Ayanna Pressley ripped for calling evictions an ‘act of violence’
A House Democrat is facing backlash for comparing evictions to violence, despite appearing to benefit from rental income tied to her husband’s growing real estate portfolio. “Eviction is an act of violence,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a video posted to social media Thursday. “And we have to do everything to prevent it.” “It degrades the health of communities. There is great stigma associated with it,” she continued. “Housing is a human right.” Pressley, a progressive lawmaker and member of the “Squad,” has long advocated for rent cancellation legislation and pushed for an eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. She introduced legislation Wednesday that would prevent evictions from being factored into credit reporting and fund legal assistance for those at risk of eviction. SQUAD MEMBER BRANDS ICE ‘RACIST’ AND ‘ROGUE’ IN CALL TO ABOLISH AGENCY Her sales pitch is falling flat with supporters of free markets and conservatives. “Great. When can I move into your house for free?” journalist Brad Polumbo wrote in response to Pressley’s statement. “The only violence in this statement is what Ayanna Pressley is doing to the meaning of words and the English language,” conservative commentator Steve Guest added. A spokesperson for Pressley emphasized the congresswoman’s perspective on evictions in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Evictions are destabilizing life events with devastating consequences for the physical, financial, and mental wellbeing of those being evicted, who are disproportionately women and families with young children,” the spokesperson said. Pressley, a four-term lawmaker, has previously faced charges of hypocrisy for pushing rent-relief policies while appearing to profit from her husband’s status as a landlord. GET OFF MY LAWN! 5 TIMES SQUATTERS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF UNWITTING HOMEOWNERS IN 2024 According to Pressley’s 2024 financial disclosure, Pressley and her husband reported up to $8 million in combined assets derived from four Massachusetts rental properties. Pressley’s spouse earned up to $350,000 in rental income and a property sale, according to the congresswoman’s 2024 financial disclosure form. The rentals include a house on Martha’s Vineyard worth more than $1 million. The couple sold a one-bedroom condo in Fort Lauderdale in 2024 valued at under $500,000. The Massachusetts Democrat also raised eyebrows in February for comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to members of the Ku Klux Klan. “In the same way that the KKK cannot be reformed, another — you know, masked militia group — I do not believe that ICE can be reformed and that this has anything to do with training and protocols,” Pressley said in an interview.
GOP races to pass ICE, Border Patrol funding bill as priorities pile up, divisions emerge
A party-line tactic to ram legislation through Congress and bypass the Senate filibuster has become a dumping ground for Republicans’ legislative priorities throughout the year. Now, as Democrats refuse to fund immigration operations, Republicans are once again readying a budget reconciliation package. The hard part will be getting enough of the GOP on the same page to craft a bill that can pass and survive the strict rules underpinning the process. Republicans used the same process to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year. It’s a time-consuming, labor-intensive legislative maneuver that nearly blew up and could fail unless both the Senate and House align on what exactly they want to include. SENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES Trump officially backed using reconciliation again this week as a way to skirt Democrats’ refusal to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as Congress inches closer to ending the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. Trump demanded that Republicans get the bill on his desk by June 1. “We are going to work as fast and as focused as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump said on Truth Social. Still, Republicans have viewed reconciliation as a vehicle to tackle fraud, affordability, Trump’s tariff authorities, additional tax provisions, healthcare, funding for the Iran war, supplemental agriculture spending and election integrity measures in the months since passing the “big, beautiful bill.” DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that if reconciliation is going to work — especially given the limited timeframe lawmakers have to start and finish the process — Republicans need to “keep our expectations realistic.” “Our theory of the case behind all this was to keep that thing as narrow and focused as possible, and that maximizes the speed at which we can do it and the support for it,” Thune said. “There will probably be some attempts to add things,” he continued. “There are things out there that, obviously, many of us are interested in. But on a reconciliation vehicle like this — which we need to move with haste, as the president has pointed out — it’s probably not a likely magnet for all these other issues.” Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told voters at an event this week in South Carolina that he is eyeing two new reconciliation packages, which could ease concerns about cramming all the GOP’s priorities into one massive bill. GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN “We want to do it quick — ICE, Border Patrol — fund it as much as you can, multi-year,” Graham said. “Then there’s another one coming. I just made news. There’s another one coming in the fall, and that’s going to be about going after fraud.” House Republicans spent their recent policy retreat earlier this year pushing a so-called “reconciliation 2.0,” gearing up to load the package with several provisions that could drain time and struggle to earn support in the Senate — where strict guidelines could kill proposals entirely if they don’t comply with the rules. The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which has long called for a second reconciliation bill, also wants to add proposals addressing affordability concerns. “We support pursuing funding for military readiness and Homeland Security through this legislative process, while simultaneously codifying the president’s agenda to deliver lower costs for working families,” the RSC Steering Committee said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Some Republicans are also pushing to include the latest policy fight: the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The voter ID and citizenship verification legislation has no chance of passing the Senate given unified Democratic opposition. It’s also unlikely to survive the Senate’s reconciliation rules, which allow only provisions that directly impact spending. “I think we have to set our sights a little bit lower on this reconciliation bill,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital. “It’s got to be targeted to fund ICE for 10 years — I think that’s the number one thing for us. If we can nibble at the edges of the SAVE Act, that would be great, but the parliamentarian is not going to let us do the SAVE Act. That’s just an impossibility.” Some of the loudest proponents of the bill in the House GOP acknowledge that adding the SAVE Act to reconciliation would be a challenge — largely because they would prefer to keep the bill intact and push it through the Senate. “Look, it’s time for them to do a walk-and-talk and filibuster, and let’s make this thing happen,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said. “The American people are watching — piecing it together just to try to get a piece.”
Why the Strait of Hormuz matters as Trump issues fresh ultimatum to Iran
Few places on the planet matter more to the global economy than the Strait of Hormuz. That’s why President Donald Trump has given Iran until Tuesday to allow all vessels through the key waterway — or face strikes on critical infrastructure, as fuel costs climb worldwide. In a profanity-laced post on Truth Social, Trump wrote on Sunday: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—–’ Strait, you crazy b——-, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.” “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” he wrote in a second post. Trump also said he will hold a press conference at the White House on Monday alongside military officials. SAN FRANCISCO BECOMES FIRST US CITY WHERE DIESEL PRICES TOP $8 A GALLON At just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, the waterway between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates is one of the world’s most critical energy choke points. It carries roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day, along with about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas. It’s also a key artery for refined fuels. The Middle East exports about 1.1 million barrels per day of jet fuel — roughly 15% to 17% of global consumption — according to Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil products at OPIS. Much of that supply moves through the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation is already sending oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices sharply higher worldwide. As of April 5, the national average for regular gasoline stood at $4.11 per gallon, according to AAA — up 86 cents from a month earlier. On the West Coast, drivers are seeing the highest costs, with prices reaching $5.92 per gallon in California and $5.37 in Washington. WHERE GAS PRICES ARE RISING FASTEST AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH WARNING TO IRAN On the East Coast, gas prices are exceeding $4 in several areas, including $4.27 in Washington, D.C., and $4.06 in New York. In the Midwest, Illinois stands out at $4.29 per gallon, while much of the region remains in the mid-$3 range. Southern states remain cheaper overall, though prices are rising. Texas and South Carolina are averaging $3.82, while Florida is higher at $4.20. Diesel has climbed to $5.61, up about $1.45 over the past month. As a key fuel for freight, shipping and public transportation, it is especially sensitive to supply disruptions. In San Francisco, prices have surged even higher. For the first time on record, average diesel costs have surpassed $8 per gallon, according to GasBuddy — an unprecedented milestone for any U.S. city. Additionally, jet fuel prices in the U.S. have more than doubled in a matter of weeks as Middle East tensions squeeze supply. THE UNLIKELY TOOL TRUMP IS EYEING TO TACKLE RISING OIL PRICES AMID THE IRAN CONFLICT Prices jumped from about $2.11 in January to $4.88 per gallon by April 2, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index, a daily benchmark tracking prices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York. Jet fuel — one of airlines’ largest expenses — is especially volatile due to thin inventories, specialized storage and limited spot trading. That can amplify price swings when supply tightens. Airlines have warned that inventories could run dry within weeks, raising the risk of higher airfares and flight cancellations.
