Americans lost at least $2.1 billion in 2025 to scams that originated on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That figure marks an eightfold increase since 2020.
The FTC said Americans reported losing $1.1 billion last year to investment scams that started on social media. These often began with a post or ad offering a program that claimed to help people learn how to invest. More than 40 percent of Americans who lost money through a social media scam last year blamed shopping-related ads, many of which took them to “unfamiliar websites,” the FTC said. The agency also highlighted the problem of romance scams that start on social media.
Most of these scams started on Facebook, with WhatsApp and Instagram in “a distant second and third,” the FTC noted. A lawsuit filed against Meta, which owns all three platforms, last week claimed that it misled users about scam ads. In 2025, it was reported that Meta was making billions of dollars from ads promoting scams and illegal products.
Of course, other types of internet scams are snaring regular folks. The FBI said earlier this month that Americans reported losing nearly $21 billion to internet-related crimes in 2025, more than half of which was to cryptocurrency scams. Artificial intelligence scams cost Americans around $893 million last year, the FBI said. And that’s just what people have reported losing — many victims won’t file complaints to the FBI or FTC.
The FTC offers some advice on how to protect yourself from social media scams, such as limiting the reach of your posts so scammers have less specific information to work with and to avoid letting “someone you have met only on social media direct your investment decisions.” The agency also suggests searching for a company’s name along with “scam” or “complaint” before buying anything.
As always, tread cautiously, do your own research and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful out there, folks.
HashKey Group, a digital asset financial services group in Asia, has announced a planned strategic partnership with ANAP Holdings Inc. to develop Bitcoin treasury management and institutional services in Japan. ANAP Holdings Inc. is a Tokyo-listed firm pivoting to Bitcoin ecosystem player. The companies expect to finalize agreements by the end of April 2026.
The cooperation will focus on Bitcoin lending through HashKey Japan, which operates as the group’s local platform. The service is based on infrastructure developed by HashKey Capital. It is designed for institutional clients and allows structured use of digital assets.
Under the partnership, ANAP will be able to allocate part of its Bitcoin treasury into lending programs. The goal is to improve capital efficiency while maintaining a controlled risk framework. HashKey will provide infrastructure and risk management tools for these operations.
The companies also plan to explore further cooperation in asset management and blockchain-based financial services. This may include treasury optimization and on-chain products in the future.
Bitcoin has not reached its bottom yet, and a new all-time high is unlikely this year, said Michael Terpin, an early bitcoin investor and author of Bitcoin Supercycle: How the Crypto Calendar Can Make You Rich.
“Before a bull market for bitcoin can be called, the price needs to break back above $100,000 and no support anywhere near has manifested,” according to Terpin, who said the bottom will be seen at $57,000 sometime in October.
“Despite a double-digit gain thus far in April, we are very much still in a bitcoin fall.”
Terpin is often called ‘the crypto Godfather’ for his involvement in the industry around 2013, when the digital asset sector was still small and somewhat misunderstood by the mainstream. Among his many ventures, Terpin founded Transform Group, one of the first PR firms focused on blockchain companies, CoinAgenda, one of the first conferences in the space and BitAngels, a crypto angel investor group.
His bearish view for this cycle stands in contrast to the consensus among analysts that the February low around $60,000 marked the end of the bear market and the beginning of a new bull run. Most of these bullish analysts cited renewed inflows into U.S.-listed spot ETFs and the token’s resilience during the Iran conflict and the oil price spike as part of their outlook.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Terpin said that during Asian trading hours on Monday, “the psychological barrier of $80,000 was strongly rejected, with the high price of oil a factor.” He explained that this is typical at this stage of the bitcoin cycle, with lower highs being rejected until the final capitulation.
While Jason Fernandes, a market analyst and co-founder of AdLunam, agrees with Terpin that the bottom has not yet been seen, he disagrees with the timeline, adding that the market may not have fully capitulated yet. Capitulation is a phase in which long-term holders exit in large numbers, signaling a peak in selling pressure.
