By Samantha Delouya, CNN

(CNN) — Banning mega investors from buying single-family homes has accomplished a rare feat in Washington: bipartisan consensus.

Many housing advocates blamed Wall Street firms buying up homes for a post-pandemic surge in housing costs. Now, with an executive order from President Donald Trump and a Senate bill advancing the idea, a ban may soon become reality.

Last month, the Senate passed a bill 89-10 aimed at improving housing affordability, following the House of Representatives’ passage of a narrower version earlier this year. The Senate’s version, backed by Republican Sen. Tim Scott and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, is designed to spur more home building and lower costs.

That includes a restriction on large institutional investors, defined as those owning 350 or more single-family homes, buying more single-family properties.

But banning mega investors from buying single-family homes may do little to lower prices, some economists say. Instead, the ban could reduce single-family rental options in neighborhoods where many people cannot afford to buy.

“Institutional investors make for a convenient boogeyman, but they don’t address the real issue,” said Jay Parsons, a rental housing economist.

These investors own only a small share of the country’s single-family housing stock. Just 0.7% of America’s 92 million single-family homes are owned by investors with more than 350 properties in their portfolios, according to John Burns Research and Consulting.

Most investor-owned homes, in fact, belong to smaller landlords. “Mom-and-pop” investors — those who own fewer than 10 properties — make up the vast majority, according to property intelligence firm Cotality.

Many of the homes that large investors give up would likely be bought by these smaller landlords, not first-time homebuyers, said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist.

“The reason that first-time homebuyers are not buying as large of a share of homes as they used to is not because of large investors. It’s because home ownership has gotten so unaffordable,” she added.

How do investors impact home prices?

Following the 2008 financial crisis, private equity firms such as Blackstone bought thousands of single-family homes at bargain prices and turned them into rentals.

In the years after the pandemic, when interest rates fell to historic lows, the housing market erupted. Bidding wars broke out among everyday buyers, and home prices surged. Institutional investors picked up the pace of buying in those years, as well.

The US housing market is currently short millions of homes. In a market with so few homes for sale, almost any additional competition could push prices higher.

A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office found institutional investors may have contributed to rising home prices and rents after the financial crisis, though the report acknowledged that this is difficult to prove.

Investor activity also varies widely by city. Atlanta has the highest concentration of institutional single-family home ownership in the country, according to Realtor.com. Other Sun Belt cities such as Memphis, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix have attracted large numbers of investors as well.

By Annie Grayer, Evan Perez, Sean Lyngaas, CNN

(CNN) — With just days until a powerful surveillance law lapses, US national security officials are scrambling to prepare for potential blind spots in intelligence collection amid the US’ delicate ceasefire with Iran, current and former officials told CNN.

Some communications carriers that manage data for the surveillance program have privately warned the Trump administration they will cease collecting data on April 20, when the law is set to expire, if it is not renewed, according to US officials and private-sector officials familiar with the discussions. The companies fear they will face liability issues if they collect the data when the law is expired.

“We are going to go blind for a while and that’s incredibly concerning amid a war,” one former senior national security official said.

Now, White House adviser Stephen Miller and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are leading the Trump administration’s eleventh-hour push to convince skeptical Republican lawmakers to support a clean reauthorization of the law for 18 months. Even though the House is scheduled to vote on the bill this week, it is unclear whether GOP leadership can deliver the votes.

And CIA officials have also reached out to former national security officials in Democratic administrations to seek their endorsement, as a way to appeal to hesitant Democrats, according to the former officials.

The CIA is also touting the law for helping thwart a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in 2024 and providing intelligence used in a raid by the Mexican military this year that killed drug kingpin “El Mencho.”

The law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allows authorized US officials to gather phone calls and text messages of foreign targets, but can also scoop up the data of Americans in the process.

Senior national security officials have for years said Section 702 is critical to thwarting terror attacks, stemming the flow of fentanyl into the US and stopping ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure. Civil liberties groups on the left and the right, meanwhile, argue the surveillance authority risks infringing on Americans’ privacy.

Last month, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court renewed approval for Section 702 for another year in an expected classified ruling that was first reported by The New York Times. But if the statute itself lapses, carriers are balking at participating without explicit legal assurances from the government, according to the sources familiar with the discussions.

But the Trump administration has a complicated history with Section 702. The president and his supporters have previously conflated the law with other legal methods used to investigate Russian interference in US elections and allegations that people associated with the Trump campaign in 2016 were connected to those Russian efforts.

