https://time.com/article/2026/05/02/spirit-airlines-shuts-down-iran-war-fuel/
The low-cost Spirit Airlines announced Saturday that it has officially gone out of business after years of financial hardship, citing rising fuel costs resulting from the Iran War as the final straw.

The company said it had undergone “extensive and comprehensive efforts to restructure the business” following two bankruptcy filings in 2024 and 2025, but added that the “sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative.”

The airline informed customers that all flights had been canceled, and that refunds were being processed, but that they should look to rebook flights with other providers.

Spirit Airlines was founded in 1983 as Charter One Airlines, a charter tour operator. It was rebranded as Spirit in 1992, becoming a passenger airline and a pioneer of low-cost air travel, offering pared-down services in exchange for cheap base fares. It flew around 30 million passengers in 2025, reflecting a sharp drop from a peak of over 44 million in 2023 and 2024, according to

President Donald Trump and his Administration floated a potential $500 million federal bailout for the Florida-based airline, but bondholders could not reach an agreement on how to restructure and ultimately save the company with the funds.

Spirit had been in financial difficulty long before the Iran War started, but the sudden global energy crisis caused by Iran’s closure and control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil flowed, accelerated the company’s demise.

Dave Davis, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer, cited “the sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks” as the reason for the company’s closure.

“Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure,” he said in the company’s statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/gas-prices-new-high-iran-war-rcna342578
U.S. gas prices have hit a fresh record since the start of the war with Iran, rising to an average nationwide of $4.23 per gallon Wednesday, according to AAA.

The milestone comes as oil prices have surged higher over the past week amid a dual blockade by the United States and Iran of the Strait of Hormuz, the key chokepoint in the region for transiting crude and petroleum-based products out of the Persian Gulf.

The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark that influences the price of U.S. gasoline prices, stands at $114.60, up nearly 25% from the recent low seen April 17 and just a few dollars away from the recent high of $118.

A day earlier, AAA recorded the biggest single-day increase in more than a month, with prices rising $0.07. Gasoline prices have climbed $1.25 a gallon, or more than 40%, since prior to the war’s start in late February.

The surge in oil prices has compounded the typical price increases seen this time of year as refineries undergo maintenance and the spring-summer driving season begins to kick off.

Many gas stations have also sought to artificially keep prices below the $4 threshold by reducing their own profit margins, said Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser to Gulf Oil. But they can only stomach lower margins for so long, he said.

“This is the most serious squeeze, in terms of margin suppression, we’ve seen for retailers since 2020,” he said.

In a report whose data was largely compiled before the recent run-up, Bank of America analysts found that so far, only lower-income households were seeing a significant impact on their budgets from higher gas prices. And despite the price surge, households are still spending less of their budgets on gasoline than during peaks seen in 2008, 2011 and 2012.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-intelligence-indicates-limited-new-damage-irans-nuclear-program-sources-say-2026-05-04/
WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Israeli attack had pushed back the timeline to up to a year, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The assessments of Tehran's nuclear program remain broadly unchanged even after two months of a war that U.S. President Donald Trump launched in part to stop the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear bomb.
The latest U.S. and Israeli attacks that began on February 28 have focused on conventional military targets, but Israel has hit a number of significant nuclear facilities.
The unchanged timeline suggests that significantly impeding Tehran's nuclear program may require destroying or removing Iran's remaining stockpile of highly enriched uranium, or HEU.
The war has stalled since the U.S. and Iran agreed an April 7 truce to pursue peace. Tensions remain high as both sides appear deeply divided, and as Iran has choked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, blocking some 20% of world oil supplies and igniting a global energy crisis.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said publicly that the U.S. aims to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon via ongoing negotiations with Tehran.
U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded prior to June's 12-day war that Iran likely could produce enough bomb-grade uranium for a weapon and build a bomb in around three to six months, said two of the sources, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss U.S. intelligence.
Following the June strikes by the U.S. that hit the Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear complexes, U.S. intelligence estimates pushed that timeline back to about nine months to a year, said the two sources and a person familiar with the assessments.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/u-citizenship-immigration-services-exposes-153043398.html

U.S. Citizenship And Immigration Services Exposes 100 H-1B Visas For DEI Jobs

A newly disclosed federal review found roughly 100 H-1B visa cases tied to diversity-related roles, fueling a political clash over how the program is used in education and public institutions.

An April 21 letter by Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Joseph B. Edlow, shared online by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), states that USCIS identified “approximately 100 cases” between fiscal years 2021 and 2024 in which H-1B petitions referenced terms such as “diversity,” “equity,” or “inclusion,” with roles appearing to be DEI-related to some degree, according to the agency’s response.

