Latest News
-
UN Labour body reduces global job forecast amid slowing economy
The United Nations' agency for Labour cut its global employment projection for this year by 1.5%, due to an deteriorating global economy outlook and trade tensions. The International Labour Organization (ILO), in a recent report, said that 53 million new jobs would be created this coming year. This is seven millions fewer than was previously predicted, as the economic growth forecasts were reduced to 2.8% from 3.2%. The report stated that "economic uncertainty was high in 2025 due to ongoing conflicts, geoeconomic realignments and trade-related disruptions." ILO warned that trade tensions are putting 84 million jobs in 71 countries at greater risk. The ILO said that the most vulnerable jobs are in Canada and Mexico. Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the ILO, said: "If geopolitical conflicts and trade disruptions persist, and if fundamental questions are not addressed that are reshaping our world of work, they will have a negative impact on labour markets around the globe." (Reporting and editing by Madeline Chambers.)
-
Investors buy gold dips ahead of Fed meeting minutes
Investors bought gold on Wednesday after it had fallen in the previous session. Markets awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, as well as economic data to get an idea about the U.S. rate outlook. As of 0853 GMT, spot gold rose 0.6%, to $3,320.58 per ounce. Bullion dropped below $3,300 and reached a low level of $3,285.19 during the previous session. U.S. Gold Futures increased 0.6% to $3319.50. Jigar Trivedi is a senior commodity analyst with Reliance Securities. He said that the gold price has rebounded mainly because of bargain hunters after a sharp fall in the previous session. The markets are also in an "await-and-watch" mode, prompting adjustments to positions. The markets are waiting for the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s newest policy meeting, which is due in the afternoon, and then the U.S. PCE figures for April due on Friday. This week, a number of Fed officials will be speaking to provide further insight into monetary policies. Han Tan, Exinity Group's chief market analyst, said that gold could rise on the back of lower-than expected PCE prints which ease stagflation concerns and pave the way for further Fed rate cuts. John Williams, the New York Fed president, said that central banks need to "respond fairly strongly" if inflation starts to diverge from their target. The Fed's policy rate has been at 4.25% to 4.50% since the end of December. Officials are waiting for more clarity on the economy, while policymakers also deal with the market volatility brought about by President Donald Trump's changing remarks regarding negotiations with trading partners. Tan stated that gold may eventually break out of the range $3,000 to $3,500 once the Fed signals a greater willingness for it to resume the rate-cutting cycles. Silver spot rose by 0.1%, to $33.34 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.8%, to $1,087.97, and palladium climbed 0.1%, to $979.57. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier)
-
Dalian iron ore falls, rebars slump to five-year low due to tepid China's steel production
The price of iron ore futures fell for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday, while rebar prices dropped to their lowest level since 2020. This was due to a slowdown in steel production by China, which is regarded as he biggest consumer. The September contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the daytime trading 0.14% lower, at 698.5 Yuan ($97.14). As of 0747 GMT, the benchmark June iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange was $96.15 per ton. Rebar, a product used in construction, fell 0.77% for the day. LSEG data show that prices fell to their lowest level since April 2020 earlier in the day, at 2,950 yuan. The Shanghai Futures Exchange saw a decline in most steel benchmarks. Hot-rolled coils fell 0.55% while stainless steel fell 1.32%. Wire rod rose 1.96%. Mark Ferguson, Director of Metals and Mining Research at S&P Global Commodity Insights told a conference in Singapore on Wednesday that China's crude output is expected to drop to 968 millions metric tons in 2025, a 37 million ton decrease from 2024. Lange Steel, citing data from the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that daily crude steel production at key steel companies in May decreased by 0.3% on a month-to-month basis to 2.2 millions tons. Despite Beijing's previous announcement that it would cut crude steel production this year, traders are betting on the fact that these cuts will not be enforced due to improved industry profitability. The Brazilian government also dampened sentiment by renewing 25% tariffs, which were originally imposed on 19 steel products last year. Official data released on Tuesday showed that China's industrial profit accelerated in April. This gives policymakers reason to be optimistic about recent stimulus measures helping keep the economy afloat. Coking coal and coke, which are both steelmaking ingredients, were down by 2.2% and 1.99%, respectively. $1 = 7.1904 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Mrigank Dahniwala, Sherry Jacob Phillips)
-
SQM Chile misses its profit forecasts as lithium prices remain pressured
SQM Chile, the second largest lithium producer in the world, missed its quarterly profit forecasts on Wednesday and warned that realized prices would be lower next quarter because of an oversupply of this metal, which is essential for batteries used in electric vehicles. According to LSEG, the company reported a first-quarter profit of $137.5m, or 48c per share. This compares to analyst estimates of $171.20m, or 63c per share. According to LSEG, the miner reported that its revenue from January to March was $1.04 billion. This is in line analysts' estimates of $1.045 million. The lithium price has dropped by nearly 90% since its peak in 2022, mainly due to a weaker than expected demand for electric cars and an excess of supply in China. SQM, which posted a decline in net profits in the fourth quarter of last year because of weak prices due to a slump in lithium prices at the beginning 2025. SQM is one of two companies in Chile that produce lithium. It also produces fertilizers and industrial chemical. The miner must wait for final regulatory approvals before it can close a deal with Chilean state-run copper company Codelco on the Atacama Salt Flat, which is the world's most lithium-rich salt deposit. Reporting by Daina-Beth Solomon, Chandni Shah, and Shivani Tana in Bengaluru. Editing by Sherry Phillips and Saumyadeb Chkrabarty.
