All posts tagged: foreign

Politics Home | Keir Starmer Sacks Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Over Mandelson Vetting Row

Politics Home | Keir Starmer Sacks Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Over Mandelson Vetting Row

Published by Sam Flores

2 min read49 min The most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office is leaving his role over the Lord Mandelson vetting row. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in Olly Robbins, who will be standing down as the department’s permanent secretary as a result, PoliticsHome understands. His departure comes after The Guardian reported on Thursday that Mandelson was appointed the UK ambassador to the US in 2024 despite failing his security vetting. No 10 later released a statement saying that the Foreign Office was responsible for the vetting process and went ahead with appointing Mandelson to the job in Washington despite the failure, without telling the Prime Minister or any other minister. Downing Street added that Starmer had been first made aware earlier this week. The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday to correct previous statements he has made about the process by which Mandelson was appointed. He is expected to tell MPs that he did not unknowingly mislead Parliament when …

Von der Leyen uses Orbán defeat to push for end of veto in EU foreign policy – POLITICO

Von der Leyen uses Orbán defeat to push for end of veto in EU foreign policy – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Any change would be highly controversial, with even some typically pro-EU countries likely to balk at the prospect of losing control of foreign policy and facing the possibility of having to wave through decisions they oppose. The Commission would move quickly to engage with the incoming Hungarian government once it takes office, noting that incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar had signaled a clear pro-European direction during the campaign. “We can already see that [he] is very clear on the European path … committing the new government to continue working with us,” she said, adding that progress on EU funds and reforms would be a priority because “the Hungarian people deserve it.” Von der Leyen welcomed the outcome of Hungary’s elections, calling it “a day to celebrate” and said the EU was stronger and more united as a result. “The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European task,” she said. “It is a victory for fundamental freedoms.” Orbán, the EU’s most autocratic leader — a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and …

Trump blasts Pope Leo for criticism of U.S. foreign policy

Trump blasts Pope Leo for criticism of U.S. foreign policy

Published by Sam Flores

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the popemobile after the Easter Mass as part of the Holy Week celebrations, at St Peter’s square in the Vatican on April 5, 2026. Alberto Pizzoli | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Sunday bashed Pope Leo XIV over the U.S.-born Roman Catholic pontiff’s criticism of the U.S. war in Iran. The president said he does not “want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” in a Truth Social post. Trump linked the pope’s ascension to his return to office as president. “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump said. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.” Trump said …

Treasury, IRS Propose Rules For 1 Percent Remittance Tax On Some Money Sent To Foreign Countries

Treasury, IRS Propose Rules For 1 Percent Remittance Tax On Some Money Sent To Foreign Countries

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury proposed regulations on Friday regarding the new excise tax, established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, on certain remittances made abroad. The Internal Revenue Service in Washington on March 10, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times “Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, a 1 percent remittance transfer tax applies to remittances sent from the United States to recipients in foreign countries when the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or other similar physical instrument to the remittance transfer provider,” the IRS said in an April 10 statement. “The sender is liable for the tax, and remittance transfer providers are required to collect the remittance transfer tax from certain senders, make semimonthly deposits, and file quarterly returns with the IRS. If the remittance transfer provider does not collect the tax from the sender, the tax becomes a liability of the remittance transfer provider.” The proposed regulations clarify how the remittance transfer tax would be applied. According …

10Y Auction Tails As Foreign Demand Dips

10Y Auction Tails As Foreign Demand Dips

Published by Jenni Sidey

After yesterday’s impressive 3Y auction, moments ago the Treasury sold $39 billion in benchmark, 10Y paper, in what was a mediocre auction. The auction, a 9-Year 10-Month reopening of cusip CPX8, stopped at a high yield of 4.282%, up from 4.217% last month and the highest since last August. It also tailed the When Issued 4.280% by 0.2bps, the third consecutive tail in a row. The bid to cover dipped to 2.429 from 2.449, and was also below the six-auction average of 2.48. The internals also disappointed, as foreign demand slumped from March with Indirects awarded 65.32%, down from 74.45%, and below the recent average of 68.78%. Directs offset much of this drop, rising to 23.88%, almost double the 12.83% in March and the highest since January. Dealers were left holding 10.8%, down from 12.7% the previous month, but in line with the average of 10.05%. Overall this was a slightly subpar auction, especially after yesterday’s stellar 3Y auction, but in light of the bid drop in yields across the curve and the lack of …