“Terpin makes a reasonable case for a later-cycle bottom, but I don’t believe bitcoin has fully capitulated yet,” Fernandes said. “Historically, durable bottoms tend to coincide with a clear exhaustion of both speculative leverage and macro uncertainty, and we’re definitely not there yet.”
Terpin insisted that the fundamentals point more toward a bottom that includes the historical average of the one-year period from each cycle’s bottom.
“That indicates somewhere around $57,000,” he said, predicting that it will happen sometime in October, about the same timeline from last year when BTC first dipped below $100,000, followed by the October 10 crash, when $19 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out in the largest single-day event on record.
Fernandes added that broader macro conditions could continue to weigh on risk assets, including bitcoin.
“Liquidity conditions remain tight, and risk assets broadly are still adjusting to a higher-for-longer rate environment,” he said. “Until we see a more decisive shift in monetary policy or a true washout event in crypto markets, downside volatility remains likely.”
‘Overly bearish’
The author and entrepreneur also said bitcoin will not see an all-time high ($ATH) this year.
However, Mati Greenspan, a crypto market analyst and founder of Quantum Economics, disagrees.
“While I’m hesitant to ever disagree with the ‘Crypto Godfather,’ his take seems overly bearish to me,” Greenspan said. “We still have lots of room to run this year, given the level of institutional adoption and growing interest a new all-time-high ($ATH) certainly seems plausible.”
AdLunam’s Fernandes also said market sentiment has not yet reached the levels typically associated with cycle bottoms.
“Sentiment hasn’t reached the kind of extreme pessimism that typically marks cycle lows,” he said. “To me, that says we may still need one more leg down – whether or not it aligns exactly with the $57,000 to $59,000 range – before a sustainable base is formed.”
Regarding Terpin’s $100,000 level, Fernandes said it serves more as a psychological signal than a strict technical threshold.
“A true bull market is defined by structural higher highs and strong capital inflows, not just a single price level,” he said. “That said, the psychological effects of hitting $100,000 could trigger exactly that behavior,” Fernandes added.
“One tiny spark becomes a night of blazing suspense!” That tagline from 1974’s The Towering Inferno could easily have been slapped on Renny Harlin’s Deep Water. Maybe combined with “You’ll Never Go in the Water Again!” from Jaws. Even The Poseidon Adventure’s classic “Hell, upside down!” might apply to a scene or two. While the director’s last studio hit, 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, shares shark DNA, the new thriller’s roots are deeply embedded in 1970s disaster movies, not least the truly dreadful Airport ’77. Or as dreadful as any movie featuring screen divinity Lee Grant and Brenda Vaccaro can be.
Given that the cutoff age in America for commercial airline pilots is 65, eyebrows might be raised by making 82-year-old Ben Kingsley the captain on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Would you board? Rich is a failed husband still hitting on the ladies by crooning “Fly Me to the Moon” in karaoke bars, so it’s no wonder the plane goes down. But that exciting crash sequence — from initial turbulence through to catastrophic Pacific Ocean landing — is where high-stakes action specialist Harlin is most firmly in his sweet spot.
Deep Water
The Bottom Line
Diverting enough for a gnarly mashup.
Release date: Friday, May 1 Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Angus Sampson, Li Wenhan, Lucy Barrett, Molly Belle Wright, Richard Croughley, Na Shi, Ryan Bown, Zhao Simei, Kate Fitzpatrick, Lakota Johnson, Madeleine West, Kelly Gale, Elijah Tamati Director: Renny Harlin Screenwriters: Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, SP Krause, Damien Power, John Kim
Rated R,
1 hour 46 minutes
The prelude in a screenplay that took four writers — Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, SP Krause and Damien Power, plus a fifth, John Kim, for additional input, presumably with the Chinese characters — is struck directly from the ‘70s template. Once it kicks into gear, the story could almost be told in emojis: ✈️🔥😱🌊🦈🦈🦈💩.