-
Sources say that Putin wants to stop NATO expansion in exchange for peace in Ukraine.
According to three Russian sources familiar with the negotiations, President Vladimir Putin has set conditions to end the war in Ukraine. These include that Western leaders commit in writing to stop expanding NATO eastwards as well as lifting a portion of sanctions against Russia. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has said repeatedly that he wants the European conflict to be over. He has also shown growing frustration towards Putin in recent weeks. On Tuesday he warned the Russian leader that if a ceasefire was not agreed upon with Kyiv his forces would make gains. Putin told Trump that after a two-hour conversation last week he agreed to work on a document with Ukraine that would outline the terms of a peace agreement, including when a ceasefire will be implemented. Russia is drafting their version of the document and has no idea how long it will take. Kyiv, as well as European governments, have accused Moscow for stalling its troops' advance in the east Ukraine. One senior Russian source, speaking on condition of anonymity and with intimate knowledge of the Kremlin's thinking, said that Putin is willing to make peace at any cost. Three Russian sources have said that Putin wants an "written" commitment from major Western powers to not expand the U.S. led NATO alliance eastwards. This is a shorthand way of formally excluding Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet Republics. The three sources also said that Russia wants Ukraine to remain neutral, certain Western sanctions to be lifted, the issue of Russian sovereign assets frozen in the West resolved, and protection of Russian speakers in Ukraine. First source: If Putin is unable, on his terms, to achieve a peaceful settlement, he'll try to demonstrate to the Ukrainians and Europeans, through military victories, that "peace tomorrow would be even more painful". The Kremlin has not responded to a request for a comment about'reporting. Putin and Russian officials repeatedly stated that any peace agreement must address the "root cause" of the conflict. This is Russian shorthand for NATO expansion and Western support for Ukraine. Kyiv repeatedly stated that Russia shouldn't be given a veto over its ambitions to join NATO. Ukraine wants the West to provide a solid security guarantee that is backed up by teeth in order to deter future Russian attacks. The administration of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not reply to a comment request. NATO has said in the past that it would not change its policy of "open doors" just because Moscow demanded it. The 32-member alliance's spokesperson did not answer any questions. Putin sent tens-of-thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022, after eight years fighting between separatists backed by Russia and Ukrainian troops in the east of Ukraine. Russia controls less than one fifth of Ukraine. The Russian advance has accelerated in the last year. However, both Russia and Ukraine are paying a heavy price for the war. In January, it was reported that Putin was becoming increasingly concerned about the economic distortions of Russia's wartime economies. This is due to labour shortages as well as high interest rates set up to combat inflation. Oil, which is the foundation of Russia's economic system, has been steadily declining in price this year. Trump, who boasts of his friendly relationship with Putin, and believes that the Russian leader is seeking peace, warned Washington it could impose additional sanctions if Moscow delayed efforts to reach a settlement. Trump suggested on social media that Putin was "absolutely CRAZY", for unleashing an aerial attack against Ukraine last week. First, the source stated that Putin would move further into Ukraine in the event he saw an opportunity to do so on the battlefield. The Kremlin also believed that Russia could continue fighting for many years despite the economic and political pressures imposed by Western countries. Second source: Putin is less willing to compromise with regards to territory, and will continue to stick to his public position that he wants to claim the entire four regions of eastern Ukraine. The second source stated that Putin has reaffirmed his position on the issue of territory. NATO Enlargement As Trump and Putin battled in public about the prospects for peace in Ukraine could not tell if the intensification of war and the hardening of positions signaled a determination to reach an agreement or the failure of talks. In June of last year, Putin laid out his first terms for an end to the conflict immediately: Ukraine must abandon its NATO ambitions, and remove all its troops from four Ukrainian regions that are claimed by Russia and largely controlled by them. Russia controls more than 70% Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as almost all of Luhansk. Russia also controls a small part of Kharkiv, Sumy and Kherson regions and threatens Dnipropetrovsk. The former U.S. president Joe Biden and Western European leaders, as well as Ukraine, have all characterized the invasion in terms of an imperialistic land grab. They have also repeatedly promised to defeat Russian forces. Putin sees the war in the context of the watershed moment for Moscow's relationship with the West, which he claims humiliated Russia in 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed by expanding NATO and encroaching upon what he believes to be Moscow's sphere. In 2008, NATO leaders in Bucharest agreed that Ukraine and Georgia will one day be members. In 2019, Ukraine amended its constitution to commit to full membership in NATO and the European Union. Trump said that the U.S.'s previous support for Ukraine’s NATO membership bid caused the war and indicated that Ukraine would not be granted membership. The U.S. State Department has not responded to a comment request on this story. Putin, who became the Kremlin's top official in 1999, has returned to NATO enlargement several times, including his most detailed remarks on a possible peaceful future in 2024. Just two months prior to the Russian invasion in 2021, Moscow presented a draft of an agreement with NATO that, under Article 6 would bind NATO "to refrain from any further expansion of NATO, which includes the accession of Ukraine and other States." At the time, U.S. diplomats and NATO officials said that Russia had no veto over the expansion of the alliance. Russia wants