Treasury Sec. Bessent: 301 investigation would be targeted across tariffs on Canadian products
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk the Trump administration announcing it is ending all trade talks with Canada over a digital services tax.
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Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Russian barrage of drones and missiles hits beyond usual Ukraine targets
Still, the decoys have significant effects. Ukraine's military is forced to use its limited stockpiles of air defense missiles to counter Russia's large-scale assaults, which military experts and Ukrainian officials say are aimed at overwhelming Ukraine's air defense units on the ground. The air defense missiles are the only weapons capable of shooting down incoming missiles. Ukraine's air force said about 90 percent of the Russian drones were intercepted, were disabled by electronic jamming, or crashed without causing damage because they were decoys. But it added that only two-thirds of the missiles that Russia fired were shot down, including just one of seven ballistic missiles. These figures could not be independently verified. Advertisement It was unclear whether any civilians were killed during the overnight attack. But the Ukrainian air force reported the death of a pilot who crashed in his American-designed F-16 jet as he was trying to repel the Russian assault. Ukraine uses fighter jets to shoot down incoming missiles, for lack of enough ground-based air defenses. Advertisement The air force said the pilot had shot down seven aerial targets but went down with his jet after it was damaged in the attack. During nighttime attacks, Russia typically begins its assaults by sending waves of dozens of drones to strain Ukrainian air defenses, followed by missiles that are harder to intercept. A report released in May by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American think tank, said Russia had significantly ramped up its use of drones starting last fall, 'increasing from approximately 200 launched per week to more than 1,000 per week by March 2025 as part of a sustained pressure campaign.' Given the current pace of attacks, Russia may exceed 5,000 drone launches this month, which would set a record for the conflict, said Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst at Rochan Consulting in Poland. To support these attacks, Russia has dramatically increased its production of long-range drones. 'Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media Sunday, as he called again for Ukraine's allies to increase sanctions on the Russian economy to cripple its weapons production capacities. Zelensky has also been lobbying President Trump to let Ukraine purchase American-designed Patriot air defense systems, the only ones reliably capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. Trump suggested last week that he was open to sending more Patriots to Ukraine, although it was unclear whether he meant batteries or only ammunition, and whether these would be donated or sold. Advertisement Russia's new campaign of air assaults on Ukraine has also come with deadly consequences for civilians. The United Nations human rights office reported Sunday that civilian casualties in Ukraine had increased 37 percent in the period from December to May, compared with the same period the previous year, with 968 civilians killed and 4,807 injured. The majority of these casualties occurred in Ukrainian-controlled areas. 'The war in Ukraine — now in its fourth year — is becoming increasingly deadly for civilians,' Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said in a statement. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lifetime Isas may need to carry warnings for some savers
The complexity of Lifetime Isas could increase the risk of savers making poor financial decisions and the products may need to carry warnings for some people, according to a committee of MPs. The savings accounts enable people to save for their first home or their retirement in one pot. But the Treasury Committee said the dual-purpose design of the Lifetime Isa, or Lisa, may be diverting people away from more suitable products. MPs found that the objectives to help people save for both the short and long term make it more likely that people will choose unsuitable investment strategies. Lisas held in cash may suit those saving for a first home, but may not achieve the best outcome for those using accounts as a retirement savings product, as they are unable to invest in higher-risk but potentially higher-return products such as bonds and equities, the committee said. It also described current rules penalising benefit claimants as 'nonsensical'. Under the current system, any savings held in a Lisa can affect eligibility for universal credit or housing benefit, despite this not being the case for other personal or workplace pension schemes, the committee said. The report said: 'The Government provides higher levels of contribution through tax relief to many other pension products that are not included in the universal credit eligibility assessment, such as workplace pensions and Sipps (self-invested personal pensions). Treating one retirement product differently from others in that regard is nonsensical.' The report added: 'If the Government is unwilling to equalise the treatment of the Lifetime Isa with other Government-subsidised retirement savings products in universal credit assessments, Lifetime Isa products must include warnings that the Lifetime Isa is an inferior product for anyone who might one day be in receipt of universal credit. 