A bunch of stock characters are given one-dimensional introductions, led by Aaron Eckhart’s Ben, a first officer whose failure to make captain by now might have something to do with hot-headedness in his Air Force days. A flawed hero with a firmly clenched jaw, he’s also caught in a bind of needing to make money to cover his young son’s cancer treatment but also possibly using the job to flee responsibility, leaving his desperate wife to deal with the anxiety alone.
The passengers include the requisite obnoxious jerk, Dan (Angus Sampson), already throwing his weight around and breaking no-smoking rules at LAX. We watch him stuff a glitchy charging device into his check-in luggage and then we follow his suitcase onto the conveyor belt and into the cargo hold, which doesn’t bode well.
There’s a blended family, including kids Cora (Molly Belle Wright) and the younger stepbrother she barely tolerates, Finn (Elijah Tamati), and their frisky parents Declan (Ryan Bown) and Jaya (Kelly Gale). The couple disappears early in the flight to join the Mile High Club, leaving the children unattended, so in movie-morality logic, we can assume they’re toast.
The same appears to be true of douchey athlete Hutch (Lakota Johnson), whose aggressive behavior with Lilly (Zhao Simei) pisses off Sam (Li Wenhan), captain of the Esports team returning from a video gamer tournament. Official team rules prohibit them from dating, but you just know that near-death experiences are going to make these lovebirds take the plunge. Also because the Chinese co-financing requires it.
Australian screen and stage veteran Kate Fitzpatrick plays Becky, a feisty grandmother whose role is so familiar that her banter with geeky Matt across the aisle (Richard Croughley) will later include him good-naturedly dropping a Shelley Winters reference. That’s about it for the characters we need to care much about, though I would have liked to see more of tough but tender vet Martine (Madeleine West).
The key cabin crew are flight attendants Penny (Lucy Barrett) and Zoe (Na Shi), both of whom demonstrate bravery, to different ends, and show caring attention to the terrified children.
The cause of the plane’s malfunctions is, duh, random sparks from annoying Dan’s charger starting a fire in cargo. Harlin rediscovers some of his old Die Hard 2 mojo in the dizzying acceleration of violence as faulty equipment and then crew are unable to contain the blaze, gas cannisters start ricocheting through the cabin ripping a hole in the fuselage, hand luggage goes flying and the drinks cart contents turn into shrapnel.
Any passengers not knocked out during the chaos or sucked out into the sky are generally screaming and grabbing for oxygen masks while Captain Rich makes a futile announcement about the importance of not panicking. This is basically every aerophobic flier’s worst nightmare, and Harlin does a solid job of maintaining the fear factor and shock right up to the moment of Rich’s decision to dump fuel and ditch, since the nearest airport, Guam, is out of range.
The director again shows his action smarts by creating a brief lull — albeit while leaning hard on one of the more sudsy passages of composer Fernando Velázquez’s generic score — before the next shuddering impact sends the number of casualties skyrocketing.
The plane hitting the water is destructive enough without the help of a jagged coral reef (improbably far from any coastline) slicing through the aircraft’s undercarriage. By the time Ben looks around at the floating wreckage, he estimates that of the 257 souls on board, maybe 30 survived. That number will keep shrinking as vicious mako sharks start picking off passengers while they pray to be rescued.
Considering how much Harlin dialed up the shark mayhem in the ridiculous but toothsome B-movie Deep Blue Sea, the bloodletting and severed limbs here are a tad routine for the genre — dorsal fins slicing the water; floating passengers circled and suddenly yanked under; pools of blood forming when unfortunate folks try swimming to relative safety; bursts of thrashing; and some scary underwater shots. It’s no Jaws, obviously, but sharksploitation addicts will have seen much worse, and the film will do fine once it lands on streaming.
The focus narrows in on the remaining passengers and crew in the main sections of the aircraft not blown to bits, the cockpit and a stretch of the main cabin (finally, a reward for flying coach), precariously perched on a reef outcrop.
The human drama tends to veer into corniness, though emotional investment is sufficient to keep you watching, and not paying too much attention to the flat light often left behind by green screen removal. Or to some shaky American accents that keep lapsing.
