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The conservative policies of Friedrich Merz
The conservative Christian Democratic Union in Germany (CDU) along with its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, won the elections on Sunday. They are likely to form the next coalition government. Here is a list of the key positions they took in their election campaign: ECONOMY CDU wants to reduce red tape, encourage investment and lower energy prices in order to boost the economy. The government wants to reduce electricity taxes, grid fees and expand research on renewable energy, nuclear power and power storage. It wants to abolish Germany's Supply Chain Due Diligence Law. The party pledges to support the industry by digitalisation, cloud applications, and sovereign AI. The party will establish a Digital Ministry and a "Startup Protection Zone", which would shield new businesses from red tape. FINANCE The CDU would like to reduce corporate tax from 29.9% to maximum 25%. The CDU wants to keep a tax break for married couples, and increase tax breaks for children. Other parties have criticised CDU for not explaining how it would finance all of the tax cuts promised. CDU pledges to keep Germany's debt-brake, a constitutional tool that limits the federal government deficit to just 0.35%. It has been criticized for hindering investment. The party leader Friedrich Merz left the door wide open for reforming the debt brake, but did not specify how. MIGRATION AND BORDER TRAFFIC CDU supports stricter border controls and faster asylum processing. It also advocates deportation of those who do not have legal residency. It proposes a reform to the European Asylum Law, arguing that asylum applications should be processed outside the EU in safe third-country jurisdictions. The party wants to limit the social benefits of those who are required to leave. It also wants to expand the list safe countries of origin and suspend policies that allow families of refugees to move into Germany with subsidiary protection status. The bill also seeks to reverse the government's policy of rapid naturalization and prohibit dual citizenship. The CDU also plans to simplify recognition of foreign professional qualification and create a "Work-and-Stay Agency", a digital platform that will streamline visas, residence permits, and recruitment for foreign skilled workers. SECURITY The CDU supports stronger law enforcement, including tougher punishments, faster legal proceedings, increased surveillance in high-risk areas, and more aggressive prosecutions. It promises to take stronger action against extremists on the right and left. FOREIGN POLICY CDU has committed to spending at least 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, which is the NATO minimum. It is committed to reintroducing mandatory military service, and leading an initiative for a European Missile Defence System. Merz said earlier this month that he was open to discussing options for financing an increase in defence spending. It calls for stronger transatlantic relations with the U.S., and a renewed partnership with France and Poland. It supports Ukraine with humanitarian, financial and military assistance, as well as diplomatic, financial and political support. It supports Israel, and it backs the two-state solution. The party wants to reduce reliance on China. CLIMATE The CDU's "Yes to Cars", policy opposes measures like inner-city driving restrictions, reduced parking spaces, and an overall highway speed limit. The report advocates lifting the EU planned ban on combustion engines, reviewing fleet emissions limits, and preventing penalities for carmakers who fail to meet emission targets, while also expanding charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The party wants to repeal the law that gradually phases out domestic heating with oil and gas, but it supports tax incentives on energy-efficient home renovations. The party also proposes to reinstate agricultural diesel subsidies as well as promote emissions trading. SOCIAL POLICIES CDU wants to increase housing supply through a simplified building code, expanded construction zones, and social housing investments. The government wants to introduce compulsory preschool language tests to measure German proficiency. It also promises to increase student financial aid, child benefits and tax exemptions. The report proposes increasing childcare access, increasing the tax deductions, and reversing last year's law that reduced regulations on gender transitions. (Reporting and editing by Riham Alkousaa, Maria Martinez and Alexandra Hudson; Bernadettebaum and Matthias Williams)
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Trump's envoy: US companies may do business with Russia in the event of a peace agreement
Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of President Donald Trump, said that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would allow U.S. companies to do business in Russia. Why it's important Trump has been pressing for an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine. He held separate phone calls this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. KEY QUOTES "Obviously, there would be expectations that American companies would return to do business in the region if we reach a peace agreement." Witkoff said on CBS News' "Face The Nation" that he believed that everyone would think it was a good, positive thing. Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, told Bloomberg Television that Russia may be able to receive some relief from U.S. sanction if it is willing to negotiate an ending to its war with Ukraine. Bessent responded to a question about whether the United States was willing to increase or decrease sanctions against Russia depending on the outcome of the talks to end the Ukraine conflict. CONTEXT In a recent meeting in Saudi Arabia, Trump's top officials met with their Russian counterparts. Ukraine was not included in the discussions. Trump called Zelenskiy, a Russian dictator, on Wednesday. Trump has called on the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the European Union to join forces in order to end the conflict that began after Russia invaded Ukraine back in February 2022. Russia annexed Crimea back in 2014. Trump has faced criticism both domestically and abroad in the last week. He said that Ukraine "should never have started" the conflict before changing his mind and saying Russia invaded Ukraine. Witkoff, Bessent and others separately stated on Sunday that they expected an agreement to be signed in the coming week regarding U.S. access of Ukraine's vital mineral deposits.
