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EU envoys close to agreement on lower Russian crude oil price cap
Four EU sources told reporters that after a meeting on Sunday, EU envoys were on the verge to agree on an 18th package against Russia in response to its full-scale invasion into Ukraine. The sanctions would include a lower cap on Russian crude oil prices. Sources said that all elements of the package have been agreed upon, but one member state has still a technical reservation about the new cap. Sources - who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss confidential discussions - stated that they expected to reach a complete agreement on Monday ahead of the foreign ministers meeting the next day, which could officially approve the package. Sources said that they also agreed on a dynamic pricing mechanism for the cap. The European Commission announced a price cap for Russian crude oil that is 15% lower than the average price on the market in the last three months. According to one source, the initial price will be $47 per barrel based off the average price for Russian crude over the past 22 weeks minus 15 percent. The price will be adjusted based on average oil prices every six months, instead of three months as originally proposed. Sources said that Slovakia, which had held up the package proposal, is still waiting for reassurances about its concerns regarding plans to phase-out Russian gas supplies. However it has accepted the new measures. Sanctions must be approved by all EU member states. The Group of Seven price cap was first agreed on in December 2022. Its aim is to limit Russia's financial ability to fund the war in Ukraine. Since the fall of oil futures, the European Union and Britain has been pressing the G7 to lower its cap. The cap prohibits the trade of Russian crude oil transported on tankers at a price above $60 per barrel. It also prevents shipping, insurance, and reinsurance companies from handling cargoes containing Russian crude throughout the world, unless they are sold below the cap. Early in June, the Commission presented a package aimed at further reducing Moscow's revenues from energy. This included a ban on all transactions with Russia's Nord Stream pipelines and its financial network, which helps Moscow circumvent sanctions. One source said that the new package would list two Chinese banks and a flag registry, as well as a Russian owned refinery in India. Russia has used flags-of-convenience for its shadow fleets of oil tanks and ships. (Reporting and editing by Julia Payne, Andrew Gray)
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Trump's tariffs - What is in effect now and what might be coming?
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has started a global war of trade with a variety of tariffs targeting individual products and nations. Trump has set an initial tariff of 10% for all imports into the United States. He also imposed additional duties on specific products or countries. Here is a listing of the targeted tariffs that he has imposed or threatened to impose. PRODUCT TARIFFS ARE IN EFFECT Steel and Aluminum - 50% Automobiles and auto parts: 25% PRODUCT TARIFFS- THREATENED Copper - 50% will take effect on August 1 Pharmacies - Up to 200% Semiconductors with a 25% or greater content Movies – 100% Timber and lumber Critical Minerals Aircraft, engines, and parts COUNTRY Tariffs in Effect Canada - 10% for energy products and 25% for all other products that are not covered by the U.S. Canada-Mexico Agreement Mexico - 25% on products not covered by USMCA China - 30% with some additional tariffs United Kingdom – 10% with certain auto and metal imports excluded from the higher global rates Vietnam - 20% on certain products and 40% on transshipments of third country products AUGUST 1, COUNTRY TARIFFS MAY GO IN EFFECT Algeria 30% Bangladesh 35% Bosnia and Herzegovina 30% Brazil 50% Brunei 25% Canada 35% Cambodia 36% European Union 30% Indonesia 32% Iraq 30% Japan 25% Kazakhstan 25% Laos 40% Libya 30% Malaysia 25% Mexico 30% Moldova 25% Myanmar 40% Philippines 20% Serbia 35% Sri Lanka 30% South Africa 30% South Korea 25% Thailand 36% Tunisia 25%
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Trump's tariffs - What is in effect now and what might be coming?