(The movie was shot in New Zealand and the Canary Islands, and the production led by Australian companies, with much of the secondary cast assembled there. It was initially planned as a sequel to 2012’s sharks-in-a-flooded-supermarket 3D chomper, Bait, but that version was shelved due to uncomfortable similarities to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014.)
While there’s some teasing suspense in how long the odious Dan will be kept alive, it’s not exactly surprising that Ben will have his parental instincts reactivated by Cora’s vulnerability. What’s more unexpected is that Chinese fishermen get to be the good guys.
NXT‘s PLEs, fka PPVs, are headed to The CW, fka The WB; more acronyms and ALL-CAPS TK (“to come” in journalism parlance).
WWE and The CW announced this morning NXT’s premium live events will now air exclusively on The CW, which already has the WWE minor leagues’ weekly episodic show each Tuesday. The CW was in pole position for the PLEs.
Starting with The Great American Bash this summer, the multiyear deal will mark the first time NXT’s PLEs, formerly referred to as pay-per-views due to their one-off rental revenue model, will air on broadcast television. Under the terms of the deal, The CW exclusively gets 20 PLEs live on both coasts “over the next several years,” the press release stated; events will also include Stand and Deliver, Deadline, and Vengeance Day. WWE NXT airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW, which is now the developmental league’s exclusive home.
Prior to today’s announcement, NXT PLEs had been a Peacock property, which required a subscription. After that deal ended last month, a one-off event streamed for free on NXT’s YouTube channel.
“WWE NXT has energized our Tuesday nights by consistently delivering a loyal and passionate fanbase to The CW every week,” Brad Schwartz, the president of The CW, said in a statement. “Adding WWE NXT Premium Live Events to our schedule is a natural fit, providing one broadcast destination for audiences to watch all their favorite Superstars, storylines and championship matches.”
Schwartz’s network entered a five-year deal with WWE in October 2024 to bring NXT to broadcast television for the first time in the show’s history. WWE NXT performs disproportionately well on the low-rated over-the-air channel.
“The CW has played an integral role in raising the profile of our up-and-coming Superstars, and we are excited to bring NXT Premium Live Events to broadcast television for the first time ever,” said Shawn Michaels, WWE senior vice president of talent development creative (and the WWE’s GOAT, imo, to keep the theme going here).
The current NXT Champion is Tony D’Angelo and the NXT Women’s Champion is Lola Vice. NXT has launched the careers of many of the main rosters top stars today, including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Oba Femi, Rhea Rhipley, Finn Bálor, Liv Morgan and like anyone else under 40 in WWE.
The CW is ostensibly free for anyone willing to throw an antenna on their roof. Frankly, you may not even need to climb up there anymore. (Technology, amirite?)
Not so long ago, Peacock housed all of WWE’s content, and it was one hell of a bargain for fans. These days, ESPN has WWE’s PLEs in the U.S. and Netflix has them abroad. Netflix also carries flagship series Monday Night Raw; WWE’s SmackDown, a Friday series, is on USA Network.
DeFi United has received enough contributions to potentially restore rsETH, receiving contributions worth $303 million, as of Monday.
The coordinated relief effort has drawn participation from across the crypto industry, including contributions from Consensys and the Avalanche Foundation.
The total amount raised was contingent on governance proposals, including one on Arbitrum that’s expected to take roughly 49 days.
A coordinated relief effort to raise funds following Kelp DAO’s $290 million exploit this month crossed a critical threshold on Monday, receiving enough contributions to potentially cover decentralized finance’s biggest hack in recent memory.
The organization dubbed DeFi United, which has been promoted by Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov, has raised 132,650 Ethereum (ETH), according to its website. With Ethereum recently changing hands around $2,300, the sum was valued around $303 million.
DeFi United plans to use the funds to restore rsETH, a token that Kelp DAO’s attackers stole and used to borrow massive amounts from Aave on April 18. Since the unbacked funds were plundered, Aave’s liquidity has been strained, shaking confidence in DeFi broadly.