to see a written commitment from NATO because Putin believes that the United States misled Moscow after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 when U.S. Secretary James Baker told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1990, that NATO wouldn't expand eastward. William J. Burns, the former director of Central Intelligence Agency, said that there was a verbal agreement, but it never became formalized. It was also made before the fall of the Soviet Union. NATO, which was founded in 1949 as a means of providing security against the Soviet Union says that it does not pose a threat to Russia, even though the 2022 assessment on peace and security within the Euro-Atlantic region identified Russia as the "most significant and direct danger". Finland joined NATO in 2023 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in that same year. Sweden followed in 2024. Western European leaders have said repeatedly that if Russia won the Ukraine war it could attack NATO one day - which would trigger a global war. Russia has dismissed such claims as scaremongering but also warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate. (Reporting in Moscow; Editing by Daniel Flynn).
-
Three killed in fire on Chevron Angolan oil platform
The death toll from the fire on a Chevron operated oil platform off Angola has now reached three. Government and company officials confirmed this late Tuesday. Officials said that two workers had been transferred to South African hospitals with specialist units, and the body of the third worker was still to be recovered from the ocean. The fire that broke out at the Benguela Belize Lobito (BBLT), a deep-water platform, in the early hours of the morning on May 20, injured seventeen people, including four who were seriously hurt. According to a government source, the accident happened in the week the U.S. major oil company was scheduled to resume its operations at BBLT following a planned annual maintenance shutdown. BBLT produced its first oil back in 2006. Cabinda's Angolan subsidiary, Cabinda Oil Company, has not confirmed the date of expected return to service. The company said it would not comment on operational issues as the investigation into the cause for the fire continues. (Reporting and editing by Elaine Hardcastle; Wendell Roelf)
-
UN weather agency: Arctic warming to be three times the global average in coming years
A new report from the U.N.'s weather agency on Wednesday predicted that the world will continue to see record temperatures in the coming five years. The Arctic is expected warm at a rate three times greater than the global average. According to a report from the World Meteorological Organization, there is a 80% chance of at least one record year in the next five. The likelihood of average warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degree Fahrenheit), above pre-industrial temperatures, is high. The Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, which obligated countries to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5 C, was breached for the first time last year. The WMO stated that the global mean near-surface temperatures are expected to rise between 1.2 C - 1.9 C from this year through 2029 compared to pre-industrial levels in the years 1850-1900. This will lead more extreme weather. In a press release, it stated that "every fractional degree more of warming leads to more heatwaves and extreme rain events, intense dry spells, melting ice sheets and sea ice and glaciers. It also causes ocean heating and sea level rise." The Arctic will experience a rapid melting of ice due to the projected above-average warming. The report stated that Arctic warming is predicted to be over three-and-a half times the global average. This means the temperature will rise by 2.4 C higher than the 30-year average for the next five winters. The WMO said that global temperatures would remain near or at record levels through the end of this decade. The weather agency predicts above-average rainfall in the Sahel region, northern Europe, Alaska, and northern Siberia between May and September 2025-2029. Meanwhile, the Amazon is expected to be drier than average this season. (Reporting and editing by Helen Popper; Olivia Le Poidevin)
-
The stronger dollar has put pressure on industrial metals
The industrial metals market was subdued Wednesday due to a stronger dollar. However, the improved risk appetite on financial markets after President Donald Trump’s latest tariff relief offered some support. The London Metal Exchange reported that the price of three-month copper was $9,585 per ton at 0704 GMT. This is a 0.1% decline. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's (SHFE) most-traded contract for copper fell 0.1% to 78.200 yuan per ton ($10,868.36). Dollar-denominated investments are now more expensive for holders of currencies other than the dollar. In its latest monthly bulletin, the International Copper Study Group reported that the global refined copper market had a surplus of 17,000 metric tonnes in March, compared to a surplus of 180,000 metric tonnes in February. The risk sentiment on the financial markets was boosted after Trump, on Sunday, reversed his threat to impose tariffs of 50% on EU imports next month. He also restored a deadline for July 9 to allow time for negotiations. Copper prices have traded in line with the overall sentiment on the global stock exchange in the past two weeks. The US stock market has been lifted by trade optimism, and this has had a ripple effect on copper prices, said Kelvin Woong, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific, OANDA. Data released on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer sentiment improved in May, despite the truce between Washington and Beijing in the trade dispute. Other London metals include aluminium, which fell by 0.3% to 2,478 dollars a ton. Zinc also declined, falling 0.7% to 2,688, while lead decreased 0.4% to 1,977, and nickel dropped 1.6% to 15,165. Tin fell 2.3% to $30,840. The SHFE aluminium price rose by 0.2%, to 20,095 Chinese yuan per ton. Nickel fell 2.1%, to 119.800 yuan. Zinc dropped 0.9%, to 22,210 yuan. Tin declined 3.1%, to 256.870 yuan. $1 = 7.1952 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (Reporting and editing by Janane Venturaman and Sherry Phillips in Bengaluru)
Musk announces more cuts during cabinet meeting
Elon Musk, the downsizing czar at Trump's inaugural cabinet meeting, vowed to continue to cut spending.
