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BRUSSELS SAYS EUROPEANS SHOULD CUT BACK ON TRAVEL TO PREVENT ENERGY SHORTAGES – POLITICO

BREAKING: China is now on track to import 3.69 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas in March, the lowest since 2018. That would mark a -45% decline from January and a -57% drop from December, amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Last year, China imported ~30% of its LNG from Qatar. As a result, Asian LNG prices have nearly DOUBLED this month as buyers compete for an increasingly limited supply. Chinese companies are now relying more on domestic gas and pipeline deliveries to offset the shortage. China’s LNG imports are collapsing amid the Iran War.

Medvedev and Peskov started making assurances that there will be no mobilization in Russia and Russia is not preparing for one. Very recently, I wrote that one of the reasons for restricting the internet and social media in Russia is preparation for mobilization. Yes, there is an anti-drone logic behind it, but it seems much more like part of a stricter mobilization model: first, the Russian state suppresses communications and limits access to keep people within a controlled digital environment, and only afterward will it conduct a new wave of mobilization with less chaos and less room for resistance. Russia is preparing for a larger war and a broader mobilization. For the process to go smoothly, the regime needs to reduce information leaks, make summonses digital and unavoidable, and narrow the space for evasion and escape. That's why Russia has already launched electronic summonses - to make it harder for men to avoid conscription. We don't know exactly where the Kremlin will deploy the next wave of cannon fodder. But we do know that Putin is already expanding the army to 1.5 million active personnel, and the Kremlin has openly justified this by citing threats on the Western flank and the need to create new structures in the northwest.

Reporter: The president said we might blow up and completely obliterate all of their generating electric plants, oil wells, Kharg island, and possibly all desalination plants. Under international law, striking infrastructure is generally prohibited. Why is the president advocating potentially a war crime and how do you square that with the US aying it does not target civilians? Leavitt: Their best move is to make a deal or else the united States armed forces has capabilities beyond their wildest imagination Reporter: Including potential war crimes? Leavitt: With respect to achieving the full objectives, the president is going to move forward… Reporter: Which of those objectives would destroying a desalination plant most help?

Jet fuel prices in Europe have now risen over +100% in a matter of weeks. Soon, the discussion will be about how many rate hikes Europe will need to fight the massive wave of inflation heading their way.