2 h. ago Trump claims EU is not yet offering a fair trade deal – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTrump says UK is protected from tariffs ‘because I like them’ as trade deal is signed offIran and Israel crisis: what does it mean for the price of oil?Global oil supply is set to increase “far” faster than demand in the coming years, the International Energy Agency has predicted.In a new report, the IEA argues that oil markets are undergoing structural changes as the key drivers of supply and demand growth of the past 15 years start to fade.This growth is set to be dominated by robust gains in natural gas liquids (NGLs) and other non-crude liquids. The strategic shift towards higher non-crude capacity is driven by strong global demand for petrochemical feedstocks and the development of liquid‑rich gas resources.UK’s FTSE 100: -46 points or -0.5% at 8828 pointsGerman DAX: down 267 points or -1.1% at 23,430 pointsFrench CAC: down 61 points or -0.8% at 7,680 pointsAfter rallying on Monday on hopes that the Israel and Iran confl...

Economics

4 h. ago Fuel tanker rates surge as Middle East crisis worries markets – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTrump says UK is protected from tariffs ‘because I like them’ as trade deal is signed offIran and Israel crisis: what does it mean for the price of oil?Over in Tokyo, Japan’s central bank chief has warned that the jump in the oil price, if maintained, could push up inflation.Speaking after the BoJ left interest rates on hold today, governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters:“Coupled with already rising food prices, such moves in oil prices caused by tensions in Iran and Israel, if persist, could risk affecting inflation expectations and underlying inflation. So we must scrutinise developments carefully.”“Even if developments surrounding U.S. trade policy stabilise toward a certain direction, there’s very high uncertainty on how that could affect the economy .For the time being, there is extremely high uncertainty over each country’s trade policy. As such, there is bigger downside risk for both Japan’s economy and prices.” Continue re...

Events

6 h. ago Republican hawks vs Maga isolationists: the internal war that could decide Trump’s Iran response

Trump could decide to help Israel by joining the fight against Iran, or refrain from involving the US in a new overseas war – either choice will upset his supportersFollow live updates in the Middle East crisis As Donald Trump considers a direct intervention in Israel’s conflict with Iran, another war has broken out in Washington between conservative hawks, calling for immediate US strikes on uranium enrichment facilities, and Maga isolationists, who are demanding Trump stick to his campaign pledge not to involve the US in new overseas wars.At stake is whether the US could target the mountain redoubt that is home to the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, a key uranium enrichment site hidden 80 to 90 metres underground that cannot be targeted directly by Israeli jets – although they can attack some of the infrastructure that allows the plant to operate. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Fears Trump will veto G7 joint statement on Russia sanctions and Israel

The G7 countries are planning on discussing a new package of sanctions against Russia and a joint approach to the Israel/ Iran Middle East crisis but it appears Trump is preparing to reject the proposals

Politics

17 h. ago Iran will only agree to talks to end Middle East crisis if Israel stops bombing 

Tehran’s message to neighbours is that it will not negotiate over nuclear programme while under attack, diplomats say

Events

21 h. ago Keir Starmer to meet Donald Trump TODAY amid crisis talks over Middle East conflict

Keir Starmer also urged Brits in Israel to register their presence in the country as he issued a warning of the risks of the conflict between Iran and Israel escalating

Events

39 h. ago Grave concern across Europe over Middle East crisis – Harris

Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris was speaking after being in touch with European counterparts.

Events

42 h. ago ‘There’s a smell of death in the air’: chaos in Tehran as residents try to flee or find shelter

Ferocity of Israeli strikes has taken many by surprise, with people rushing to buy petrol and food amid the bombs Middle East crisis – live updatesIt was just past 4pm when Nahid’s* windows began to shake. An Israeli bomb hit a building nearby – she could not see where – and soon her house began to fill up with smoke. It was the third day of Israeli bombing of Iran and the situation in Tehran was just getting worse.“This is a massacre. The blasts haven’t stopped. Children are crying and we fear many civilians have been killed. There’s a smell of death in the air. I can’t stop crying,” Nahid*, a 25-year-old finance analyst at an e-commerce company in Tehran, told the Guardian via text. Continue reading...

Events

45 h. ago Keir Starmer in diplomatic push to head off Middle East crisis before G7 summit in Canada

PM to discuss Israel and Iran clashes with Mark Carney and expected to talk to leaders of US, France and GermanyMiddle East crisis – live updatesKeir Starmer is beginning an urgent diplomatic push to try to head off the crisis in the Middle East, as the Foreign Office warned Britons not to travel to Israel after further retaliatory attacks by Iran.Downing Street did not rule out the possibility of having to evacuate UK nationals from Israel if matters deteriorated, saying officials were keeping all contingency plans “under constant review”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump scrambles to claim credit for Israel’s Iran attack he publicly opposed

