Latest News
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Seven dead after stampede outside Bengaluru Cricket Stadium in India, TV channels report
Television channels reported that at least seven people died in a stampede in Bengaluru in India, as a celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning the Indian Premier League was taking place. Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings in Tuesday's final match of the tournament. Television channels showed that thousands of people, many waving the red flag of the team, lined up the streets in front of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in the center of the city, as the cricket team arrived in a bus at the venue. After the stampede, a policeman carried an injured spectator into an ambulance while people gathered round a second person lying on the ground. In India, large crowds can cause accidents such as stampedes and other incidents. A stampede killed at least 30 people during the Maha Kumbh Hindu Festival in January. Tens of millions of Hindus gathered on its auspicious day to dip into sacred waters. (Reporting and writing by Tanvi Mehta; editing by YPrajesh).
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Britain's sunny Spring brings bumper strawberries
Growers say that the strawberry season in Britain has started early this year, thanks to "near-perfect" spring conditions of warm days and cool nights, with high levels of sunshine. This year, the favourable weather conditions meant that sweeter strawberries with larger and better-shaped shapes arrived earlier in supermarkets and at lower prices. James Miller, commercial director at Maidstone-based WB Chambers Farms in southeast England, said that regular daytime temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius in May, dropping to 9 C over night, and high light levels, were key to an exceptional early season harvest. "It's really helped to develop the plants and produce the large and sweet berries we have at the moment," said the man. The warm, sunny weather this year has been a welcome addition to strawberry production. Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket group, announced late last month that it had purchased extra strawberries from UK strawberry farmers and reduced the price of 400g punnets for shoppers from 2,50 pounds ($3.38) down to 1,50 pounds. This year, it is expected to sell 25% more strawberries than last. Miller stated that the conditions for fruit production this spring are very different from last year, when Britain had a colder and wetter start to its growing season. He said that all farmers understand the need to adapt to climate changes and to be ready for new circumstances. We must invest in technology. "We have to invest in the technology." Miller welcomed the news the government was resetting its trade relations with the European Union. This should make exporting easier. The sooner an agreement is reached, the better. He said, "If this was the summer, this would be great." $1 = 0.7389 pounds (Reporting and writing by James Davey; additional reporting by Liza Premiyak, editing by Alexandra Hudson).
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Ingenuity helps Zimbabwe to weather the drought and US aid cuts
The drought of last year affected harvests severely US Aid Cuts Deepen Challenge of Climate Change Zimbabwe looks for home-grown water solutions By Lungelo Ndhlovu The Mabale community in Zimbabwe is relying on rain harvesting this year to grow enough food. They are using canvas, chicken wire and cement for the extreme weather. Climate experts predict that extreme weather conditions will only get worse. Mattias Söderberg, Global Climate Lead at DanChurchAid (a Danish humanitarian organization), said: "Zimbabwe has been severely affected by climate changes, and science shows that it will only get worse." Zimbabwe experienced the worst drought of southern Africa in 40 years by 2024. In a country with 70% subsistence farmers, the water reserves and harvests dried up. Climate change has made it more likely that climate change will cause weather such as droughts and storms. The United Nations warned that Zimbabwe could face a "firestorm" of hunger if it did not receive aid. After President Donald Trump's inauguration in this year, the U.S. Agency for International Development was systematically weakened. U.S. funding helped support a number of projects in Zimbabwe, including those in agriculture, food security and health. A Rome-based spokeswoman said that the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization had received termination notices from more than 100 programs, with Africa being the most affected. Zimbabwe is still counting the costs of its recent drought and preparing for the next. Soderberg stated that without funding, efforts to increase resilience and adapt to climate change effects may never be realized. Layiza Mudima (49), a mother from Mapholisa Village in Mabale about 2 km (1.24miles) northeast of Mabale Park, told reporters that her community faces "a severe challenge" with water. The drought of last year dried up boreholes and drinking water holes in Hwange. This threatened wildlife in the park, and deprived people in Mabale from water. Even though the rainfall in December and February of this year was above normal, the effects of last year's drought still persist. Mudima explained that despite the rains this year, one of his boreholes had to be closed due to low water levels. She said that because there were too many people living in her village, and not enough boreholes to go around, they would walk five kilometers to another village which had a solar-powered borehole. In response to these water shortages, the people of Hwange began building rainwater tanks with the help of Soft Foot Alliance. This community-based trust is registered in Zimbabwe. Constance Ndaba (75), who lives in Masikili Village 2 said that the tank harvesting systems saves her from walking 2 kilometers to the next village. For a family with seven members, the rainwater tank can last us three months. It's been a while since I retrieved water from a well. SELF-SUFFICIENCY In order to collect rainwater, giant jars are made by moulding chicken wire and canvas around sand. The form is fixed with a thin layer of cement plaster, and then the interior is plastered. The jars can be placed close to the house walls in order to collect rainwater. The simplicity of their design makes them easy to maintain - an important benefit for remote communities. We use local river sand, chicken wire and plain wire. Four bags of cement are also used. The jar tank can hold up to five drums worth of water and last for up to three months. Msungwe SITHOLE, a facilitator of the Soft Foot Alliance said that the project was designed to help build resilience against droughts and to enable people to live sustainably on a landscape depleted. Chipo Mpofu Zuze, Manager of the Environmental Management Agency for the Matabeleland North Province, says that water scarcity is not only caused by irregular rains. MpofuZuze said that deforestation and crop-growing near streams, poor farming techniques, alien species invading wetland areas, and effluent released into local waters are also to blame. Simba Guzha is the regional project manager for Voluntary Service Overseas, Zimbabwe. He trains farmers on how to adapt to increasingly hot and arid conditions. VSO works with smallholders from the eastern provinces of the country to increase productivity and protect the environment, while helping them avoid any sudden drops in aid.
