logo

Oil Gains Amid Optimism Over U.S.-China Trade Talks

0000 GMT — Oil edges higher in the early Asian session, buoyed by optimism over U.S.-China trade talks that could mitigate risks of tariffs hurting oil demand. President Trump's negotiators sit down with their Chinese counterparts in London later today. Also, supply-side risks are providing extra short- to medium-term support, such as recent wildfires in Canada that threaten production, Saxo Bank's head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen says. Front-month WTI crude oil futures are up 0.2% at $64.69/bbl; front-month Brent crude oil futures are 0.2% higher at $66.56/bbl. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘Went Too Far': Elon Musk Says He Regrets Some Posts About Trump
‘Went Too Far': Elon Musk Says He Regrets Some Posts About Trump

Time​ Magazine

time13 minutes ago

  • Time​ Magazine

‘Went Too Far': Elon Musk Says He Regrets Some Posts About Trump

'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,' Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X early Wednesday. 'They went too far.' Musk and Trump, who were once almost inseparable allies, were engaged in a public and vitriolic war of words last week. But the fierce hostilities between the man with the most money in the world and the man with the mightiest military appear to be cooling. The statement of remorse by Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump in 2024, comes as observers have noticed another shift in his tone on social media toward the Administration. In retweets and replies, Musk signaled support for Trump's approach toward the protests in Los Angeles, including sharing multiple of the President's recent posts from Truth Social. He also responded with a heart emoji to a video of Trump telling reporters on Monday that he wished Musk well and that they had a 'good relationship.' It's a sharp contrast to how the two powerful men discussed each other last week, after Musk left his official government role and ramped up his criticisms of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' massive tax-and-spending legislative package that is stumbling through Congress. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore,' Trump told reporters at the White House on June 5. 'I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot.' On Truth Social, Trump said at the time that Musk ' went CRAZY!' and threatened that the 'easiest way to save money' would be 'to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' In turn, Musk alleged that the Administration was holding back the public release of so-called Epstein Files because Trump is implicated in them, and he endorsed a message that suggested 'Trump should be impeached' and Vance 'should replace him.' Those posts have since been deleted.

Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump's long-shot effort to fight hush money conviction
Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump's long-shot effort to fight hush money conviction

CNN

time13 minutes ago

  • CNN

Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump's long-shot effort to fight hush money conviction