A classified hearing on Section 702 earlier this year erupted in bipartisan frustration because the FBI and other national security officials refused to say whether the Trump administration wanted Congress to renew the law, as CNN previously reported.

Pro-702 Republ

By Tom Page, CNN

(CNN) — Camera traps have photographed a jaguar high up in the Honduran Sierra del Merendón mountain range, the first time the big cat has been detected there in a decade.

The lone male, known as a “cloud jaguar,” was spotted on February 6, about 2,200 meters up in high-altitude forest, a positive signal for the Central American nation attempting an environmental turnaround.

Jaguars have lost 49% of their historic range in the Americas, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The largest population lives in Amazonia, but all other populations are classified as endangered or critically endangered.

In Honduras jaguars are protected, though they face challenges.

“Deforestation and poaching are the biggest threats, and we have been working to tackle both,” said Franklin Castañeda, Honduras country director at wild cat conservation organization Panthera, which captured the images of the jaguar.

Between 2001 and 2024, the Central American nation lost 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of tree cover — 19% of its total — according to Global Forest Watch. Permanent agriculture like plantations and grazing land was the overwhelming reason.

The government has committed to curbing deforestation by the end of the decade , as well as restoring 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of forest. Its Zero Deforestation Plan 2029 declared a state of environmental emergency to protect forests and wildlife, utilizing a military patrol force comprising 8,000 troops to deter and prevent illegal agricultural and logging activity.

Meanwhile, poaching of jaguar prey species, such as the brocket deer, peccary and iguana, is thought to impact the big cat’s food supply.

But in the Merendón range, there are signs of environmental success.

The mountainous forest, along with other so-called cloud forests in Honduras, have been protected since 1987, when policymakers recognized their importance as vital watersheds for neighboring communities.

“They didn’t know then, but now we know they were also protecting a very important habitat for jaguars,” said Castañeda.

Illegal activity and biodiversity loss was not expunged altogether, however, and in recent years Panthera and its partners have ramped up surveillance efforts, including ranger patrols, camera traps and hidden acoustic monitors, as well as a program to reintroduce jaguar prey species. Panthera says poaching is down, and the protection and revitalization has made the forest more amenable to big cats.

“It seems we are seeing a recovery in large cats in general,” said Castañeda.

In 2021, after 17 years of surveys, the project detected pumas in the range for the first time, and there have been multiple sightings since. Ocelots, jaguarundis and margays have also been sighted, meaning the area features all five species of wild cats known to exist in Honduras.

Most jaguars live below 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) and cloud jaguars are exceptionally rare. There have only been a handful of sightings, including in Costa Rica and Mexico. It’s unclear if this is a new behavior or something that had previously gone undetected due to the remoteness of high-altitude areas, explained Dr. Allison Devlin, jaguar program director at Panthera.

There have been just three recordings of jaguars at high elevation in Honduras, the last in 2016. (The 2016 sighting prompted Panthera and it partners, including Wildlife Without Borders and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, to establish a protected wildlife corridor in the Merendón range between Honduras and Guatemala.)

Castañeda called the new sighting “awesome,” saying

Por Alaa Elassar, CNN

Ha pasado más de una semana desde que Lynette Hooker, una madre y marinera de 55 años, desapareció en el mar en las Bahamas, lo que desencadenó una búsqueda urgente que desde entonces se ha transformado en una investigación compleja con una persona en el centro: su esposo desde hace 25 años.

Brian Hooker, de 58 años, fue detenido por la Fuerza Policial Real de las Bahamas el miércoles en relación con su desaparición y permanece bajo custodia después de que se concediera una prórroga hasta la noche de este lunes, confirmó a CNN su abogado.

Brian Hooker no ha sido acusado formalmente, y su abogado dice que “niega categórica e inequívocamente cualquier irregularidad”.

Lo que ocurra a continuación sigue siendo incierto. La Policía solicitó otra entrevista con Hooker este lunes, dijo su abogado a CNN. Para la noche, las autoridades podrían optar por liberarlo o acusarlo formalmente. Aún no está claro si podría permanecer detenido por más tiempo conforme a la ley bahameña.

Aquí tienes una cronología de los acontecimientos clave:

Desaparición en el mar: Días después de su última publicación en redes sociales, Lynette Hooker y su esposo, Brian Hooker, viajan en un bote auxiliar de 2,4 metros con fondo rígido cerca de Elbow Cay mientras regresan a su velero, “Soulmate”, según el relato de Brian Hooker a la Policía.

