How Iran’s Internet Blackout Is Crippling Its Economy, and the Fight Over Fruit-Flavored Vapes

0:00Every business is asking the same question. How do we make AI work for us? No more waiting. With NetSuite by Oracle, you can put AI to work today. NetSuite is the number one AI cloud ERP, trusted by over 43 ,000 businesses. It's the unified suite that brings your financials, inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into a single source of truth. That connected data is what makes your AI smarter, helping you make fast decisions. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get our free business guide, Demystifying AI, at netsuite.com slash NYT. From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford.

0:39Today's Tuesday, May 12th. Here's what we're covering.

0:47I've been hearing from a lot of Iranians over the past month or so. And I think for those who at one point supported some kind of military action, whether by the U.S. or by Israel, because they opposed the government and wanted to see the government fall, there's been a lot of despondency at sort of what the last couple months have brought to Iran. They have come to the conclusion that military action has only kind of made their situation worse inside Iran. My colleague Yegina Torbati has been speaking with Iranians about what life is like on the ground there now. She's been able to reach people through text messages and voice memos in the brief windows when they can get an internet connection.

1:26She says people who oppose the regime say the government has only become more hardline and more entrenched since the war began, and the conditions in their everyday lives are deteriorating. Job losses have started in the country, layoffs that are a direct result of both the damages of war and also the way the government has responded to war by shutting down the Internet. A lot of Iranians depend on the Internet for their livelihoods. They sell things on Instagram. They advertise on Instagram. You know, Iran once upon a time had a really flourishing tech sector. That sector has been brought to its knees by this Internet shutdown.

2:02And that is all resulting in layoffs. Food prices are through the roof. People brought up the price of chicken, of cooking oil. A couple people we spoke with raised the possibility that if they got to a point where they could not afford to feed their families, they would steal. And that they had heard from others around them that that would happen, that they would do the same as well. And so I think that for us to hear was a little bit chilling to think that, you know, that kind of disorder and chaos might come to Iran as a result of the pressure that people are under. Iran's economy was already struggling even before the war.

2:37That's what fueled widespread protests earlier this year, which the regime suppressed with a deadly crackdown. Now, the increased economic pressure is part of the U.S.'s plan to force Iran into submission. Recently, when asked about Iran's economy, President Trump told reporters, I hope it fails. You know why? Because I want to win. Iranian officials, meanwhile, insist the pressure will not work.

3:08Now, three quick updates on the Trump administration. First. How long are you going to suspend that tax for? Until it's appropriate, yeah. How soon? It's a, you know, it's a small percentage, but it's, you know, it's still money. President Trump said yesterday he's in favor of suspending federal gas taxes to try and give Americans a little relief as the war keeps driving up fuel costs. The move would save Americans somewhere between 18 and 24 cents a gallon, which even Trump admitted is not much since the average cost of gas is now around$4.5 a gallon. That's a roughly 50 % hike since the start of the war.

3:46Congress would need to approve any tax suspension. Back in 2022, President Biden called on lawmakers to do that after the war in Ukraine drove gas prices way up. Republicans called it a gimmick and Congress did not sign off. Also, the Food and Drug Administration is moving to allow tobacco and vape companies in the U.S. to begin selling flavored e-cigarettes. For years, the FDA has only allowed companies to sell menthol or tobacco-flavored vapes over concerns that candy and fruit flavors appealed to children. Illicit products made it through, though, and now the FDA says it's cracking down on those while opening the door for major companies to sell more flavors legally.

4:29The move delivered a win for tobacco companies who have donated millions of dollars to support President Trump and other Republicans. According to people familiar with the plan, the White House has been pushing for this change for months. And We can do it for maybe a million and a half to two million dollars as opposed to... Last month, President Trump announced that he'd handpicked a contractor to repair the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and paint it American flag blue. He said he knew the company from work it did on swimming pools at one of his golf clubs, and that he was getting taxpayers a deal.

5:05It was going to cost a little under$2 million. But the Times has learned that the actual cost is now seven times that. How the company got the contract in the first place is also unusual. Similar projects require competing bids from contractors, but the administration bypassed that in this case, saying the timing was urgent and that any delay could cause serious injury to the government. It has not said publicly what that injury would be. Instead, the administration has cited Trump's desire to get the work done before the country's 250th anniversary celebrations on the 4th of July.

5:49In Israel, more than two and a half years after October 7th, the country is now preparing to begin prosecuting Palestinians suspected of taking part in the attack. Roughly 1 ,200 people were killed that day when Hamas led militants from Gaza into southern Israel, and some 250 hostages were taken. The attack ignited the war in Gaza, during which Israel killed more than 70 ,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Now, legislators in Israel have enacted a law paving the way for military trials for the October 7 suspects. One lawmaker said at least 350 prisoners could face charges, though Israel has already killed most of the accused masterminds of the attack during the war.

6:31The legislation, which was passed yesterday, calls for parts of the trials to be broadcast live, and the court will be empowered to override certain rules of evidence and other procedures, which the authors of the law say is necessary because of how complex the cases are and the huge volume of evidence. Rights groups, however, say parts of the new law will undercut what are already minimal due process rights for Palestinians and that the judges will face overwhelming public pressure to convict. For some in Israel, including many relatives of those who were killed on October 7th, the focus on these trials misses the more fundamental question of accountability.

7:09They say that justice can happen only when Israeli leaders are held accountable for their failure to prevent the attack. A woman whose brother was killed told the Times she doesn't think the goal should be to, quote, hang anyone in the town square. It's to prevent the next disaster.

7:30And finally, for American consumers, subscriptions have become ubiquitous. You've got your recurring payments for your streaming subscriptions, Amazon Prime, Costco. But it's more than that. Cloud storage, dating apps, ink for your printer. Some subscriptions out there are absurdly niche, like regular shipments of earthworms to feed your salamander. Or they're for things you didn't even realize you'd ever need a subscription for, like how some car companies offer a subscription for improved horsepower. Obviously, subscriptions aren't new, but their rapid expansion into all corners of the economy means they're really piling up.

8:09A study from Harvard Business School a few years ago found that almost 75 % of companies that sell directly to consumers now offer a subscription. And for the companies, it's not just about the steady income stream. Companies like subscriptions because when you subscribe to a company, you're giving them information about yourself. You're giving them information about purchase history. You're giving them information about when you buy, what you buy, how often you buy, and you're doing it every month by paying them. And so it gives them more information on how to target you with products, ads, etc.

8:41My colleague Soap and Deb has been looking at the rise of subscriptions and the rise of many consumers' fatigue over them. Subscriptions have caused frustrations for customers, especially because they're really hard to get rid of for some companies. And this has become fodder for politicians. For example, under Joe Biden's presidency, the Biden administration tried to actually make it easier for you to cancel your subscriptions under the FTC. But a federal court blocked that rule as of last year. And since then, there's been no action on this. Sopan says that with no end in sight for the subscription trend, we have now actually reached the point where you can subscribe to a subscription manager to help you manage your subscriptions.

9:22Those are the headlines today on The Daily. why, after decades of declining church attendance, more Americans are now seeking religion. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. The show will be back tomorrow with my colleague, Will Jarvis.

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