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has started a global war of trade with a variety of tariffs targeting individual products and nations. Trump has set an initial tariff of 10% for all imports into the United States. He also imposed additional duties on specific products or countries. Here is a listing of the targeted tariffs that he has either implemented or threatened to implement. PRODUCT TARIFFS ARE IN EFFECT Steel and Aluminum - 50% Automobiles and auto parts: 25% PRODUCT TARIFFS- THREATENED Copper - 50% will take effect on August 1 Pharmacies - Up to 200% Semiconductors with a 25% or greater content Movies – 100% Timber and lumber Critical Minerals Aircraft, engines, and parts COUNTRY Tariffs in Effect Canada - 10% for energy products and 25% for all other products that are not covered by the U.S. Canada-Mexico Agreement Mexico - 25% on products not covered by USMCA China - 30% with some additional tariffs United Kingdom – 10% with certain auto and metal imports excluded from the higher global rates Vietnam - 20% on certain products and 40% on transshipments of third country products COUNTRY TARIFFS TO TAKE EFFECT ON AUGUST 1, Algeria 30% Bangladesh 35% Bosnia and Herzegovina 30% Brazil 50% Brunei 25% Canada 35% Cambodia 36% European Union 30% Indonesia 32% Iraq 30% Japan 25% Kazakhstan 25% Laos 40% Libya 30% Malaysia 25% Mexico 30% Moldova 25% Myanmar 40% Philippines 20% Serbia 35% Sri Lanka 30% South Africa 30% South Korea 25% Thailand 36% Tunisia 25%
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Noem defends FEMA response in Texas floods amid scrutiny
Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary on Sunday, defended FEMA’s response to the deadly floods that struck Texas last week. She said her agency had acted quickly and Texas officials had praised FEMA’s actions. During an appearance on NBC News "Meet the Press," Noem denied the claim that a June memo that required her to approve FEMA expenses over $100,000 caused the agency's slowdown. Noem stated that the claims were false. "Within an hour or so after the flooding, the Department of Homeland Security had sent resources there." Donald Trump, who took office in January, suggested that his administration will abolish FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is the official name of FEMA. The Republican President said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had failed to respond effectively to past disasters, and federal assistance should be directed directly at states. Trump and his top officials are taking a more tolerant tone in the wake of the Texas flooding and hurricane season. Noem told the newspaper on Sunday, "I believe he would like it remade." On July 4, flash floods hit parts of Texas Hill Country, killing at least 140 people. Another 160 are still missing. The disaster brought to light Trump's efforts to reduce the importance of FEMA. By mid-May, FEMA had lost 2,000 employees full-time - one third of the staff - as a result of terminations and buyouts. Noem sent a memo to FEMA on June 11, asking them to submit any contract exceeding $100,000 for her review. The memo was reviewed by and stated that agencies should give her office at least five working days to review funding requests. We spoke to several former and current FEMA officials, who were concerned that the spending cap would slow down the agency’s response to natural disasters. Four current and former FEMA officials claimed that the spending cap slowed down the deployment of the national search and recovery teams. After the Texas floods, a former FEMA official stated that Noem had to approve resources which would have previously been deployed faster, such as law enforcement officers for security or crews using saws to remove debris from roads. The former official stated that "FEMA has never been fast." This is slowing the speed that they used to have. Noem denied on Sunday a New York Times article that claimed thousands of victims of Texas floods were unable to reach FEMA because Noem hadn't renewed their contracts. Noem stated that "these contracts were in effect and no employees were absent from work." "Everyone was answering the phone." A FEMA internal briefing document that was reviewed by Noem stated Noem approved contracts for support of call centers as of 10 July, but provided no further details. FEMA's bulletin stated that new flash flood warnings had been issued on Sunday in central Texas and Texas Hill Country. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents a Republican district that includes flood-hit areas in Texas, warned CNN's "State of the Union" that the area could face a long recovery. He said, "We're still not out of trouble yet." (Reporting Ted Hesson, Additional reporting Leah Douglas, Editing Scott Malone and Deepa Babyington)
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EU wants China to take more ambitious climate action
Wopke H. Hoekstra, EU Climate Commissioner, said that the world needed China to take a more proactive role in climate action. She also stressed the need for China's economy to be less dependent on coal and reduce the planet-heating emission. Hoekstra, a Dutch politician, is in Beijing to hold high-level discussions with Chinese officials about environmental and climate concerns. He also hopes to encourage China not to build any new coal-fired plants and to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Hoekstra said in an interview that "we do encourage China" to play a more active role in the future and reduce emissions in a meaningful way in the coming years. According to the World Economic Forum, China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. A report from environmental group Greenpeace in June showed that China's approval rate for new coal power plants was higher than the rate of the first half 2024. Hoekstra said to the Financial Times last week that the EU would not sign a joint declaration on climate change with China until Beijing made a stronger commitment to reduce its emissions. When asked about this issue, he stated, "We are willing to look into a possible declaration. But... what is most important is the content of the statement." He did not specify the commitment that the EU expects to see from China. Hoekstra stated that the EU was interested in finding areas of cooperation with China in advance of the COP30 U.N. Climate Conference in Brazil, which will take place in November. (Reporting and editing by Gareth Jones, Helen Popper and Kate Abnett)
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Trump threatens Rosie O'Donnell's U.S. Citizenship
The U.S. president Donald Trump said on Saturday that he may revoke the citizenship of talk show host Rosie O'Donnell after she criticised his administration's handling weather forecasting agencies following the Texas floods. This is the latest salvo of a long-running feud between the two over social media. Trump said on his Truth Social page that he was seriously considering removing Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship because she is not serving the interests of America. He cited a rationale for deportation the administration used to try to remove foreign born protesters from the United States. "She is a threat to humanity and should stay in the wonderful Country of Ireland if they wish her. "GOD BLESS THE USA!," he said. According to U.S. laws, a president can't revoke citizenship from an American who was born in the United States. O'Donnell was a New York State native. O'Donnell moved to Ireland with her son, 12, after Trump's second-term began. She had been a target of Trump's insults for years. In a TikTok clip from March, she said that she would move back to the U.S. when it was safe for Americans to enjoy equal rights. O'Donnell replied to Trump's threats in two posts posted on her Instagram page, saying the U.S. President opposes her "because she stands in direct opposition to all that he represents." Trump's dislike for O'Donnell goes back to 2006. At the time, O'Donnell was a comedian on The View and mocked Trump's handling of a scandal involving a Miss USA winner, which Trump owned. Trump's latest jab against O'Donnell was in response to a TikTok clip she posted in this month, in which she mourned the 119 people who died in the Texas floods on July 4, and blamed Trump's cuts to agencies that forecast major natural disasters. O'Donnell stated in the video, "What a nightmare in Texas." "And, you know, if the president guts the early warning system and the weather forecasting abilities of the federal government, this is what we're going to start seeing on a regular basis." Trump's administration as well as state and local officials have faced increasing questions about whether they could have done more to protect and warn the residents of Texas before the flooding that struck in pre-dawn U.S. hours. At least 120 people, including children, were killed during the Independence Day holiday of July 4. Trump visited Texas on Friday and defended his government's response, saying that they "did an amazing job under the circumstances." (Reporting and editing by Joey Roulette, Don Durfee, Alistair Bell).