Les dijo a las autoridades que las condiciones adversas —incluidos fuertes vientos y oleaje— hicieron que su esposa cayera por la borda.

“Las fuertes corrientes posteriormente se la llevaron” y “él la perdió de vista”, dicen que Brian Hooker les contó a los policías. Lynette Hooker llevaba las llaves, también conocidas como el cordón de seguridad del motor: un cable diseñado para cortar la energía si el operador cae por la borda, según su relato compartido por la Policía.

Él dice que la última vez que vio a su esposa, ella estaba nadando hacia la orilla, según Richard Cook, jefe del equipo de bomberos de Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue.

Aviso a las autoridades y comienza la búsqueda: Sin energía en el bote auxiliar, Brian Hooker intenta remar hasta la orilla y la pequeña embarcación finalmente se aleja a la deriva, y horas después aparece varada cerca de Marsh Harbour, según su relato compartido por la Policía.

Finalmente se abre paso entre la maleza hasta llegar a un astillero, donde contacta a la Policía, según Cook.

Las autoridades bahameñas y los equipos locales de bomberos y rescate inician una búsqueda por mar. Más tarde, la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos se suma con recursos aéreos.

Notifican a la familia: Karli Aylesworth, hija de Lynette Hooker, dijo a CNN que su padrastro la llama el domingo por la noche “alrededor de las 8:00 p.m. a las 8:30 p.m.” y le dice que su madre está desaparecida.

“Él dijo… como si fuera algo normal: ‘Oye, tu mamá está desaparecida. No sabemos dónde está. Está desaparecida desde anoche, pero vamos a ir para allá pronto para verte’”, contó Aylesworth a CNN.

Aylesworth dijo que estaba asimilando lo que él dijo y sintió como si “me hubiera soltado una bomba”, y luego él empezó a hablar de nuevo antes de terminar la llamada de repente. “Y yo solo pensaba: ‘OK, ¿qué?’ ¿Cómo se te pierde mi mamá así?”

Mensaje de voz sobre un dispositivo de flotación: Aylesworth le dice a CNN el martes que Brian Hooker le dejó un mensaje de voz diciendo que las autoridades encontraron un dispositivo de flotación que, según él, le había arrojado a su

By Hanna Ziady, CNN

London (CNN) — Oil prices climbed Monday, after the US military said it would implement a shipping blockade in the Strait of Hormuz — a move that could test the current ceasefire while further tightening global oil supply.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 7% to near $102 a barrel — a gain of 40% since the start of the war. WTI, the US benchmark, climbed by a similar margin to $103.5 a barrel, around 54% higher than it was before the war effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States Central Command, part of the US Department of Defense, said Sunday that naval forces would begin a blockade of “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports” from Monday at 10 a.m. ET. “CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports,” it added in a statement.

The maritime blockade, which lines up with President Donald Trump’s threat, comes after the United States and Iran failed to agree terms to end the war during weekend talks. Tehran, which has reportedly been tolling some ships seeking transit through the Strait of Hormuz, has vowed to retaliate against any military vessels in the strait.

The move “risks creating new potential flashpoints,” in the conflict, Capital Economics chief economist Neil Shearing wrote in a note Monday. “Would the US Navy seize allied ships that have paid tolls to Tehran? Would it target Chinese vessels in the Strait? Either outcome would represent a significant escalation,” he added.

The blockade will also “cause additional tightening in global oil markets,” Shearing noted. “Iran accounts for roughly 4% of world supply, much of which is exported to China.”

By blocking Iranian oil exports, Trump could cut off a crucial source of funding for Iran’s government and military operations. Iran’s oil exports were equal to around $45 billion last year, or 13% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to Shearing.

And Tehran has been exporting even more oil since the war started. Iran’s oil exports averaged around 1.85 million barrels a day through March, about 100,000 barrels a day more than the average between December and February, according to data and analytics firm Kpler.

Stock markets wobbled Monday, with S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq futures pointing to a weaker open. In Asia, most major markets closed modestly lower with major European indexes also trading down.

One notable exception was Hungary’s flagship BUX index, which gained nearly 3% in Budapest following national elections that ended Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-years in power. With nearly all the votes counted, Péter Magyar, leader of the center-right opposition Tisza party, is on track for a landslide victory.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Oil prices jump on US plans to blockade Iranian ports in Strait of Hormuz appeared first on News Channel 3-12.