
US State Department approves possible sale to Australia of fighter jet spare parts
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department approved a possible foreign military sale to Australia of fighter jet spare parts for $2 billion, the Pentagon said in a statement, adding the principle contractor will be Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab.
Australia had requested to buy the equipment related to the sustainment of its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, and the EA-18G Growler jet which is mainly used in electronic warfare roles such as radar jamming.

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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Stocks slip, oil jumps as Trump calls for Tehran evacuation
June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures slipped and oil prices rose on Tuesday, as investors were rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump's call for everyone to evacuate Tehran with the fifth-day of Israel-Iran fighting sowing fears of a broader regional conflict. Markets were on edge after a separate report said that Trump had asked for the national security council to be prepared in the situation room as he cut short his visit to the Group of Seven summit in Canada. Trump had earlier urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States. The latest developments sparked a wave of risk-off moves in early Asian trading. S&P 500 futures fell 0.46%, European futures slumped 0.69%, while crude prices , briefly jumped more than 2%. "Suspicion is that we're about to see the U.S. begin some sort of military action in Iran and we're now seeing some risk aversion because it brings another element of uncertainty into the market," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. Wall Street had closed higher on Monday after sources told Reuters that Iran was seeking a Trump-mediated immediate ceasefire with Israel, which also cooled a rally in crude prices. The Iran-Israel air war - the biggest battle ever between the two longtime enemies - escalated on Monday with Israel targeting Iran's state broadcaster and uranium enrichment facilities. The heightened uncertainty and fluid Middle East situation bolstered investor moves towards traditional safe-haven assets such as gold which rose 0.5%, while a rise in U.S. Treasuries pushed yields lower across the curve. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note was down about 2 basis points at 4.43%. The dollar firmed against the euro , yen and sterling as it reprised its role as a safe asset even as it held to broadly tighter ranges. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was a tad higher, while futures tracking Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were also marginally higher. Outside of geopolitics, interest rate decisions by a host of central banks will be the prime focus for investors this week with the Bank of Japan's verdict expected later in the day. At the end of its two-day policy meeting, the BOJ is widely expected to maintain short-term interest rates at 0.5%, but markets will be keen on the institution's outlook on quantitative tightening. Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab edged up 0.5%, while the yen was slightly weaker at 144.96 per dollar. Investors are expecting the BOJ to consider slowing reductions in its bond purchases next year, as the central bank focuses on avoiding big market disruptions and tries to wean the economy off a decade-long, massive stimulus. It would be the first decision since the recent bond auctions had shown eroding appetite for freshly issued longer-dated debt and drove the country's bond yields to record highs. On Tuesday, yields on 30-year and 40-year bonds were broadly steady. In a week filled with central bank meetings across the globe, investors will be looking to comments from officials as they navigate Trump's erratic tariff policies and their impact on the global economy. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday but the focus yet again will be on the path Fed Chair Jerome Powell charts out for future rate cuts. Traders are pricing in two cuts by the end of the year. "To be a central banker right now is one challenging job and on top of the tariff situation, the trade policy and the inking of deals before deadlines you have this uncertainty from the Middle East," said IG's Sycamore. "Macro backdrops don't get any more tricky than what we're seeing at this point in time." In commodities, the risks of prolonged unrest in the Middle East and disruption to oil supply sent prices higher. Brent crude futures contract was last up 0.34% at $73.47 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was last up 0.43% at $72.09. Gold prices were fetching $3,393.05 per ounce, up 0.3% on the day.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Coles and Woolworths anger shoppers with issue Australians can't avoid
Shoppers who prefer to use cash are feeling 'discriminated' against at Coles and Woolworths as it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid paying by card. Cash payment options at self-serve check-outs have dwindled in recent years in favour of card-only terminals despite research suggesting cash remains an important payment method for many Australians. 'Coles and Woolworths discriminate against cash users, everybody knows it, and it goes on every single day,' Melbourne-based financial journalist and campaign manager of CashWelcome Jason Bryce told Daily Mail Australia. 'They say they provide staff members to help us but when they ask us, "How are you paying today? Cash or card." If you say you're paying with cash, you end up waiting in a queue for 15 minutes for one or two terminals. 'If you say you're paying with a card you sail straight through with no waiting, that's blatant discrimination against millions of Australians.' Mr Bryce said that at his local Coles in Williamstown, only two checkouts accept cash, while 14 are set up for card payments only. Meanwhile, he said his local Woolworths has slightly more terminals that accept cash, but still only about four or five out of 20 self-serve checkouts. 'I have to wait longer to pay for my shopping, that's clear discrimination,' he argued. Mr Bryce explained he wants to continue to be able to 'budget with cash'. 'None of us can avoid going to the supermarket, so they've got to do more to support the way people want to pay,' he added. He has started a petition calling for mandated cash acceptance by essential retailers and local cash access for Australians has received over 200,000 signatures, In September 2023, Woolworths announced a new limit of $200 Eftpos cash-outs while Coles introduced the same limit in March 2024. The campaigner said this is unfair to the 'millions of Australians who budget with cash and rely on cash every single day'. The Reserve Bank of Australia's most recent Consumer Payments Survey found that the share of consumer payments made in cash had fallen from around 70 per cent in 2007 to 13 per cent in 2022. However, seven per cent of respondents used cash for 80 per cent or more of their in-person transactions, equivalent to around 1.5 million Australians aged 18 and over. A Coles spokesperon said: 'We disagree with the claims. We know that cash remains an important payment method for some customers, and we have no plans to remove cash self-service options. 'If any of our customers can't find their preferred checkout option, we always have team members in the service area to who are there to help.'


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
My Pillow founder defamed employee of voting machine company, jury finds
June 16 (Reuters) - A federal jury in Colorado on Monday ordered My Pillow founder Mike Lindell to pay $2.3 million in damages, finding that Lindell's statements about election fraud were false and defamed an employee of voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems. The lawsuit was filed by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy for Dominion, who said that Lindell spread baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost. Lindell has been a steadfast supporter of Trump and was among many Trump allies who advanced unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Lindell's company, My Pillow, was found not liable for its founder's statements, which Lindell said was a victory. "I am very happy that My Pillow was 100% vindicated," Lindell told Reuters. Trump allies claimed that Denver-based Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the presidential election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated then-President Trump. Those claims have been rejected by the courts, and the company has won large settlements after suing Trump allies for defamation. Dominion sued Lindell separately in 2021, and the company's defamation lawsuit is proceeding in a Washington D.C. federal court. Lindell said that he was likely to appeal Monday's judgment against him, saying that the lawsuit was meant to suppress his voice. Lindell said he would not stop fighting the use of electronic voting machines in U.S. elections. Attorneys for Coomer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit claimed that Lindell targeted Coomer in particular, saying that he had committed treason, and Lindell's false statements ruined Coomer's ability to work in the elections industry and subjected him to frequent death threats.