Getting Ready for a Rate Cut
Starmer to meet Israel’s president in Isaac Herzog in No 10
Brian WheelerPolitical reporter and
James LandaleDiplomatic correspondent
EPA/ShutterstockSir Keir Starmer has condemned Israeli strikes targeting senior Hamas leaders in Doha, ahead of talks with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog.
The UK prime minister, who will host Herzog in Downing Street on Wednesday, said on X the strikes “violate Qatar’s sovereignty and risk further escalation across the region”.
“The priority must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a huge surge in aid into Gaza. This is the only solution towards long-lasting peace.”
Sixty MPs and peers, including members of Labour, the Greens and the SNP, are calling on the government to deny Herzog entry to the UK to avoid the risk of being complicit in genocide in Gaza, under the terms of a UN treaty.
Israel says it is working to destroy the Palestinian armed group Hamas and get back hostages they have taken. It has strongly denied allegations of genocide, claims which are also being examined by the International Court of Justice.
Isaac Herzog’s office has said he is visiting the UK “to show solidarity with the Jewish community, which is under severe attack and facing a wave of antisemitism”.
But Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he must answer allegations being levelled at the Israeli government over its actions in Gaza.
“I think he needs to answer the allegations of war crimes, of ethnic cleansing and of genocide that are being levelled at the government of Israel,” he told Times Radio.
“I think he needs to explain how, when we have seen so much evidence of the atrocities being perpetrated by the Israeli army, how he can possibly claim that the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is the most moral army in the world.
“I think he should explain that, if it is not the intent of the government of Israel to perpetrate genocide or ethnic cleansing, how on earth does he think his Israeli government is going to achieve its stated aim of clearing Palestinians out of Gaza without the war crimes, without ethnic cleansing, or even without genocide?”
Downing Street underlined Sir Keir’s “revulsion” at the suffering in Gaza, but stopped short of repeating Streeting’s calls for Herzog to answer for alleged Israeli war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
But a spokesman said Sir Keir will raise the “intolerable situation in Gaza” and the “action Israel must take to end the horrific suffering we’re witnessing” with the Israeli president.
Lammy letter
In a letter to a select committee published last week, sent when he was foreign secretary, David Lammy said the UK had not concluded that Israel is committing genocide, as set out in a United Nations treaty.
But Downing Street insisted on Tuesday this did not represent a shift in the UK’s position, which was still that it is for international courts to determine whether Israel “has or has not” committed genocide in Gaza.
In the letter, sent before he was replaced as foreign secretary in Friday’s cabinet reshuffle, Lammy said: “As per the Genocide Convention, the crime of genocide occurs only where there is specific ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group’.
“The government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent,” it added.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Lammy’s letter “reflects the UK’s position that we’ve not come to any conclusion as to whether genocide has or has not been committed in Gaza”.
The spokesman said the government was clear that it was for “international courts to make these determinations”.
Foreign Office sources said the government had merely considered whether there was a “serious risk of genocide” – as it was obliged to do as a signatory of the Genocide Convention.
That assessment, the sources said, was required under its arms exports licensing criteria and reflected a one-off judgement based on the information at the time. And it was then that the government did not conclude that Israel was acting with genocidal intent.
Lammy, who was made justice secretary and deputy prime minister in the reshuffle, had been responding to a letter from the Labour chair of the development committee, Sarah Champion.
In her letter to Lammy, dated 12 August, Champion raised concerns that the UK’s decision to exempt F-35 fighter jet components from suspended arms exports to Israel breached its duty to prevent genocide under the UN treaty.
EPA/ShutterstockIn a statement, campaign group Amnesty International said Sir Keir Starmer “must not provide diplomatic cover for a state committing genocide,” when he meets Herzog.
“This visit is a test of leadership and principle: polite handshakes and warm words will demonstrate neither.”
The new Green Party leader Zack Polanski called for the arrest of Herzog when he visits the UK, accusing him of being part of the “Israeli government engaged in an ongoing genocide”.