American Woman Living In Germany Shares Why Working In A Foreign Country Broke Her

American Woman Living In Germany Shares Why Working In A Foreign Country Broke Her

Published by Jenni Sidey

An American woman named Lanna got a part-time job in Germany, where she is currently living, and she was shocked by the benefits that came with it. In the U.S., part-time workers traditionally get few to no benefits from the company they work for, so she assumed things would be the same in another country. Instead, the perks that came with Lanna’s new job forced her to confront what she had been “socialized” to believe as an American. Lanna was surprised by how different the hiring process felt in Germany. Each country has its own cultural differences, but the process was such a night-and-day difference from what she was used to that she didn’t quite know what to make of it. Lanna shared that she got a part-time job as a barista “to make some extra cash on the side” and will work 20 hours a week. @keylimelanna Idk how so many Americans are so accepting of the utter dumpster fire we are served by our system. Frozen water is a militaristic group of state …

Stellar 3Y Auction: 2nd Most Foreign Buyers On Record, Highest Stop Through Since Feb 2025

Stellar 3Y Auction: 2nd Most Foreign Buyers On Record, Highest Stop Through Since Feb 2025

Published by Jenni Sidey

After several weeks of decidedly ugly auction which saw a notable drop in foreign demand amid what we reported a week ago was rampant selling of US debt by foreign central banks, moments ago the Treasury sold 3Y notes in what may have been the best auction since the start of the war. Just after 1pm, the US treasury sold $58BN in 3Y notes at a high yield of 3.897%, up sharply from 3.579% a month ago and the highest since last June’s 3.972%. More importantly, the auction stopped through the When Issued 3.909% by 1.2bps, the biggest stop through since Feb 2025 and the 7th stop through in the past 8 auctions. The bid to cover bounced nicely from last month’s 2.546 to 2.682, the highest since November.  The internals were even stronger: indirects, or foreign central banks, came back in droves after aggressively selling US paper in recent week, and were allotted 74.8% of the auction – the highest since Sept 2024, and the second highest on record. And with Directs awarded just …

Why EU foreign policy keeps getting stuck – POLITICO

Why EU foreign policy keeps getting stuck – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

EU foreign policy runs on unanimity — and it’s starting to break down. Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart unpack growing frustration with how the EU makes foreign policy, as divisions over Ukraine funding, Russia sanctions and the war in Iran expose the pitfalls of the veto. With calls — led by Germany and Sweden — mounting to scrap unanimity in foreign and security policy, the question is becoming harder to avoid: Can the EU still act together when it matters most? They also discuss the fallout from the war in Iran, which is already landing in Europe. Energy prices are rising, jet fuel shortages are starting to bite, and countries like Italy are moving independently to secure supplies — raising fresh questions about coordination inside the EU. And finally, Brussels faces a different kind of dilemma: What to do about fur. As the Commission prepares to respond to a citizens’ petition signed by more than 1.5 million people calling for an EU-wide ban, it looks set to stop short — despite a shrinking industry, mounting …

EU foreign policy shambles triggers calls for radical overhaul of diplomacy – POLITICO

EU foreign policy shambles triggers calls for radical overhaul of diplomacy – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Frustration at the deadlock is spilling into the open, with a growing group of countries led by Germany and Sweden pushing to severely limit — or totally scrap — national vetoes that allow a single capital to block action. “We should abolish the unanimity principle in the EU in foreign and security policy before the end of the current legislative period so as to be better capable of acting internationally and to be truly grown-up,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Saturday, according to the German Funke Group. “All the experience that we have gained over recent weeks with aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia indicate this.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul takes part in a press call after the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in France on March 27. | Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images Last month, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that discussions about using qualified majority voting to make foreign policy decisions would “come up again” among leaders. The push comes as Hungary — less than a week out from its …