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Sudan's army gains key advancements after signing the political charter
Sudan's Army said Sunday that it had retaken control of el-Gitaina from the Rapid Support Forces, located just south of capital. It also broke the siege of the paramilitary groups on the strategic western city of el-Obeid. Last week, activists reported that three days of RSF attack near Gitaina in White Nile State, which is emerging as a major battleground in central Sudan as the army gains territory, had resulted in more than 200 deaths. The conflict that broke out in April 2023 as a result of a power struggle between RSF and army has caused the death of tens and thousands of people. It has also caused the displacement of 12 million people and spread severe hunger and disease. The gains made by the army on Sunday come just hours after RSF signed a charter for a breakaway group government, with leaders of allied political groups and armed groups, mostly from western regions. Egypt, which is a neighboring country and supports the Sudanese Armed Forces, has rejected the RSF’s decision to sign a charter of principles with its allies. At a joint press conference with his Sudanese colleague Ali Youssef, Foreign Minister Badr Abelatty said: "We reject all calls for parallel frameworks in Sudan. We affirm our full and unwavering support for Sudan." He added that Sudan's territorial stability was of paramount concern to Egypt. Rights groups and international observers say that attempts at peace talks have failed and that both sides continue to rely on foreign supporters for weapons. Reporting by Khaled Abedlaziz, Clauda Tanias and Mohamed Ezz; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir and Tomasz Jánowski; Editing and proofreading by Helen Popper and Tomasz Jánowski
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South Africa suffers the worst power outages in history as a result of faulty generation units
Eskom, South Africa's power utility, has restored six power units after the highest level of controlled power cut early on Sunday. This was after several failures occurred at Majuba and Camden Power Stations over the weekend. Eskom cut power to the grid by 3,000 megawatts on Saturday. "Of the ten units we lost over night, we have returned essentially six units," Dan Marokane said to reporters on Sunday. He said that five to six units would be expected to come online during the day to add to the 3,200MW recovered over night. He said that Eskom will consider reducing its power cuts on Monday, given the speed of recovery. Eskom's ageing fleet of coal-fired power plants that provide the majority of the electricity for Africa's industrialised economy are the main cause of loadshedding. This is a progressive system in which stage 1 involves the removal of 1,000 MW from the system with stage 6 being the highest to date. (Reporting and editing by William Mallard, Tomaszjanowski and Wendell Roelf)
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Officials in Ukraine say that Russian attacks have damaged houses in Kyiv and killed one person in Kryvyi Rih.