'Such warnings would guard against savers being sold products that are not in their best financial interests, which might well constitute mis-selling.' Savers can put in up to £4,000 into a Lisa each year, until they reach 50. They must make their first payment into their Lisa before the age of 40. The Government will add a 25% bonus to Lisa savings, up to a maximum of £1,000 per year. People can withdraw money from their Lisa if they are buying their first home, aged 60 or over or terminally ill with less than 12 months to live. People withdrawing money from a Lisa for any other reason face a 25% withdrawal charge, and can end up with less money than they put in. The report said: 'The withdrawal charge of 25% is applied to unauthorised withdrawals, causing Lisa holders to lose the Government bonuses that they have received, plus 6.25% of their own contributions. 'Several witnesses described that loss of 6.25% as a 'withdrawal penalty'.' There are also restrictions on when Lisas can be used to buy a first home, including that the property must cost £450,000 or less. The report said: 'Many people have lost a portion of their savings due to a lack of understanding of the withdrawal charge or because of unforeseen changes in their circumstances, such as buying a first home at a price greater than the cap. 'However, the case for reducing the charge must be balanced against the impact on Government spending. The Lifetime Isa must include a deterrent to discourage savers from withdrawing funds from long-term saving.' It also added: 'Before considering any increase in the house price cap, the Government must analyse whether the Lifetime Isa is the most effective way in which to spend taxpayers' money to support first-time buyers.' The committee noted that in the 2023-24 financial year, nearly double the number of people made an unauthorised withdrawal (99,650) compared to the number of people who used their Lisa to buy a home (56,900). This should be considered a possible indication that the product is not working as intended, the committee said. At the end of the tax year 2023–24, around 1.3 million Lisa accounts were open, the report said. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts spending on bonuses paid to account holders will cost the Treasury around £3 billion over the five years to 2029-30 – and the committee questioned whether this product is the best use of public money given the current financial strain. MPs also raised concerns that the product may not be well enough targeted towards those in need of financial support and could be subsidising the cost of a first home for wealthier people. It said the data on this issue remains unclear. The report also highlighted the benefits of certain elements of the Lisa, including being an option for the self-employed to save for retirement. Treasury Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: 'The committee is firmly behind the objectives of the Lifetime Isa, which are to help those who need it onto the property ladder and to help people save for retirement from an early age. The question is whether the Lifetime Isa is the best way to spend billions of pounds over several years to achieve those goals. 'We know that the Government is looking at Isa reform imminently, which means this is the perfect time to assess if this is the best way to help the people who need it. 'We are still awaiting further data that may shed some light on who exactly the product is helping. What we already know, though, is that the Lifetime Isa needs to be reformed before it can genuinely be described as a market-leading savings product for both prospective home buyers and those who want to start saving for their retirement at a young age.' Brian Byrnes, head of personal finance at Lifetime Isa provider Moneybox said: 'The report marks a further opportunity to engage with policymakers and continue the conversations needed to ensure the Lisa continues to offer the best level of support to those that need it most.' He added: 'While it is right that the Government ensures the Lisa provides value for money as part of its review of the product, it is our view that it absolutely does… 'The Lisa has proven particularly valuable for first-time buyers on lower to middle incomes, with 80% of Moneybox Lisa savers earning £40,000 or less.' He continued: 'We firmly believe that by future-proofing the house price cap and amending the withdrawal penalty, the Lisa would continue to serve as a highly effective product, helping young people build and embed positive saving behaviours early in life, get more people onto the property ladder, and prepare for a more secure retirement.'
Axios
24 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump: Mamdani must "behave" if elected NYC mayor or face funding cuts
Zohran Mamdani shrugged off President Trump's attacks on him and denied he's a communist during a Sunday interview in which the progressive New York City mayoral candidate said he doesn't think there should be billionaires. Why it matters: President Trump in an interview on Sunday doubled down on his assertion that Mamdani is a communist and said the likely Democratic primary winner must "do the right thing" if he's elected mayor of NYC or else he'll withhold federal funding. "I can't imagine it, but let's say this, if he does get in I'm going to be president and he is going to have to do the right thing, but they're not getting any money. He's got to do the right thing," Trump said on Fox News ' "Sunday Morning Futures." "Whoever's mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially." What he's saying: Mamdani said on NBC News ' "Meet the Press" he's "had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for." He added, "I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, "Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. "There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country." And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And, ultimately, what we need is a city where every single person can thrive." Of note: Asked whether billionaires should exist, Mamdani said, "I don't think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.