On Monday night, Sir Keir hosted Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in Downing Street.
Abbas welcomed Sir Keir’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York later this month if Israel does not change course.
Both leaders agreed there will be “absolutely no role” for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine, a Downing Street spokesman said.
“They discussed the intolerable situation in Gaza, and the prime minister reiterated the need for an urgent solution to end the horrific suffering and famine – starting with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a huge surge in humanitarian aid.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also met Abbas, and called on the UK government summon the US ambassador to demand the reversal of what he called President Trump’s “reckless and callous” block on Palestinian visas ahead the UN meeting.
“He [Trump] can’t be allowed to act as a block on progress towards a two-state solution,” added Sir Ed.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Trump downplays Epstein 'hoax'; Massie speculates ties to intel community
We don’t know why the Trump administration suddenly reversed course this summer on its promise to release extensive new documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case. What we do know is that every time the public has demanded answers, we’ve gotten half-measures in return — moves that look good on paper, but ultimately protect the powerful more than the truth.
That’s why Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.) stepped forward with a measure that would force the Department of Justice to release *every* *single* Epstein document that exists. And he’s just two GOP votes away from making that happen.
The White House immediately fired back, warning that any Republican who supports Massie’s petition is committing a “hostile act.” Let’s pause there. If the administration is truly committed to full transparency, why fight so hard against it?
Massie seems to know the answer; he said on ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday, “I think it’s going to be embarrassing to some of the billionaires, some of the donors who are politically connected to his campaign.”
And then he went further: “There are probably intelligence ties to our CIA and other foreign intelligence, and the American people would be shocked to know that our intelligence agency was working with a pedophile who was running a sex trafficking ring. These are the reasons I think that they’re resisting this, but we can’t avoid justice just to avoid embarrassment for some very powerful men.”
This is where things get even murkier. The acting deputy chief of the Justice Department, Joseph Schnitt, was caught on hidden camera saying the government will “redact every Republican” from an Epstein client list. That video was released by O’Keefe Media Group — a far-right outlet — but the point is undeniable: the Epstein case is splitting the Trump administration and its MAGA base right down the middle.
And yet, instead of showing concern for survivors, the president himself downplayed the scandal last week: “It’s really a Democrat hoax,” said President Trump, “because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success of the nation since I’ve been president.”
It may be “irrelevant” to the president’s idea of success, but it’s not irrelevant to survivors of sexual abuse. One survivor made that crystal clear:
“Mr. President Donald J Trump … I am registered Republican, not that that matters because this is not political; however, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings, this is real trauma.”
That’s the heart of this issue. Sexual violence isn’t partisan — it’s a national crisis. More than 423,000 people ages 12 and up are sexually assaulted in the U.S. each year. Nearly 70 percent are between the ages of 12 and 34. Behind those numbers are children, teenagers and young adults whose lives are derailed by trauma while too many abusers walk free.
Yet even now, the Justice Department is fighting to keep names secret. Just days ago, they asked a federal judge to block the unsealing of Epstein associates who received six-figure payments from him in 2018. Their reason? “Privacy concerns.” Privacy for Epstein’s associates. Not for his victims.
So we’re left asking: Why does our system protect predators more fiercely than it protects survivors? Why are powerful names still hidden while survivors have to plead to be seen?
If we are serious about justice, then full transparency is not optional. Survivors deserve to be believed, heard and protected. And no one — no matter how rich, powerful or politically connected — should ever be above accountability.
America has to stop protecting predators and start putting survivors first.
Lindsey Granger is a News Nation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.
Memecoin ETF era kicks off with Dogecoin fund that’s ‘useless by design’
Wall Street is about to package a joke into an exchange-traded fund — and charge 1.5% for the privilege.
The REX-Osprey DOGE ETF launches Thursday as the US’s first fund dedicated to Dogecoin, the memecoin created in 2013 as satire that now commands a staggering $57 billion market value.