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The dollar is stable, but stocks are rising, and traders are focusing on US tariffs, data, and stock prices.
The dollar was little altered on Wednesday as the market's sentiment remained uncertain about U.S. president Donald Trump's plans for tariffs and his negotiations with China. Trump has set a deadline of Wednesday for trading partners to submit proposals for trade agreements in order to avoid the "Liberation Day Tariffs" from coming into effect within five weeks. The U.S. also increased its tariffs on aluminium and steel on Wednesday. These higher tariffs apply to all trading partners except for Britain, the only country that has reached a preliminary agreement. The dollar-denominated MSCI All-Country Index climbed to a new record high. This was largely due to the recent weakness of the U.S. dollar. However, trading remained muted while investors waited for the news regarding a phone call that could be made between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Trump's social media post before the opening of European markets hurt sentiment. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he liked President Xi, "but he's VERY TOUGH and EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH." The European Union trade negotiator reported that he and his U.S. counterpart had a "productive" discussion on Wednesday morning. At 1139 GMT the pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, while Germany's DAX grew 0.6%. Wall Street futures showed a modest gain, with Nasdaq and S&P 500 minis both up 0.2%. The dollar index was unchanged at 99.202, but the euro rose 0.1% to $1.1383. Amelie Derambure is a Senior Multi-Asset portfolio manager at Amundi, based in Paris. She was surprised by the relative calm on the markets regarding the threat of tariffs. She said, "To me, there is a very clear willingness on the part of the markets to believe that the Trump administration won't be able to stop U.S. economic growth at the end." Derambure stated that there may be some changes in the behaviour of traders as tariffs near their implementation. She said, "I believe we can expect a higher level of volatility in the days to come up until the end of the tariff pause." Investors have fled U.S. assets this year in search of safe-havens such as gold and other currencies. They expect that trade uncertainty will have a negative impact on the global economic climate. The traders are awaiting U.S. data to see how tariffs affect companies, before Friday's monthly payroll data. Derambure, from Amundi, said: "The market believes that the constant back and forth, the uncertainty hasn't had a major impact on the behaviour of firms at the moment." This can change relatively quickly if this assumption changes for any reason. It could be because the data is weaker or that some companies change their advice or are more concerned. The benchmark German Bund yield increased by 2 basis points to 2.528%. The European Central Bank begins its two-day meeting on Wednesday. After data showed that inflation fell below the ECB target of 2% in May, it is expected that the central bank will continue to ease monetary policy on Thursday. PMI data shows that the growth of euro zone businesses slowed in May. The oil price was stable as the supply pressure from wildfires in Canada offset concerns over output increases. The weaker dollar helped gold to rise 0.1% in the morning at $3,349.05.
