- NEW YORK (AP) — Environmentalist Christine Holland closely follows journalist Tiffany Higgins’ stories from the Amazon River region, frequently sending her comments and questions. This week, Higgins responded to one message about her piece on the Brazilian arts community by sending Holland a lengthy personal video. They’ve turned the usual one-way conversation between a journalist […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are struggling to come up for air after outside groups flooded their first round of midterm primaries with campaign cash. As the Democratic Party fights to regain control of Congress, organizations affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence have dominated the airwaves, sometimes leaving candidates on […]
- NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration this week acknowledged it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe into New York’s Medicaid program, a glaring mistake that undercuts a federal campaign to tackle waste, mostly in Democratic-led states. The error, one of at least a few misrepresentations […]
- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sam Mintesnot had checked off everything she possibly could have from a long list of to-dos in preparation for the Coachella music festival. She crafted the best outfits, got her hair and nails done, booked a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and flew out on Tuesday with a spreadsheet full of […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — Since the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. was announced, leaders in President Donald Trump’s administration have been quick to say Iranian military and arms capacity have been all but wiped out during weeks of fighting. But there is also an acknowledgment that Tehran retains some capabilities, whether to strike back or […]
- Federal judge extends restraining order on $6.2B merger of local TV giants Nexstar and Tegna
on April 10, 2026 at 4:18 pmA federal judge on Friday extended an emergency restraining order on a $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna for one week while he decides whether a longer block on the deal is needed. Eight state attorneys general and DirecTV sued to block the merger between the local television giants, arguing that it would raise consumer prices and harm local journalism. They asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento, California, to halt the merger until their antitrust lawsuit is resolved. Nexstar’s attorneys say the deal will lead to expanded local journalism and programming, not a reduction. Nunley extended the temporary restraining order until April 17, saying the extension would give him time to prepare a ruling on whether a longer preliminary injunction is needed. The judge also modified the order so both companies could take “reasonable steps” to handle regular business matters like meeting federal debt reporting deadlines. The deal, announced last year and approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” national networks: ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. The merger needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules limiting how many local stations one company can own. When the judge issued the original temporary restraining order in the case, he said the merger could give Nexstar the power to demand higher fees from multichannel video programming distributors like DirecTV, because if the distributors refuse to pay the increases they could risk subscribers losing access to things like Sunday NFL football games. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Federal court hears new case against Trump’s latest global tariffs
on April 10, 2026 at 4:18 pmNEW YORK (AP) — The centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s economic policy — sweeping taxes on global imports — is under legal assault again. The U.S. Court of International Trade, a specialized court in New York, is hearing oral arguments Friday in an attempt to overturn the temporary tariffs Trump turned to after the Supreme Court in February struck down his preferred choice — even bigger, even more sweeping tariffs. In his first attempt to impose global tariffs, the president last year invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), using the law to declare America’s longstanding trade deficit a national emergency and to impose double-digit worldwide taxes on imports to combat it. He interpreted the law broadly to justify tariffs of whatever size he wanted, whenever he wanted to impose them, on whatever country he wanted to target. The Supreme Court struck those tariffs down on Feb. 20, saying IEEPA did not authorize the use of tariffs to counter national emergencies. But Trump had alternatives to IEEPA. The quickest option was Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose global tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days, after which congressional approval is needed to extend them. After his defeat at the Supreme Court, Trump quickly announced 10% Section 122 tariffs. He said he’d raise them to the maximum 15% but hasn’t yet done so. The tariffs are scheduled to expire July 24. Section 122 is aimed at what it calls “fundamental international payments problems.’’ At issue is whether that wording covers trade deficits, the gap between what the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them. The provision arose from the financial crises that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s when the U.S. dollar was tied to gold. Other countries were dumping dollars in exchange for gold at a set rate, risking a collapse of the U.S. currency and chaos in financial markets. But the dollar is no longer linked to gold, so critics say Section 122 is obsolete. Awkwardly for Trump, his own Justice Department argued in a court filing last year that the president had needed to invoke IEEPA because Section 122 did “not have any obvious application’’ in fighting trade deficits, which it called “conceptually distinct’’ from payments problems. Awkwardly for the plaintiffs challenging his use of the temporary tariffs, the trade court itself wrote last year in its own decision striking down IEEPA tariffs that Trump didn’t need them because Section 122 was available to counter trade deficits. ____ Paul Wiseman reported from Washington. AP Writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Jury starts deliberating states’ claim that Live Nation has a monopoly on concerts and ticketing
on April 10, 2026 at 4:18 pmNEW YORK (AP) — Jury deliberations began Friday in an antitrust case pitting 34 states against the concert giant Live Nation Entertainment. The states argue in the civil case that the company and its ticketing arm, Ticketmaster, are monopolizing the industry and driving up prices to see live music. Live Nation contends there is more competition than ever and the company plays fair amid a U.S. booming concert business. Soon after starting deliberations the jury in Manhattan federal court told the judge it wanted to review certain testimony given at the five-week trial. The states carried on with their case after the federal government settled last month. The Justice Department said it had won important concessions from Live Nation, particularly in the sale of tickets at dozens of the company’s amphitheaters. A lawyer for the states said in closing arguments on Thursday that Live Nation controls 86% of the market for concerts and 73% of the overall market when sports events are included. Live Nation’s lawyer said the company isn’t hiding from the fact that it’s the biggest entertainment company and ticketer in the country. But, the lawyer said, “success is not against the antitrust laws in the United States.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Middle East war spotlights Florida’s fuel supply vulnerability
on April 10, 2026 at 2:42 pmBy Shariq Khan NEW YORK, April 10 (Reuters) – Florida residents have paid significantly more than the nationwide average for gasoline and diesel in recent weeks as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran forces the Sunshine State to compete with Europe and Asia for fuel produced in Texas and other U.S. states, analysts said. The rare, lofty premiums highlight how Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed vulnerabilities in oil and fuel supply chains around the world by upending historical trade routes. There are no refineries in Florida, as the third-most populous U.S. state is prone to severe hurricanes, and no pipelines delivering fuel produced by U.S. Gulf Coast refineries either. Some fuel delivered to Georgia on the Colonial Pipeline is hauled into Florida via trucks, but the majority of the state’s fuel needs are met by barges sent from the U.S. Gulf Coast. Fuel producers have prioritized exports to Europe and Asia over barge shipments within the U.S., as international markets have been hit hardest by the Strait of Hormuz closure, improving export margins. “Ships that would normally move product from the lower Mississippi or Houston to Florida ports are largely headed elsewhere,” said Tom Kloza, chief energy advisor to Gulf Oil. Florida residents this month paid as much as 15 cents a gallon, or nearly 4% more than the national average for gasoline, and as much as 35 cents, or over 6% more for diesel, data from GasBuddy showed. Typically, prices in the state are below the average nationwide. Those are the highest premiums Floridians have paid for gasoline over the national average since 2013, and the highest ever for diesel, the data showed. California and Hawaii remain the states paying the biggest premiums for their fuel. Gasoline prices in Florida were back under the national average as of Friday at $4.06 a gallon as a ceasefire deal with Iran has helped ease supply concerns, but diesel prices still averaged about 6 cents over the national average at $5.77 a gallon, GasBuddy data showed. High gasoline and diesel prices have become a major concern for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party as they prepare for November’s midterm elections. The president and top Republicans, including outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have regularly attacked Democrats for high fuel costs in states like California. “Florida is uniquely susceptible to this situation because the majority of its fuel, except in the panhandle, is brought in via barges,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. High freight rates have added another layer of complications for Florida, as the barges still bringing fuel to the state were doing so “at almost nonsensical freight rates,” Gulf Oil’s Kloza said. Freight rates have surged globally, including in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, due to the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Florida’s reliance on barge supplies from the U.S. Gulf Coast has become a bigger concern for the state because of rapid population growth resulting in higher demand, GasBuddy’s De Haan said. Total gasoline consumption in Florida rose to about 224 million barrels in 2023, a 32-million-barrel rise compared to 2011 and the biggest jump over that period anywhere in the U.S. except Texas, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. (Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York; Editing by Nia Williams) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Soaring gas prices leads to biggest monthly inflation spike in four years in March