Trading under the ticker DOJE, it marks a somewhat surreal milestone: institutional products for assets that proudly serve no purpose.
And funds are charging up to six times more than for most Bitcoin ETFs, suggesting investors are willing to pay a hefty premium for a self-described parody cryptocurrency.
“Pretty sure this is the first-ever US ETF to hold something that has no utility on purpose,” Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst, wrote on X on Tuesday.
Back in December 2024, Balchunas forecasted a wave of cryptocurrency ETFs coming to the market. Balchunas had pointed to eventual approvals for six cryptocurrencies, one of which was Dogecoin.
Dogecoin is a memecoin conceived in 2013 and has since become a favourite of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Like most memecoins, it has no intrinsic value apart from speculation.
But what’s particularly interesting about the Dogecoin ETF is the backdoor route it’s taking to get in front of investors.
DOJE is launching under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Basically, the ‘40s Act serves as a regulatory loophole, circumventing some of the SEC’s approval requirements. This means the fund can start trading immediately but faces stiff marketing restrictions.
The 1933 Securities Act approval is harder to get, but allows for broader distribution. This is the route spot Bitcoin ETFs took.
According to Balchunas, there’s a “big group of ’33 Act-ers waiting for SEC approval still.”
Dogecoin is up 150% this year, trading at about $0.24 per token. The token’s total market value floats around $36 billion, landing it in ninth place overall in the crypto industry.
Getting a memecoin ETF into the market wouldn’t be possible without Bitcoin ETF’s stunning success story.
Last year, 11 US Bitcoin ETF issuers raked in $107 billion in their first year — the most successful ETF launch in history — with BlackRock’s IBIT alone taking in $76 billion.
That turned IBIT into BlackRock’s third-largest revenue-generator across the firm’s ETF offering that extends to nearly 1,200 funds.
Still, a memecoin ETF is uncharted territory. Unlike Bitcoin’s clear-cut value proposition — it’s supposedly digital gold — or Ethereum’s smart contract utility, Dogecoin exists purely as a cultural phenomenon. And a parody one, at that.
Man arrested after CS gas found in Heathrow evacuation
A man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of CS gas and causing a public nuisance following the partial evacuation of Heathrow Airport on Monday night.
Hundreds of people were forced to leave Terminal 4 at about 17:00 BST on Monday, before being allowed back in three hours later.
No hazardous materials were found but the Metropolitan Police discovered a can of CS spray which it said “caused a reaction to those within the airport”. London Ambulance Service treated and discharged 20 people for “irritation”.
The incident is not being treated as terrorism related, Scotland Yard said, and the 57-year-old suspect remains in police custody.
An investigation is ongoing, police added.
On Monday, a Heathrow spokesperson said the airport reopened to passengers shortly after 20:00 and they were “very sorry for the disruption caused”.
Disruption to flights landing and departing from Terminal 4 appeared minimal during the evacuation, according to flight data.
Ronda Rousey passes on UFC White House card: 'I got better s— to do'
Former MMA fighter Ronda Rousey says don’t expect to see her come out swinging at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage match at the White House.
“I’m not fighting at the White House,” Rousey said in a recent interview on the “Lapsed Fan” podcast, when asked if anyone had reached out about the fight, scheduled to take place next June on the South Lawn.
“After Mike Tyson being the biggest fight of the year, you never say never, but I ain’t fighting at the f—ing White House,” Rousey, a 38-year-old Olympian who retired from MMA in 2016, said.
In July, President Trump floated the idea of hosting a UFC event at the White House next summer to help mark the United States’s 250th anniversary.
“We’re going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House,” Trump said.
“We have a lot of land there. We’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana’s going to do it. Dana’s great. One of a kind,” he said at the time, referring to UFC President Dana White.
Pressed on whether she would participate in the event if given the opportunity, Rousey responded to laughs, “Even if offered? I got better s— to do.”