Discordant US response as president says he was fully aware of plans for what Marco Rubio called a ‘unilateral action’ Middle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump is walking a tightrope as he claims that he was fully aware of Israel’s plans to launch massive airstrikes against Iran while continuing to distance the US from those strikes and deny Washington took any active role in the preparations.The White House’s messaging has shifted quickly from Marco Rubio’s arms-length description of the Israeli attack as a “unilateral action”, to Trump claiming on Friday morning that he was fully in the loop on the operation and that it came at the end of a 60-day ultimatum he had given Iran to “make a deal” on its nuclear programme. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Middle East crisis: Third Iranian nuclear enrichment site ready as UN says country not complying with its obligations – live

Head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation says third site is ready to operate as UN watchdog finds Iran is not complying with obligations for first time in 20 yearsThe UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors has formally found that Iran isn’t complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years, AP reports.It’s a decision that could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore UN sanctions on Tehran later this year. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Middle East crisis: Third Iranian nuclear enrichment site ready as IAEA says country not complying with its obligations – live

Head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation says third site is ready to operate as UN watchdog finds Iran is not complying with obligations for first time in 20 yearsThe UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors has formally found that Iran isn’t complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years, AP reports.It’s a decision that could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore UN sanctions on Tehran later this year. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Discussions on US ceasefire proposal are ‘ongoing’, says White House – Middle East crisis live

Washington says proposal has been submitted to Hamas that has been ‘backed and supported’ by IsraelHere are the latest pictures from the West Bank, courtesy of the newswiresIsraeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight in Gaza, the Associated Press reports. According to local hospitals, Four were killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City late Wednesday, and another eight, including two women and three children, were killed in a strike on a home in Jabaliya. A strike on a built-up refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and wounded 18. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants are embedded in populated areas. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Netanyahu tells hostages’ families that Israel has accepted ceasefire proposal from US, say reports – Middle East crisis live

Proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff stipulates the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and the return of 18 bodies in exchange for a 60-day ceasefireHere are the latest pictures from the West Bank, courtesy of the newswiresIsraeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight in Gaza, the Associated Press reports. According to local hospitals, Four were killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City late Wednesday, and another eight, including two women and three children, were killed in a strike on a home in Jabaliya. A strike on a built-up refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and wounded 18. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants are embedded in populated areas. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Israel confirms plans to create 22 new settlements in occupied West Bank

Defence minister says move ‘prevents establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel’Middle East crisis live – latest news updatesIsrael has said it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation, after a security cabinet vote held in secret last week.Israel occupied the West Bank, capturing it from Jordan, in the six-day war of 1967. Since then, successive governments have tried to permanently cement Israeli control over the land, in part by declaring swathes as “state lands”, which prevents private Palestinian ownership. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Violent Israeli settlers under UK sanctions join illegal West Bank outpost

Exclusive: Neria Ben Pazi and Zohar Sabah witnessed visiting base set up to drive Palestinians from homes• Middle East crisis live – latest updatesTwo violent Israeli settlers on whom sanctions were imposed by the UK government this week have joined a campaign to drive Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank village of Mughayyir al-Deir.Neria Ben Pazi’s organisation, Neria’s Farm, had sanctions imposed by London on Tuesday, as the UK suspended negotiations on a new free-trade deal with Israel over its refusal to allow aid into Gaza and cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago More than 9,000 children treated for malnutrition in Gaza, says Unicef – Middle East crisis live

Figures come as Palestinian health minister says there have been 29 ‘starvation-related’ deaths in the last few daysIsraeli foreign minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place.Israel has faced criticism from Europe as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder.This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.These libels about genocide, crimes against humanity and murdering babies pave the way exactly for such murders. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago Israeli army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas in northern Gaza – Middle East crisis live

AFP says army released statement in Arabic claiming it was ‘operating with intense force’ in a number of areasIsraeli foreign minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place.Israel has faced criticism from Europe as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder.This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.These libels about genocide, crimes against humanity and murdering babies pave the way exactly for such murders. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Israel still blocking aid for Gaza despite promise to lift siege, says UN

Continued restrictions come as opposition leader says Israel is becoming pariah nation that ‘kills babies as a hobby’Middle East crisis – live updatesTwo days after Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was lifting the siege of Gaza, Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians, the UN has said, as the leader of the country’s centre-left Democrats party said his country was becoming a pariah nation that “kills babies as a hobby”.Only five trucks of aid had reached Gaza by Tuesday afternoon and aid workers had not been given permission to distribute even that token shipment, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) told a Geneva press briefing. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago UK suspends trade talks with Israel and attacks ‘repellent’ extremism

Foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemns blocking of aid trucks and calls by Israeli ministers to ‘purify Gaza’Middle East crisis – live updatesUK-Israeli relations have plunged to their worst state for decades after the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, suspended negotiations over a new free trade deal, saying Israel’s cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians were repellent, monstrous and extremist.He also said wider talks about a future bilateral strategic roadmap with Israel were being reviewed. Continue reading...

Politics