Iran Agrees to Talks With UK, France and Germany, Tasnim Reports
Discussions are ongoing to finalize the location, with the talks possibly taking place 'next week,' the report said Sunday, citing an unidentified source.
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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Swinney calls for legal referendum if SNP secures majority at Holyrood election
First Minister John Swinney has called for a 'legal referendum recognised by all' on Scottish independence if the SNP secures a majority at the Holyrood elections. Writing in a column in the Daily Record, Mr Swinney said that in the 17 years since the 2008 financial crash 'people feel like they are working harder than ever, but not seeing any improvement in their living standards'. He said the UK economy is 'fundamentally failing to deliver for ordinary people' as well as generating insufficient funding for public services. The SNP leader called for the May 2026 Holyrood elections to be 'a springboard for Scotland taking charge of our own destiny'. He said the situation had got worse since the 2014 referendum, and wrote: 'Think what could have been achieved had we not been forced to spend so much time and money trying to mitigate the ongoing damage of Brexit. 'Or the carnage unleashed by Liz Truss's mini-budget. Or the years of austerity, or Westminster cuts like the Winter Fuel Payment. 'We were told we didn't need independence and we just needed a Labour government – but look how that has turned out.' He wrote that 'independence is the catalyst that will deliver a better future for us all' and that 'with Scotland's energy resources in Scotland's hands, we can reduce bills for consumers and cut costs for businesses'. Mr Swinney revealed he hoped to deliver an SNP majority similar to 2011 in a bid to 'secure a legal referendum recognised by all' and had submitted a motion to the SNP conference proposing that 'we work to deliver a majority of SNP MSPs in the Scottish Parliament to secure that referendum'. He pledged to unveil 'radical policies that we know will transform Scotland' in the coming months, and to 'break the logjam and end this frustration that we all feel'. Mr Swinney added: 'We must be ready to follow the path which we know can lead us to an independent state.' Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: 'John Swinney is like a broken record. In a bid to silence internal critics of his weak leadership, he has thrown diehard nationalists some more red meat on the one issue they all agree on: independence. 'Ordinary Scots are sick and tired of the SNP's obsession with breaking up the UK. 'The public want John Swinney to focus on fixing the damage his government has done in decimating essential services such as schools and the NHS at the same time as making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK.'
Forbes
23 minutes ago
- Forbes
Futures Rise After U.S. And EU Reach Trade Deal Setting Tariff At 15%
The U.S. has agreed to a trade deal with the European Union, President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Sunday afternoon, agreeing to a 15% tariff rate on most EU goods—just days before Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline—in an announcement that buoyed U.S. futures and European stock markets on Monday. US President Donald Trump meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland ... More on Sunday. AFP via Getty Images Both Trump and von der Leyen said the tariffs would be applied 'across the board,' but Trump later said they would not apply to several major sectors the administration is planning specific tariffs for. Trump said the EU agreed to purchase $750 billion in energy, purchase an undetermined amount of military equipment, invest a further $600 billion in the United States and open the European economy to American goods at 0% tariffs. Von der Leyen said the U.S. agreed to 'zero for zero tariffs' on some strategic goods, including 'all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generics, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials,' adding the two sides would work to expand that list. The 15% rate matches the rate secured in a deal with Japan, another major U.S. trade partner and auto exporter, announced last week, and the administration has suggested 15% would be the baseline. The European Union was previously facing a steep 30% tariff rate scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 1, and the deal alleviates immediate fears of an impending trade war between the two economies. The benchmark S&P Futures index rose to nearly 0.3% in early trading on Monday, to 6,442 points, while the tech-centric Nasdaq Futures was up around 0.5% at 23,530 points. Dow futures were also up, rising nearly 0.2% to 45,162 points. Key European indices saw a big jump as well, with the pan-European STOXX 50 index rising 0.9%, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.67% and Germany's DAX was up 0.33%. Crucial Quote 'It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That's very important for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,' von der Leyen said. 'Basically, the European market is open. It's 450 million people.' In a post on X, former French Prime Minister François Bayrou criticized European leaders for accepting the deal, saying: 'it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to assert their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission.' Big Number $235.6 billion. That was the United States' trade deficit with the EU in 2024, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Trump made reducing trade deficits between major trading partners like the EU a key plank in his economic policy, and on Sunday von der Leyen seemed on the same page. 'We wanted to rebalance the trade relation and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow between us, and I think we hit exactly the point we wanted to find,' the European Commission president said. 'Rebalance, but enable trade on both sides, which means good jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, means prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, and that was important for us.' What Goods Were Not Covered In The Deal? Trump said pharmaceutical imports were 'unrelated' to the deal reached Sunday. 'Steel is staying the way it is,' Trump also added. 'Steel and aluminum. That's a worldwide thing that stays the way it is.' Trump previously raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50% in June. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also said the administration would soon announce a new plan for chip manufacturing, likely in the next two weeks. However, von der Leyen later contradicted this statement, insisting that the 15% would apply to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Forbes has reached out to the White House for clarification. What To Watch For Trump predicted the new deal would allow more American cars and American agriculture to enter the European market. 'It's open for our companies to go in and do a good job with it. I think you'll like them,' Trump said, addressing von der Leyen. 'I think you'll like it.' Trump later said European citizens would enjoy 'diversification' from increased access to American cars and again predicted the deal would be popular. 'We'll do it in very strict conjunction with the president [von der Leyen] and the European Union. And likewise, they're coming into our country with great vigor. I think they're going to make a lot of money with this.'
Bloomberg
23 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
The Best Way to Win the War in Gaza Is to End It
For 22 months, since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted it's too soon to discuss Gaza's future. One can debate the merits of his position (and his motivations). For the sake of Israel's long-term security, however, the time has come to change course. Thanks in no small part to the prime minister's decisions — along with the skill of Israeli spies and fighter pilots, and crucial help from the US — Israel enjoys a stronger position in its neighborhood than it has in decades, or perhaps ever. Its enemies have been routed: Hamas is a shell of its former self; Hezbollah has been decapitated and stripped of much of its missile arsenal. Most important, Iran has been humbled, suffering devastating damage to its nuclear facilities, military leadership, ballistic-missile forces and air defenses after 12 days of Israeli and US airstrikes. Neighbors from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon and Syria have indicated varying degrees of interest in healthier relations with the Jewish state.