Officials said that Russia launched several missile and drone attacks against Kyiv, and other parts in Ukraine overnight, killing a civilian in Kryvyi Rh and damaging cars and buildings in Kyiv, and elsewhere. Serhiylysak, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk Region, announced on Telegram that a man had died and a woman of 30 years old was severely injured during the missile attack on Kryvyi RIH, the city's central district. Lysak did not provide any further details, but said that a building containing infrastructure services had also been damaged. Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that three people were injured when a house caught fire in a drone strike on the Odesa area. Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram that a 53-year old woman was also injured, and several houses were damaged, in an attack against the southeast region of Zaporizhzhia. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that despite several houses and cars being damaged by multi-wave drone strikes, there have been no reports of injuries. Both sides deny that civilians are being targeted in the war, which will celebrate its third anniversary Monday. The war was started by Russia in February 2022 with an invasion of its smaller neighbor. The conflict has killed thousands of civilians, but the majority are Ukrainian. Ukraine's Air Force said Kyiv, central and eastern Ukraine were on air raid alert for six hours over night. Reporting by Lidia Kelley in Melbourne, editing by Tom Hogue
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Two signatories claim that Sudan's RSF and allies have signed a charter to form a parallel government.
Signatories al-Hadi Idris, and Ibrahim al-Mirghani said that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces had signed a charter late Saturday night with allied political groups and armed forces to create a "government for peace and unity". Abdelaziz al-Hilu is one of the charter's signatories. He is a powerful leader in South Kordofan who controls large swathes territory and has troops there. This government is unlikely to be widely recognized, and has already raised concerns from the United Nations. It is another sign of the country's splintering during the civil war, which has lasted for almost two years. RSF has taken over most of western Darfur and parts of Kordofan in the war. However, the Sudanese Army is pushing them back from central Sudan, as it has condemned the formation a parallel government. Idris is a former official who was also the head of an armed militia. He said that the formation of the new government will be announced in the next few days. The charter states that the signatories agree on the creation of a "secular democratic non-centralised nation" with one national army. However, it does not mention the existence of armed groups. In the charter, it was stated that the government's purpose is not to divide the country but to unify and end the conflict, which it claimed the army-aligned governments operating out of Port Sudan failed to accomplish. The U.S. imposed sanctions on General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo earlier this year, the head of the RSF paramilitary, which is accused of genocide and other abuses. Dagalo previously shared power as part of a deal with the army and civil politicians following the ouster Omar al-Bashir. In a coup in 2021, the two forces removed the civilian politicians before a war broke out between them due to the integration of their soldiers during the transition to democracy. The conflict has destroyed the country and caused an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" that has driven half of the population to hunger. Famine is also occurring in many areas. The signing was a private event in contrast to the more flashy kick-off in Nairobi earlier in the week. Both events were held in Kenya. The Sudanese government condemned the event and Kenyan President William Ruto was criticized for dragging his country into a diplomatic tangle. Sudan's government accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting the RSF financially and militarily. U.N. experts as well as U.S. legislators find this claim credible. The UAE denies this accusation. Sudan passed constitutional changes earlier this week, granting the army more powers. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army will announce its "war cabinet", soon. (Reporting and writing by Khalid Abdelaziz, Editing by Kirsten Doovan and Paul Simao).