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Mercedes-Benz in talks with suppliers about rare earth "buffers"
Mercedes-Benz has been talking with its top suppliers about stockpiling rare earths, even though it hasn't seen any impact of a shortage which has forced some suppliers to close down production lines and plants. Joerg Bürzer, Mercedes-Benz board member responsible for production, said: "We've learned a lot about the semiconductor situation and we are always... looking to see what risk profile we have left in our supply chain." He told journalists in a roundtable that "we are of course always in dialogue with our suppliers, and we also discuss what the best tools for risk management is. The topic of physical buffers plays a natural role here." CLEPA, the European auto supplier association, announced earlier on Wednesday that several plants and production lines were shut down because of a shortage in rare earths due to China's export restrictions. They warned of more outages. Burzer stated that although Mercedes-Benz is not currently affected by the shortage, it is closely monitoring the situation. It has been in constant communication with its Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers to alleviate the situation. (Reporting and Editing by Madeline Chambers, Matthias Williams, and Christoph Steitz)
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RPT-European auto parts suppliers stop production due to China's restrictions on rare earths
As concerns grow about the impact of China's new restrictions on exports of critical minerals, some European auto part plants have stopped production. BMW has also warned that its supply network is affected by rare earth shortages. China's April decision to suspend the export of rare earths, magnets, and other related materials has disrupted supply chains for automakers, aerospace companies, semiconductor companies, and military contractors. China is using this move to demonstrate its dominance in the mineral industry that is key to green energy and as leverage against the U.S. president Donald Trump. Around 90% of rare earths are produced in China. BMW announced on Wednesday that a part of its supply network was affected by a rare earths shortage, but its own plants are running normally. The European auto supplier association CLEPA has announced that several production lines were shut down because of rare earths shortages. This is the latest warning about the threat manufacturing faces due to the curb. CLEPA said that only one quarter of the hundreds requests for export licences submitted by auto suppliers between April 1 and now have been granted. Some requests were rejected on "highly formal grounds", according to the association. The warning did not name the companies, but it warned of future outages. The process seems to differ from province to province, and IP-sensitive data has been requested in some cases, it stated. It added that if this was not done soon, then more plants could be affected as inventories run out in the coming weeks. The curbs are not only a part of the broader package to retaliate against Washington's trade tariffs but they apply worldwide and are causing concern among business executives all over the world. German and U.S. automobile manufacturers have complained about China's restrictions threatening production. This follows a similar complaint from an Indian electric vehicle maker last week. Many people are lobbying for their governments to come up with a quick fix and scrambling for alternatives. In an email, Wolfgang Weber said that some companies have only enough supplies to last for a few months or weeks. He said that companies feel abandoned by the politicians, and they are looking to solve their problems on their own. Swedish Autoliv, the world's largest maker of seatbelts and airbags, has said that its operations have not been affected. However, CEO Mikael Bratta said he had set up a taskforce to manage the situation. RELIEF ON CHINA Many automakers, including BMW and ZF, are developing or researching motors that contain low-to-zero rare earths in an effort to reduce their dependence on China. However few have been able to scale up production and bring costs down. BMW's latest electric car generation uses a motor that is magnet-free, but it still needs rare earths to power smaller motors like the ones used for windshield wipers and window rollers. Volkswagen, the German carmaker, has been informed that only a small number of Chinese export licences for rare earths have been given to subcontractors. The company does not currently see any shortages. Trump has focused his criticism on China's slow pace in easing its crucial mineral export controls. He claims that Beijing has violated a truce last month to reduce tariffs and trade barriers. Trump is trying to redefine trade relations with China, the United States' largest economic rival. He has imposed steep tariffs on imported goods worth billions of dollars in an effort to narrow a deficit and bring back lost manufacturing. Trump had imposed tariffs of up to 145% on China, only to reduce them after the stock, bond and forex markets sank due the the broad nature of the measures. China responded by imposing its own tariffs, and using its dominant position in the key supply chain to convince Trump to back off. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet this week in order to resolve their differences. The export restrictions are likely to be a major topic of discussion. In a Wednesday social media post, Trump stated that Xi was "VERY TOUGH AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A DEAL", highlighting how fragile the deal is.
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Europe's auto part suppliers suspend production due to China's restrictions on rare earths
