FRANKFURT – A leading measure of investor confidence in Germany is expected to deteriorate further as Washington and Tehran both claim to have closed the Strait of Hormuz to some traffic.

An analysts’ poll predicted that the forward-looking economic sentiment reading from a survey conducted by Germany’s ZEW economic institute is expected to drop to -5.0 points from the -0.5 in March, its lowest mark in nearly a year and the largest fall since Russia attacked Ukraine in early 2022.

Another decline in the institute’s current conditions indicator is expected, which would keep it in negative territory – its home since December 2021. Analysts forecast a drop to -70.0 points from -62.9 in March.

(Continue Reading – LS)

Donald Trump seems to detest solar and wind power. Ditto the European Union. And he loves bending others to his will.

So when the U.S. president attacked Iran, he almost certainly did not plan to boost renewable energy or EU unity. And his goal can hardly have been to damage his own power. Yet these are three probable silver linings from Trump’s ill-planned strikes, which U.S. experts say may amount to war crimes.

The attack he launched with Israel is having many negative consequences. Apart from death and destruction in the Middle East, these include lower economic growth and higher inflation around the world, as the International Monetary Fund noted last week. Meanwhile, higher crude prices nearly doubled Russia’s oil and oil product export revenues to $19 billion last month, compared with February, helping it sustain its illegal war against Ukraine. American power has also taken a knock, which could be unfortunate if that lets China throw its weight around in coming years.

(Continue Reading – RTRS)