Five months after President Donald Trump was sentenced without penalty in the New York hush money case, his attorneys will square off again with prosecutors Wednesday in one of the first major tests of the Supreme Court's landmark presidential immunity decision. Trump is relying heavily on the high court's divisive 6-3 immunity ruling from July in a long-shot bid to get his conviction reviewed – and ultimately overturned – by federal courts. After being convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Trump in January became the first felon to ascend to the presidency in US history. Even after Trump was reelected and federal courts became flooded with litigation tied to his second term, the appeals in the hush money case have chugged forward in multiple courts. A three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals – all named to the bench by Democratic presidents – will hear arguments Wednesday in one of those cases. Trump will be represented on Wednesday by Jeffrey Wall, a private lawyer and Supreme Court litigator who served as acting solicitor general during Trump's first administration. Many of the lawyers who served on Trump's defense team in the hush money case have since taken top jobs within the Justice Department. The case stems from the 2023 indictment announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, who accused Trump of falsely categorizing payments he said were made to quash unflattering stories during the 2016 election. Trump was accused of falsifying a payment to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to cover up a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out before the 2016 election about an alleged affair with Trump. (Trump has denied the affair.) Trump was ultimately convicted last year and was sentenced without penalty in January, days before he took office. The president is now attempting to move that case to federal court, where he is betting he'll have an easier shot at arguing that the Supreme Court's immunity decision in July will help him overturn the conviction. Trump's earlier attempts to move the case to federal court have been unsuccessful. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, nominated by President Bill Clinton, denied the request in September – keeping Trump's case in New York courts instead. The 2nd Circuit will now hear arguments on Trump's appeal of that decision on Wednesday. 'He's lost already several times in the state courts,' said David Shapiro, a former prosecutor and now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. And Trump's long-running battle with New York Judge Juan Merchan, Shapiro said, has 'just simmered up through the system' in New York courts in a way that may have convinced Trump that federal courts will be more receptive. Trump, who frequently complained about Merchan, has said he wants his case heard in an 'unbiased federal forum.' Trump's argument hangs largely on a technical but hotly debated section of the Supreme Court's immunity decision last year. Broadly, that decision granted former presidents 'at least presumptive' immunity for official acts and 'absolute immunity' when presidents were exercising their constitutional powers. State prosecutors say the hush money payments were a private matter – not official acts of the president – and so they are not covered by immunity. But the Supreme Court's decision also barred prosecutors from attempting to show a jury evidence concerning a president's official acts, even if they are pursuing alleged crimes involving that president's private conduct. Without that prohibition, the Supreme Court reasoned, a prosecutor could 'eviscerate the immunity' the court recognized by allowing a jury to second-guess a president's official acts. Trump is arguing that is exactly what Bragg did when he called White House officials such as former communications director Hope Hicks and former executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout to testify at his trial. Hicks had testified that Trump felt it would 'have been bad to have that story come out before the election,' which prosecutors later described as the 'nail' in the coffin of the president's defense. Trump's attorneys are also pointing to social media posts the president sent in 2018 denying the Daniels hush money scheme as official statements that should not have been used in the trial. State prosecutors 'introduced into evidence and asked the jury to scrutinize President Trump's official presidential acts,' Trump's attorneys told the appeals court in a filing last month. 'One month after trial, the Supreme Court unequivocally recognized an immunity prohibiting the use of such acts as evidence at any trial of a former president.' A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. If Trump's case is ultimately reviewed by federal courts, that would not change his state law conviction into a federal conviction. Trump would not be able to pardon himself just because a federal court reviews the case. Bragg's office countered that it's too late for federal courts to intervene. Federal officials facing prosecution in state courts may move their cases to federal court in many circumstances under a 19th century law designed to ensure states don't attempt to prosecute them for conduct performed 'under color' of a US office or agency. A federal government worker, for instance, might seek to have a case moved to federal court if they are sued after getting into a car accident while driving on the job. But in this case, Bragg's office argued, Trump has already been convicted and sentenced. That means, prosecutors said, there's really nothing left for federal courts to do. 'Because final judgment has been entered and the state criminal action has concluded, there is nothing to remove to federal district court,' prosecutors told the 2nd Circuit in January. Even if that's not true, they said, seeking testimony from a White House adviser about purely private acts doesn't conflict with the Supreme Court's ruling in last year's immunity case. Bragg's office has pointed to a Supreme Court ruling as well: the 5-4 decision in January that allowed Trump to be sentenced in the hush money case. The president raised many of the same concerns about evidence when he attempted to halt that sentencing before the inauguration. A majority of the Supreme Court balked at that argument in a single sentence that, effectively, said Trump could raise those concerns when he appeals his conviction. That appeal remains pending in state court. 'The alleged evidentiary violations at President-elect Trump's state-court trial,' the Supreme Court wrote, 'can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal.'

A Wellness Brand's Love Letter To Somerset
A Wellness Brand's Love Letter To Somerset

