US threatens Mexican airline flights over airline competition issues
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement the department could disapprove flight requests from Mexico if the goverment fails to address U.S. concerns. The department is also proposing to withdraw antitrust immunity from the Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab joint venture with Aeromexico to address competitive issues in the market.
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Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
JD Vance chooses Cotswolds for family summer holiday
JD Vance and his family have chosen to spend their summer holiday in the UK, according to sources familiar with their itinerary. They are expected to visit in August, not long after Donald Trump completes a five-day stay in Scotland, illustrating what a US official said were the deep bonds between Sir Keir Starmer's Government and the Trump administration. Mr Vance has at times angered the British public, making apparently dismissive comments about America's allies and fierce attacks on what he claims are restrictions on free speech in the UK. The vice-president, his wife Usha and their three young children are expected to join millions of American tourists in crossing the Atlantic to see the sights of London in mid-August. They are then expected to rent a cottage in the Cotswolds before leaving to spend time in Scotland. Mrs Vance has taken the lead in finding a cottage in the Cotswolds where they can unwind with Ewan, eight, five-year-old Vivek, and Mirabel, three. The children have been a feature of Mr Vance's public life since he became vice-president, skipping ahead of their parents and boarding Air Force Two in their pyjamas ready for long-haul flights to Europe and beyond. Three sources described the Vance family plans to The Telegraph, although one stressed that the itinerary had not been finalised. It is understood the vice-president had also been keen to visit David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, at Chevening, his grace-and-favour estate in Kent, but their calendars did not align. Mr Lammy and his wife visited the Vances at their official Washington residence earlier this year, and people who know both men say they have bonded over their humble backgrounds and shared faith. The visits by the president and his potential successor in 2028 are seen as something of a summer coup by British officials, who are delighted at how they have been able to woo an administration that uses the slogan 'America First'. 'The ties run deep,' said a Whitehall source. 'Whatever any policy differences, the history, heritage and appeal of the United Kingdom are a huge draw to the current administration … unlike with their predecessors.' Mr Trump has spoken of his deep admiration for Elizabeth II and how he watched the late Queen's coronation at his royalist mother's side in 1953. The US president is due to fly to Scotland on Friday, where he will check up on his business interests and meet the Prime Minister in Aberdeen. He will visit his Trump Turnberry golf club in Ayrshire on the west coast before opening the new second course on his Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, on the north-east coast. Aides, who shy away from using the term 'vacation' for a president who they say never stops working, are billing the trip as a low-key affair. He will return to the UK in September for a state visit. British officials have made no secret of their use of the UK's history and heritage in seeking concessions from the Trump administration. When Sir Keir met the president in the Oval Office in February, he came with a letter from the King inviting Mr Trump for an unprecedented second state visit. Barely seven weeks later, the UK became the first nation to do a trade deal with Washington, which lifted planned swingeing tariffs.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Trump's EPA eliminates research and development office and begins layoffs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees. One union leader said the moves 'will devastate public health in our country'. The agency's office of research and development (ORD) has long provided the scientific underpinnings for the EPA's mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said in May it would shift its scientific expertise and research efforts to program offices that focus on major issues such as air and water. The agency said on Friday it is creating a new office of applied science and environmental solutions that will allow it to focus on research and science 'more than ever before'. Once fully implemented, the changes will save the EPA nearly $750m, officials said. Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House science committee, called the elimination of the research office 'a travesty'. 'The Trump administration is firing hardworking scientists while employing political appointees whose job it is to lie incessantly to Congress and to the American people,' she said. 'The obliteration of ORD will have generational impacts on Americans' health and safety.' EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement that the changes announced Friday would ensure the agency 'is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment, while Powering the Great American Comeback'. The EPA also said it is beginning the process to eliminate thousands of jobs, following asupreme court ruling last week that cleared the way for Donald Trump's plans to downsize the federal workforce, despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs. Total staffing at EPA will go down to 12,448, a reduction of more than 3,700 employees, or nearly 23%, from staffing levels in January when Trump took office, the agency said. 'This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,' Zeldin said, using a government term for mass firings. The office of research and development 'is the heart and brain of the EPA', said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees. 'Without it, we don't have the means to assess impacts upon human health and the environment,' Chen said. 'Its destruction will devastate public health in our country.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The research office – EPA's main science arm – currently has 1,540 positions, excluding special government employees and public health officers, according to agency documents reviewed by Democratic staff on the House science panel earlier this year. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists could be laid off, the documents indicated. The research office has 10 facilities across the country, stretching from Florida and North Carolina to Oregon. An EPA spokeswoman said that all laboratory functions currently conducted by the research office will continue. In addition to the reduction in force, the agency also is offering the third round of deferred resignations for eligible employees, including research office staff, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. The application period is open until 25 July. The EPA's announcement comes two weeks after the agency put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a 'declaration of dissent' with agency policies under the Trump administration. The agency accused the employees of 'unlawfully undermining' Trump's agenda. In a letter made public on 30June, the employees wrote that the EPA is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face retaliation for speaking out. Associated Press contributed to reporting
