Economic sanctions as a plural noun defined from dictionary.com as “any actions taken by one nation or group of nations to harm the economy of another nation or group, often to force a political change.” The United Kingdom based web site oilprice.com posted an article on July 24, 2024, “India’s Top Private Refiner Gets US License to Buy Venezuelan Crude.” The

The last two weeks have been intense. As Israel attacked Iran, Trump reversed his previous aversion to such an attack, and then ordered some air strikes of his own, the response and rhetoric from much of the American right was disheartening for many opponents of Washington’s endless wars.

Just a few weeks ago in this space I urged President Trump to accept a deal with Iran allowing it to continue pursuing civilian nuclear power while ensuring that it would not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran signaled it was ready to sign such a deal, yet suddenly Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff changed the US position to demand no civilian nuclear enrichment at all.

According to the most recent report on consumer prices, published at the Statistics Bureau of Japan, consumer prices rose 3.4 percent, year over year, in May. That’s down slightly from April’s 12-month increase of 3.6 percent, and it’s up solidly from May 2024’s increase of 2.9 percent.