Forbes

time22 minutes ago

  • Forbes

A Wellness Brand's Love Letter To Somerset

Bruton High Street in Somerset is not the most obvious place to find an emporium of cutting-edge design. On the face of it, this looks like any other small town in rural England. But tucked away amid the 18th- and 19th-century storefronts is Commune, a light-drenched boutique that is home to a wellness brand rooted in the Somerset countryside but with a fashion-savvy backbone. Step inside, and your senses are hit by the scents of the wild: lavender, clary sage, lemongrass and cypress combine to whisper in the air. Offering body products, scents and candles, the idea for Commune came about in lockdown. While everyone else was banging their pans on the doorstep and waiting for the 5pm news, husband and wife duo, Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux, were busy bringing an ambitious idea to life that had been simmering for a while. 'Nature is our Reprieve' is Commune's tagline. Both Kate and Rémi's careers have criss-crossed the high-wire of high fashion. Kate's CV includes stints as merchandising director at LVMH; while Rémi's pedigree lies in a prior role as art director at Dazed & Confused Magazine and brand image director for Gucci. After he was head-hunted to become the brand creative director for Lululemon, the pair and their family decamped to Vancouver. 'It was a big change from working in fashion in Europe,' says Kate. 'The biggest difference was the lifestyle. It's true what everyone says: in Canada, it's all about the outdoors, no matter what the weather is doing, and people are a lot more connected to nature. We embraced it all and it was there that the idea for Commune began to take root.' Inside the Commune store in Bruton. While in Vancouver, Kate began a perfumery course with iconic natural perfumer and 'nose', Mandy Aftel, hopping on flights to San Francisco to see her. 'The idea of 'distilling' the essence of nature had long been a somewhat whimsical passion of mine but then, under the guidance of Mandy, it began to take shape—I learnt so much. She is a master of perfumery,' she says. When rumours of a lockdown began to circulate, the couple decided to move back to the UK, with the idea of launching a brand together, setting up home in the idyllic village of Bratton Seymour. 'It was a wonderful time,' Kate and Rémi recall. 'The hamlet is very small, so it meant we got to know a lot of our neighbours well—going on long walks, cooking for each other and watching the rhythms of nature.' Kate at work at the perfume organ. The name of the brand, Commune, is a reflection of this time and the strong community that they were part of; while the brand's signature scent, Seymour, is a nod to the village they live in. The fragrance is one that Kate laboured over, collaborating with a local natural perfumer (who fortuitously also lived in the same village) to produce a multi-layered perfume that blossoms on the skin. 'I wanted something that would conjure up spring—new life and fresh blooms, yet it had to have an earthiness to it, giving a hint of wet earth,' she says. The resulting fragrance is Commune's hero one and is used across its core products of bath salts, body wash, body and hand cream, shampoo, and conditioner. Elevate your bathtime with Commune. Seymour is, in fact, an ode to Somerset, amplified with its notes of lavender, lemongrass and clary sage blended with Spanish cypress, Japanese hiba wood and geranium. The brand's solid perfume, which comes in a chic black metal case, like a retro compact, showcases it to its full glory. The design calls on English folklore and motifs of the Somerset surroundings. When it comes to the design, Rémi was meticulous about the detailing. The butter-lemon bottles are large and chunky (refillable and less transport needed) with a design that echoes the arch of the windows of a nearby chapel. A Gothic, curvy 'O' shape, which Rémi calls the 'Eclipse', is a motif that is repeated throughout—from the shape of the perfume cases to the top of the specially-designed pump of the bottles. Woven into the aesthetic are nods to olde English folklore and the surrounding rolling countryside. 'Nature is our Reprieve' is the tagline found on all the products. This 'care for nature' ethos is also carried through to the brand's sustainable and green credentials, which sees the bottles made out of lightweight aluminium, meaning they are fully recyclable, with reusable pumps, no single-use plastic and formulas made with no harsh chemicals. 'The word 'sustainable' is over-used,' says Rémi. 'So, we like to simply say that we are doing our best to be as conscious as we can be.' The brand offers luxurious self-care products. Since launching, the brand is now well on the way to finding its place next to world-renowned luxury names, being stocked in Harrods and Liberty in the UK and Alder & Co and Remedy Place, a social wellness club, in the US, not to mention in a clutch of beautifully-curated stores across the world that align with the brand's ethos. The products are also found at some of the UK's most beautiful hotels, such as Estelle Manor, Oxfordshire and The Newt (found a few miles down the road from Commune). 'In retail terms, Commune sits on the shelf next to brands such as Diptyque and Aesop,' says Kate. 'But, of course, we like to think it stands on its own. What sets us apart from bigger names are our responsible credentials, the story-telling that is woven through everything and the fact we are 100% hands-on as founders.' The store is found in the heart of Bruton. Most notable of all is Commune's bricks-and-mortar store that opened in Bruton last year, and works not only as a window for the brand, but plays host to perfumery workshops led by Kate. 'We see that side of the business growing in the future,' says Kate. 'With more hands-on, immersive projects. People are seeking that connection.' It turns out that Commune is in the most fitting place, for Bruton itself is a hive of artisan activity. The market town is one that is thriving with stores and restaurants that champion craftsmenship and the arts. A few doors down, for instance, is Philo & Philo, a vintage homeware shop owned by fashion designer, Phoebe Philo's mother and sister; nearby is Hauser + Wirth Somerset, a gallery and restaurant carved out of a former farmstead; while The Chapel Bruton is a boutique hotel with in-house artisan bakery and wine store. 'It is a unique and wonderful place to be,' says Kate. 'There is so many like-minded people here and it really does feel like a creative place to live.' Soon to be launched are perfumery workshops at Commune. In the store, you'll pass by the central terrarium filled with moss and plants, to find a white-washed back-room, where visitors can take part in curated perfumery lessons at Kate's bespoke perfume organ ('It was crafted by a local craftsmen out of rare Somerset walnut,' Kate reveals). It is a playground of perfumery, with some 200 different perfume oils to dip into. As well as the recently launched soy and beeswax candle collection, which come with chunky marble trays and are an olfactory riff on the notions of dusk and dawn, the brand is set to launch its second scent, Montague. This time, the fragrance will capture the essence of summer, with heady notes of night blooming jasmine, green mandarin, kumquat and Siberian fir. This, too, is named after a local village—Bratton Seymour. Lox and Nox are the two different candles which are an olfactory play on dawn and dusk. 'Eventually, we will have a scent for each season and each will be named after a Somerset village,' says Kate. 'We have it all planned. After all, Commune is made with love in Somerset and that is where you'll find us.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store