better financial situation.  Year-ahead expectations about households’ financial situations also worsened, with the share of households expecting a worse financial situation at its highest level since April 2025, and a smaller share of households expecting a better financial situation in one year from now.

Perceptions of credit access compared to a year ago improved, with a smaller share of households reporting it is harder to get credit and a larger share of households reporting it is easier to get credit. Expectations for future credit availability slightly deteriorated, with the net share of respondents expecting it will be harder to obtain credit in the year ahead increasing.

The average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months increased by 0.7 percentage point to 12.3%, remaining below its 12-month trailing average of 13.2%. The increase was most pronounced for respondents above age 60, those with some college education, and those with annual household incomes below $50,000.

And some more Household Finance observations:

• The median expectation regarding a year-ahead change in taxes at current income level decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 3.1%.
• Median year-ahead expected growth in government debt increased by 0.6 percentage point to 9.8%, remaining well above the 12-month trailing average of 7.4%.
• The mean perceived probability that the average interest rate on saving accounts will be higher in 12 months remained unchanged at 24.9%.
• The mean perceived probability that U.S. stock prices will be higher 12 months from now decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 36.3%.

More in the full report from the NY Fed.