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After cannabis raid, one California worker is killed and hundreds are arrested
According to a farmworker advocate group, a California farmworker was killed on Friday after suffering injuries sustained the day before when U.S. Immigration agents raided and arrested hundreds workers at a cannabis plantation. On Thursday, dozens of migrant rights activists fought with federal agents on the rural Southern California coast. This was the latest in President Donald Trump's campaign of deporting all illegal immigrants living in the U.S. In a press release, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that 200 people who were in the country illegally had been arrested during the raid. The raid targeted two locations of Glass House Farms. The statement also stated that agents found ten migrant children at the farm. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott said in a post to X that the facility was under investigation for violations of child labor. The company didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. Elizabeth Strater said that several farmworkers suffered injuries and one of them died after falling 30 feet from a building in the raid. Strater stated that U.S. citizens had been detained and some were still missing. UFW President Teresa Romero said that some citizen workers detained in custody were only released after they deleted photos and videos from their phones. The DHS didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment about the group’s statements. (Reporting and editing by David Gregorio in Washington, Leah Douglas reported from Washington)
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The European Commission has proposed a cap on Russian oil prices at 15% less than global prices
EU diplomats reported that the European Commission on Friday proposed a price cap for Russian crude oil at 15% less than the average price on the market in the three previous months. Since the beginning of the year, the European Union and Britain has been pressing the Group of Seven to lower its cap. This is because the oil futures market fell so much that the $60 per barrel price became largely insignificant. Brent crude prices have since recovered and Friday settled at $70.36 a barrel. The G7 price ceiling, which was intended to curb Russia's capacity to finance the Ukraine war, was initially agreed in December 2022. One diplomat added that the new floating cap will be adjusted according to the average monthly price. Although the EU diplomats who spoke to the media were not authorized, they said that technical details about the proposal needed to be clarified, the idea appeared to calm the fears of Malta, Greece, and Cyprus, the EU's maritime state. The U.S. government has refused to lower the cap despite repeated requests from European leaders. This led the Europeans, who have been pushing for this reduction, to act on their own. On Friday, the price of Urals oil in Russia remained 2 dollars per barrel under the limit of $60 per barrel. The cap prohibits the trade of Russian crude oil transported on tankers at a price above $60 per barrel. It also prevents shipping, reinsurance and insurance companies from handling cargoes containing Russian crude throughout the world, unless they are sold below the cap. In June, the Commission proposed to lower this cap from $60 per barrel to $45 per barrel as part its 18th package sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin stated on Friday that it has a lot of experience in dealing with challenges, such as the introduction by the European Union of a Russian oil price cap which is based on float. EU sanctions can only be adopted if all member states agree.
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As Trump announces tariffs against Canadian imports, stocks and the Canadian dollar fall.
The major stock indexes fell slightly on Friday, as U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement that tariffs would be imposed on Canadian imports sparked concerns about trade tensions. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was down against the US dollar. Investors also prepare for a Trump announcement of tariffs against the European Union. This move will likely trigger a titt-for-tat reaction from the EU and create new market uncertainty. Trump announced late Thursday that the U.S. will impose a tariff of 35% on Canadian imports in a month's time and plans to impose tariffs blankets of 15% or 20 % on most other trading partner. The reactions to tariff news, aside from the currency markets have been more muted than they were in April when Trump started his trade war. Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management, Tulsa in Oklahoma, says that this may change if there isn't more progress on the tariff front. "I don’t think the markets can handle the Trump tariffs forever and ever again." He said that the market's resilience in the face the tariffs and the changes to rules and rates as well as the delays, delays and surprise surprises has been amazing. If we don't see more results, the market could have another tariff meltdown similar to April. He said that stocks may benefit from the second-quarter results reports which start next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 281.88 points or 0.63% to 44,368.76. The S&P 500 declined 15.03 points or 0.24% to 6,265.43 while the Nasdaq Composite increased 7.47 points or 0.04% to 20,638.13. Nvidia shares climbed more than 1%, reaching a new record high. The stock market value of the AI chipmaker now stands at $4.05 trillion. AeroVironment, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and other drone makers jumped by about 11% following an order from U.S. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth to increase drone production and deployment. MSCI's global stock index fell by 3.03 points or 0.33% to 923.19. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended the day down by 1.01%. "Today you are seeing a slight pullback due to the tariffs announced overnight. Three consecutive days have passed with after-market announcements of tariffs. They seem to come at random, so it's hard to predict what's going to happen. Wasif Latif is the chief investment officer of Sarmaya Partners, a New Jersey-based firm. The Canadian dollar fell 0.14% against the greenback, to C$1.37. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others) rose by 0.26%, reaching 97.84. The euro fell 0.09% to $1.1689. Bitcoin reached a new record high of $117,652.50 with a gain of 3.58%. Crypto investors bet that the expected policy changes for the sector, which are due next week, will encourage new investment. Trump had earlier in the week pushed back to August 1, his deadline for tariffs for many trading partners, to give more time for negotiation. But he also expanded his trade war by setting new tariffs for several countries, including Japan and South Korea. He also imposed a 50% copper tariff. The London Metal Exchange reported a 0.4% decline in the price of three-month copper, which is $9,664 per ton. Gold spot rose 1%, to $3,355.89 per ounce as investors sought safe haven assets amid trade tensions. Investors focused on the consumer price report due next week, which may show that prices grew faster in June. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates as it awaits the impact of tariffs. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased 7.3 basis points from late Thursday to 4,419%.
