Business Secretary reacts to US strikes on Iran
The business secretary has reacted to the news the US has struck three nuclear sites in Iran. Jonathan Reynolds said the government "supports the prevention of the Iranian Regime having a nuclear weapon". .
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oklahoma City (OK) Mayor David Holt Elected New President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Policy Agenda Adopted for the Year Ahead, as Annual Meeting Concludes
San Diego (CA) Mayor Todd Gloria and Lincoln (NE) Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Elected First and Second Vice Presidents TAMPA, Fla., June 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) voted to elect a new leadership team and approved a slate of policy resolutions that will serve as the official platform of the organization and guide its advocacy agenda for the year ahead. The business meeting marked the close of USCM's 93rd Annual Meeting, which convened more than 170 mayors from across the country in Tampa, Florida. Oklahoma City (OK) Mayor David Holt was elected by his fellow mayors to serve as the next President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He will serve a one-year term. "There is no more important place in human existence than the city, and there is no higher office than the Mayor," said President Holt. "The Conference of Mayors sits at the epicenter of America's future. If that future is to be as bright or brighter than the past, it will be because of the work that happens right here." "This Conference is fortunate to lean on the leadership of Mayor Holt in this time of opportunity and need for America's cities," said Tom Cochran, USCM CEO and Executive Director. "He champions the value of local leadership, and he embraces the power this Conference has to unite so many voices to improve the lives of the people of America's cities. I know his colleagues are grateful to have him steering the ship." In addition to elevating Mayor Holt to USCM president, mayors elected San Diego (CA) Mayor Todd Gloria as First Vice President and Lincoln (NE) Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird as Second Vice President. The Conference also named new Trustees and Advisory Board Members. New USCM Trustees are as follows: Scranton (PA) Mayor Paige Cognetti Albuquerque (NM) Mayor Tim Keller Columbia (SC) Mayor Daniel Rickenmann These mayors, in addition to the current elected top leaders and past presidents, make up the USCM Executive Committee. New USCM Advisory Board Members are as follows: Redmond (WA) Mayor Angela Birney Carmel (IN) Mayor Sue Finkam Chicago (IL) Mayor Brandon Johnson Tucson (AZ) Mayor Regina Romero Mount Vernon (NY) Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard A major component of today's meeting was also the consideration and adoption of policy resolutions. Throughout the Annual Meeting, the standing committees of the Conference met to propose and advance resolutions on a wide range of priorities for American mayors. Of particular emphasis today, the full Conference adopted a policy that calls for recalibrating federal immigration enforcement, protecting local control in public safety and with federal resources, preserving economic growth, and continuing to improve cities' affordability and quality of life. Other policies were adopted on issues including energy, housing, the environment, transportation, and the economy. The resolutions adopted today now make up the official policy of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and can be found here. Next year's Annual Meeting will be in Long Beach, California. About the United States Conference of Mayors – The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Follow our work on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, and Medium. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
38 minutes ago
- Forbes
Wall Street Is Steadily Investing In Energy As An Inflation Hedge
CULVER CITY, CA (Photo by) At the end of last week, fund managers had built up the largest net long position in crude oil futures in nine months, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It is serving as a necessary inflation hedge given a growing conflict in the Middle East, and declining drilling at home. The biggest risk to equity returns remains inflation and funds need to protect themselves. Inflation also risks prolonging the current period of high rates, which is already taking its toll on several asset classes, including housing. Oil and energy equities broadly are increasingly appealing as a result of these dynamics. Funds flow into energy is expected to continue and the recent involvement of the U.S. in Iran will only accelerate this move. In the latest Bank of America fund manager survey, energy and materials still remained unloved, with managers net underweight. This is even after the recent increase, as allocations were near record lows just earlier this year. Yield and an inverse correlation to bonds has been another benefit of the trade. The yield on XLE, the energy sector ETF, is also almost three times that of the broader market, providing income that closer tracks inflation. It has also been performing as a hedge when bonds, the historical hedge in the 60/40 portfolio, have been failing. Periods of increased inflation expectations, as seen with the initial tariff announcements, now see both bonds and equities dropping in parallel. This is because inflation would force rates to remain high right as the U.S. refinances a sizable chunk of government debt this summer. The already large deficit means that higher rates become a self-fulfilling problem as more and more of future bond raises goes towards paying interest, which investors demand a higher rate for, creating a growing deficit spiral in an inflationary environment. The above strategy has played out in actual returns. US equities are up only slightly this year, a little over 1%, while emerging markets and commodities have outperformed, with gold up over 25%, oil up over 5%, silver up over 20%, emerging markets up over 10%, and bonds returning a little less than 1%. Several other dynamics make continued energy outperformance, and increased fund exposure likely, and these are outside of the increasing conflict in the middle east. The first is that escalating equipment costs, due to a combination of climbing labour costs and changing supply chains, benefits incumbent energy names. The second is that power demand shows no signs of slowing down with natural gas being the winner in AI data centers that require both scale and reliability. This is also during a period that the US wants to continue to grow natural gas exports, creating multiple demand levers at a time when storage availability remains flat. That creates an asymmetry where prices can spike to the upside. The third is that oil rigs have dropped by 9% in the U.S. as producers pulled back capital amidst economic uncertainty. This reduces the chance that supply will overwhelm demand and helps alleviate some of the downside risks to the trade. While energy investing always has a risk, an allocation as a hedge, especially given the broader macro tailwinds, is increasingly appealing for funds. This continues to show up in recent funds flow and is expected to only increase this coming week with both energy equities and oil prices likely to spike on the news of U.S. strikes.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Efforts under way to evacuate Irish citizens from Israel