Gold rallies to new record on U.S. rate cut hopes, Fed tension
By Anushree Mukherjee and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese
(Reuters) – Gold hit a record high above $3,600 an ounce on Tuesday, spurred by expectations of U.S. rate cuts, concerns about Federal Reserve independence and robust demand from investors and central banks.
Having hit a record high at $3,673.95 a troy ounce, spot gold was trading around $3,637.39 at 1524 GMT for a gain of more than 38% so far this year.
Analysts expect gold to trade in a $3,600-$3,900 range in the near to medium term and see potential for it to test $4,000 next year if economic and geopolitical uncertainties persist.
A Reuters survey published in July showed analysts expected gold prices to average $3,220 this year compared with $3,065 in the April survey and $2,756 an ounce in the January survey.
“Supportive for gold is the bearish dollar outlook underpinned by expectations of Fed cuts, investors distancing from U.S. assets and tariff-related economic uncertainty,” said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.
The dollar has fallen nearly 11% since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Expectations of further U.S. rate cuts will further undermine the U.S. currency, which when it falls makes dollar-denominated gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Traders see a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in September when the Fed meets, according CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, Trump’s criticism of Powell and attempts to remove Governor Lisa Cook have heightened concerns over the Fed’s independence and sparked further gold purchases.
“The most bullish wildcard is … potential interference with the U.S. Federal Reserve and concerns about the dollar’s status as a safe-haven,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
Among other factors fortifying gold’s appeal are security concerns emanating from the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine. Central bank gold purchases such as those by China have also provided impetus to gold prices.
According to the World Gold Council, central banks plan to raise the gold portion of their reserves while reducing dollar reserves over the next five years.
Physically-backed gold exchange traded funds have also seen significant inflows. Holdings in the the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest physical gold ETF, rose to 990.56 tons on September 2 for a over 12% increase so far this year and its highest since August 2022.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Kavya Balaraman; Editing by Pratima Desai and xxxxx)
Prince Harry donates £1.1m to Children in Need
The Duke of Sussex has made a personal donation of £1.1m to a BBC Children in Need project in Nottingham supporting young people who have been affected by violence.
Prince Harry is on the second day of a UK visit, where he’s been attending charity events.
In Nottingham he visited the Community Recording Studio, an initiative supported by BBC Children in Need, where he applauded a rap music performance, giving a hug to one of the young people taking part.
The prince hoped the donation, from his own money rather than his Archewell organisation, would help “changemakers in the city continue their mission to create safe spaces… and offer hope and belonging to young people who need it most”.
Prince Harry told the event that “Nottingham has been a place where I’ve heard harrowing stories, learned important lessons, seen resilience, and felt truly inspired”.
“The challenges remain serious and sadly aren’t getting any easier,” said Prince Harry. “Violence impacting young people, particularly knife crime, continues to devastate lives, cut futures short, and leave families in grief.”
He praised the efforts of those in the city who were working to tackle issues such as “food poverty, racism and educational inequality”.
Looking relaxed and wearing jeans, Harry met youth workers and local groups at the recording studio and heard about their efforts to tackle violence in Nottingham, in a scheme supported by BBC Children in Need.
“You gave me goosebumps,” he said after listening to a rapper called Paige.
“I was proper nervous,” Paige told Prince Harry about her first visit to the recording studio. “I’d never seen a booth or a mic or anything. So I’m listening to all these rappers on YouTube – and I’m like, ‘How do they even make that?'”
A young comedian, Ki’miya, teased Prince Harry about different backgrounds growing up by saying: “I bet you never had to stand on a chair to get a Hobnob.”
As well as showing a few dance moves when he arrived, and turning down the chance to sing backing vocals, Prince Harry joined conversations about creating more positive opportunities for young people.
BBC Children in Need is now one of the country’s biggest funders of independent youth workers.
Tony Okotie, the charity’s director of impact, said the donation would help “create spaces where young people feel safe, heard, and empowered to build brighter futures”.