“I’ve spent the last year working with USCIS to root out and terminate H-1B abuses. We’ve worked together to expose how the Left weaponized H-1Bs into a DEI fraud factory. We’re shutting it down. Here’s the most recent data,” Schmitt wrote in the post.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iran-standoff-could-leave-trump-worse-off-than-before-he-went-war-2026-05-02/
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem for the U.S. and the world than before he launched the war.
With both sides outwardly confident they hold the upper hand and their positions far apart, there is no obvious off-ramp in sight, even as Iran submitted a fresh proposal to restart negotiations. Trump quickly rejected it on Friday.
For the U.S. president and his Republican Party, the implications of a continued impasse are grim.
An unresolved conflict would likely mean the global economic fallout, including high U.S. gasoline prices, will persist, putting further pressure on Trump, whose poll numbers are falling, and darkening Republican candidates' prospects ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.

The United States lost aerial equipment worth up to $2.8bn, according to a US-based think tank.
By Alia Chughtai
Published On 30 Apr 2026

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/30/us-military-equipment-worth-billions-of-dollars-destroyed-in-iran-war

Speaking at a televised Cabinet meeting on March 26, the US secretary of defense boasted of US military successes against Iran in the ongoing war. “Never in recorded history has a nation’s military been so quickly and so effectively neutralised,” he said, seated next to US President Donald Trump.
The very next day, Iran fired missiles and drones that struck a US base in Saudi Arabia, wounding several US soldiers and destroying a radar surveillance plane that cost $700m.

Rubio says NATO must be re-examined after Spain blocks US operation on Iran
end of list
It was no one-off hit. Iran’s missiles and drones, and one devastating instance of so-called friendly fire, have destroyed US military equipment worth between $2.3bn and $2.8bn, the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies has calculated.
The CSIS estimate is the first detailed tabulation by a major international research group of US military losses in the war that began on February 28, and Al Jazeera is the first to report it.

https://www.thegazette.com/news/state/affirmative-action-ban-in-iowa-government-sent-to-governor/article_3c3629b6-c48f-40a7-9d44-322056e0fa1a.html

Affirmative action ban in Iowa government sent to governor
The bill also removes anti-bias training requirements for Iowa police passed in 2020

DES MOINES — Calling affirmative action “malicious ideology,” Iowa Senate Republicans on Wednesday approved legislation banning the practice in state government, sending the bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her consideration.

The bill, House File 2711, would end diversity hiring policies, minority-focused programs and reporting requirements across state agencies, regents universities, K-12 public schools and the judicial branch.

The legislation also would remove a rule from a 2020 bipartisan police reform law — passed after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police — that requires annual implicit bias training for all law enforcement officers in the state.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, during Senate floor debate Wednesday called affirmative action programs “malicious ideology” and “toxic” policy that does not belong in state law. He noted the U.S. and Iowa Constitution declare that all men and women are equal. He said the bill puts all Iowans “on equal footing under the law.”

Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said affirmative action is not ideology but rather, “a simple promise that we will look everywhere for the best person for the job.” She also criticized the repeal of the police anti-bias training requirement, saying it makes Iowa communities and law enforcement officers safer.

The bill passed the Senate on a party-line, 31-15 vote, with only Republicans supporting and all Democrats opposing. Earlier this session, the bill passed the House also with only Republican support.

The splc adl bnai brth naacp hias hadassah Jewish marxist communist Zionist nasa faggot inbred heretical satbif losers are and pavloving turn illegal dishonest not truth false education

https://sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za27.htm

The U.S. national debt has officially surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product, crossing a once-unthinkable threshold and heading toward the record set after World War II.

As of March 31, publicly held debt reached $31.265 trillion while GDP over the preceding year stood at $31.216 trillion, producing a debt-to-GDP ratio of 100.2 percent. The figure climbed from 99.5 percent at the end of the last fiscal year on September 30.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/u-s-debt-tops-100-of-gdp-81c013d7 (paywalled link)

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-new-york-mayor-giuliani-hospitalized-critical-condition-2026-05-03/
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized and is in "critical but stable condition," his spokesperson said on Sunday.
The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, did not immediately provide more details about Giuliani's condition or how long he has been hospitalized.
"Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same strength now," Goodman said in a statement. "We do ask that you join us in prayer for America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani."
Giuliani, 81, garnered acclaim for his response to the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attack on New York City, earning the nickname "America's Mayor."
Giuliani worked as an attorney for President Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an effort that led to criminal charges against Giuliani in two U.S. states and a defamation lawsuit from election workers. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing in the criminal cases.
Trump, in a social media post, called Giuliani the "Best Mayor in the History of New York City" and said he had been mistreated by Democrats.
Giuliani was previously hospitalized last year following a car crash in New Hampshire.