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Trump expects Iran war to end soon, threatens European tariffs
President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes the war in Iran is nearing its end, saying Tehran wants to make a deal, as the conflict continues to loom over the US midterm election campaign. In the same appearance, he dismissed as “laughable” a proposal for Canada to join the European Union as…
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Reform in freefall, British mother missing in Malawi, Saudi-Houthi clashes escalate
Sixteen Durham councillors have now quit Reform UK amid its Welsh leader’s arrest, while Leicester mother Nusrat Osman remains missing in Malawi and Saudi Arabia says it downed a Houthi drone near Mecca; also: the EPA scraps power-plant pollution limits and Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro draws a muted reception.
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Energy minister defends €480,000 ESB pay deal as households face electricity arrears
Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien has defended his decision to approve a pay package for ESB chief executive Paddy Hayes that could see his salary rise to €480,000 by June 2028, calling him an “exceptional person” who runs an “exceptional organisation”. The defence comes after the Irish Daily Mail revealed the scale of the pay deal,…
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Excruciating moment wheelchair-bound Mitch McConnell, 84, has to be told what to do as he struggles to speak in Senate meeting
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, was seen struggling to speak and needing help from colleagues during a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting on Capitol Hill, in his first widely heard public appearance since a fall in mid-June. The moment underscores mounting concern over the Kentucky senator’s health during his final term, following a hospitalisation, a bout…
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Shadow Chancellor warns Labour against tax rises and red tape for small businesses
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith is to use his first major speech since taking on the role to warn Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s successor discussions against further tax rises on small businesses, arguing that firms are already over-taxed and burdened by excessive compliance red tape. The intervention matters because it sets out the Conservative Party’s early economic…
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TalkFuse evening briefing, 16 Sep 2026 19:38
TUC delegates gather in Brighton buoyed by warmer Downing Street ties, while von der Leyen courts Canada, Amnesty names 87 Iranian officials, Trump promises a $5,000 “dividend”, Entain cuts 400 jobs, and tributes follow Ed Sheeran’s tour woes and singer Ben Saunders’s death.
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JOHN MacLEOD: Don’t turn a dram into a drama… whisky war with England won’t leave Scotch on the rocks
The UK Government has granted “protected geographical indication status” to English whisky, prompting anger from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), which represents 90 producers including Glenmorangie, Johnnie Walker and Diageo. The announcement was made quietly at 5pm on a Friday, shortly before Parliament went into recess, and the SWA argues the rules for English whisky…
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Central bank to raise rates for first time since 2023
The US Federal Reserve voted unanimously to raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point for the first time since 2023, marking new chair Kevin Warsh’s first major policy decision. The decision reflects concern that inflation remains elevated and underscores potential tension with President Trump, who nominated Warsh expecting him to cut rates rather than increase…
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Election battle over pension rise, water powers, Burnham-Trump meeting, Gaza collapse
The state pension rises 3.9% under the triple lock as ministers eye new mayoral powers over water firms, Andy Burnham prepares to meet Trump at the UN amid transatlantic tension, and at least 20 have died in a Gaza City building collapse.
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JD Vance takes warning shot at Israel as he says Trump willing to ‘part ways’ with Netanyahu
US Vice-President JD Vance has warned that Donald Trump is prepared to “part ways” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if their interests diverge, signalling growing strain between Washington and Jerusalem. Speaking via videoconference to the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, Vance said Trump would not let American Middle East policy become “subservient” to Israel,…