Elise Labott

i host Cosmopolitics on Substack. Founder @zivvymedia, @AmericanU, @CNN alum, #Badgers, proud Jersey girl.

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

As the US prepares to host the World Cup, host of the fantastic Lords of Soccer podcast, @ConormPowell joins me to discuss how FIFA became one of the most powerful organizations in the world, the scandals that defined it, 
and the challenges confronting  the upcoming tournament

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

When Iranian recently described the Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s “atomic bomb,” it sounded like a throwaway line.
It may turn out to be one of the most important things said about the war.

https://t.co/BFMsfoXDfW

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

@sentdefender I don’t think it will go well for them if they do this. I have something coming out in the morning about it.

[Patrick Oppmann CNN @CNN_Oppmann]

US intelligence-gathering flights are surging off Cuba, following a pattern similar to lead up to military operations in Iran and Venezuela.

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

https://t.co/MQiUZ5dkkN

[Danielle Pletka 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇺🇦 @dpletka]

The defeat of the Iranian regime could mean game over for Islamism. Just imagine. https://t.co/GDm28T2V23

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

Even as facts emerged from the WHCD shooting,the instant analysis and partisan blame began. If anything is going to change, we must resist reflexive outrage and choose empathy - even when it’s hardest.That includes all of us, those with bylines included.

https://t.co/znByB2B1NL

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

@Gosleepriya Two

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

@KingTunde_SZN 36

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

The real challenge isn’t convincing Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. It’s helping them do it in a way that doesn’t burn the country down in the process.

https://t.co/OpKdtBYUpW

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

@EdwardJonesNYC Thanks! Yes - the new boss is the same as the old boss.

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

This is shameful. What is insurance for if bot for a case like this @StateFarm ?

[Tara Setmayer 🌻 🇺🇸 @TaraSetmayer]

A bit of personal news.
Has anyone else lost their family property b/c of @StateFarm negligence & refusal to pay?

Because we just did.

4 generations of Setmayers.
Our 100yr family legacy lost, b/c of STATE Farm. Good neighbor is a LIE!
Can anyone help us right this wrong?

[Barak Ravid @BarakRavid]

🚨U.S. to allow Iran to get ~14 billion dollars (!!!) in oil revenue
🚨This is a huge financial concession to Iran by the U.S.
🚨It is the first time U.S. is buying Iranian oil since 1996
🚨It's all happening in the middle of a war against...Iran

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

The war in the Strait of Hormuz will reach your local pharmacy within six weeks. Not because your pharmacist follows geopolitics. Because the active pharmaceutical ingredients in roughly half of America’s generic prescriptions begin as petrochemical derivatives manufactured in India, and India’s petrochemical industry begins as crude oil that transited 21 miles of water that closed on March 4.

Nearly 70 percent of the active ingredients in US generic drugs are produced in India. India imports approximately 40 percent of its crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz. The crude feeds refineries that produce naphtha. The naphtha feeds petrochemical crackers that produce intermediates. The intermediates feed pharmaceutical plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Hyderabad that produce the API, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, that is shipped to contract manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and across Asia. The chain from the strait to the tablet is six steps long. Every step requires the one before it.

CNBC reported that the Hormuz closure puts America’s generic drug supply at risk. Fierce Pharma warned of longer-term effects on US manufacturing and generics. Think Global Health mapped the pharmaceutical supply chains most vulnerable to disruption. The consensus across trade publications, health policy analysts, and industry executives is identical: four to six weeks of current inventory exists in the pipeline. After that, shortages begin with the most complex formulations first.

Cancer drugs are the highest risk. Biologics requiring cold-chain storage have the shortest shelf life and the longest replenishment cycle. Clinical trial medications depend on uninterrupted supply chains that are now interrupted. Insulin analogues, antivirals, and cardiac medications all contain intermediates sourced from Indian manufacturers whose input costs are rising with every day the strait remains closed.

Air cargo is the emergency bypass. But air freight rates from India have climbed 200 to 350 percent on some routes since the war began, according to logistics tracking firms. Gulf air capacity is down 79 percent because airports in the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar have been damaged or operate under restricted conditions. The Suez Canal route adds 10 to 14 days to maritime shipping times. The Cape of Good Hope route adds 21 to 28 days. Both alternatives assume the Red Sea remains navigable, which the Houthi threat has complicated since 2024.

The World Health Organisation reported a 70 percent funding gap for its operational response in the region. Medical supply chains to Iran itself have been devastated, with hospitals reporting shortages of surgical supplies, blood products, and anaesthetics. But the downstream pharmaceutical effect extends far beyond the war zone. Every Indian manufacturer that pays more for crude pays more for naphtha, pays more for intermediates, and passes the cost forward into API prices that American generic drug companies absorb until they cannot absorb any further.

The molecule does not know it is a medicine. The strait does not know it is a pharmacy. The petrochemical derivative that becomes a blood pressure tablet transits the same water as the petrochemical derivative that becomes a fertiliser pellet. Both are trapped. Both have shelf lives. Both have planting windows or prescription refill cycles that do not negotiate with blockades.

Six weeks. Then the pharmacy starts calling patients about substitutions.

https://t.co/iFmUcarGdV

[MoFA وزارة الخارجية @mofauae]

Joint Statement on the Strait of Hormuz

https://t.co/fVPAYozdF4

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

The @statedept sent urgent travel advisory urging Americans in 14 Middle Eastern countries to “depart now” due to “serious safety risks.”

check out https://t.co/yP2RqbYj2N for the latest security information, including how to register with the local embassy or consulate.

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

It’s a good day for Iran. But this isn’t the Wizard of Oz - don’t expect a “ding dong the witch is dead “ moment just yet.

https://t.co/3rQiXJPzDv

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

@RuksanaAnsar 100

[Elise Labott @EliseLabott]

When a US president tells protesters to push forward, they hear it as a promise. They begin to believe that something is coming. That belief can keep people in the streets longer and it can raise expectations and change the movement’s risk calculus. https://t.co/J7L7ScXy38