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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. The US War with Iran has pushed inflation to its highest level in almost three years. NPR's Scott Horsley tells us more about the latest cost of living report from the Labor Department.
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Consumer prices in April were up 3.8% from a year ago. That's the biggest annual increase since May of 2023. Prices jumped 0.6% in the last month alone. Higher energy prices triggered by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz accounted for about 40% of that overall month increase. Gasoline prices have jumped about a buck and a half since the war began, and diesel prices are even higher. That's also starting to show up in the price of other goods and services. The price of plane tickets, for example, is up more than 20% from a year ago as airlines struggle with soaring jet fuel prices. Higher trucking costs may have also contributed to a sharp monthly jump in grocery prices. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
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With the increase in consumer inflation, the Pentagon has now increased its estimate of what the war in Iran costs. Jules Hearst III is the Pentagon's controller. Two weeks ago, he told Congress the US had spent at least $25 billion on the war. That was mostly for weapons fired at Iran. This morning in congressional testimony, Hearst increased that estimate to $29 billion.
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At the time of testimony in front of the HASC, it was $25 billion. But the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it's closer to 29. That's because of updated repair and replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs. Keep people in theater.
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Critics have suggested the cost of the war may be much more than that. News of the war costs comes as President Trump leaves today for China. He's hoping to shift the conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping away from the war and more toward business agreements. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition is expected to collapse next week. Israeli media report that new national elections would likely be called for early September. NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv.
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One of Netanyahu's ultra Orthodox Jewish coalition partners is calling to dissolve the parliament imminently. The ultra Orthodox Jewish faction said in a statement, we have no trust in Netanyahu anymore. According to Israeli media reports, this came after Netanyahu told ultra Orthodox political leaders that he would not advance legislation to exempt ultra Orthodox Israelis from military service. A vote to dissolve the parliament has been called for next week. If parliament dissolves, it would collapse Netanyahu's governing coalition, but he would remain acting prime minister until a new government is formed after elections. Netanyahu is seeking a new term. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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On Wall street, the Dow is down well over 300 points. The NASDAQ is down more than 200. This is NPR. The U.S. ambassador to Israel says that Israel has provided some of its defensive Iron Dome anti missile batteries to the United Arab Emirates. Ambassador Mike Huckabee says Israel also sent personnel to the UAE to help operate these batteries. Iran has fired on the UAE and other targets since the war began more than 10 weeks ago. Meanwhile, the government of Kuwait is accusing Iran of sending a team to attack a Kuwaiti island. The infiltration and the attack were foiled. Iran has attacked Kuwait since the US And Israel began the war. This news comes as President Trump has rejected Iran's response to US Proposed peace plan. President Trump has nominated Cameron Hamilton to be the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Hamilton's nomination comes a year after he was fired as the agency's acting administrator. NPR's Michael Copley has more.
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Hamilton was ousted from FEMA last year after telling lawmakers he didn't think the agency in charge of responding to disasters should be eliminated. He made the statement shortly after Kristi Noem, then secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, had reiterated Trump's wish to get rid of fema. But Noem has gone from dhs, which oversees fema. And a council of disaster experts appointed by Trump recently recommended overhauling but not eliminating fema. The council's recommendations include making it simpler for disaster survivors to get money and raising the threshold for the federal government to get involved in disaster recovery. Michael Copley, NPR News.
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And I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.
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