Israel, Hamas Agree To First Phase Of Gaza Peace Plan, Allowing Release Of Hostages

UK government plans to introduce a new Unemployment Insurance benefit could save as much as £3 billion ($4 billion) a year and increase weekly payments to jobseekers, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Under the proposal, two out-of-work benefits would be replaced with a single time-limited allowance based on past contributions into the social-security system. Payments will be set at the higher rate of the two, currently reserved for people with health conditions.

The IFS says that limiting this benefit to six or 12 months will more than offset the increased payments to jobseekers by reducing the cost of long-term claimants, who currently make up 88% of spending on contribution-based unemployment support.The analysis provides a boost for the government in its battle to contain the spiraling welfare bill and put the public finances back on track. In July, it was forced to U-turn on plans to cut £5 billion from disability and health-related benefits after a rebellion by Labour lawmakers. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects working-age welfare spending to rise almost 20% in the next five years.

In a report published Thursday, the IFS said the level of savings from the reform will depend on the time limit imposed. A six-month limit to claiming Unemployment Insurance would save a projected £3 billion, with the figure falling to £2 billion if in place for a year. These savings come from long-term claimants with health conditions, most of whom currently receive support indefinitely.The UK is less generous than its OECD peers when it comes to supporting those who lose their jobs. The current Jobseeker’s Allowance is set at only 12% of mean wages – or £92.05 a week – when the OECD average is 55% and higher still elsewhere in Europe. Unemployment Insurance would see the proportion rise to 19%.

“Given the UK’s internationally low levels of support for the newly unemployed, there is a strong case for strengthening the level and duration of support offered to them through contributory benefits,” said Anvar Sarygulov, research grants and programs manager at the Nuffield Foundation, which funded the IFS study. “However, the government needs to avoid pulling the rug out from under existing long-term claimants with health conditions by thinking carefully about the delivery and design of any transitional support.”The unemployment insurance proposal came in a government paper earlier this year, alongside the now-scrapped changes to health benefits. The IFS analysis is contained in a pre-released chapter of its forthcoming Green Budget.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Following SecState Rubio's earlier interruption, it appears his note to President Trump was spot on.President Trump Just posted on social media that Israel and the terror group Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace deal that would put an end to the gruelling and bloody Gaza conflict after two years.Trump announced the breakthrough in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), having earlier in the day suggested a deal was “very close” and that he would visit the Middle East later this week.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.“All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel would bring home all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, after reports of a deal to end the Gaza war."With God's help we will bring them all home," Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement.

In an unusual moment, during a White House round-table on Antifa, Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupted things to inform President Trump of something quite urgent. Whether a deal is really imminent or not, it still made for good theater, at the very least. Trump soon after this moment left the meeting, announcing "I have to go now to try to solve Middle East problems."Not long before that interruption, he had speculated that if the Egypt-hosted negotiations achieved a deal, he would likely travel to the Middle East. He even named Gaza as a potential destination, but then said it would most likely be Egypt.

"Peace for the Middle East, that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well," Trump told reporters.Does this mean he's getting ready for a major announcement? There have been 'false starts' on Gaza peace before (many times, actually)... so will this be the one to stick?

Axios last week reported that President Trump recently told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop being so "f*cking negative" and "take the win" after Hamas voiced its initial agreement to free the 48 remaining hostages (both dead and alive) as part of the US 20-point peace plan for Gaza.However, in more recent remarks Trump has denied ever saying this, or clashing with the Israeli leader on the pending agreement. "No, it’s not true. He's been very positive on the deal," Trump said of Netanyahu.

Asked specifically whether he has any red lines for Hamas in new round of negotiations that kicked off Monday in Egypt, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he does: "If certain things aren’t met, we’re not going to do it," he said.

Commenting on the potential for private vs. public friction further, Israeli media concludes the following:

Trump at times has avoided criticizing Netanyahu in public, even as reports have mounted about his private frustration with the Israeli premier, including during a tense phone call last week in which the Axios news site reported the US president responded angrily when Netanyahu said Hamas’s ambivalent response was "nothing to celebrate."US envoy Steve Witkoff is in Egypt joining the talks Wednesday, as is Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, and Erdogan too has sent Turkish officials, which may amount to too many cooks in the kitchen. The Turkish delegation is led by spy chief Ibrahim Kalin.

Top Hamas leader Taher al-Nunu has offered a generally positive assessment of where thing stand so far. "The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties," he said.The two warring sides have exchanges lists of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners to be released in the major swap. But even if this is agreed to, the question of ending the war, and a future Gaza where Hamas is disarmed, remains a big open one.

