By Jennifer Agiesta, Annette Choi, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Edward Wu, David Goldman, CNN

(CNN) — “It’s more expensive to exist.”

“You’re just staying afloat instead of getting ahead.”

“It should not be like this.”

Those responses to a new CNN poll sum up Americans’ feelings about the economy: They just feel stuck.

CNN’s poll, conducted by SSRS, finds a surge in people naming high prices and the cost of living as the top economic problem facing their family. Strong majorities are pessimistic about the economy as a whole — almost 7 in 10 believe a recession is likely in the next year — and about their own ability to cover expenses and make purchases.

Those negative feelings about the economy, with major political implications for the midterms, reflect the strain across economic, generational and partisan lines on Americans’ everyday lives. Many people are trimming their grocery lists and cutting back spending on extras, and few feel comfortably able to save.

Americans feel a prevailing sense of economic uncertainty and precarity

A widening wealth gap in the United States has insulated the overall economy from a downturn. Stripping away gas prices and inflation, consumers continued to increase their spending during the first month of the Iran war. Part of the reason is that paycheck growth has outpaced inflation each month for nearly three years — a streak that could be broken in April as inflation expectations rise.

But averages don’t tell the full story: Middle-income and lower-income Americans’ wages stopped outpacing inflation last year, according to Bank of America.

That’s left many Americans in a sour mood about their financial prospects.

The public has held a negative view of the economy for five straight years in CNN’s polling. There’s a near-universal sense that the current economic moment is a better time to save than to spend on major purchases: Eighty-eight percent feel that way, including more than 8 in 10 across income brackets.

Perceptions of the economy went south shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly because prices rose sharply and the housing market froze. Although inflation has come back down in recent years, job growth has remained surprisingly strong and consumer spending has stayed robust, people haven’t yet adjusted to higher prices. Many feel left out of an unaffordable housing market.

Cost of living is a major concern across the board

Americans from all backgrounds name cost of living as their primary financial concern in an open-ended question.

Worries about the costs of food and gas are particularly prominent, with the share specifically naming gas prices rising from 5% a year ago to 23% now.

About one-third of Americans say they worry all or most of the time that their income won’t be enough to meet their expenses, with another 42% saying they worry about that at least some of the time.

Most say they cannot comfortably afford extras like a nice dinner out or a vacation, and only about a third feel they can comfortably afford an emergency expense of $1,000 or to save money for the future.

There’s little belief that the economic system works for average Americans

Three-quarters of Americans say the economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, and less than half now say that most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard.

About half of Americans are dissatisfied with their financial situation, and more see their finances as worsening in the last year rather than improving.

And two-thirds of American workers say their wages are not keeping up with those climbing prices. That’s true for majorities across education and income lines, and regardless of whether people work in offices, factories or on outdoor worksites. Even among thos

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN

(CNN) — It’s President Donald Trump’s economy – and most Americans aren’t happy with it.

A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds that 77% – including a majority of Republicans – say that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their own community. Roughly two-thirds of Americans say that Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country. And Trump’s approval rating stands at 30% on the economy, a career low.

Economic unhappiness has become a fixture of the political landscape. Views of the US economy have remained underwater since the start of the pandemic, with the only exception a brief spike of optimism at the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency.

That dissatisfaction gave the Republican Party a yearslong advantage on trust to handle economic issues. Now, it’s left the GOP with the brunt of the blame for Trump’s second-term policies.

In the latest poll, Democrats are more trusted than the GOP to handle central economic issues, including the cost of living, helping the middle class and inflation. Significant shares of the public, however, say they trust neither party on many of those same issues.

One-third of the public approves of the way Trump is handling helping the middle class. Just 26% of Americans approve of his performance on inflation and 21% on gas prices, with significant pockets of dissatisfaction even among those who overall support his presidency.

A majority of Republicans disapprove of his handling of gas prices. The share saying Trump’s policies have made cost of living rise is up 17 points overall since last year, and up 25 points among Republicans.

Distrust of both parties

The public is close to evenly split on which political party would do a better job of dealing with the economy. That contrasts with the GOP’s typical advantage on the issue during the Biden era: In one 2022 CNN survey, Americans said by a 15-point margin that the Republican Party’s economic views were closer to their own.

When it comes to cost of living, Democrats hold a 9-point advantage. That’s due in part to Republicans’ doubts about their own party: Democratic-aligned adults are 15 points likelier than GOP-aligned adults to say their party could better address the cost of living.

Democrats also lead by double digits on trust to handle income inequality, healthcare costs and helping the middle class, with a smaller edge on handling inflation. Republicans are ahead in trust to handle the stock market, with relatively close divides on which party would do a better job of dealing with taxes.