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Warren Buffett's quiet moves send shockwaves through Wall Street: 'Canary in the coal mine'
Famed investor Warren Buffett has quietly executed a series of multi-billion-dollar exits from major US banks. It appears to be a strategic shift that analysts say signals a sharp turn in sentiment from the world's most closely watched investor - and a growing belief that America's booming financial sector is headed for turbulence. During the first half of 2025, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold more than $3.2 billion in shares tied to the banking industry, including a $1 billion exit from Citigroup, a $2 billion reduction in Bank of America, while also trimming holdings in Capital One. The moves were disclosed through SEC filings and confirmed by analysts monitoring Berkshire's quarterly portfolio updates. 'Berkshire has clearly been reducing its exposure to U.S. bank stocks,' said Larry Cunningham, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware to The Telegraph. 'That activity signals a cautious or even bearish outlook on banking.' The divestments come at a moment of strong profitability in the sector. Goldman Sachs this week reported a 22% jump in quarterly earnings, while Citigroup profits surged 25%, both beating Wall Street expectations. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index is nearing record highs. Yet despite these short-term gains, Buffett is building a historically large cash position - now exceeding $350 billion - and repositioning Berkshire's portfolio toward energy and consumer staples, including fresh investments in Occidental Petroleum and Constellation Brands. Buffet famously warned about derivatives as 'financial weapons of mass destruction' years before the 2008 collapse. He quietly accumulated cash before the COVID crash in 2020. Markets may be known for their irrational behavior but Buffett's moves are usually based on numbers, patterns, and a gut instinct honed over seven decades. His legacy is built not just on the billions he made, but the crashes he avoided. His cooling on banks is the classic contrarian signal the Oracle of Omaha is famous for. The rapid repositioning has not gone unnoticed by investors already rattled by political volatility, surging inflation, and uncertainty surrounding US monetary policy. 'Part of this could be driven by expectations that these current equity valuations are not sustainable,' said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of US rates strategy at TD Securities. Buffett's moves align with a broader pullback among major industry leaders. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, sold $31.5 million in company stock in April, following a $125 million sale in 2024. It was his first personal sell-off since becoming CEO in 2005. Such exits come as Wall Street deals with rising inflation and uncertainty over Trump's economic policy. The Trump administration's revived trade wars have injected volatility into the markets and uncertainty into long-term growth projections. US inflation hit 2.7% in June, and the Federal Reserve has twice slashed its 2025 GDP forecast, from 2.1% to 1.4%. The central bank's projections signal weakening consumer demand and a potential slowdown in growth during the second half of the year. Higher inflation could force long-term Treasury yields up - triggering a domino effect of rising loan defaults, declining merger activity, and stress on bond portfolios. 'The big, big red flag is going to be consumption,' said Kambiz Kazemi, chief investment officer at Validus Risk Management. 'If unemployment goes up and consumer spending drops, it triggers a feedback loop through the entire borrowing ecosystem.' Concerns are also rising over the Trump administration's confrontational stance toward the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Trump's escalating threats to remove Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have rattled investors and bank CEOs alike. JPMorgan's Dimon, Goldman Sachs' David Solomon, Citigroup's Jane Fraser, and Bank of America's Brian Moynihan have all warned the White House against destabilizing monetary policy. 'Uncertainty around tariffs, and more generally, uncertainty about most subjects — the way the administration is running things - is going to be slowly eroding the trust in the system,' Kazemi added. 'The reality has to catch up.' A shake-up at the Fed could lead to artificially lowered short-term interest rates, further distorting inflation expectations. While trading revenues have remained strong amid tariff-driven market volatility, other banking segments, particularly corporate lending and dealmaking are already showing signs of strain. The bond market has begun to reflect broader investor skepticism. Bill Gross, co-founder of Pimco and widely regarded as the 'Bond King,' issued a warning on X earlier this week: 'Investors wake up! I for one am moving defensively - more cash, buying value with 4-5% dividend yields. And an emphasis on non-US.' Gross's comments underscore growing unease in global markets, with inflation, rate uncertainty, and trade policy reshaping the investment landscape faster than Wall Street earnings can keep up. Although Berkshire Hathaway maintains significant exposure to the financial sector - 16.4% in American Express and 10.1% in Bank of America, its trajectory seems clear. The firm is reallocating toward sectors traditionally seen as more resilient in downturns. 'It's always hard to know how much of Berkshire's selling reflects macroeconomic pessimism versus firm-specific or internal considerations,' Cunningham said. 'But the concentration in energy and staples suggests a shift toward stability and defensiveness.'