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Bloomberg News reports that JPMorgan will charge fintechs to access customer data.
Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the issue, reported Friday that JPMorgan Chase plans to charge fintech companies a fee for access to customer account data. According to a report, the largest U.S. bank has sent pricing sheets outlining new charges to data aggregators, intermediaries who link banks to fintech platforms, outlining new costs that could vary depending on use cases, with payment focused firms facing higher fees. JPMorgan Chase's spokesperson stated that "We have invested significant resources in creating a valuable, secure system to protect customer data." "We have had productive discussions and are working with everyone in the ecosystem to ensure that we all make the necessary investments in infrastructure that keeps our customer safe." This could have a negative impact on the business models of payment apps that rely on having free access to financial data from customers to complete transactions. PayPal shares fell 6.3%. Block shares dropped 5.6%. Visa and Mastercard both lost 2.9% and 2.82%, respectively. Bloomberg News reported that the new fees will be implemented later this year, but they are still subject to negotiation. U.S. banks are pushing for a lighter regulatory regime under the Trump administration, versus regulations from the Biden era that were more strict on capital requirements. (Reporting and editing by Pooja Deai in Bengaluru, Prakhar Srivastava)
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Peru Central Bank sees an economy growth of nearly 3% in the second quarter
According to the central bank's chief economist Adrian Armas, the economy of Peru is expected to grow by just over 3% during the second quarter 2025. This was in line with their forecasts for a 3.1% increase at the end of this year. In a telephone call, Armas stated that the Peruvian gross domestic product (GDP), likely increased by 2.4% to 2.6% between May and June. However, July's GDP is estimated to be down 0.2% due to protests from informal miners who blocked a copper corridor. The central bank anticipates that GDP growth will ease to 2.9% by 2026. The informal miners protested to extend the duration of the formalization program. However, the recent government decision to remove more than half the registered miners (over 50,000) from the scheme prompted organizers to increase the number of road blockades. This measure is designed to clamp down on illegal mining operations. Sources have told us On Friday, it was announced that the two week protest could begin to affect production at major mining companies. Peru is the third largest copper exporter in the world and also a major metals and agricultural commodity exporter to the United States. When asked about the impact of U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement that a Imports of copper are subject to a 50% tariff Armas stated that the tax would be imposed on August 1 if the U.S. didn't have the capacity to replace its copper imports. This could lead to higher prices for Americans. Chile and Mexico, two other major copper exporters have stated that they are looking to ship their production to new markets
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Exxon borrows crude from US emergency stock amid Mars crude issue
U.S. Department of Energy announced on Friday that it will provide up to one million barrels of crude from the government’s emergency reserve at Exxon Mobil’s Baton Rouge refinery, Louisiana. The Department cited a disruption in offshore supplies. In recent days, a zinc contamination in the Mars crude stream was detected. This has resulted in a tightening of crude supplies along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Exxon informed its trading partners that it would not purchase the Mars crude grade until the issue of zinc contamination is resolved, according to a report on Thursday. Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that the oil major requested barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when zinc contamination in Mars crude was discovered. Mars is a medium-sour crude that's produced off the coast Louisiana. It is highly preferred by refineries on the Gulf Coast because of its properties and close proximity. Refiners are usually configured to run specific grades of oil in order to get the best yields for different types of fuels. Switching crude grades can limit production and shrink margins. The DOE stated that the oil exchange was approved to maintain a stable regional supply of fuels for transportation in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast. It added that the exchange would not affect or delay efforts by the DOE to replenish the reserve. The department said that Exxon would return the crude oil borrowed along with additional barrels for the SPR without cost to taxpayers. Exxon refused to provide further details. The supply of heavy and medium crude oil in the U.S. Gulf has tightened over recent months after Washington terminated in May a group licenses which authorized oil company PDVSA partners to transport Venezuelan crude for U.S. or European refineries. The decline in oil production has also affected Mexico. Reduced exports The U.S. is expanding its borders, but the U.S. Trans Mountain The pipeline has redirected Canadian oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to China and U.S. West Coast.