The divide on economic issues arguably leaves Democrats well-positioned on a set of issues with more populist appeal. The vast majority of Americans, 85%, describe themselves as working-class, middle-class or upper-middle class, and three-quarters say that the country’s economic system is unfairly geared toward powerful interests. By contrast, just over half of the public reports holding any investments in the stock market, including retirement funds.

But one possible warning sign for Democrats emerges here. On each of the issues tested, more than 30% of Americans – including half or more of political independents – say they trust neither party. And by an 8-point margin, the public says that there’s a bigger problem with the government giving help to too many people who “don’t deserve it” rather than failing to help enough people, suggesting some limits to the appetite for a more robust social safety net.

The poll finds registered voters closely split in their partisan preference ahead of the midterms, with 45% saying they’d support a Democratic candidate for Congress, 42% a Republican candidate, and 14% neither. Polling on congressional preference this year, including previous CNN surveys, has largely given Democrats the advantage.

Voter

Por Tal Shalev, CNN

Cientos de militantes de Hamas acusados de cometer crímenes de guerra durante el ataque de octubre de 2023 podrían enfrentar la pena de muerte después de que Israel aprobara a última hora del lunes la creación de un tribunal militar especial para juzgar sus casos.

La legislación recibió un amplio respaldo tanto de la coalición de Gobierno del primer ministro de Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, como de gran parte de la oposición, y fue aprobada con 93 votos a favor y ninguno en contra.

El Parlamento de Israel aprobó el lunes en segunda y tercera lectura un proyecto titulado “Ley de enjuiciamiento por la masacre del 7 de octubre”. La legislación crea un tribunal militar para juzgar a unos 400 miembros de Hamas pertenecientes a la unidad de élite Nukhba, detenidos en Israel desde el ataque, según dijo un funcionario israelí a CNN. Durante el ataque del 7 de octubre liderado por Hamas, el grupo militante palestino que controlaba la Franja de Gaza, los atacantes mataron a más de 1.200 personas en Israel y tomaron a 251 como rehenes.

La ley incluye un marco legal que permitirá aplicar la pena de muerte a quienes sean condenados por genocidio. El funcionario señaló que podrían pasar varios meses antes de que el tribunal quede establecido y comiencen los procedimientos.

Yulia Malinovsky, una de las impulsoras del proyecto y legisladora del partido opositor Yisrael Beytenu, comparó el tribunal con un “juicio moderno contra Eichmann”, en referencia al proceso de 1961 contra el alto funcionario nazi Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann, una figura clave del Holocausto, fue condenado en un juicio histórico en Israel y ejecutado en 1962, una de las únicas dos ejecuciones realizadas en la historia del país.

El tribunal especial tendrá sede en Jerusalén. Sus deliberaciones serán públicas y quedarán registradas en audio y video, mientras que las audiencias clave se transmitirán en un sitio web específico. Los paneles judiciales estarán encabezados por jueces distritales en funciones y retirados. El proyecto también establece que el financiamiento de la defensa legal de los acusados será descontado de los fondos transferidos a la Autoridad Palestina, aunque esa entidad no participó en el ataque del 7 de octubre.

Adalah criticó duramente la creación del tribunal y afirmó que es “fundamentalmente incompatible con el derecho a la vida, la presunción de inocencia, la independencia judicial y el estado de derecho”.

“Esta legislación convierte cualquier sentencia de muerte impuesta en una privación arbitraria de la vida, absolutamente prohibida por el derecho internacional y potencialmente un crimen de guerra”, sostuvo Adalah en un comunicado antes de la aprobación final del proyecto.

El ministro de Justicia de Israel, Yariv Levin, afirmó el domingo que la ley garantizará “no solo que se haga justicia, sino también que el registro histórico de la horrible masacre —de las víctimas, los rehenes y los responsables— perdure por generaciones”.

Según las notas explicativas del proyecto, el objetivo es “regular el enjuiciamiento de los responsables de actos de hostilidad, asesinato, violencia sexual, secuestro y saqueo perpetrados por Hamas y sus afiliados como parte del ataque terrorista coordinado y deliberado contra civiles israelíes que comenzó el 7 de octubre de 2023”. El texto define esos hechos como crímenes contra el pueblo judío, crímenes de lesa humanidad y crímenes de guerra. La legislación también abarca delitos cometidos posteriormente contra los rehenes llevados a la Franja de Gaza, incluidos quienes murieron en cautiverio.

El proyecto es independiente de la ley de pena capital aprobada por el Gobierno de Israel en marzo, que amplió la pena de muerte para palestinos condenados por terrorismo y asesinatos nacionalistas. La norma provocó fuertes críticas de Gobiernos extranjeros, organizaciones de derechos humanos y de la Autoridad Palestin

By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — If you’re shopping for your favorite Calbee chips in Japan and see that familiar bag in black and white – it’s not a printing mistake.