Efforts are under way to evacuate 15 Irish citizens from Israel, Ireland's deputy premier said. Simon Harris, Ireland's foreign affairs minister, said an operation was ongoing to evacuate 15 Irish citizens and their dependants from Israel, working with EU member states. He said they were working with a smaller number of citizens in Iran who had requested an evacuation. Around 29 Irish citizens in Iran had registered with the Irish embassy and around 200 in Israel. I'm deeply concerned by the very real risk of an extremely dangerous spiral of escalation now in the Middle East. Urgent de-escalation & diplomacy are crucial. I will travel to Brussels to meet European counterparts. My full statement on latest developments is below. ⬇️ — Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) June 22, 2025 Mr Harris said he spoke to Iran's deputy foreign minister on Sunday, at their request, who was 'full of anger'. 'He did say to me that it was the view of Iran that the aggressors would have to learn lessons and pay a price,' he told reporters at Government Buildings. 'Of course I articulated in the strongest possible terms that Ireland and the European Union doesn't want to see that, we want to see people step back from the brink and engage in dialogue.' Mr Harris said the US strikes on Iran had made a 'volatile situation even more dangerous' and added an 'extra layer of complexity' to what was already a 'tinderbox'. Irish premier Micheal Martin and Mr Harris have both called for an 'urgent' de-escalation and a negotiated solution over Iran's nuclear facilities. They said they are in close contact with their European counterparts before a meeting of EU foreign leaders on Monday and of EU leaders later in the week. 'Diplomacy and dialogue is ultimately the only way to resolve these issues,' Mr Martin said. 'Iran should commit not to develop nuclear weapons and disavow its nuclear and uranium enrichment programme. 'Nuclear safety is an issue here, modern warfare is very destructive. It is civilians who ultimately suffer, and that is why we need an end to these wars and bring an end to conflict.' There is an urgent need for de-escalation, dialogue & diplomacy in the Middle East. Iran should unequivocally disavow the development of nuclear weapons. A negotiated solution is the way forward. We remain in close contact with international partners ahead of the EU Council. — Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) June 22, 2025 Mr Martin said the escalation on Sunday should not draw attention away from the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. 'We shouldn't lose sight of the catastrophe that is still unfolding in Gaza while the war between Iran and Israel continues,' he said. 'What is happening in Gaza is appalling and a breach of international humanitarian law, and again, innocent civilians and children are being starved there, and we need that to come to an end.' Staff from Ireland's embassy in Tehran left the country on Friday as the embassy was closed, and updates are being provided on more than 300 Irish peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon. Mr Harris said there were no plans to withdraw Irish troops and that 'decisions are being made constantly' to ensure their safety. When asked whether he supported US President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran, Mr Harris said: 'I think it's resulted in an extraordinarily dangerous escalation of a conflict that already best be described as a tinderbox. 'We're now entering a moment of particular danger, because I think the chances now of a spiral of escalation are more likely than ever before, and there is a real prospect now of the international community losing all control of this very, very volatile conflict.' He said there was only a 'very small' number of Irish citizens, many dual nationals, seeking an evacuation, and they were working with European counterparts. He said a significant update on this would be available in the hours ahead. 'Thank god we woke this morning to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying they haven't detected any increase in radiation,' he told RTE Radio. 'But imagine if we were waking up this morning to a situation where radiation levels were extraordinarily high, and the health and human danger that that would have presented far beyond Iran as well. So this is an extraordinarily dangerous time.' He said that it was 'sadly true' that international legal norms are not being adhered to, citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel's 'genocidal activity' in Palestine and now the Iran-Israel conflict. He said there was a diplomatic process in train and his understanding from readouts was 'there was a commitment from the Iranian side to further talks'. Mr Harris said Ireland and Europe are 'fully united in the clear view' that Iran should not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. 'The way to address this was always through a negotiated solution. Any alternative to that is simply too dangerous for civilians, for the Middle East region and for global security. 'Together with my EU counterparts, we will in the coming hours and days discuss and review the latest developments and consider the next steps Europe can usefully play to support de-escalation.' Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan said people woke up on Sunday 'terrified, really, to be quite honest, about the prospect of what's unfolding'. He told RTE's The Week In Politics it is 'terrifying' for citizens in Iran and Israel. 'It does take great people to make leaps of faith in particular places in time to come forward, whether it was in relation to (Anwar el-Sadat) in Egypt, and later on in relation to Bill Clinton and what he did, we do now require people to actually get people around the table,' he said. 'Because, ultimately, as the Taoiseach said, this is terrifying – not only for the innocent communities that are living in both countries, but as well as that for the neighbouring countries in the Middle East, who we obviously all hope are not drawn into a much bigger conflict.'