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India relaxes the sulphur emissions rules for coal-fired power plants, reversing a decade-old mandate
A government order stated that India reversed its ten-year-old mandate for the installation of $30 billion in clean-air equipment and lowered sulphur emissions rules at most coal-fired plants. In December, it was reported that the government is reviewing 2015 standards that require nearly 540 coal based power plants to install flue gas desulphurisation systems (FGD), which removes sulphur in the exhaust gases of the plants in phases beginning in 2027. The Federal Environment Ministry issued a gazette notice late Friday that exempted from the 2015 mandate 79% of coal-fired plants outside of a 10-km radius (6 miles) of populated and pollution-prone cities. In the notification, it was stated that the decision to install FGD in another 11% plants located near cities would be made on a case-by-case basis. According to the new directive, the remaining 10% of coal-fired plants located closer to New Delhi or other cities with more than a million people will have to install desulphurisation equipment before December 2027. About 50% of units have either ordered desulphurisation equipment or are installing it. The notification of Friday did not mention any impact on competitiveness or cost recovery by these power plants. The Central Pollution Control Board had conducted a detailed study of the increased "carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere as a result of control measures being implemented." (Reporting and editing by Sarita Chandanti Singh)
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Workers at Thyssenkrupp Steel agree to site closures and reduced working hours
Thyssenkrupp, the largest German steelmaker, and the trade union IG Metall announced on Saturday that they had reached an agreement on reduced work hours, lower bonuses and site closures. The agreement with steelworkers marks a significant step in Thyssenkrupp’s restructuring. Under this plan, the former German industrial giant plans to become a holding company. It comes after tensions between management and labor representatives were renewed. The implementation of the new collective agreement, which will run until September 30, 2030 at Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit TKSE, is subject to approval by IG Metall's members and a future agreement regarding the financing of the division, according to the company. Thyssenkrupp announced that it would have to cut up to 11,000 positions at its steel unit, TKSE. It also said that the annual production capacity of 11.5 million tonnes to 8,7-9,0 million tons. Tekin Nasikkol is the head of Thyssenkrupp’s work council and a member of the supervisory board. Nasikkol stated in a press release that "we have created the conditions to allow the company itself to come out of the difficult situation." Thyssenkrupp wanted to conclude a restructuring agreement by the summer. Both sides are aiming to finalise their current agreement by September 30. The wage agreement is seen as a major hurdle that must be overcome before Thyssenkrupp sells an additional 30% of TKSE shares to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky as planned. The investor owns 20% of TKSE via a holding firm. (Reporting and editing by Sharon Singleton, Tomaszjanowski and Christoph Steitz)
NTSB inspects key components of ship that struck Maryland Bridge
The National Transportation Safety Board announced on Monday that it was inspecting electrical components removed from the cargo vessel Dali, which crashed into a Maryland Bridge in March and killed six people. It also destroyed the Patapsco River Crossing.
The NTSB reported in May that the Dali had lost power on several occasions before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. This included a blackout while the ship was undergoing port maintenance and just before the accident.
The NTSB has confirmed that it continues to examine electrical components in its materials lab and added that investigators have finished their interviews with the crew.
The board said it would "continue to assess the design and operation the vessel's electric power distribution system and investigate all aspects" of the accident.
The Maryland Transportation Authority reported that the Bay Bridge briefly closed on Monday as the Dali traveled beneath it to Norfolk, Virginia for repairs.
The board reported that the cargo ship suffered other power outages last month, including four minutes before it crashed when electrical breakers tripped unexpectedly and caused a loss of all shipboard equipment. This occurred when the ship was only 0.6 miles (1 km) away from the bridge.
The Dali crew restored the power but another blackout took place 0.2 miles (about 320 metres) from bridge. This stopped all three steering pump. The crew could not move the rudder.
After the removal of the Dali and 50,000 tons worth of debris, the full channel access was restored two weeks ago.
Federal officials are rushing to get environmental approvals. Maryland hopes to have it completed by the end of 2028.
The FBI launched a criminal investigation into the collapse in April. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard evaluates whether other bridges across the country are at risk following the Maryland bridge collapse.
(source: Reuters)