Over the past day, contributions have been rolling in. On Monday, Ethereum-focused development firm Consensys said in an X post that it had contributed 30,000 ETH. The Avalanche Foundation meanwhile said in an X post that it was backing the effort. (Disclosure: Consensys is one of 22 investors in an editorially independent Decrypt.)
Although DeFi United has received enough contributions to negate the value of rsETH that attackers linked to North Korea had plundered, the total amount raised is contingent on pending governance votes among other DeFi projects like Mantle, Ether.Fi, and Lido.
DeFi United’s website makes clear that the relief effort isn’t guaranteed to be successful, underscoring how its plan relies on several moving parts, particularly the ability of tokenholders governing various DeFi projects to rally around a common cause.
For example, the security council overseeing layer-2 Ethereum scaling network Arbitrum essentially froze 30,765 Ethereum that attackers had left exposed. A proposal to contribute the funds to DeFi United estimates that the process could take approximately 49 days.
Meanwhile, people are trying to ease the liquidity crunch on Aave in other ways. Tron founder Justin Sun, for example, said in an X post on Monday that Tron DAO and crypto exchange HTX have supplied $20 million worth of Tether’s USDT stablecoin on Aave’s platform.
When Kelp DAO attackers borrowed funds from Aave, they essentially exchanged rsETH for Ethereum, which prevented depositors from withdrawing funds. Many of those affected turned to stablecoins, borrowing the tokens as a way to take money out of the lending platform.
On Monday, the so-called utilization rate for markets related to USDT and Circle’s USDC stablecoin hovered around 92%, according to Aavescan. After being pinned around 100% for several days last week, the metric indicated that the liquidity crunch had slightly abated.
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After months of political wrangling, Iraq’s Coordination Framework on Monday named Ali al-Zaidi, a multimillionaire business figure, as the compromise candidate of the governing Shia bloc.
“After considering the names of the candidates, Ali al-Zaidi was chosen to be the candidate of the Coordination Framework bloc, as the largest bloc in the House of Representatives, to occupy the position of prime minister and form the next government,” a Coordination Framework statement read after a meeting in the capital Baghdad.
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Shortly after that, Iraq’s President Nizar Amedi appointed 40-year-old al-Zaidi as prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a government, averting a constitutional crisis.
Al-Zaidi’s elevation comes after months of a frantic search for a compromise candidate acceptable to both local factions and foreign powers.
Former President Nouri al-Maliki, a deeply divisive pro-Iran figure, was forced to withdraw from the race following opposition from US President Donald Trump. Outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who was brought to power by the Coordination Framework in 2022, failed to get the backing for a second term. Both Iran and the US have close ties with Baghdad.
So who is the 40-year-old businessman al-Zaidi, and what worked in his favour? How will he navigate Iraq through one of its most volatile geopolitical chapters?
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s candidature was opposed by President Trump [AFP]
From boardrooms to politics
Unlike his predecessors, al-Zaidi has no history in political office or government administration. Born in the capital, Baghdad, to a prominent family originating in the southern province of Dhi Qar, he built his career in the private and academic sectors.
He holds Bachelor’s degrees in law and finance, as well as a Master’s degree in banking and finance, and is a member of the Iraqi Bar Association.
Al-Zaidi sits at the helm of the National Holding Company, a conglomerate established in 2017 with interests spanning agriculture, real estate, banking, logistics, and renewable energy. His portfolio extends to the education and health sectors as well, where he serves as chairman of the board for Shaab University and the Ishtar Medical Institute.
He also previously chaired the board of Al-Janoob Islamic Bank. Financial watchdogs and local reports have noted that the bank previously faced sanctions from the Central Bank of Iraq, adding a layer of scrutiny to al-Zaidi’s financial background.
The 25-minute compromise
Al-Zaidi’s sudden ascent was born out of a severe political deadlock within the Coordination Framework, Iraq’s largest Shia parliamentary bloc, which had already missed its constitutional deadline to name a candidate by April 26.