In Tuesday comments in the Oval Office, Trump said "So the primary guarantee is, once this deal happens, if it does happen — look, they’re in negotiations right now.""We are going to do everything possible. We have a lot of power, and we’re going to do everything possible to make sure everybody adheres to the deal," he added. However, it's notable that Trump stopped short of explicitly vowing that Israel would be barred from resuming military operations. For now, media reports say "progress" is being made in

Source: Zero Hedge

Key points:

Two senior Indian ministers have, in an uncommon intervention, urged Tata Group's charity arm to resolve internal boardroom disputes to ensure stability at the sprawling $180-billion business empire it controls, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.The discord within Tata Trusts, a year after the death of family patriarch Ratan Tata, has raised fears of a repeat of a bitter 2016 public spat between the charity and Tata Sons that tarnished the reputation of India's most storied group.

Tata Trusts owns a 66% stake in Tata Sons, giving it power over major strategic decisions. Tata Sons, in turn, oversees 30 firms ranging from consumer goods, autos and airlines, including the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motorsand Air India.The disagreement within Tata Trusts in recent weeks concerns which of its trustees should sit on the Tata Sons board, the general business direction taken by the group and how to manage the planned exit of minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji, two industry sources familiar with the matter said.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT ASKS TATAS TO RESOLVE ISSUES

The two Indian ministers met with Tata Sons Chair N. Chandrasekaran and Tata Trusts head Noel Tata in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the matter and seek a swift resolution of the disputes, one of the industry sources and a government official said.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was one of the ministers present at the rare direct government intervention, those sources said.

Indian media reported the other senior government official as Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah."The government wants them to resolve the issues and restore stability," said the government official familiar with Tuesday's discussions.The sources declined to be named as the matter is confidential.Tata Trusts and Tata Sons have not commented publicly on the matter, which has been widely reported in Indian media. Neither responded to Reuters' requests for comment.

India's finance ministry and home affairs ministry did not respond to requests for comment.In the 2016 spat, Tata Sons chair Cyrus Mistry was unceremoniously ousted following disagreements with Tata Trusts, triggering legal battles. Mistry died in 2022 but his family's firm, Shapoorji Pallonji, still owns an 18% stake in Tata Sons.One of the main current disagreements among Tata Trusts' trustees concerns how Shapoorji's long-delayed plan to part ways with the Tatas will be executed and affect the conglomerate, one of the industry sources said.

Source: TradingView

As the U.S. economic data freezes because of the U.S. government shutdown, crypto traders are bracing for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comment scheduled on Sept. 9, 8:30 AM ET, before markets open.For both crypto and traditional markets, his remarks will serve as the only official signal on the outlook for monetary policy.On Sept. 17, a 25-basis-point rate cut was followed by a sharp sell-off after Powell’s post-decision remarks fueled concern about the pace of easing.That history is keeping expectations tense heading into tomorrow’s speech. Volatility gauges in both equities and digital assets have been ticking higher.

Crypto traders expect volatility

Pseudonymous crypto trader “TradeWithElites” on X criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying, “Tell me one time when Powell said something bullish.” The trader added that “even after the 25bps rate cut in September, his speech alone tanked the market again.”In-house survey of Federal Reserve point toward additional easing this year.

According to the minutes of the Sept. 16 to Sept. 17 FOMC meeting:

“The vast majority of survey respondents expected at least two 25 basis point cuts by year-end, with around half expecting three cuts over that time.”

Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.

Notably, the shutdown has halted key data releases including labor reports, jobless claims, and inflation updates. That absence leaves Powell’s speech as the only tradable datapoint this week.

Former hedge fund manager and Bitcoin Opportunity Fund co-founder James Lavish said the Fed minutes show the board is “still concerned about the potential for rising inflation” yet “leaning toward more rate cuts this year anyway.” The Bitcoin advocate hinted the stance reinforces why “sound money like BTC matters more than ever.”According to Kraken's price feeds, Bitcoin is trading down at 0.9% in 24 hours to $123,255 as broader crypto cap hits $4.32T. Ethereum edges up 0.1% to $4,509 with steady spot demand and staking flows. Dogecoin leads majors with a 2.5% pop to $0.2582.

Fed minutes released

Fed minutes show most officials back more rate cuts this year, signaling a clear pivot toward easier policy. Governor Stephen Miran wanted a deeper 50 bps cut, arguing inflation is near 2%. The Fed warned job gains have slowed while inflation remains “somewhat elevated.” Looser policy could boost liquidity — a bullish setup for Bitcoin and crypto markets.Wall Street took the Sept. 16–17 FOMC minutes as a green light for more easing because “most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year,” even as officials stayed split on inflation risks.The document notes live debate inside the Fed, “a few” wanted no cut, while new Governor Stephen Miran argued for 50 bps, which can sway rate-path odds, yields, and risk appetite in real time.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Source: Bloomberg Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he reads a note handed to him by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio he said was regarding Middle East peace talks during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House on Oct. 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio updates U.S. President Donald Trump on the Gaza proposal during a roundtable on "Antifa," an anti-fascist movement Trump designated a domestic "terrorist organization" via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 8, 2025.

Source: CNBC