Primary pause, political firestorm: High-stakes elections this month take center stage
The ballot box battle for the House majority resumes this week. Special U.S. House contests in Georgia and New Jersey and a Virginia referendum that is the latest face-off between President Donald Trump and Republicans and Democrats in the high-stakes congressional redistricting wars — with the House majority on the line — will all draw national attention this month. Also on tap in April: a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin. The consequential elections come as the 2026 primary calendar, which kicked off in March, takes a break this month before returning with a vengeance in May. TRUMP-BACKED FULLER ADVANCES IN RACE TO FILL MTG’S CONGRESSIONAL SEAT Here’s a closer look at the four ballot box showdowns. Trump-backed Republican House candidate Clay Fuller faces off with Democratic candidate Shawn Harris to fill a vacant congressional district in solidly red northwest Georgia that was once held by MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene. Harris, a retired brigadier general and cattle farmer, and Fuller, a local prosecutor and Air National Guard member, were the top two finishers in a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the early March special election. With no candidate topping 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to a runoff. SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE’S OLD SEAT IN CONGRESS HEADS INTO OVERTIME The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. That means the GOP cannot afford any surprises or allow Democrats to pull an upset in a district that extends from Atlanta’s northwest exurbs to Georgia’s northwestern border with Alabama and northern border with Tennessee, which Trump carried by 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory. Fuller, who is expected to consolidate the Republican vote that was divided in the first round, is considered the clear frontrunner in the race. But if Harris holds Fuller’s margin to the mid-teens or less, national Democrats will argue the election is the latest in the 14 months since Trump returned to the White House in which they’ve overperformed. The congressional seat was left vacant when Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in the Midwestern battleground have become extremely partisan in recent years. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contests, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers. Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court. With a conservative justice retiring, the majority isn’t at stake in this year’s election, although liberals with a win could expand their majority to 5-2. But if the conservative candidate wins, or keeps it close, the GOP may claim a moral victory. Republican Joe Hathaway, a local mayor, is hoping to pull off an upset in the special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning last November’s gubernatorial election. Hathaway, who was unopposed in February’s primary, faces off in the election against Democrat Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer backed by left-wing champions Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mejia pulled off an upset, narrowly edging out front-runner former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. The face-off was one of the latest between progressives and more mainstream Democrats. The 11th Congressional District in northern New Jersey‘s New York City suburbs was once the kind of seat where Republicans excelled at the ballot box. Hathaway, who has pointed out his differences with Trump, is the type of Republican who could attract crossover voters. Add in that Mejia may be too far to the left for some voters in the district, and there’s a chance for some intrigue on Election Day. Voters in Virginia are casting ballots on a Democrat-pushed referendum that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections. That could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the state’s U.S. House delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. With two weeks until Election Day, early voting is surging, according to officials, with turnout outpacing early voting from last autumn’s general election. Despite being vastly outraised by Democrats, Republicans see positive signs in early turnout. Republicans call the Democrats’ redistricting effort an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP. Virginia is the latest redistricting battleground, with Florida on deck, to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections. Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.
Iran war nears ‘completion’ as Trump eyes deadline — what the endgame could look like
