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Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK Expects Mandelson to Be Confirmed by US as New Ambassador
(Bloomberg) -- The UK government expects Peter Mandelson, a Labour Party veteran and trade specialist, to be confirmed as ambassador to the US, ending a period of uncertainty amid doubts that President Donald Trump might block the appointment. Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials Texas HOA Charged With Discrimination for Banning Section 8 Renters Budapest Mayor Aims to Block Orban's Plans to Build 'Mini Dubai' Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas Newsom Enlists Magic Johnson, Guggenheim CEO for LA Rebuilding Mandelson, 71, who was the UK's business secretary and president of the Board of Trade during Gordon Brown's premiership, is set to travel to Washington to take up the post next month, according to a person familiar with the matter. The appointment still has to be formally confirmed by the White House, another person familiar with the matter said. The White House's National Security Council and 10 Downing Street didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The news was first reported by the i Paper, a British newspaper. Mandelson is due to take on the role at a crucial moment in UK-US relations, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer trying to avoid Britain being hit with tariffs by the Trump administration, while also working together on areas such as defense and the future of the Chagos Islands, home to a large US naval base. Doubts had risen over whether the US might block the appointment, as Mandelson has long been in favor of closer ties with Beijing, a stance that may be at odds with figures in the Trump administration. 'The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivaled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength,' Starmer said in a statement in December when Mandelson's appointment was announced. Mandelson rose to prominence during Tony Blair's administrations from 1997, where he was credited with playing a key role in modernizing the Labour Party. He also became embroiled in several controversies and resigned from government roles twice. His reputation as a political operator during that period saw him earn the nickname 'the prince of darkness.' --With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse. What America's Tech Billionaires Really Bought When They Backed Donald Trump Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee's Gas Stations The CDC Won't Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks Elon Musk's Inaugural Highs (and Lows) How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Sued by Transgender Troops Over New Military Service Ban
(Bloomberg) -- Six members of the US military filed a federal suit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender people from the armed forces, setting the stage for a new battle over LGBTQ rights. Texas HOA Charged With Discrimination for Banning Section 8 Renters Budapest Mayor Aims to Block Orban's Plans to Build 'Mini Dubai' Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, alleges the order Trump signed Jan. 27 violates the Constitution's equal-protection guarantees by discriminating based on sex and transgender status 'without lawful justification.' According to the suit, the ban erases protections granted to transgender troops by earlier administrations that determined they could serve effectively and without undermining military readiness. Trump's new executive order claims maintaining 'high standards for troop readiness' was 'inconsistent with the medical, surgical and mental constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.' He ordered the defense secretary to update Pentagon medical standards in 30 days and to 'end the use of invented and identification-based pronouns' in the department. But the military members who sued said the ban 'was issued without any study of the effectiveness of transgender service members during the past four years or of any problems that may have arisen from their service, without any assessment of whether their service entailed greater costs, or without any assessment of whether any legitimate governmental concerns could be addressed by means other than a categorical ban.' The suit also names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top military officials as defendants. It seeks an injunction barring the 'categorical exclusion of transgender people from military service' during the litigation, saying their careers will be unfairly harmed. Two transgender individuals who want to join the military also were part of the case. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Last week, Trump also signed an order that recognizes two sexes, male and female, and seeks to mandate federal agencies use the term sex and not gender. Trump campaigned on rolling back transgender protections, including in women's sports, an issue he highlighted at rallies and in ads. Transgender troops started serving openly in 2016, when former President Barack Obama began lifting a longstanding ban toward the end of his second term. Trump in 2017 vowed to ban transgender troops, triggering a wave of earlier lawsuits. In January 2019, a divided US Supreme Court cleared Trump to start barring most trans people from serving in the armed forces while the lawsuits continued. The fight still wasn't resolved when Trump lost reelection in 2020. The case is Talbot v. Trump, 25-cv-240, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington). What Trump's Tech Billionaires Are Buying Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee's Gas Stations The CDC Won't Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks Elon Musk's Inaugural Highs (and Lows) How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Greenlanders Reject Trump With 85% Majority Against Joining US
(Bloomberg) -- Greenland's population is overwhelmingly against leaving the Danish realm in favor of the US, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's insistence the island is keen to join. Texas HOA Charged With Discrimination for Banning Section 8 Renters Budapest Mayor Aims to Block Orban's Plans to Build 'Mini Dubai' Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires A Verian poll, commissioned by Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenland's Sermitsiaq publication, showed 85% of the population on the self-ruling Arctic territory don't want to be part of the US. About 6% said they'd prefer the country over Denmark and 9% were undecided, according to the survey published Tuesday. Trump insists he wants to take over the world's largest island for security reasons and has refused to rule out using force. He has also argued Greenland's population would prefer to be part of the US. His interest in the territory stems from his first term in office. 'The people of Greenland are not happy with Denmark,' Trump said Jan. 21. 'You know, I think they're happy with us.' That view is not shared by Greenland's leaders, many of whom are instead pushing for independence. While the island is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, its 57,000 inhabitants have extensive home rule. 'We don't want to be Danish, we don't want to be American, we of course want to be Greenlandic,' the territory's prime minister, Mute B. Egede, said recently. Meanwhile, Denmark is doing its best to navigate the spat with Trump. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen earlier on Tuesday worked to drum up support from European allies with a whirlwind tour of Berlin, Paris and Berlin, seeking to project unity while avoiding antagonizing the US president. 'Trump shouldn't have Greenland,' Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark's foreign minister, told local media in Copenhagen on Tuesday. 'Greenland is Greenland. The Greenlandic people are a people also in the sense of international law,' and they ultimately determine their situation. The poll had 497 interviews conducted on the internet Jan. 22-26, including a representative sample of Greenlandic citizens aged 18 or older. Statistical uncertainty on the responses is about 3.1 percentage points. The poll also showed 45% of Greenlanders view Trump's interest in Greenland as a threat, Berlingske said. Only about 8% would take a US passport if they had to make an instant choice between Danish and US citizenship, according to the newspaper. --With assistance from Sanne Wass. What Trump's Tech Billionaires Are Buying Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee's Gas Stations The CDC Won't Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks Elon Musk's Inaugural Highs (and Lows) How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Funding Pause Is Not ‘Across-the-Board' Freeze, White House Says
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's administration rushed to clarify a memo pausing federal grants, loans, and financial assistance, saying that the instructions from the White House budget office were not intended as an 'across-the-board' freeze. Texas HOA Charged With Discrimination for Banning Section 8 Renters Budapest Mayor Aims to Block Orban's Plans to Build 'Mini Dubai' Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires 'It is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President's Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest,' the White House budget office said in a new document on Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the directive would not affect 'individual assistance,' such as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and welfare. 'If you're receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that,' Leavitt told reporters. 'Direct assistance will not be impacted.' The original document, issued by acting Office of Management and Budget director Matthew Vaeth, fanned immediate concern that education, health care, poverty programs and disaster relief could all be held up by the freeze, which ordered officials to identify and review 'all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities' to make sure they were 'consistent with the president's policies and requirements.' The missive earned quick bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill and consternation across Washington, with officials saying the sweeping guidance could imperil critical programs. But in the new memo, the White House said that the freeze should not be applied to programs like Medicaid and food assistance that are funded through block grants to state and local governments which handle distribution. 'Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused,' the fresh memo said. 'If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President's Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.' The latest OMB guidance also says that Trump's administration is not attempting to impound funds appropriated by Congress. Some of the president's allies have argued that Trump should attempt to cut government spending by simply not distributing funds. 'It is a temporary pause to give agencies time to ensure that financial assistance conforms to the policies set out in the President's Executive Orders, to the extent permitted by law,' the memo said. What Trump's Tech Billionaires Are Buying Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee's Gas Stations The CDC Won't Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks Elon Musk's Inaugural Highs (and Lows) How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mediobanca Board Rejects Monte Paschi Bid as ‘Destructive'
(Bloomberg) -- Mediobanca SpA has rejected Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA's takeover bid, turning the unsolicited approach into a hostile one. Texas HOA Charged With Discrimination for Banning Section 8 Renters Budapest Mayor Aims to Block Orban's Plans to Build 'Mini Dubai' Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires The takeover offer presented by Monte Paschi last week 'is devoid of industrial and financial rationale and is therefore destructive for Mediobanca,' its board of directors said in a statement on Tuesday. The bid is 'contrary to the interests,' of the lender, it said. Bloomberg News previously reported that Mediobanca under Chief Executive Officer Alberto Nagel considers the offer as hostile. Monte Paschi's last Friday stunned investors with an all-share offer to acquire the rival at an implied premium of about 5% on the closing prices the previous day. The new entity would rank 'among the top three institutions' in Italy by assets, Monte Paschi said in the statement. The deal proposed by Monte Paschi 'has no industrial value' as it would weaken Mediobanca's focus on wealth management and investment banking, the lender said in the statement on Tuesday. A combination would lead to 'an immediate loss' of clients and probably trigger the departures of some of the bank's 'best staff.' Monte Paschi said Friday the deal would seek to 'deliver significant profitability levels.' It would also result in about €300 million in annual cost savings as well as positive sales effects, it said. Mediobanca cast doubt on the savings anticipated by Monte Paschi. The deal would have 'a lack of appreciable cost synergies, as there is no overlap between the two groups' distribution networks,' it said. Perfectly Healed Italy's government, which still owns part of Monte Paschi, has signaled support of the lender's approach. Paschi is 'perfectly healed' and able to embark on ambitious moves, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday. Monte Paschi's shareholders include two billionaire investors, the Del Vecchios and Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone. They are also the biggest investors in Mediobanca. 'The presence of the same shareholders in Monte Paschi, Mediobanca and Assicurazioni Generali, and in the context of an all-share offer, represents a potential misalignment of interests relative to other shareholders,' Mediobanca said in the statement. Monte Paschi's pursuit has added to a whirlwind of proposed deals sweeping across Italy. The country's third-biggest lender, Banco BPM SpA, offered to buy the domestic asset manager Anima Holding SpA in November, only to become a takeover target itself when UniCredit SpA launched a bid for it a few weeks later. Monte Paschi has lost about 10% since the announcement, with several equity analysts including from Citigroup and Deutsche Bank cutting their recommendations on the lender's shares. Monte Paschi is offering 23 new shares for every 10 in Mediobanca, valuing the target at €12.2 billion ($12.7 billion) at Monday's closing. Mediobanca's market capitalization is currently about €13.4 billion, compared with about €7.9 billion for Monte Paschi. (Updates with details from statement starting in second paragraph.) What Trump's Tech Billionaires Are Buying Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee's Gas Stations The CDC Won't Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks Elon Musk's Inaugural Highs (and Lows) How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
