US wholesale prices surged 4% last month as the Iran war sent energy prices soaring

Source: Seattle Times

“U.S. wholesale prices surged last month as the Iran war drove up the cost of energy. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.5% from February and 4% from March 2025. The year-over-year gains was the biggest in more than three years. Energy prices surged 8.5% from February. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose a modest 0.1% from February and 3.8% from a year earlier. The gains in wholesale prices were smaller than economists had forecast.” (04/14/26)

https://archive.is/P15Jt

Pakistan: Hospital at centre of child HIV outbreak caught reusing syringes in undercover filming

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“Mohammed Amin was eight when he died shortly after testing positive for HIV. His fevers were so bad that he insisted on sleeping in the rain, and he writhed in pain ‘like he’d been thrown in hot oil,’ says his mother, Sughra. ‘He used to fight with me, but he also loved me,’ 10-year-old Asma says as she kneels at her younger brother’s graveside. Not long after her brother contracted the virus, Asma was also diagnosed with HIV. Her family believe both children contracted it from injections with contaminated needles during routine medical treatment at a government hospital in Taunsa, in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. They are two of the 331 children that BBC Eye has identified as testing positive for HIV in the city between November 2024 and October 2025.” (04/14/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrd818gd2o

Founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande admits theft, fraud, bribery

Source: United Press International

“The founder and former chairman of Chinese property giant China Evergrande Group pleaded guilty Tuesday to a slew of charges, including embezzlement, securities fraud and corporate graft at a trial in the southern city of Shenzhen. Hui Ka Yan admitted ‘illegally absorbing public deposits’ where buyers’ down payments on apartments off-plan were used to fund hundreds of other projects in the case in which Evergrande Real Estate Group also faced a similar set of charges, the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen said in a statement online. Evergrande took in millions of dollars from buyers that, instead of being used to complete the properties they were purchasing, were diverted to new developments, the court heard.” (04/14/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/04/14/Evergrande-chief-admits-fraud-embezzlement-charges/8611776154632/

Greece: Police using masked migrants to forcibly push other migrants back across border

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“Police in Greece have been recruiting migrants to violently push other migrants back across its land border with Turkey, according to wide-ranging evidence uncovered by the BBC. We have seen internal police documents in which guards describe how the recruitment of so-called mercenaries was ordered and overseen by senior officers. Our findings reveal allegations of brutality, with witnesses reporting migrants being stripped, robbed, beaten and even sexually assaulted. It has been claimed that mercenaries have been unofficially employed on the border since at least 2020. The Greek prime minister told the BBC he was ‘totally unaware’ about allegations of the use of migrants for pushbacks, while the country’s authorities have not responded to our written detailed requests for comment.” (04/14/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86vpq42dl0o

Amazon signs $11.57 billion deal for satellite firm Globalstar to challenge Musk’s Starlink

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Amazon.com said on Tuesday it would acquire Globalstar in an $11.57 billion deal, bolstering its fledgling satellite business as it tries to catch up with Elon Musk’s Starlink. Tech companies are pouring ‌in billions of dollars to capture the lucrative market for satellite-based connectivity, but it will be a tall order to ‌match Starlink’s 10,000-unit-strong network. Through the deal, Amazon adds Globalstar’s two dozen satellites to its existing network of more than 200. Amazon has been working to ramp up its network ​by deploying about 3,200 satellites in Earth’s low orbit by 2029, with roughly half required to be in place by a July regulatory deadline. It is also preparing to roll out its satellite internet services later this year.” (04/14/26)

https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/amazon-signs-11-57-billion-120533254.html

Appeals court again blocks Boasberg contempt probe into Alien Enemies Act deportations

Source: Politico

“U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s effort to investigate possible criminal contempt by Kristi Noem and other senior Trump administration officials in connection with deportation flights last year has been blocked — for the second time — by a bitterly divided appeals court panel. In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that Boasberg, the chief federal district court judge in Washington, had overstepped his authority by continuing to pursue possible contempt charges against administration officials who signed off on deportations to El Salvador despite the judge’s effort to halt them.” (04/14/26)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/14/james-boasberg-contempt-deportations-ruling-00871317

CA: Los Angeles schools avoid strike as last-minute deal reached with staff

Source: SFGate

“Los Angeles schools avoided a strike that would have impacted nearly 400,000 students in Southern California as the school district and the union representing support staff reached a tentative deal early Tuesday. Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union announced on social media that it won a tentative agreement with ‘major gains’ including raises and more hours. The district announced that an agreement in principle had been reached with SEIU Local 99 allowing schools to be open Tuesday and they would work to finalize the details of a tentative agreement. SEIU Local 99 said the tentative deal also included protections against subcontracting, stopped IT layoffs and increased staffing. SEIU Local 99 told members to report to work as usual on Tuesday and thanked its fellow unions and the Los Angeles community, saying the ‘victory belongs to ALL of us.'” (04/14/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/los-angeles-schools-avoid-a-strike-as-a-22205414.php

Sudan: Drone strikes kill nearly 700 in three months as civil war reaches grim milestone

Source: France 24 [French state media]

“Nearly 700 civilians have reportedly been killed in drone strikes in Sudan since January, the United Nations aid chief said Tuesday, decrying that three years of civil war had created the ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis.’ Now entering a fourth year, the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million, and thrust several areas into hunger and famine.” (04/14/26)

https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20260414-sudan-drone-strikes-kill-nearly-700-in-three-months-as-civil-war-reaches-grim-milestone

Spain: Regime approves plan to give around 500,000 undocumented migrants legal status

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“Spain’s government has approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be integrated formally into the workforce. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described his government’s decision as both ‘an act of justice’ and a necessity for Spain. In a letter to Spaniards posted on social media, Sánchez, a socialist, said the mass legalisation sought ‘to acknowledge the reality of nearly half a million people who already form part of our everyday lives’. Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) has pledged to attempt to block the legalisation, which it said rewards illegal migrants and would encourage more to come. The government’s plan will offer a one-year, renewable residence permit to undocumented migrants. In order to be eligible, applicants must prove that they have already spent five months living in Spain and have a clean criminal record.” (04/14/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy511nln2xvo

US regime publicly confesses to two more maritime murders

Source: CBS News

“The U.S. military said it [murdered] two people in a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least 170 since strikes began last September. U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for Washington’s forces in the region, said in a post on X that ‘the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.’ … The latest strike comes two days after U.S. military strikes [murdered] five people in two boats, also in the eastern Pacific.” (04/13/26)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-alleged-drug-boat-strike-eastern-pacific/