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Berkshire increases investments in Japanese trading companies
Warren Buffett announced on Saturday that Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate he leads, will likely increase Berkshire Hathaway's ownership of its five Japanese trading companies. In his letter to Berkshire shareholders each year, the billionaire investor stated that Itochu Marubeni Mitsubishi Mitsui Sumitomo and Sumitomo had agreed to "moderately" relax limits which limited Berkshire's stakes to below 10%. Berkshire’s investment in these companies will total $23.5 billion by the year 2024. Buffett wrote that Berkshire's holdings in all five companies will increase over time. Buffett, who is 94 years old, said that he and Berkshire Vice-Chairman Greg Abel, the Berkshire CEO he has designated as his successor, invest for a "very long-term." Buffett wrote: "I expect Greg and his successors to hold this Japanese position for decades, and Berkshire will work with the five companies in other productive ways." Buffett said that he and his partner liked their capital allocation, their managements, and their attitude towards their investors. Japanese trading houses, also known as "sogo-shosha," trade in many different materials, food and products. They often act as intermediaries and provide logistical assistance. The real economy is also a major concern for them, including commodities, shipping, and steel. Berkshire started investing in trading houses in 2019 due to their financial strength compared with their low stock price, and revealed their 5% ownership stakes at Buffett's 90th Birthday in August 2020. Buffett avoids businesses that he doesn't understand. He told Nikkei that in 2023, the trading houses were "really similar to Berkshire," a conglomerate with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska which he led since 1965. Buffett stated in his shareholder letter that Berkshire has spent $13.8 billion in its current holdings, and it expects to receive $812 million in dividend income by 2025. "This was a great investment, when other people may have seen them as value traps," Cathy Seifert said. CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert rates Berkshire a 'hold. She said Buffett’s comments showed Berkshire had a positive relationship with trading houses. Berkshire also issued fixed rate, yen denominated bonds. Buffett, however, said that the company seeks to be "currency-neutral" and does not have a view on currency changes in the future. The conglomerate on Saturday reported $1.15 billion of foreign currency gains after taxes in 2024 from non-dollar-denominated senior debt. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, writing by Carolina Mandl in New York, editing by Rod Nickel
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Draft shows EU will reduce sustainability rules for businesses
A draft document obtained by revealed that the European Commission intends to reduce the number of businesses subject to EU sustainability reporting obligations as part of its efforts to reduce red tape. Brussels will publish next week a "omnibus proposal" to simplify green regulations for businesses. The aim is to make local industries competitive and to respond to U.S. president Donald Trump's pledge to abolish regulations. Spain and Germany, among others, have called for the European Union to weaken the rules on green reporting. The Commission's partial draft proposals for the future, seen on Saturday by the media, revealed that it is planning to make changes to the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which requires companies disclose information about their social and environmental sustainability. According to the proposed rules, which may still be changed before publication, only those companies with over 1,000 employees and net revenues exceeding 450 millions euros ($471million) will be required to comply. The rules currently apply to companies with over 250 employees and 40 million euros in turnover. According to the draft, the EU will also abandon its plans to adopt industry-specific reporting standards before next June. The document also detailed the plans to delay EU's Due Diligence Law - CSDDD, which aims at ensuring companies find and fix environmental and human rights issues in their supply chain by imposing due-diligence requirements on large companies. The draft proposal would only require companies to conduct in-depth evaluations of their direct business partners and subsidiaries and leave out all other subcontractors or suppliers in their supply chain.
Iron ore prices rise in Australia due to supply disruptions caused by cyclones
The price of iron ore futures rose on Friday, and was on course for a weekly increase. This was due to increased concerns about supply disruptions caused by cyclones in Australia, a major producer.
As of 0211 GMT, the most traded May iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.67% to 824 yuan (113.14 dollars) per metric ton. The contract is up 0.5% this week.
The benchmark March Iron Ore at the Singapore Exchange rose 1.73%, to $108.3 per ton. It is expected to gain 1.8% on a weekly basis.
The world's biggest iron ore hub, Australia, prepared on Friday to face a powerful tropical storm, which forced the closure of major ports in the northwest.
Customs data shows that China imported 1,24 billion tons iron ore in the past year. 60% of it came from Australia.
It will be difficult to estimate the impact of the cyclone if the port infrastructures are damaged. The situation will get worse, said a Chinese businessman who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak with the media.
The gains were capped by concerns about a possible global trade war, which could be sparked by the new tariffs that U.S. president Donald Trump imposed, as well as an unexpected drop in demand.
According to a survey by Mysteel, the average daily hot metal production reversed a trend of increasing to drop by 0.2% compared to the previous week.
Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, also fell, by 1.35% each and 0.7% respectively.
The benchmark steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose. The Shanghai Futures Exchange saw a rise in steel benchmarks.
The state-sponsored China Iron and Steel Association stated that while the impact of the U.S. is minimal in the short term, it could have a long-term effect on other countries, potentially reducing the competitiveness China's exports of steel.
(source: Reuters)