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Baker Hughes reports that US oil/gas rig counts have dropped for the 11th consecutive week, to their lowest level since 2021.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. firms have cut back on the number of oil rigs and natural gas production for the 11th consecutive week for the first since July 2020. This was when the COVID-19 epidemic reduced demand for fuel. The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by two in the week ending July 11 to 537, the lowest level since October 2021. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs is down by 47 or 8% from this time last week. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped by one this week to 424, the lowest level since September 2021. Gas rigs remained unchanged at 108. Oil and gas rig counts are expected to decline by 5% and 20% respectively in 2024, as the lower U.S. gas and oil prices in recent years have prompted energy companies to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production. The independent exploration companies (E&Ps) tracked by U.S. Financial Services firm TD Cowen have said that they plan to reduce capital expenditures in 2025 by approximately 3% from the levels in 2024. This compares to spending that is roughly flat in 2024 and increases of 27%, 40%, and 44% in 2023. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, however, projected that crude production would increase from a record 13,2 million barrels per daily (bpd), in 2024, to around 13,4 million bpd by 2025. The EIA predicted a 68% rise in the price of spot gas Prices in 2025 will prompt producers to increase drilling activity in this year. A 14% drop in price in 2024 forced several energy firms, including BP and Shell, to reduce output for the very first time since 2020 when the COVID-19 epidemic reduced demand for fuel. The EIA predicted that gas production would increase to 105.9 bcfd by 2025. This is up from 103.2 billion cubic feet (bcfd), and the record 103.6 bcfd of 2023. (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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Spanish court orders cleanup in Galician pig farms pollution
A court document released on Friday revealed that the top court of Spain's Galicia region in northwestern Spain has ordered authorities to eliminate pollution associated with intensive pig farming. This is a landmark case which highlights decades-long mismanagement in environmental management. Spain, Europe's biggest pork producer, has about a third its pig farms located in Galicia. The court found the right of 20,000 residents in the A Limia region to live in a healthy, clean environment violated. According to environmental groups ClientEarth, and Friends of the Earth Spain who supported the case, the ruling condemns both state and local authorities and is the first European court to address the impact of large scale livestock farming on the water sources and the human rights of residents. Campaigners claim that it could be a precedent for other communities who are suffering similar problems to seek justice and protection from the authorities. Residents of A Limia say that life is "unfeasible", due to the proliferation and intensification of intensive pig- and poultry-farms, which have brought uncontrollable odours as well as contamination by chemicals like nitrates. These chemicals seep into groundwater and reservoirs. The court found that regional authorities as well as the national water management body failed to act in spite of legal obligations. A request for comments was not immediately responded to by either the government or regional officials. The decision can be appealed to Spain's Supreme Court. The Galician court ordered the Galician regional administration and the Mino-Sil Hydrographic Confederation to take immediate action in order to eliminate the odours around the As Conchas reservoir and reduce environmental degradation. The ruling also requires authorities to provide clean, safe drinking water that is free from harmful microorganisms or chemical substances. Pablo Alvarez Veloso is the head of the As Conchas Reservoir area neighbours association. (Reporting and editing by Emma Pinedo, Aidan Lewis and Andrei Khalip)
Energy ministry: Saudi Arabia has fully met its voluntary OPEC+ targets
Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said Friday that the Kingdom had fully complied with its voluntary OPEC+ production target. It added that Saudi marketed crude supplies in June were 9.352 millions barrels per daily, in accordance with the agreed quota.
This statement comes after a report by the International Energy Agency this month, which stated that Saudi Arabia had exceeded its oil production target for June by 4,300.000 barrels and reached 9,8 million barrels compared to the implied OPEC+ goal of 9.37 millions bpd.
Saudi Arabia, the driving force behind this decision, decided that OPEC+ would stop using IEA statistics in 2022.
In a statement, the Saudi Energy Ministry said that "while production briefly exceeded the supply, the extra volumes were not sold domestically or abroad but redirected to a contingency action".
In a statement, the ministry explained that the short excess production would be redirected to build up domestic inventories, optimize East-West flows and reposition the barrels in offshore storage hubs as part of long-term delivery strategy.
The energy ministry said that "the Kingdom reports production and supply data to the OPEC Secretariat with full transparency on a month-to-month basis."
"Furthermore all eight OPEC designated secondary sources were formally informed at the start of this week about the June figures."
OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to increase oil production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, surpassing the 411,000-barrel-per-day hikes implemented over the previous three months.
Since 2022, the group that pumps half the oil in the world has curtailed production to help support the market. It reversed its course in order to gain market share, and after U.S. president Donald Trump asked the group to pump more oil to keep gasoline prices low.
Eight members of the group will be responsible for the production boost - Saudi Arabian, Russia, Kuwait, Oman and Iraq, Kazakhstan, Algeria.
In April, the eight began to undo their latest layer of cuts totaling 2.2 million bpd. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson, Aidan Lewis and Yomna Maher)
(source: Reuters)