A new memo from the administration instructed agencies to submit by March 13, plans for a "significant" reduction in staffing. The federal workforce was already feeling the effects of Musk's wave of layoffs, and cuts to programs. The memo did not specify the number of layoffs desired.
The memo was signed by White House Budget Director Russell Vought, and Office of Personnel Management Acting Head Charles Ezell. It represents a major step in Trump and Musk’s campaign to reduce the size of U.S. Government.
So far, layoffs have primarily targeted probationary workers. These workers have less experience in their current positions and have fewer protections. Next, the vastly larger pool of experienced civil servants would be targeted.
Trump announced at the cabinet meeting that Lee Zeldin will be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Cut to 65%
More than 15,000 of his employees.
A source in the Interior Department told U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs are preparing for staff reductions of 10% to 40%.
Since Trump's election, 100,000 civilian federal employees have been terminated or bought out.
Musk was invited to a cabinet meeting by Trump, who gave him a remarkable sign of support. He asked Musk to talk about his Department of Government Efficiency which oversees the overhaul.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, wearing a "Make America Great Again", black baseball cap, and a "tech support" T-shirt in front of cabinet secretaries, expressed his confidence that he could cut the $6.7 trillion annual budget by $1 trillion. This extremely ambitious goal would probably mean significant disruptions to government programs.
Musk stated that "the country would go de facto bankruptcy" without such deep cuts in spending.
Trump also signed an executive directive on Wednesday directing agencies and DOGE to review all "unnecessary contracts" and terminate them. He also instructed the General Services Administration (which manages government real estate) to develop a plan to dispose of any unwanted property.
Trump and Musk are yet to slow down the pace of spending. According to an analysis, the government has spent 13% extra during Trump's first full month in office compared to the same period last year. This is largely because of higher interest payments and the rising costs for health and retirement incurred by a growing population.
Trump reiterated that he would not cut popular retirement and health benefits, which account for almost half the budget.
Trump said, "We won't touch it."
Trump wants Congress to extend his 2017 tax cuts. These are the most important legislative achievements of his first term and will expire by the end of the year. According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the 2017 tax cuts increased the debt of the country by $2.5 trillion -- it is now at $36 trillion. The report estimated that the extension of tax cuts would cost over $5 trillion in a decade.
Republicans are considering cuts in food and healthcare aid to the poor as a way to pay for tax cuts. Specifics have yet to be revealed.
TRUMP SAID SOME WORKERS WERE 'ON THE BUBBLE'
Musk warned that if the demand was not met, the federal employees would be terminated.
Some agencies instructed employees to ignore the order, causing confusion for days about whether Musk or Trump would be able to make good on their threat.
Musk, the richest man in the world, said that his email was a way to check if government salaries were actually going to workers.
He said without supplying any evidence that "we think there are some people on the payroll of the government who are dead".
Trump said that workers who didn't respond to Musk’s email could lose their jobs.
He used a slang expression to describe a situation with an uncertain outcome.
Trump and Musk’s unprecedented government overhaul also froze foreign aid, disrupted scientific research and construction projects.
According to a source briefed about the issue, the GSA (also known as the landlord of the government) plans to cancel 1,100 office leases by the end the year.
The person stated that the terminations would target "soft-term" leases which no longer have cancellation penalties and are easily terminable. The GSA oversees approximately 2,800 "soft-term" leases and thousands of "firm-term", leases which cannot be terminated without cause. (Additional reporting from Nathan Layne; editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)
(source: Reuters)