President Donald Trump says the war with Iran is “nearing completion,” but a looming deadline could determine whether the conflict is actually ending — or about to escalate. “We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close,” Trump said Wednesday night, adding that U.S. forces will “hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks” and “bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” As the war enters what analysts describe as its final phase, the administration is signaling a shift from broad military gains to a narrower endgame — raising questions about what “finishing the job” actually means militarily and politically. Trump gave Iran until Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that failure to comply could trigger sweeping strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. TRUMP PAUSES IRAN ENERGY PLANT STRIKES FOR 10 DAYS AS TALKS ‘GOING VERY WELL’ “If no deal is made … we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously,” he said. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???” he said on Truth Social Friday. The U.S. has already begun expanding its target set to include major infrastructure. This week, American strikes hit one of Iran’s largest bridges — a critical transportation artery — signaling that mixed-use infrastructure supporting military logistics is now firmly on the table. “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” That raises a central question heading into the final weeks: what, exactly, would “finishing the job” look like? Military analysts say it is unlikely to be a single decisive strike. Instead, the endgame may unfold as a series of escalating options — from intensified attacks on Iran’s remaining missile and drone network, to broader strikes on infrastructure designed to force the regime into a deal, or a longer-term strategy of containing Iran’s capabilities from above. “We will continue to see very aggressive attrition of offensive and defensive targets, as well as infrastructure targets,” said RP Newman, a retired Marine ground combat veteran and counterterrorism consultant. Some critics doubt that Trump has a clear exit strategy. Trump’s public address Wednesday “was a summary, somewhat in chronological order, of things he’s already said on social media for the last month — and that, in and of itself, reveals that he doesn’t have a plan,” said Trita Parsi, a geopolitical analyst with the Quincy Institute, on X. “I think he wants to get out of this war. I just don’t think he knows how.” Rather than winding down, Newman said, the U.S. may still be expanding its options. “That gives the President more options, and it gives the enemy an additional problem set to ponder.” He also cautioned that Iran retains significant capability despite weeks of strikes. “Iran likely has more missiles and drones remaining in their inventory than some people in organizations think or are claiming,” Newman said. Recent U.S. intelligence assessments cited by CNN suggest that roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers remain intact and thousands of drones are still in its arsenal. Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the likely objective now is to “degrade and defang the regime of its long-range strike capabilities and prevent it from being able to pose a threat abroad.” That effort, he said, would focus not just on weapons, but on the systems that sustain them. “The regime’s bases that house these missiles and drones need to be targeted and collapsed … as well as the domestic supply chain and defense industrial base that supports these projectiles,” Taleblu said. At the same time, the administration appears to be signaling limits to how far it will go. Trump has suggested the U.S. may rely on continuous surveillance of Iran’s nuclear sites rather than launching new strikes or sending in ground forces to seize enriched uranium — a strategy Taleblu described as “watching them like a hawk.” WHY TRUMP’S WAR SPEECH FAILED: DECLARING VICTORY BUT STILL BOMBING IRAN BACK TO THE ‘STONE AGES’ The influx of thousands of new troops from Marine Expeditionary Units and the 82nd Airborne Division in recent weeks has fueled speculation that the U.S. may be eyeing a ground operation to seize Kharg Island or recover Iran’s nuclear stockpile — estimated at more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium — believed to be entombed deep within the Isfahan tunnel complex since the U.S. first collapsed its entrances in June 2025. That approach could allow Washington to step back militarily while maintaining pressure, but it risks leaving key elements of Iran’s nuclear program intact. “Keeping this material relatively accessible for the regime will mean that this will be a problem that the U.S. will be coming back to,” Taleblu said. Trump also has signaled that, even as the U.S. pressures Iran to reopen the Strait in the short term, it may not pay a role in securing global energy flows, shifting more responsibility to allies. “To those countries that can’t get fuel… go to the Strait and just take it. Protect it. Use it for yourselves,” he said. Still, whether the war can truly be “finished” within Trump’s timeline remains uncertain. Iran is believed to retain portions of its missile and drone arsenal, and analysts warn that even a degraded regime could continue to pose a threat — particularly if key capabilities survive the current campaign. What happens next may depend on whether the pressure applied in the coming days — especially ahead of the April 6 deadline — is enough to force an outcome.
Pair of Democrat lawmakers slam ‘blockade of fuel’ to Cuba, ‘economic bombing’ after visit to island
Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said after a congressional delegation returned from Cuba that U.S. economic restrictions on the island represented an “illegal U.S. blockade of fuel” and “effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country.” The lawmakers, following their five-day delegation to Cuba, spoke out against what they described as a humanitarian crisis on the island that they argue is linked to the U.S. embargo. “The illegal U.S. blockade of fuel to Cuba—90 miles south of the United States—adds to the longest embargo in world history and is causing untold suffering to the Cuban people,” the lawmakers said in a statement on Sunday. “The United States prevented a single drop of oil from entering Cuba for over three months. This is cruel collective punishment—effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country—that has produced permanent damage. It must stop immediately.” US ALLOWS RUSSIAN OIL TANKER TO REACH CUBA AMID BLOCKADE AS TRUMP SAYS ISLAND ‘HAS TO SURVIVE’ “We witnessed firsthand premature babies in incubators, weighing just two pounds, who are at tremendous risk because their ventilators and incubators cannot function without electricity,” they continued. “Children cannot attend school because there is no fuel for them or their teachers to travel. Cancer patients cannot receive lifesaving treatments because of lack of medications. There is a water shortage because there is little electricity to pump water. Businesses have closed. Families cannot keep food refrigerated, and food production on the island has dropped to just 10 percent of the people’s needs.” This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated his pressure campaign on Cuba in recent weeks, calling the island a “failed nation” and suggesting that “Cuba is next” following recent U.S. military actions in Venezuela and Iran. The trip came after Jayapal and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to block federal funds for military action against Cuba without congressional approval. Jayapal and Jackson said they spoke with families, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, the Cuban government, Latin American and African ambassadors, humanitarian aid organizations and Cubans across the political spectrum, including dissidents. “Across all sectors, there is agreement: this illegal blockade must end immediately. We do not believe that the majority of Americans would want this kind of cruelty and inhumanity to continue in our name,” the lawmakers said. The pair added that the Cuban government “has sent many signals that this is a new moment for the country.” “While we were there, President Diaz-Canel released over 2,000 prisoners. The Cuban government has begun to liberalize its economy with significant reforms, including allowing Cuban American entrepreneurs to invest in private businesses in Cuba. Entrepreneurship has grown substantially, with small- and medium-sized private businesses now comprising large parts of the economy,” the statement said. CUBA RELEASES 2,000 PRISONERS AMID TRUMP PRESSURE, ENERGY CRISIS “Significantly, the Cuban government has invited in the FBI to conduct an independent investigation of a lethal speedboat shooting,” it continued. “The remaining obstacles to progress in Cuba now rest with the United States changing our outdated, Cold War-era policy of coercive economic measures and military pressures against Cuba.” Jayapal and Jackson went on to say that “true reform will only come from charting a new course.” “The United States and Cuba must immediately enter into real negotiations that provide for the dignity and freedom of the Cuban people and the tremendous benefits to the American people that will accrue from a real collaboration between our two countries,” they concluded.
UK police arrest seven protesters near RAF base used by US
The activists were protesting the alleged use of the RAF base as a departure point for US aircraft involved in the US-Israel war on Iran. Published On 5 Apr 20265 Apr 2026 British police have arrested seven people on suspicion of supporting the banned group Palestine Action at a protest near a Royal Air Force (RAF) air base in eastern England used by United States forces. The five men and two women arrested at a peace encampment just outside the Lakenheath airbase had gathered with other activists on Sunday to protest the alleged use of the base as a departure point for US aircraft involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, which organised the protest, said the seven had been arrested wearing clothing with the message: “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action.” Police said the protesters had been arrested “on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government banned Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation last year, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group. In February, a court ruled the ban was “disproportionate” and interfered with the right to free speech. But the government has appealed, and the ban remains in effect in the meantime. More than 2,700 people have been arrested and hundreds charged over rallies in support of the group, according to protest organisers Defend Our Juries. Police said in a statement on the latest arrests that they had a duty to enforce the law “as it currently stands, not as it might be in the future”. Two protesters were also arrested on Saturday at Lakenheath and charged with obstructing public thoroughfares, police said. Advertisement US President Donald Trump has railed against Starmer for what he calls insufficient support in the US-Israel war on Iran, straining the countries’ longtime alliance. The United Kingdom has authorised the US to use British military bases to carry out “defensive” operations against Iran and protect the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes in peacetime. Adblock test (Why?)
