Oil volatility could affect ECB rate cuts, warns French bank chief
Markets relatively stable despite Israel-Iran unrest
The European Central Bank (ECB) needs to assess fluctuations in oil prices and the euro as it sets borrowing costs, according to Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau.
While the ECB doesn't target a particular exchange rate, the common currency has demonstrated surprising strength against the dollar since US president Donald Trump began his tariff push.
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Israel-Iran conflict: major explosion reported in Tehran as Israel says it targeted ‘centrifuge production' site
Israel claims to have hit a 'centrifuge production' site in Tehran following reports of a large explosion in the city. Posting on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that it has attacked 'a centrifuge production site and several weapons manufacturing sites' in Iran overnight. The Iranian government has not acknowledged the attacks. The IDF wrote that more than 50 fighter jets 'completed a series of strikes on military targets in the Tehran area in recent hours'. READ MORE 'During the wave of attacks, several weapons manufacturing sites were targeted. Among the weapons production facilities attacked was a site for producing raw materials and components for assembling surface-to-surface missiles.' A major explosion could be heard around 5am in Tehran on Wednesday, following other explosions earlier, according to reports. At least one strike appeared to target Tehran's eastern neighbourhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy. Traffic stood bumper to bumper on roads to the west and downtown Tehran emptied out, with many shops shuttered as well as the ancient Grand Bazaar. Announcing the fresh wave of strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the IDF warned residents in parts of the city to urgently evacuate. 'Dear citizens, for your safety and well-being, we urgently request that you immediately evacuate the designated area in Tehran's Area 18. Your presence in this area puts your life at risk,' the IDF posted on social media. In Israel, the IDF said that families across the country had sought shelter due to missile launches from Iran. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that hypersonic missiles were used during the latest attack on Israel. The extent to which they caused any damage also remains unclear. Responding to the ongoing strikes, Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed on X that Iran would retaliate. 'We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy,' he said. Those messages were posted after Donald Trump wrote on social media that the United States knows the location of the Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei, adding that the US would not kill him 'for now' but called for Iran's 'unconditional surrender'. – Guardian
Irish Daily Star
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Star
NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court
New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain. Lander's arrest in Manhattan marks latest confrontation between U.S. agents and a Democratic politician objecting to the Trump administration's mass detention and deportation programs. Lander was released from custody after a few hours. The U.S. attorney's office said it was investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime. The immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom was also arrested. Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter he was there to 'accompany' some immigrants out of the building. Read More Related Articles 'Ice Barbie' Kristi Noem 'alert and recovering' after being rushed to hospital in Washington DC Read More Related Articles JD Vance jumps to Trump's defense as MAGA turn on president over Israel-Iran attacks New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested at a court hearing after demanding ICE officials present a warrant (Image: AP) His confrontation with agents unfolded quickly. As a group of agents moved in to detain a man who had exited a courtroom, Lander locked arms with the immigrant and demanded to see a judicial warrant. For more than 40 seconds, agents tried to physically separate the two, pulling both men down the hall in a chaotic scrum as photographers snapped photos. Eventually, the agents wrested the two apart, then grabbed Lander's arms and put them behind his back. 'You're obstructing,' an agent told Lander. 'I'm not obstructing. I'm standing right here in the hallway,' Lander said as he was being handcuffed. In a statement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander 'was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.' New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (Image: AP) After his release, Lander exited the building holding hands with his wife and accompanied by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to the cheers of a gathered crowd. He told reporters all he was trying to do was hold the arm of the man being detained and 'certainly did not' assault an officer. 'I am happy to report that I am just fine. I lost a button,' Lander said, adding that he planned to return to the immigration court again as a form of nonviolent way of standing up to Trump's immigration policies. 'I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people,' he said. He added that the man 'ripped' from his arms 'doesn't have a lawyer' and will likely sleep in an immigration detention center. The episode occurred as federal immigration officials are conducting large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country. In many cases, immigrants are arrested after a judge grants a government request to dismiss their case, making them eligible for expedited removal. 'They remove any opportunity for due process,' Lander had told reporters earlier in the day.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘No one knows when this war will stop': Conflict leaves Iranians in state of uncertainty
Iranians fleeing Tehran were caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic jams on Monday night, spurred by US president Donald Trump , who warned the city's 10 million citizens to evacuate to escape Israeli strikes. While Trump said on Tuesday, the fifth day of the war , that he wants 'a real end, not a ceasefire', Iranians do not believe he will achieve this objective anytime soon. Having ordered evacuations before Trump spoke, Israel has not said where people fleeing should go. There is concern that small towns and villages cannot provide accommodation for evacuees who reach their destinations after long hours on the road. Many Iranians cannot evacuate as they have elderly or ailing family members or jobs which cannot be carried out remotely. One expatriate said she does not know where her cousins are as she has been unable to contact them. 'Iranians don't know what to do. People who leave Tehran to stay with relatives outside cannot be certain they will be safe. Many have gone back home. They do not know where this is heading. If someone else was in the White House, many people would feel better. No one knows when this war will stop. Now that Israel has started this war Israel must end it.' READ MORE She said before Israel's strikes, Iranians were suffering from electricity outages, cuts in water supplies, internet disruptions and the collapse of the currency because of international sanctions. 'The situation can only get worse,' she said. Iranians living in Israeli-targeted cities complain that there are no air-raid sirens or bomb shelters, although the government has said people could go to metros in six of the largest cities: Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, Isfahan, and Karaj. While mosques have also been suggested as safe places, Iranians have pointed out that Israel has not spared them during its war on Gaza. Iranians were shocked when Israeli bombs briefly disrupted a newscast at Iran's state television station in Tehran on Monday, and said journalists should not be targeted. Two people died in the attack. The official toll has remained at 224 dead and about 1,200 wounded but is expected to rise. Health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said more than 90 per cent of casualties have been civilians. Patients were wounded when the Farabi hospital in the western city of Kermanshah was targeted on Monday, according to Esmaeil Baqaei of the foreign ministry. [ Iran and Israel broaden attacks as Trump urges 'everyone' to evacuate Tehran Opens in new window ] Hospitals in bombed residential areas have been deluged with dead and wounded, and doctors and nurses are overstretched and exhausted. The Guardian newspaper cited an emergency doctor at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Hospital who said: 'It was a bloodbath. We were overwhelmed by chaos and the screams of grieving family members. Dozens upon dozens of people with life-threatening injuries, minor wounds and even bodies were brought in.' He added: 'I've seen toddlers, teenagers, adults and elderly alike. Profusely bleeding mothers were rushing in with their children injured by shrapnel.'
