The U.S. and Iran have escalated into direct military exchanges in the Persian Gulf, with the U.S. striking Iranian facilities and Iran retaliating against American positions—collapsing a diplomatic agreement signed just ten days ago. Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement, but Netanyahu immediately conditioned full withdrawal on Hezbollah's disarmament, a condition Hezbollah rejected. On the economy, first-quarter GDP grew 2 percent but only because of corporate AI investment; consume…