Vietnam’s gig workers slammed by rising fuel costs amid fallout of Iran war
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – After a long day of ferrying passengers to and fro recently, e-hailing driver Nguyen was dejected to find he had spent half of his earnings on fuel. “I drove for around seven or eight hours, making around 240,000 Vietnamese dong [$9.11] and then I paid 120,000 Vietnamese dong [$4.56] on petrol,” Nguyen, a motorcyclist who connects with passengers via the locally developed super-app Be, told Al Jazeera, asking not to be identified by his real name. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “I can’t survive with this amount of money in the city.” In Vietnam, the ripples of the US-Israel war on Iran are hitting many gig workers hard. The Southeast Asian country normally sources about 80 percent of its crude oil from Kuwait, but shipments have dried up amid Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, driving up fuel prices. Diesel prices have more than doubled, while petrol prices have risen almost 30 percent, making getting from point A to point B an increasingly expensive proposition in cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, home to more than 7 million motorcycles. “Because the petrol price is so high, so many drivers are turning off the app, going home and just not working,” Nguyen said. “After today, I will turn off the app and stop working for a few days to see if the price goes down or if the government is helping in any way.” A Be driver picks up a passenger at Thu Duc Metro Station in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 30, 2026 [Govi Snell/Al Jazeera] Vietnam’s government has rolled out a series of emergency measures to cushion the blow for citizens. Advertisement Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh last month announced that an environmental tax on diesel, petrol, and aviation fuel would be suspended until April 15 to help stabilise prices. Nguyen Khac Giang, a Vietnamese-born visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said authorities had been forced to act to stave off rising disgruntlement among citizens. “There are a lot of complaints and frustrations about rising living costs, because gas prices are everything in Vietnam,” Giang told Al Jazeera. “It’s not only necessary in terms of making the population feel relief about the rise of gas prices, but at the same time, it will keep the macroeconomic stability intact, given the turbulence outside Vietnam.” Despite the government sacrificing an estimated $273m in revenue via the tax cut, signs of strain are mounting across the economy. Public transportation is stretched to capacity in major cities, while domestic carriers such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air have slashed flights. “As a very, very open economy, Vietnam is super vulnerable to international shocks,” Giang said. Gig workers have been particularly exposed due to the double whammy of heavy fuel consumption and minimal labour protections. “Their income is changeable due to factors beyond their control,” Do Hai Ha, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne who has studied Vietnam’s gig platforms, told Al Jazeera. “They have no chance to negotiate with the platforms.” Many drivers have had no choice but to work longer hours as they are “excluded from labour protection, so there’s no guarantee in terms of minimum wages or overtime pay”, Do said. A commuter refuels at a petrol station in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 27 [Govi Snell/Al Jazeera] Companies, too, are feeling the crunch. Anh Dao, who collects fares on Ho Chi Minh City’s bus route 13, said the bus operator has been losing money due to the surge in fuel prices, despite raising ticket prices by 3,000 Vietnamese dong ($0.11). “As we already signed the contract, we cannot just stop running the buses,” she told Al Jazeera. For one fisherman in the coastal region of Binh Thuan, about 200km (124 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City, rising fuel costs have prompted a frantic search for cheaper options to power his basket boat. “Now that fuel prices are rising, it’s having a big impact,” the fisherman told Al Jazeera, asking not to be identified by name. The middlemen he does business with have been citing weak demand to justify offering lower prices for his catch, he said. Advertisement “What I was usually able to sell for 800,000 Vietnamese dong [$30] is now only selling for 650,000 Vietnamese dong [$24],” he said. Families kept apart For some low-income families, the rising costs are reshaping daily life in other ways. After a weeklong trip to the Mekong Delta region, Uyen Pham, a communications manager for the Saigon Children’s Charity, said she has seen the strain firsthand. “Several parents noted that the cost of bottled cooking gas has nearly doubled,” Pham told Al Jazeera. “Most of our beneficiary families have always relied on wood-fired stoves or a hybrid of wood and gas to save money. With the recent price hike, they are now strictly limiting their gas usage even further, relying almost entirely on wood to cut every possible expense.” For many parents, the rising fuel costs have also meant less time with family. “Many parents in remote areas must leave their children with grandparents to work in cities,” Pham said. “Rising fuel prices directly increase their commuting costs, while manual labour wages remain stagnant. This pinches their take-home pay and, in some cases, reduces how often they can afford to travel home to see their children.” For the government in Hanoi, the price volatility has intensified the focus on greater energy independence, Giang, the visiting fellow, said. “The longer-term question this crisis has enacted is a very important question about the strategic autonomy of Vietnam in terms of energy dependencies, especially when we are a net importer of oil,” he said. Policymakers will need to “more aggressively accelerate Vietnam’s energy independence by building more refineries,” Giang said, “because now we only have two refineries, which is not enough for the Vietnamese market.” With long-term solutions likely to take years to come
Iran war live: Tehran rejects Trump’s Hormuz deadline; 2 killed in Haifa
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Iranian officials dismiss Trump’s ultimatum and condemn the latest threats as ‘incitement to war crimes’. Published On 6 Apr 20266 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
US-Israel-Iran war: How LPG crisis is forcing migrant workers to leave cities and return home
The LPG crisis has been triggered by the war in Iran, which began in late-February and is now in its fifth week. The conflict has significantly disrupted global energy supplies as the vital waterway Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.