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MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace had a frank reaction on Thursday after President Donald Trump made a jaw-dropping comment that shocked people inside the Oval Office during a White House meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.Wallace was visibly stunned after discussing Trump's attempted joke that clearly left the room uncomfortable when a reporter asked why Trump hadn't warned his allies that the U.S.-Israeli military strikes were coming. "One thing, you don't want to signal too much when we go in," Trump said. "We went in very hard and we didn't tell anyone about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"Wallace watched the video playback and commented on Trump, asking her panel to share their thoughts. "I struggle every minute of every day with platforming him, one, I should do it all day because it shows what a profound idiot he is," Wallace said. "But but two, we were on other sides. This is a question about why didn't you read in your allies? And he says, we didn't know what our adversary was going to do. I mean, David Frum, what do you even, how's your brain doing?"Frum, a Canadian-American commentator and former speechwriter, described why Trump's words shocked the Japanese leader and dignitaries visiting America. "So first, there's probably no society on earth where good manners count for more than Japan, a country that has been — and we're talking about 80 years since the end of World War II, that has been a staunch and loyal ally of the United States for 80 years, where the warmth of person to person ties," Frum said. "But the one big cultural difference has always been the emphasis on decorum and decency and respect in Japanese culture, whereas American culture can be a little more boisterous. For the president of the United States to insult them, and you can watch it, sort of figuring out 'No one is amused by what I just said. Maybe if I say it again, it'll get more amusing the second time. And what if I say right, right, right. And give them a little jab in the ribs? Maybe it'll be funny then.'"Frum described why it was so surprising — and why it left them silent. "And it's just horrifying. One more thing that needs to be pointed out in this analogy that he's drawing between the United States and Japan, who's doing the sneak attack?" Frum added. "Oh, yeah. He's comparing the United States to the Japanese sneak attack. He wanted to do a Pearl Harbor on Greenland. Now he wants to do a Pearl Harbor on Iran. He is comparing himself to the people whom Americans normally condemn, and then elbowing the Japanese that they don't think the whole thing is terribly amusing."

Foreign minister issues warning after Israeli attack on South Pars gasfield and as Qatar reels from retaliatory strike‘Doomsday scenario’: a visual guide to the oil and gas site attacks in the Middle EastMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran said on Thursday it would show “zero restraint” if its energy infrastructure was targeted again as Qatar revealed that almost a fifth of its liquefied natural gas export capacity had been knocked out in an Iranian strike that is likely to have a years-long impact.The warning, delivered by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, followed Israel’s attack on Iran’s massive South Pars gasfield – which it shares with Qatar – which triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas complex and other Gulf neighbours, sending stock markets tumbling globally and triggering sharp increases in gas prices. Continue reading...

Economists cautioned whether surging oil prices and soaring tariffs amid the ongoing Iran war could tip the United States into recession and what signs could point to an economic downslide, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Journal polled 50 economists between March 16-18 from different sectors, including Wall Street banks and small consulting firms and universities, for a survey about what they expect the economic fallout might look like amid the military conflict in the Middle East. Experts did identify one important metric that could show potential signs of economic difficulty. "Economists put the probability of a recession in the next 12 months at 32%, up modestly from 27% in January," The Journal reported. "Asked how high crude oil would need to climb to tip the recession probability above 50%, economists gave a range of responses: from $90 a barrel to $200, with an average of $138. Asked how long oil prices would need to be at an elevated level, they said from four weeks to 55 weeks, with an average duration of 14 weeks. U.S. oil futures closed at $96.32 a barrel Wednesday, compared with a February average of about $65."Robert Fry of Robert Fry Economics predicted that the probability of an economic downturn was at 40 percent, explaining that "$125 oil for eight weeks is his make-or-break point.""My forecast is contingent on the assumption that the Strait of Hormuz will be fully open to tanker traffic by mid-April," Fry said. "If it isn’t, oil prices will go much higher, and I will put a recession in my forecast."

An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has heard that a series of failures contributed to the blaze that engulfed seven buildings and killed 168 people

Cuba is preparing to receive its first shipment of Russian oil this year, just days after the government announced it was operating on natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants as severe power outages continue to hit an island whose power grid...

A very frustrated Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) lashed out at three of Donald Trump’s Cabinet officials on Thursday afternoon after they professed to only pass on intel data to the president and allow him to draw his own conclusions. During a very contentious five-minutes of questioning, Gomez repeatedly had to shout over Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and reclaim his time as she droned on about the president being the ultimate authority on how to interpret foreign intelligence. On Wednesday, Gabbard said at a Senate hearing, “It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat.”Asked on Thursday by Gomez if she stood by her assertion that astounded observers, she bluntly stated “yes,” which led him to turn to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and ask if he agreed with his Cabinet colleague.“The president is the Commander-in-Chief and gets to make a decision about what's an imminent threat —,” Ratcliffe began, before Gomez talked over him and the two refused to stop. Gomez got the upper hand and exclaimed, ”Why is that if the President can determine and ignore what you're doing, why do you guys even have a job? Why do you even advise them? So you're saying tomorrow the President of the United States can say China is an imminent threat and then he can take his own — no matter what the intelligence says, he can take his own action. That's what you're basically saying.” - YouTube youtu.be

Back home, Lilian Jamaan would have been shopping for clothes for her daughter and buying meat and sweets in preparation for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The body of James "Jimmy" Gracey, a 20-year-old University of Alabama junior who went missing during a spring break trip to Barcelona, Spain, has been recovered, authorities confirmed Thursday.