Former Prime Minister al-Maliki secured the backing of a vast majority of the bloc after he entered the race in January. However, his candidacy was abruptly derailed following fierce opposition from President Trump, who threatened to cut off support to Iraq. Washington further escalated the pressure by suspending cooperation and funding for Iraqi security agencies, issuing a strongly worded warning against any government influenced by Iran-linked figures and armed factions.
With al-Maliki sidelined, the bloc attempted to push forward Bassem al-Badry. Despite gathering significant support, al-Badry was ultimately rejected by rival camps who feared his appointment would hand too much power to al-Maliki’s faction.
Facing the prospect of a constitutional vacuum, the coalition convened a final, decisive meeting on Tuesday. Within 25 minutes, al-Zaidi was unanimously approved as the ultimate compromise – a candidate who neither alienates internal rivals nor triggers a US veto.
A new ‘language of interests’
Analysts note that al-Zaidi’s lack of political history is his greatest asset. In a deeply polarised landscape, his “blank slate” makes him a palatable choice domestically and internationally.
The Coordination Framework is betting that al-Zaidi, as a businessman, can engage with Washington and the international community through the pragmatism of economic interests rather than ideological rhetoric.
His stated vision focuses on institutional reform, empowering youth, and transitioning Iraq from a distorted, centrally planned system towards a more open and sustainable economy.
What comes next?
Al-Zaidi now has 30 days to present his cabinet to parliament and secure a vote of confidence from at least 167 lawmakers. The Shia bloc commands 185 of 329 seats in the parliament.
If successful, he will inherit a nation walking a geopolitical tightrope. Caught in the crossfire of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the new prime minister will have to manage the economic fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, tackle deep-rooted corruption, and address the future of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) amid unprecedented regional instability.
Washington wants to curtail the influence of the pro-Iran armed groups within the PMF on the Iraqi government. Some of the armed groups carried out attacks against US interests and regional countries in solidarity with Iran. Currently, diplomatic efforts are under way to end the conflict that has expanded across the Middle East.
“We called it ‘moon dust’,” Jeffery Camp, a 61-year-old retired military veteran who lives in Sarasota, Florida, says when describing the terrain in Maidan Shar, Afghanistan, where he served with the United States Army from 2008 to 2009.
The fine particles of dust there would find their way into “your vehicles, your equipment, your lungs”, he says ruefully while describing the searingly dry summers and freezing windy winters in the eastern provincial capital.
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Camp is one of the 832,000 US service members deployed to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 during what became the longest war in US history.
He joined the Army in 1983, well before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, which led to the war in Afghanistan. “Service was a calling, not a reaction to a national crisis,” he tells Al Jazeera.
During 20 years of war, 2,461 US soldiers were killed and at least 20,000 wounded.
“I left both Iraq and Afghanistan with a profound respect for the human cost of war, not just for American service members but for the populations of those countries. War is not clean, and the people who bear the longest burden are rarely the ones who made the decisions,” Camp says.
Human cost of US wars
Tuesday marks 60 days of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Since February 28, US-Israeli attacks on Iran have killed at least 3,375 people, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health.
The US military has confirmed 13 combat-related deaths among its service members across the region, with more than 200 injuries.
[Al Jazeera]
Since the 1950s, US-led wars have killed millions of civilians and tens of thousands of military personnel.
According to an analysis by the Cost of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, US-led wars since 2001 have directly caused the deaths of about 940,000 people across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other post-9/11 conflict zones.
The graphic below breaks down the estimated number of civilians killed for every US soldier in the Korean, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
[Al Jazeera]
Iran war: $11.3bn spent on munitions in first six days
According to the Pentagon, the Trump administration spent $11.3bn during the first six days of the war, with an estimated $1bn subsequently spent on the war every day until the April 8 ceasefire.
According to Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the $1bn per day figure is “a little high”.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, he says the war “was very expensive in the first few days” because the US used costly long-range munitions, including Tomahawk missiles. They cost $2.5m each, and the US military used hundreds of them.
Cancian calculates that in addition to the $11.3bn spent on munitions, an additional $1.4bn should be added for combat losses and infrastructure damage and a further $26.5m for support costs, bringing the total for the first six days to $12.7bn.
