By Blane Bachelor, CNN

(CNN) — When New Yorker Antoni Scarano visited Romania in 2019, the trip marked his first return to his country of birth since the 1990s.

As a newborn, Scarano, now 34, was among tens of thousands of Romanian children adopted by US families following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. But around 2017, with the help of a Facebook group, Scarano reconnected with his Romanian family, including his birth mother, siblings and grandmother.

Two years later, Scarano and his wife, Samantha Attaguile, arrived in a small village in the Transylvania region on a sunny spring day to meet those relatives — who rolled out “the Eastern European red carpet” for the couple, as he describes it.

“It was like a party,” Scarano says. “It turned into a big love fest, really. We really hit it off, and it felt like we picked up where we left off, you know, all those years ago.”

Over the next several years, the couple traveled to Romania three more times, feeling increasingly drawn to the country’s close-knit communities and relaxed pace of life — a striking contrast to the “60-to-90-hour weeks” demanded by their full-time jobs in the US, Scarano says.

In May 2024, following months of packing and paperwork to secure identification cards and residence permits and reclaim Scarano’s Romanian citizenship, the couple moved from New York to a small village in Sibiu county, in the Transylvania region. “It’s idyllic, with mountains, ancient forests, churches — a place that’s truly magical and has a spirit and energy to it,” Scarano says.

The couple, both of whom are musicians, share their new chapter abroad with tens of thousands of social media followers as “This Rromerican Life”, which is also the name of their band — the extra “r” reflects Scarano’s Roma ancestry.

“Now that we’ve been here for a year and a half, we realize that living in a country is very different than visiting a country,” Scarano says. “So perhaps we did romanticize quite a few things about it. But as we’ve gotten deeper into it, it really has continued to exceed our expectations.”

Beyond Europe’s Big Four

The desire among Americans to move abroad is reaching record numbers: One in five say that, ideally, they would like to emigrate if given an opportunity, according to a 2025 Gallup poll — with the number of young women wanting to leave quadrupling from a similar 2014 poll. Scarano and Attaguile are among the growing wave of those who have actually made the move, with safety, affordability and a better quality of life as key factors for many.

Countries within the 27-member European Union are, not surprisingly, a top choice, especially France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, sometimes known in immigration circles as the Big Four. But experts also report a growing interest in lesser-trodden European destinations — especially Eastern European, Central European and Baltic countries including Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland, Albania and Estonia.

Jean-Francois Harvey, global managing partner of Harvey Law Group, a prominent immigration law firm, tells CNN that inquiries to his company from the US about non-Big Four countries have risen as of late: “from one or two per month” about 18 months ago to “10 to 12 leads per week.”

“People do their homework,” Harvey notes. “In the last few months, we’re seeing people that write to us (have done) their research already. They have their family tree, they find documents in archives. And they say, ‘What do you think? Do you think it’s feasible for me to claim my Romanian ancestry, or my Hungarian a

By Alicia Wallace, CNN

(CNN) — The Consumer Price Index for March, set to be released at 8:30 a.m. Friday, is expected to show that US inflation bolted higher as a direct result of the Middle East war’s energy shock.

Economists are estimating that prices leapt 0.9% from February, more than triple the pace seen in January. Such an increase would drive the annual rate of inflation to 3.4% from 2.4%.

That would not only put inflation back at a level not seen in nearly two years but it would nearly wipe out Americans’ pay gains of 3.5%.

“We’ll definitely see elevated prices eating away at people’s paychecks,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told CNN.

An abrupt increase with lasting impacts

The ceasefire reached earlier this week stemmed some fears that the conflict could drastically deepen or even come to a resolution sooner than later. However, uncertainty continues to linger as do the potential inflationary effects.

Even before the war, inflation was running higher than normal, kept elevated by tariff-related price hikes on goods as well as still-strong consumer demand, to a lesser extent, on services.

“Inflation pressures were already building before the war and are now intensifying,” Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote Wednesday.

Inflation is expected to continue to accelerate in the coming months as the war’s aftershocks ripple beyond gas prices and permeate through a host of commonly purchased goods as well as some services.

Sharply rising gas and energy prices are expected to be the biggest contributor to March’s expected jump in inflation, Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told CNN.

Pantheon is expecting a 23% rise in gas prices, which would be the highest monthly increase on record for the index.

“There’s been bigger energy price shocks in total, but they’ve rippled through over several months,” he said. “This just came through in one month.”

If Pantheon’s math bears out, the increase in gas prices would account for more than two-thirds of the firm’s projected 1% monthly increase in the overall CPI.

It’s an abrupt increase on its own but one that comes with some legs.

“The energy price shock will take many months to play out to other parts of the economy,” Tombs said. “Goods prices won’t change immediately, but after three to six months, you tend to see energy price changes filter through to consumers.”

