LOS ANGELES, May 2 — At a gas station in Los Angeles, Ryder Thomas wore a grimace of barely suppressed anger as he filled his pickup truck, watching the cost tick up to US$130...
Jealous rage likely motive behind Ketereh college girl’s killing, Kelantan police say amid week-long remand for boyfriend and buddy Perak family learns of college student’s brutal killing a week after Kelantan campus drop-off, brother says couldn’t bear to hear details KL must stay open and modern, not be held back by ‘reckless narratives’, says Kepong MP on Rain Rave festival Ketereh murder probe: Two held after college student found slain with 61 stab wounds, Kelantan police chief says they are the ‘main suspects’Regular cash gasoline prices above US$6 per gallon are displayed outside a Mobil gas station in Redondo Beach, California on April 30, 2026.
Energy costs have surged since the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas usually passes, following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran. — AFP pic! Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply.
LOS ANGELES, May 2 — At a gas station in Los Angeles, Ryder Thomas wore a grimace of barely suppressed anger as he filled his pickup truck, watching the cost tick up to US$130 for a full tank — US$30 more than he was paying before the US and Israel attacked Iran. This week, pump prices in the United States climbed to their highest level since early 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered a global surge in the cost of oil.
Hostilities in the Middle East, which began when Israel and the United States started bombing Iran on February 28, have crimped supply, sending the price of crude surging. The war launched by President Donald Trump is unpopular all over the United States, with polls showing a clear majority disapprove of a conflict whose aims they think are unclear.
“There was absolutely no need for this war. It’s just like when we invaded Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction,” Thomas said. For weeks, the Republican billionaire has insisted that attacking Iran was necessary to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons, and has repeatedly promised a short conflict.
But despite the overwhelming might of the US military, the Islamic republic has blocked the Strait of Hormuz — a global trade artery used to transport a fifth of the world’s oil and gas. Gas prices exceeding US$8 a gallon are seen listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles, California April 28, 2026.
— AFP picThe result of this squeeze on supply is rising prices, sending gas in already-expensive California above US$6 a gallon , compared with around US$4.50 a gallon before the war. Thomas worries about the domino effect this oil crunch will have on everything else he buys, as the rising cost of transport pushes up the prices of everyday goods like food and clothing.
“I hope the middle-of-the-road voters who got Trump elected start thinking about it and realize what he’s done to them,” he said of a president who campaigned on reducing costs for everyday Americans. Trump voter David Chavez, who was waiting among dozens of cars lining up to refuel at Costco — a wholesale retailer whose prices are often a little lower than average — said it was not that simple.
“It is not nice; we don’t want to pay more for gas,” acknowledged the cameraman as he got his credit card ready to fill up his minivan. However, “we don’t know everything that happens behind closed doors. It’s too easy to blame one person for all the problems. ”Chavez said he voted for Democrats in the past, but switched to Trump because of former president Joe Biden’s “poor handling of immigration and poor handling of the economy.
” He accused oil giants of taking advantage of the current climate to artificially inflate prices, and pointed out that stricter environmental rules in California amp up the cost to motorists in the massive state.
“Trump still handles things a little bit better,” he said. In the same gas line, 73-year-old Flo, who did not want to give her full name, said she no longer knew what or who to believe on the reasons for rising gas prices.
“With gas this high, I go to the food bank now, more so than ever,” the retiree told AFP. Between her pension and a part-time job she takes home around US$3,000 a month — almost half of which is swallowed by rent. Iran standoff could harden into ‘frozen conflict’ with no clear exit, leaving Trump worse off than before he went to war
Ryder Thomas Donald Trump Strait Of Hormuz Oil Prices Middle East Conflict
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