Cancian estimates that after the first week of its air strikes, the US spent “about half a billion dollars a day”, and now, during the ceasefire, that figure is likely “under $100m per day” because the US is not using any munitions.
On a per-day cost basis, the Iran war may be one of the most expensive in recent history.
According to figures from the Costs of War Project, the 20-year Afghanistan war cost an estimated $2.3 trillion, averaging more than $300m per day, while the eight-year Iraq War, which began in 2003, cost an estimated $2 trillion, averaging about $684m per day.
‘Another prolonged war’
Naveed Shah is the political director of Common Defense, a grassroots veteran-led organisation based in Washington, DC, that aims to engage, organise and mobilise veterans.
Shah, who served in Iraq from 2006 to 2010, believes the US must defend its national interests and has a vital role to play in deterring threats, but too often overreaches with open-ended wars of choice that create more problems than they solve.
“The current conflict with Iran is repeating the mistakes that led us to spending 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan: shaky evidence at best, moving goalposts and dangerous rhetoric that risks drawing us into another prolonged war,” Shah tells Al Jazeera.
“At the same time, while we’re deploying troops overseas, the government is trying to claw back the care we promised for our veterans,” Shah says.
“The true cost of war extends far beyond the battlefield. It echoes for decades in veterans’ bodies and minds and for their families. For the families of the troops who won’t come home, it will be an empty seat at the dinner table and a hole in their heart for eternity,” he says.
According to the Cost of War Project, the US is expected to spend at least $2.2 trillion on obligations for veterans’ healthcare over the next 30 years.
Iran war most unpopular in US history
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from April 12, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of US military strikes on Iran. This is up from a 43 percent disapproval rating at the start of the war.
Historically, US wars have mostly enjoyed a “rally around the flag” effect, which causes low disapproval at the outset.
The chart below compares the disapproval rating at the start and end of the five main wars the US has led since the 1950s.
US consumers are paying the price
Marwa Jadoon, 40, from Oklahoma, whose name has been changed to keep her identity concealed, says her out-of-pocket expenses have increased by more than 35 percent over the past couple of months.
“As someone with multiple considerably expensive health conditions, I’m paying more than I’ve ever paid before just to cover only my essential medications and recurring testing. It’s limited my ability to afford additional treatments since healthcare costs are astronomical in the US. I’ve cut costs in groceries and anything outside of essentials,” Jadoon says.
Jadoon feels she’s been shortchanged with the policy shifts that came at the same time she was made redundant, further complicating her life.
“I find it appalling that my tax dollars are funding a war when we have repeatedly been told that we cannot afford universal healthcare. At the end of last year, I lost my job and had to apply for unemployment and Soonercare,” she says, referring to state-covered healthcare.
She explains that unemployment benefits would not even cover her rent.
“How can my tax dollars afford to pay for wars and foreign governments while I can’t even receive Medicaid because they deemed $400 is too much a month? My phone bill alone is $116 a month. My student loan payments are almost $200 a month. I would love to see anyone in the current administration survive on $400 a week with no medical coverage,” Jadoon says.
Another woman in Oklahoma, who also wished to remain anonymous due to her job with the state government, says, “The war in Iran and its funding has made me feel cornered. I feel it at the gas pump, I feel it at the doctor, dentist. I feel it at the bank. I feel it when I’m at the grocery store, thinking how exactly everyone is acting so calm. And it moves me, literally. Emotions carry little power. I’m ready to do something about it. I’ve been stolen from and lied to, and I’ve had enough.
According to the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs at Brown University, the total consumer burden from the increase in petrol and diesel prices across the US as a result of the war on Iran is estimated at $27.8bn, roughly $200 per household.
The national average price of petrol has increased nearly 40 percent from $2.90 per gallon ($0.76 per litre) before the war to $4.10 per gallon ($1.08 per litre) now.
Shooting on supernatural horror thriller “Hide and Don’t Speak” is now underway in Northern Ireland, with a trio of rising stars joining the cast.