It’s not just oil

Still, some oil-related price hikes could show up immediately. The CPI data on airfares, for example, are drawn from bookings during the month, not necessarily the flights taken, he said.

Also, there may be some limited effects from companies imposing surcharges to cover higher transportation costs, said CEPR’s Baker. Those types of increases, however, will likely show up more in April’s data, he added.

But it’s not just oil. A choked-off Strait of Hormuz has interrupted a flow of critical materials, including fertilizers, aluminum and helium.

Rising fertilizer prices and higher transportation costs could hit hard at the grocery store, piling atop some increases that were already in the pipeline, Baker noted.

“[Food] prices were already rising rapidly at the wholesale level in February, even before the war,” he wrot

By Stephanie Yang, CNN

(CNN) — The US has negotiated a fragile ceasefire that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Asian allies that depend on the waterway are already being forced to rely on others for energy security– to the benefit of America’s top adversaries.

After the initial airstrikes by the US and Israel in February, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil flows.

Allies in Europe and Asia were not informed in advance of the war or asked to take part from the outset. Nonetheless as the price of crude oil surged, US President Donald Trump lambasted other nations for not sending military support and said those that need it should “take the lead” and “go get your own oil.”

They now seem to be heeding his words, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, whose economies suddenly lost their biggest source of energy imports and have been hit first by the historic global oil crisis.

US allies Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines have looked to broker deals with Iran to ensure the safe delivery of oil and natural gas. Asian countries are also buying up more natural resources from US rival Russia, while China has signaled its willingness to help alleviate fuel shortages and deepen energy collaboration with nearby economies such as Australia, the Philippines, and even Taiwan.

On Tuesday, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire under the condition that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened, providing a reprieve from climbing crude prices. However, the material impact of the agreement remained unclear.

While the US touted its success in reopening the strait, Iran said the country’s military would continue to coordinate the passage of vessels during the ceasefire, and warned that the war was not over. Since the ceasefire announcement, only a trickle of tankers have passed through the narrow passage which, before the war began, was a free and open international waterway.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome of peace talks, Trump’s decision to go to war has reshuffled energy trade and partnerships in the region, with long-term implications for the US and the nature of its alliances in Asia.

“The crisis has exposed a hard truth about US power,” said Roc Shi, a professor at the University of Technology Sydney whose research focuses on energy issues in Asia and Australia. “Despite decades of security guarantees, the US was unable to prevent the closure of the world’s most critical energy chokepoint. Asian allies are now quietly asking whether the US security umbrella extends to energy supply routes.”

Shi said governments in Asia will prioritize diversifying their energy sources, which includes purchasing more oil and natural gas from both the US, the world’s largest producer on both counts, as well as its rivals.

“The crisis is simultaneously strengthening and straining the US‑Asia alliance,” said Shi. “Allies will now hedge – buying more from America, but also building their own resilience.”

Challenged allies

The war in Iran has had a particularly pronounced effect in Asia, where countries have been trying to conserve energy while rushing to secure more supplies. But the differing responses highlight a broad range of vulnerability among Asian nations, researchers said, prompting those most exposed to the oil crisis to seek their own solutions, even at the risk of alienating the US.

The Phi

By Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — Vice President JD Vance spent the last month largely out of the limelight as the US waged a war with Iran that he’d privately worried would spiral out of control.

Yet with President Donald Trump now eager to broker an end to the conflict, he’s emerged as a central player with a major public role.

Vance will travel to Pakistan on Saturday to helm talks aimed at solidifying the fragile truce between the US and Iran — and in the process, elevate himself as the key peacemaker within an administration that has devoted its last several weeks to war.

It’s a daunting mission that carries little guarantee of success. The two sides are far apart and still trading barbs, offering few signs that tensions have substantially eased in the hours since Tuesday’s abrupt ceasefire announcement.

But for Vance, a prominent critic of foreign wars who harbored reservations from the start about striking Iran, the chance to negotiate a lasting deal is one he’s spent weeks working toward behind the scenes, multiple people familiar with the matter said.

And as he mulls a future presidential bid, it will offer the vice president perhaps his best opening yet to emerge in a strengthened position from an otherwise politically damaging period for the administration.

“This is a crucial moment, probably the biggest moment for JD Vance as vice president,” said Curt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative and a Vance ally who’s been critical of the war. “With crisis comes opportunity, and if he solves these problems, it could be very important and effective for his prospects.”

Vance is expected to lead the US delegation alongside Trump’s chief diplomatic envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in the administration’s first face-to-face meeting with Iran since the war began.

Vance’s presence is meant to lend credence to the talks, White House officials said, given his stature within the West Wing and Trump’s trust in his ability to lay out the administration’s specific demands. Trump personally asked him to lead the renewed talks with Iran, a White House official said.

