US: S&P 500, Nasdaq dip from record highs with Trump tax bill in focus
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.3 points, or 0.08 per cent, at the open to 44,061.49. The S&P 500 fell 17.7 points, or 0.29 per cent, at the open to 6,187.25, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 79.1 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 20,290.611 at the opening bell. Reuters
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Straits Times
33 minutes ago
- Straits Times
France's Le Pen hands Bayrou a lifeline, but budget will test her patience
French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and ministers pose for a family photo in the gardens of the Elysee Palace before the weekly cabinet meeting in Paris, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson PARIS - French far right leader Marine Le Pen may have decided to let Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survive this time round, but his days might be numbered. Bayrou survived his eighth no-confidence motion on Tuesday, after a truce struck with the Socialists collapsed over his failure to soften France's pensions reform but Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) declined to join the mutiny. Together, the RN and left-wing lawmakers have the numbers to topple the government. Although RN lawmakers, the biggest bloc in parliament, allowed Bayrou to fight another day, their benevolence is unlikely to last long. Le Pen's troops have made it clear that budget talks this autumn will be crunch time for Bayrou, who is struggling to push 40 billion euros in savings through a divided parliament to lower the euro zone's largest deficit and appease increasingly alarmed investors and EU beancounters. "Voting a motion of no-confidence would be a very bad signal to ratings agencies and the IMF. It would be extremely damaging for the country," former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, now the education minister in Bayrou's government, told Reuters. Boosted by their newfound power over Bayrou's future, the RN is making ever stricter budgetary demands that are virtually impossible for him to meet. During last year's budget, Le Pen orchestrated the ouster of Bayrou's predecessor Michel Barnier after he refused to respect just one of her four budgetary red Vallaud, the lower house Socialists' leader, said Bayrou's chances of making it to year's end were "very small." RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy was less emphatic, saying: "It'll depend on the budget." A June 30 Ifop poll showed Bayrou, never popular, now has an 80% disapproval rating, his worst yet. He will present an outline of his 2026 budget by mid-July, with the text unveiled in late-September. A Bayrou aide said it was too soon to write him off: "I wouldn't underestimate Bayrou's ability to find compromises." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Singapore 3 out of 4 in Singapore cannot identify deepfake content: Cyber Security Agency survey Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty Singapore Three hair salons raided in clampdown on touting, vice, drugs in Geylang and Joo Chiat Singapore The romance continues: Former 'Singapore girl', 77, returns to Osaka Expo after 55 years Singapore GrabCab, Singapore's newest taxi operator, hits the roads with over 40 cabs to be rolled out in July Singapore Police looking into claim by driver who caused teen's death that he was an NUS student Singapore 3 weeks' jail for man who touched himself on train, flicked bodily fluid on female passenger CALCULATIONS RN sources told Reuters Le Pen believes it will be less costly to topple Bayrou in the autumn than now, when the geopolitical situation is fraught. The RN itself is also less unified than it was, after Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement in March, knocking her out of the 2027 presidential race. She aims to overturn her ban, but it has raised the profile of her No. 2, Jordan Bardella, the party president, who will run in 2027 if she cannot. Bardella, who is increasingly showing signs of independence from Le Pen, is keen to push the party towards a more fiscally conservative position and shed some of Le Pen's more socially-minded cost-of-living measures, one RN source said. The source said the RN's 2025 red lines will be maintained and even hardened, by refusing any tax rises in the 2026 budget. Previously it had tolerated tax increases for the wealthiest. The party has also hardened its position on French energy policy, turning against renewables and making nuclear energy a symbol of French national pride that it wants to turn into a key plank of its industrial manifesto. The RN could even file a no-confidence motion if Bayrou decides to bypass parliament to pass a multi-year energy plan by decree. "That would be a casus belli," the source said. In private, Le Pen's lawmakers say they would cast a favourable eye on Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who they see as closer to their line on law and order, as a possible successor to Bayrou. From July 8, Macron can dissolve parliament again and call fresh legislative elections. But he may be wary of plunging France back into chaos at a time of multiple global conflicts and economic uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade wars. Dissolving parliament would have the benefit of dislodging Le Pen from her parliamentary seat, but many Macron allies think a new election would be ill-advised, with opinion polls showing the RN and Bardella more popular than ever. "The chances of getting a more governable Assembly than the current one are close to zero," Borne warned. REUTERS
Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Hiroshima mayor urges Trump visit after A-bomb comments
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 others in Nagasaki. TOKYO - US President Donald Trump should visit Hiroshima to see the effects of nuclear weapons, the Japanese city's mayor said on July 2, after Mr Trump likened the 1945 atomic bombings to recent air strikes on Iran. 'It seems to me that he does not fully understand the reality of the atomic bombings, which, if used, take the lives of many innocent citizens, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, and threaten the survival of the human race,' Mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters. 'I wish that President Trump would visit the bombed area to see the reality of the atomic bombing and feel the spirit of Hiroshima, and then make statements,' Mr Matsui said. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945, and then another on Nagasaki three days later. Shortly afterwards, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 others in Nagasaki, including many from the effects of radiation exposure. It was the only time that atomic weapons were used in warfare. On June 22, 2025 , following days of Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. Soon afterwards, Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, ending their 12-day war. 'I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing,' Mr Trump said on June 25. 'That ended that war and this ended (this war),' Mr Trump said at a Nato summit in The Hague. His comments prompted anger from survivors and a small demonstration in Hiroshima. Last week, the city's assembly passed a motion condemning remarks that justify the use of atomic bombs. Japan's atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 , and while accepting the prize, called on countries to abolish the weapons. AFP
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Belarusian leader Lukashenko frees 16 people in new batch of pardons
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends an expanded format meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk, Belarus June 27, 2025. Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS/File photo Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 16 people convicted of various crimes, including "extremism", ahead of the country's independence day, state media reported on Wednesday. Human rights groups and the exiled opposition say there are about 1,150 political prisoners in Belarus, where Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has ruled for more than three decades. The veteran leader has freed more than 300 people in the past year in an apparent effort to repair ties with the West, which has imposed sanctions on his government over its human rights record and backing for Putin's war in Ukraine. Those pardoned in the latest batch include eight men and eight women, several of whom have chronic diseases, are disabled or have children under 18, state news agency Belta said. Franak Viacorka, chief political adviser to exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, welcomed the releases but said it did not appear that any high-profile dissidents were among the 16. He said that dozens of people had been sentenced for politically related offences in the past month, so "we don't see a big change of policy". Viacorka told Reuters, however, that the opposition was hopeful of more releases in the coming weeks, after prominent opposition politician Siarhei Tsikhanouski was freed last month following talks between Lukashenko and U.S. presidential envoy Keith Kellogg. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Singapore 3 out of 4 in Singapore cannot identify deepfake content: Cyber Security Agency survey Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty Singapore Three hair salons raided in clampdown on touting, vice, drugs in Geylang and Joo Chiat Singapore The romance continues: Former 'Singapore girl', 77, returns to Osaka Expo after 55 years Singapore GrabCab, Singapore's newest taxi operator, hits the roads with over 40 cabs to be rolled out in July Singapore Police looking into claim by driver who caused teen's death that he was an NUS student Singapore 3 weeks' jail for man who touched himself on train, flicked bodily fluid on female passenger "We have to continue, and we also ask President Trump to get involved and to push for more releases - he has the leverage to do this," Viacorka said. REUTERS