Momona Tamada (“Avatar: The Last Airbender“), Kaitlyn Kemp (“Street Smart”) and John Hewson (“These Sacred Vows,” also son of U2 frontman Bono) have joined Tanner Buchanan, Garrett Wareing and Quvenzhané Wallis, who were previously announced by Variety.
Being directed by “The Beast Within” helmer Alexander J. Farrell, from a script by Greer Ellison and Farrell, the film is produced by Range Media Partners, the producers of “Longlegs” and “The Monkey.” Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (“Longlegs,” “The Monkey,” “Dangerous Animals”), Fred Berger (“A Complete Unknown”), Noah Reich, Matt Coatsworth and Wildcard’s Patrick O’Neill (“Kneecap,” “Frewaka”) will produce the film.
“Hide and Don’t Speak” follows six teenagers who “play a terrifying viral Japanese game in which the players summon a vengeful spirit for a deadly round of hide-and-seek,” the synopsis reads.
Stacy Kemp Ferrari; Jessie Hickman and Nick Potts of HiPo Productions; Gavin Kilduff and Cameron Lawther of NINA Pictures; Michael Bassick and Michael Laundon of M2 Media Post; and David Gendron, Ali Jazayeri and Keith Kehoe of TPC serve as executive producers. Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international sales. UTA and Range Select co-rep US rights.
Tamada appeared in Paramount’s “Secret Headquarters” alongside Owen Wilson and Michael Peña and gained recognition for her breakout role as Claudia Kishi in Netflix’s “The Baby-Sitters Club,” for which she received a Children’s and Family Emmy nomination. She stars as Ty Lee in Netflix’s hit live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and also appeared in “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and Paramount+’s “Happy Face.” Additional credits include the “To All the Boys,” “The Main Event, the Terror” and “The Boys.”
17-year-old actress Kaitlyn Kemp recently starred as one of the leads in Catherine Hardwicke’s feature “Street Smart,” and can be seen as the female lead in “Driver” opposite Jeremy Piven. Last year, she also starred as the lead in “Scorpion” with Aaron Eckhardt and has shot “The Razor’s Edge” opposite James Franco and Tommy Lee Jones; the faith-based feature “Fighting the Fire” and the western film “Guns of Redemption.”
Hewson’s first feature was “Finnegan’s Foursome,” directed by Edward Burns. He also stars in the six-part comedy series “These Sacred Vows,” written and directed by John Butler, opposite Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell, Jason O’Mara and India Mullen.
Tamada is represented by da Costa Talent, TFC Management, Persona PR and Jackoway Austen. Kemp is represented by Innovative Artists and Luber Roklin Entertainment. Hewson is represented by 42. Tanner Buchanan is represented by Gersh/Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Katy Chevigny’s narrative feature debut “The Easy Kind” has been acquired by Persimmon Pictures and will launch with an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run at the IFC Center beginning June 3, ahead of a wider rollout and August digital release.
The film stars renegade country singer Elizabeth Cook as a fictionalized version of herself, portraying an artist navigating midlife while contending with an industry that has never fully embraced her. Cook also contributes an original song, “The Easy Kind,” which will be campaigned for best original song at next year’s Academy Awards.
Following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, the film was acquired by Persimmon in a deal negotiated by Mackenzie Maguire on behalf of the distributor and Ryan Kampe for Visit Films. Select screenings during its New York run will include Q&As with special guests.
Chevigny, an Emmy-winning documentarian, drew inspiration from Cook after seeing her perform during a Nashville residency in 2016. As the official synopsis states, the film will see Cook “breaking new ground musically — even if the powers that be can’t see how to monetize her hard-scrabble talent. As she frees herself from the trappings that have held her back — money troubles, family tragedies, and ex-lovers — she forges a path for herself to be able to make music on her own terms.”
The supporting cast includes Susie Essman, David Letterman, Karen Allen, Charles Esten, Melissa Jackson and Catherine Curtin.
“The Easy Kind” marks Chevigny’s first narrative feature after a prolific documentary career that includes Emmy-winning work on “Home” for A24 and Apple TV+.