The Japanese snack maker said on Tuesday it will temporarily change the packaging to grayscale and ditch its typically bright and eye-catching colors in stores nationwide because of supply chain disruptions from the Iran war.

The move comes in response to “supply instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” the company said in a statement.

“This measure is intended to help maintain a stable supply of products.”

The black-and-white change will apply to 14 products. The new packaging will roll out on May 25 and won’t affect product quality, Calbee said.

The company didn’t specify exactly which shortages had prompted the change. But a spokesperson from the Japanese government said it had “received no reports of immediate supply issues regarding printing ink or naphtha, and we recognize that the necessary volume for Japan as a whole is being secured.”

Naphtha is a petroleum byproduct sometimes used in parts of the ink manufacturing process.

The spokesperson added that the government plans to meet with Calbee to discuss the situation and resolve any supply imbalances.

Companies around the world have been scrambling to find solutions to supply disruptions since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, prompting the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway is a major shipping route and source of Middle Eastern oil to the rest of the world.

Already, we’ve seen these disruptions play out in different sectors: fertilizer shortages hurting farmers across Asia, and Indian rice producers unable to export their grain to Middle East markets. There are also delays in consumer deliveries around the world since Middle Eastern airlines account for a major share of global air cargo capacity.

Images released by Calbee show the new bags in varying shades of gray. The usual imagery of a hat-wearing mascot amid a sea of potato chips is gone, leaving just colourless wrapper and text labels.

The stripped-down packaging might mean shoppers need to rely more on the words on the packets, rather than the colors, when quickly grabbing their favorite flavors from supermarket shelves.

Usually, regular Calbee consumers would know that the red bag is for lightly salted potato chips, while the yellow packets with green labels are for seaweed flavor fans.

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By Simone McCarthy, Teele Rebane, Isaac Yee, Yong Xiong, CNN

Cangzhou, China (CNN) — A few hundred miles from where Chinese leader Xi Jinping will roll out the red carpet for President Donald Trump this week, a shadowy ecosystem has long been at work pumping billions of dollars into Iran’s economy – now helping keep Tehran afloat in defiance of the US.

These are the ports, pipelines, and oil refineries of Shandong province and its borderlands, where the hulking architecture of oil storage tanks and spindly profiles of smokestacks jut up from barren, coastal flatlands.

Here, so-called “teapot refineries” – small, independent oil companies that operate with the permission of Beijing – quietly process US-sanctioned Iranian crude into gas, diesel and petrochemicals for the world’s second largest economy.

Now, as Washington looks to cut Tehran’s financial lifelines and force it to capitulate to end a months-long war, these activities are being yanked out of the margins and onto the negotiating table between Trump and Xi.

Tensions around this trade are deepening – playing out against a backdrop in which Beijing seeks stability in its relationship with the US, but also holds close economic and diplomatic ties with Iran.

On the eve of Trump’s departure for China, the US Treasury Department blacklisted 12 people and entities for their roles enabling the “sale and shipment of Iranian oil” to China.

Beijing earlier this month ordered firms to ignore US sanctions on refineries soon after Washington added another facility to its list. An ocean away in the Arabian Sea, US naval forces are chasing down so-called “shadow tankers” that ferry this crude from Iran – often to later be imported by operators in eastern China.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently accused China of helping to fund Iran’s terror networks with its energy purchases.

Earlier this week, along a desolate stretch of road lined with oil refineries just north of the border between Shandong and Hebei provinces, an awareness of that spotlight seemed palpable.

A visit to a US-sanctioned refinery

Security was tight around facilities run by the Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group – a refinery sanctioned by the US a year ago.

Masked guards stood outside entry gates to the processing complex, which sprawled across several blocks in an industrial port area.

Several vehicles, including one with the company logo, started tailing a CNN crew that drove along a public road in front of the facility, attempting to block the team’s ability to film, even out the window. Other facilities that the team passed in the area did not appear to have similar levels of security.

This company makes gas, diesel and chemicals like bitumen, used in making blacktop pavement.

Washington last May accused Hebei Xinhai of purchasing oil “associated with the Iranian military.” It also said the company had imported crude worth hundreds of millions of dollars carried on shadow fleet tankers, including those sanctioned for transporting Iranian goods. Hebei Xinhai declined an interview request from CNN.

The company is part of a growing US blacklist.

Four other Chinese oil refineries have been sanctioned since last year – most within a few hours’ drive of one another in this coastal, energy hub.

The industry in Shandong province cropped up decades ago to feed off the Shengli oilfields in the Yellow River delta, but now they import heavily from overseas – processing roughly a fifth of the oil China consumes.

And the source of those imports? Often sanctioned crude, analysts say.

“These are small p