As concerns grow about the impact of China's new restrictions on mineral exports, some European auto part plants have suspended production. BMW has also warned that its supply network is affected by a shortage of rare earths. China's April decision to suspend the export of rare earths, magnets, and other related products has disrupted supply chains for automakers, aerospace companies, semiconductor firms, and military contractors all over the world. China is using this move to demonstrate its dominance in the mineral industry that is key to green energy and as leverage against the U.S. president Donald Trump. China produces 90% of all rare earths. BMW, the German automaker, announced on Wednesday that a part of its supply network is affected by a shortage of rare earths but that its own factories are running normally. The European auto supplier association CLEPA has warned that the shortage of rare earths is threatening manufacturing. CLEPA said that only one quarter of the hundreds requests for export licences submitted by auto suppliers between April 1 and now have been granted. Some requests were rejected due to "highly formal" reasons, according to the association. The warning did not name the companies, but it warned of future outages. The process seems to differ from province to province, and IP-sensitive data has been requested in some cases, it stated. It added that if this was not done soon, then more plants could be affected as inventories run out in the coming weeks. The curbs are not only a part of the broader package to retaliate against Washington's trade tariffs but they apply worldwide and are causing concern among business executives all over the world. German and U.S. automobile manufacturers have complained about China's restrictions threatening production. This follows a similar complaint from an Indian electric vehicle maker last week. Many people are lobbying for their governments to come up with a quick fix and scrambling to look for alternatives. In an email, Wolfgang Weber said that some companies have only enough supplies to last for a few months or weeks. He said that companies in China feel left out by the politicians, and they are looking to solve their problems on their own. Swedish Autoliv, the largest maker of airbags in the world, has said that its operations have not been affected. However, CEO Mikael Bratta said he had set up a special task force to deal with the situation. RELIANCE ON CHINA Many automakers, including BMW, General Motors and ZF have been researching or developing motors that contain low-to-zero rare earths in an effort to reduce their dependence on China. However few have scaled production to lower costs. BMW's latest electric car generation uses a motor that is magnet-free, but smaller motors like those powering windshield wipers and window rollers still require rare earths. Volkswagen, the German automaker, has been informed that only a small number of Chinese export licences for rare earths have been issued to subcontractors. The company does not currently see any shortages. Trump has focused his criticism on China's slow pace in easing its crucial mineral export controls. He claims that Beijing has violated the truce agreed last month for tariffs to be rolled back and trade restrictions to be lifted. Trump is trying to redefine trade relations with China, the United States' largest economic rival. He has imposed steep tariffs on imported goods worth billions of dollars in an effort to narrow a deficit and bring back lost manufacturing. Trump had imposed tariffs of up to 145% on China, only to reduce them after the stock, bond and forex markets sank due the the broad nature of the measures. China responded by imposing its own tariffs, and using its dominant position in supply chains to convince Trump to back off. This week, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet to discuss their differences. The export restrictions are likely to be a major topic of discussion. In a post on social media, Trump stated that Xi was "VERY TOUGH AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A DEAL", highlighting how fragile the deal is. (Reporting from Victoria Waldersee, Marie Mannes and Hakan Ersen; Additional reporting from Hakan in Frankfurt; Writing Josephine Mason; Editing Emelia Sithole Matarise).
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UN Trade Agency: Tariffs will drive up seafood prices for US consumers
According to a Wednesday report by the United Nations agency for trade, global trade tensions will disrupt ocean goods and push up the price in the United States of fish imports. According to a report from the U.N. Trade and Development agency, U.S. president Donald Trump has imposed tariffs of 10% on almost all seafood. China will face tariffs as high as 30%. The report stated that "prices for fish products will likely rise due to the limited capacity of local production." The report stated that the wild fish stocks are being depleted in the U.S. due to overfishing. It also said it would take time to increase the domestic aquaculture production. Salmon farms, for example, have a production cycle of three years. UNCTAD data shows that the U.S. exports fish worth $4.5 billion and imports it for $16 billion each year. UNCTAD predicts that Brazil, which exports 55% its primary fish products in the U.S. and China, will likely redirect its seafood towards domestic markets or other trading partners. Some maritime freight services may also experience a decline in demand due to the change of trade routes, as countries look for new markets to export their products. The U.N. found that "higher or volatile tariffs for ocean goods will likely disrupt traditional trade, affecting consumers and exporters alike." UNCTAD has stated that tariffs on steel, aluminium and fish are already increasing the cost of shipbuilding as well as the price of fish. The report found that climate changes, overfishing and biodiversity loss were all threatening the global ocean trade. Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Sharon Singleton
Gold Reserve wins $1 billion in arbitration against Venezuela
Gold Reserve announced on Monday that the Lisbon Court of Appeal had confirmed its arbitration award against Venezuela and given it the green light to enforce approximately $1.1 billion in Portugal.
The company stated that the decision supports its ongoing efforts in Portugal to enforce its arbitral award, where it claimed it had obtained attachments orders "against numerous bank accounts" with more than $1.4 Billion.
It added: "Recovery in Portugal legal proceedings is not guaranteed due to a number of factors." It added that "further court orders will be required in order to try to collect any of the funds attached."
The Venezuelan Information and Communication Ministry did not respond immediately to a comment request.
The Canadian company stated that its efforts to enforce the arbitral ruling in Portugal were in addition to the ones being undertaken in the U.S. This included its participation in an auction organized by a court of shares of Citgo Petroleum, the parent company of Venezuelan-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum. It was to be used to pay 18 creditors in Venezuela for debt defaults as well as expropriations.
Citgo Petroleum, Venezuela's largest overseas asset, has been targeted by creditors who are seeking compensation for the nationalization wave of late President Hugo Chavez and President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to pay debts.
Gold Reserve said that any recovery from the U.S. courts proceedings will offset the amount recovered in Portugal. (Reporting from Pooja Menon and Marianna Pararaga in Bengallu; Additional reporting provided by Vivian Sequera, Caracas; editing by Sriraj Kalluvila).
(source: Reuters)