Dispatching Vance is also a move that some hope could smooth the path toward peace. Iran has signaled that it views him as a more reasonable negotiator, after its previous talks with Kushner and Witkoff ended abruptly when Trump decided to attack.

The regime is also well aware of Vance’s reputation as an outspoken anti-interventionist, having monitored reports of his role as one of the only high-ranking US officials who tried to talk Trump out of striking in the first place, two sources familiar with the matter said.

A White House official disputed assertions that Iran preferred negotiating with Vance, calling it a “clearly coordinated propaganda campaign” that is “utterly false and peddled to attempt to quash negotiations.”

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Vance, Witkoff, Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “have always been collaborating on these discussions, and the President is optimistic that a deal can be reached that can lead to long lasting peace in the Middle East.”

From reluctant war defender to behind-the-scenes peace broker

Throughout the 40-day war, Vance studiously avoided becoming one of the main faces of the fight, ceding that role instead to others in the administration.

Vance’s public profile over the past month marked a departure from the vocal and often pugilistic role he’s played as chief cheerleader of the White Ho

Por Sylvie Zhuang, CNN

El líder de China, Xi Jinping, aludió a los conflictos mundiales en curso y a la necesidad de paz durante una reunión histórica con la líder de la oposición de Taiwán este viernes, y reiteró la oposición de Beijing a la independencia de la isla autónoma.

La visita a Beijing de Cheng Li-wun, líder del Kuomintang (KMT) de Taiwán, fue la primera reunión de este tipo en una década y se produce semanas antes de que el presidente de EE.UU., Donald Trump, aterrice en China para mantener conversaciones con Xi Jinping, en las que se espera que Taiwán ocupe un lugar destacado en la agenda.

“El mundo actual dista mucho de ser pacífico, y la paz es, por tanto, más valiosa”, manifestó Xi en el Gran Salón del Pueblo en Beijing.

China se niega a dialogar con el Partido Democrático Progresista (PDP), de tendencia independentista, que ha gobernado Taiwán durante la última década.

China reclama la isla como propia y no descarta usar la fuerza para recuperarla algún día.

En los últimos años, Beijing ha intensificado la presión y los ejercicios militares en torno a Taiwán, lo que ha generado preocupación ante la posibilidad de que las tensiones desemboquen en un conflicto geopolítico.

“Los compatriotas a ambos lados del estrecho son chinos y una sola familia”, declaró Xi, y agregó que Beijing estaba dispuesto a trabajar con los partidos políticos de Taiwán “sobre la base política común de… oponerse a la independencia de Taiwán”.

Cheng expresó su esperanza de que, “gracias a los incansables esfuerzos de ambas partes, el estrecho de Taiwán deje de ser un punto central de posible conflicto, ni se convierta en un tablero de ajedrez para la intervención externa”.

Su visita a China se produce en un momento en que el partido gobernante de Taiwán está bajo presión tanto de Beijing, que ha intensificado la presión militar sobre la isla, como de Washington, que lo está presionando para que apruebe un plan de gasto en defensa de US$ 40.000 millones que se encuentra estancado.

El KMT de Cheng aboga por unas relaciones más cordiales con China y ha estado bloqueando el proyecto de ley de gastos de defensa en el parlamento de Taiwán.

Esto se produce también en un momento en que, según los analistas, Beijing está intentando sacar provecho de los temores que existen entre algunos sectores de Taiwán de que Trump vea a la isla como poco más que un peón en la disputa más amplia entre Estados Unidos y China, y que no esté interesado en su futuro a largo plazo.

Además de las tensiones en materia de comercio y tecnología, se prevé que Taiwán sea uno de los principales temas de conversación durante la cumbre que Xi Jinping mantendrá con Trump en mayo.

China siempre ha considerado a Taiwán como el aspecto más delicado de sus relaciones con Estados Unidos y criticó duramente el anuncio en diciembre de un acuerdo de venta de armas por valor de US$ 11.000 millones entre Estados Unidos y Taiwán, uno de los mayores acuerdos de armas de la historia.

Cheng describió su visita a China como un “viaje histórico por la paz”.

Una de las paradas de su itinerario fue Nankín, que en su día fue la capital de la República de China, gobernada por el Kuomintang. En 1949, el Kuomintang fue expulsado de la China continental por las fuerzas comunistas de Mao Zedong y huyó a Taiwán.

Algunos en Taiwán desconfían de lo que un segundo mandato de Trump, centrado en las transacciones y en los intereses estadounidenses, podría significar para su futuro.

Washington mantiene estrechos lazos no oficiales con Taiwán y está obligado por ley a vender armas a la isla para su autodefensa.

Pero durante la campaña para su segundo mandato, Trump señaló que Taiwán debería pagar más a Estados Unidos por “protección” y también afirmó que había