EU agrees 18th sanctions package against Russia
Its latest sanctions package on Russia will lower the G7's price cap for crude oil to $47.6 per barrel, diplomats told Reuters.
"The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions package against Russia to date," said the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X.
"We will keep raising the costs, so stopping the aggression becomes the only path forward for Moscow," added Kallas.
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8 minutes ago
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Why couldn't Britain have dealt with the EU like Trump?
The more you look at the trade deal negotiated between the US and the EU, the more you want to ask: why couldn't Britain have dealt with the EU like that? Why has every UK Prime Minister since Theresa May acted so feebly in the face of the EU's tactics and ended up getting such a poor deal out of the EU? Trump has get pretty much everything he wanted. Goods imported into the US from the EU will in future be subject to tariffs of 15 per cent – half the rate that Trump had threatened but far higher than existed prior to 'Liberation Day' on 2 April. What has Ursula von der Leyen got in return? Nothing at all, other than the punitive tariffs being dropped. She has agreed to lowering tariffs on imports from the EU, in some cases to zero. She has also agreed to the EU buying more products from the US, including liquified natural gas (LNG), making a mockery of the EU's net-zero policy. Like Britain, the EU has wound down its fossil fuel industry on the pretext that it is yesterday's energy and we won't need it for much longer as we transition to clean renewables – but then it commits itself to buying increased quantities of LNG from the US. Say what you like about Trump, but it is easy to argue that he has proven a far stronger defender of his country's interests than Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer. Britain is nearly as important a destination for EU exports as the US: in 2024, 21 per cent of its exports went to the US and 14 per cent to Britain. Yet no Prime Minister has properly used this leverage to give Britain any advantage. May got nowhere in the end but would have committed Britain to becoming a rule-taker from the EU. Johnson agreed to place an internal UK border down the Irish Sea. Sunak did a little better in trying to resolve this, but then Starmer has put us back closer to where May wanted to take us: agreeing to EU rules on plant and animal products while having no say in the making of those rules. Why did UK Brexit negotiators never threaten punitive tariffs on German cars and French wine? Instead – and in spite of Theresa May's mantra of 'no deal is better than a bad deal' – we acted as if no deal was never an option. Simultaneously, we treated Trump – whose first presidential term lasted throughout the Brexit negotiations – as a kind of oaf who was destroying America's reputation. Had our leaders emulated him rather than scorned him we would be in a lot better position now. It all starts to look a bit different, however, if you look at Trump's trade negotiations from the point of view of consumers rather than producers and ask instead: has Trump really scored such a victory? If you are an American motorist who fancies a new car, your choice has just narrowed, and many of the options available have just increased in price. It is not just consumers, either, who may feel this is not quite the victory for the US it might look like on the surface. Most manufacturers rely on international supply chains. While tariffs may help snuff out some of their competition, they will in future face higher prices of raw materials and components. This does not appear to feature all that much in Trump's mercantilist mind. To him – and not just him, because many world leaders seem to think the same – exporting stuff is a strength and importing stuff a weakness. When you think of things that way, the US has been cheated by the lopsided tariffs which have long existed between the US and the rest of the world. Yet the fact remains that the US has done extremely well out of its low import tariffs. Its economy has grown far faster than those of its more protectionist rivals. So yes, it is easy to admire Trump's negotiating tactics. The whirlwind of the past few months, with threats followed by negotiations and flattery, has been a wonder to watch. It is sad that UK leaders have lacked the courage to act in such a brazen fashion towards the EU. Yet that doesn't mean that the US will end up being the big winner from higher import tariffs. On the contrary, overall the US economy is likely to grow less strongly as a result.
Auto Car
8 minutes ago
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New Maserati flagship could get V6 and MANUAL gearbox!
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Ficili stopped short of describing in more detail his vision for a new bespoke creation but suggested the aim is to use the new flagship to celebrate Maserati's Nettuno V6 engine, as used in the Granturismo, Grecale and MCPura. 'It's a masterpiece,' he said. It is likely that any V6-powered limited-run special would ramp up the Nettuno's output beyond the 621bhp of the MCPura, in line with a price that would be well in excess of that car's £230,000, but the firm is unlikely to use electrification to achieve that power boost. Maserati engineering boss Davide Danesin said: 'There are still customers looking for pure mechanical cars.' He added that there is a 'bad feeling' about having a battery on board a supercar, due to the heightened complexity and extra weight it brings. 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Glasgow Times
8 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Mike Dailly: UK must recognise Palestine as a state
60,000 are dead in Gaza, with 144,500 Palestinians injured since October 2023. According to DWB, Gazans risk being shot as they look for food. It's against this humanitarian crisis that France will become the first G7 country to recognise Palestine as a state. Last week, President Emmanuel Macron advised the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas that he would announce formal recognition at the United Nation's (UN) General Assembly in September. Such recognition may be largely symbolic but it adds diplomatic pressure for UN membership and statehood. Palestine has been seeking full UN membership since 2011 but has been blocked by the United States (US). Last April, a resolution for UN membership for Palestine was vetoed by the US. The 15-member Security Council had 12 votes in favour, two abstentions and one vote against. A state has certain defining features under international law, including a permanent population, a determinate territory, "effective" government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move by France as "a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism". He said Israel would not permit the establishment of a "Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US "strongly rejects" Macron's plan because it was a "reckless decision" that "only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace." At the same time as Macron's announcement, ceasefire talks were halted as the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar. In contrast, France and Saudi Arabia are hosting an international conference at the UN in New York - today and tomorrow - seeking peaceful solutions and renewed efforts for a 'two-state solution'. The US has opted out of attendance. A two-state solution would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the state of Israel, giving both peoples their own territory. Palestinians want an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, land that have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes Palestinian statehood and says it would reward militants after the 7 October attacks by Hamas in 2023. President Macron said, "France will seek to make a decisive contribution to peace in the Middle East and will mobilise all of its international partners who wish to take part". While the US continues to insist it supports a two-state solution and peace in the Middle East, in reality, it appears to be a key driver of stalemate in the region. The need for food, water and medicine in Gaza is now beyond an emergency. Jordan and the UAE have a proposal, supported by the UK, to drop aid into Gaza, but aid agencies say this will do little to mitigate the hunger of Gazans as the crisis is now beyond critical. Pressure is on Prime Minister Starmer to follow President Macron and for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state. Around 221 MPs have signed a motion urging him to do so. Let's hope he does so this week.