on April 10, 2026 at 1:46 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — The largest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades caused a sharp spike in inflation in March, creating major challenges for the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve and heightening the political challenges of rising costs for the White House. Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, up sharply from just 2.4% in February and the biggest yearly increase since May 2024. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.9% in March from February, the largest such increase in nearly four years. It’s the first read on inflation to capture the effects of the Iran war. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.6% in March from a year earlier, up from 2.5% in February. But last month core prices rose a modest 0.2%, suggesting that rising gas prices haven’t yet spread to many other categories. The gas price shock stemming from the Iran war has shifted inflation’s trajectory, from a slow, gradual decline to a sharp increase further away from the Fed’s 2% target. As a result, the central bank will almost certainly postpone any cut in interest rates for months and many Fed officials have said a rate hike may be needed if inflation doesn’t cool. Gas prices are also a highly visible cost that has outsize impacts on consumer confidence and political sentiment. Higher gas prices sap consumers’ ability to spend on other goods and services and as a result could also slow economic growth. At least in the short run, many Americans can only make limited changes to their daily driving habits, which are largely determined by where they live, shop, and work. As a result, most people will pay higher prices for gas, and potentially cut back elsewhere. Gas prices averaged $4.15 a gallon nationwide Friday, up from $2.98 on the day before the war began, according to motor club AAA. The big question for consumers and the economy is whether the surge in oil and gas prices will create a sustained, broader inflation shock, similar to what occurred in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2021-2022. Inflation reached a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, as COVID-19 snarled supply chains and several rounds of stimulus checks pushed up consumer demand. Prices soared for groceries, furniture, restaurant meals and many other goods and services. This time, economists say the job market and consumer spending are weaker, and there are no large government stimulus checks being issued to spur demand. The unemployment rate is low, at 4.3%, but companies aren’t scrambling to hire the way they were when the economy emerged from the pandemic, which led many firms to offer sharp pay increases to attract and keep workers. Rapid pay increases and solid income growth helped consumers weather the higher prices that resulted from the pandemic’s supply chain disruptions, and fueled spikes in demand that led many companies to raise prices further. “That’s where this really differs, is that we aren’t seeing anywhere near the strength of demand,” Alan Detmeister, an economist at UBS, said. In 2021 and 2022, income growth “was increasing really strongly. We aren’t seeing that now,” he added. Detmeister thinks the better comparison will likely be to 1990-91, when higher oil and gas prices stemming from Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait contributed to a recession, but didn’t lead to a jump in inflation, in part because of weaker consumer spending. The gas price spike’s impact on inflation is, in some ways, similar to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, in that their effect will depend largely on the size and duration of the increase. For now, economists expect that in March and April the impact will largely be confined to energy-intensive industries, such as airlines, package delivery services and public transportation. Overall, the U.S. economy is much less dependent on oil and gas than it was in previous decades. Still, the large jump in inflation — which is almost certain to continue for several months — has already shifted the debate at the Federal Reserve, which began the year expecting to cut its key interest rate at least a couple of times. But a growing number of Fed officials are now willing to consider hiking rates instead if core inflation doesn’t cool noticeably. Most officials are almost certain to support keeping the Fed’s key interest rate unchanged in the coming months, at about 3.6%, as they evaluate how the economy evolves. Investors now don’t expect the Fed to cut rates until late 2027. Higher gas prices are tricky for the Fed because they can also slow growth by weighing on consumer spending, potentially causing layoffs. The Fed would typically cut its rate to encourage more spending if unemployment rises, while it raises rates to combat inflation. More expensive oil and gas will also likely lift grocery prices, creating more pain for consumers who have already absorbed a roughly 25% jump in food costs since the pandemic. Nearly all groceries are shipped by diesel-fueled trucks, and diesel fuel prices have risen even more than those for regular gas. Still, analysts don’t expect food prices to accelerate for another month or two. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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