There have been previous significant donations by the prince. He gave £1.2m of the proceeds from his memoir Spare to Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in southern Africa, which he subsequently left in an acrimonious dispute.
Prince Harry arrived in the UK on Monday – and went to lay a wreath on the grave of Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor, on the third anniversary of her death.
But it is still not known whether he will meet his father King Charles during this visit to the UK, despite much speculation that a meeting is on the cards.
The two men have not met face to face since February 2024 and Prince Harry has talked emotionally in a BBC interview about wanting a “reconciliation” with his family.
While Prince Harry has been in Nottingham, his brother the Prince of Wales has been carrying out his own engagements – visiting a housing project in south London as part of his Homewards campaign to tackle homelessness.
On Monday, Prince Harry had attended the WellChild awards in London, while his brother Prince William was at a Women’s Institute meeting in Berkshire, with guests remembering the legacy of the late Queen Elizabeth.
Mamdani taps 'Gilded Age' star to read 'freakout' reaction to him from NY's mega-rich
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is offering a rich response to a news story detailing how the very wealthy feel about the New York City Democratic mayoral nominee, tapping a star of “The Gilded Age” to perform a “dramatic reading” of the article.
In a video posted by Mamdani on Monday, Morgan Spector is seen dressed as his railroad tycoon character, George Russell, from the HBO historical drama that’s set in the late 19th century and follows the lives of New York’s mega-rich.
The 44-year-old actor then reads aloud selected passages from a New York Times story published last month titled “How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?”
“August in the Hamptons: Ocean breezes. Oversubscribed Tracy Anderson classes. Parking woes. And this year, with a New York City mayoral election looming in the fall, a freakout that the most sumptuous of summer staples hasn’t soothed,” Spector said in front of a background filled with books and lit candles.
“Even overpriced lobster salad can’t seem to make people out here feel better,” Spector said, reciting a political fundraiser quoted in the Times’s piece.
“What they are talking about is whether anyone, specifically former Gov. Andrew M Cuomo or Mayor Eric Adams, can beat the Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani,” Spector said in a pronounced manner.
“In June, he dared to say, on ‘Meet the Press’: ‘I don’t think that we should have billionaires,'” Spector said of Mamdani’s interview on the NBC program. Spector then eyed the camera directly and dramatically took a sip of a drink.
“The Hamptons is basically in group therapy about the mayoral race,” Spector said, again quoting the political fundraiser cited by the Times.
“In other words, the plutocrats are panicking,” Spector said, pulling from the same article.
Spector has praised Mamdani before, referring to him as a “fantastic candidate” before he officially clenched the Democratic nomination for New York mayor in July.
“He feels like a candidate who could have an amazing future as a left politician,” Spector told Rolling Stone.
President Trump has repeatedly ripped Mamdani, a New York state Assembly member who identifies as a democratic socialist, calling him a “communist lunatic.”
JPMorgan elevates three insiders as global investment banking chairs on M&A revival
(Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase named three insiders as global chairs of its investment banking division on Tuesday, as U.S. banks position themselves to capitalize on a recovery in dealmaking activity in 2025.
Global mergers and acquisitions hit $2.6 trillion in the first seven months of the year, the highest since a 2021 pandemic-era peak, boosting investment banks’ prospects.
The three – Howard Chen, Charlie Dupree and Fred Turpin – will join a senior team that provides strategic advice to some of JPMorgan’s most important clients as the largest U.S. bank bolsters its investment banking division, a key driver of recent profits.
The lender beat estimates for second-quarter profit in July and its investment banking fees rose 7% to $2.5 billion, fueled by an increase in M&As and debt underwriting.
Chen, who joined JPMorgan in 2018, was most recently co-head of the North America financial institutions group, while Dupree served for the last seven years as vice chair of investment banking for M&A.
Turpin, most recently JPMorgan’s global head of media & communications investment banking, has been with the bank 30 years, having worked on deals such as T-Mobile and Sprint and Warner Media and Discovery, among others.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)