2025-08-06 12:10
CAIRO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, said on Wednesday that oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline will resume later on Wednesday or Thursday after a two-year hiatus, Iraqi state news agency INA reported. Abdel-Ghani said an agreement had been concluded with the Kurdistan Regional Government to resume the oil exports via the pipeline. Sign up here. He said that "80,000 barrels per day will be exported via Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline through SOMO," INA quoted him as saying, referring to Iraq's state-owned oil marketer. There was no sign of an imminent restart to oil exports through the pipeline, four industry sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has been offline since 2023, after an arbitration court ruled that Turkey should pay $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorised exports between 2014 and 2018. Turkey is appealing the ruling. The pipeline was transporting around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iraqi oil, including 370,000 bpd of KRG crude. Baghdad said that SOMO was the only party authorised to manage crude exports via the Turkish port. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraqi-minister-expects-oil-exports-via-turkey-pipeline-resume-shortly-state-news-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:09
Rescuers hampered by heavy rain, blocked roads Army, disaster teams use machinery and ziplines for rescue Tally of 200 brought to safety over Tuesday and Wednesday RISHIKESH, India, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Rescuers battled heavy rain and blocked roads in India's Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Wednesday, after four deaths in sudden flooding and landslides the previous day left dozens missing and an entire village submerged under sludge. Teams of army and disaster force rescuers used heavy machinery to shift boulders in the struggle to reach the village of Dharali, where homes and roads were submerged by a flood of water, mud and rocks, media and authorities said. Sign up here. The Indian Army said 70 people were brought to safety on Wednesday, while the state's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told news agency ANI about 130 were rescued the previous night. Rescuers used a makeshift zipline to cross a violently gushing river, while others moved rocks and mud with their hands in the hunt for those buried under the sludge, television images showed. "The number of missing persons is unknown. However the relief efforts have continued through the night," rescue leader Colonel Harshavardhan said in a post on X from the Indian Army. "We are trying to rescue people and take them to safety." Dharali, a hamlet of about 200 in the state's Uttarkashi district standing more than 1,150 m (3,775 ft) above sea level, is a tourist spot and pit-stop for Hindu pilgrims climbing to the temple town of Gangotri. WALL OF WATER Residents of nearby villages heard a loud rumble on Tuesday afternoon before a wall of water crashed into Dharali, media said. "I heard a deafening sound like boulders grinding," Sunita Devi, from the village of Mukha, told , opens new tab the Hindustan Times newspaper. "And then we saw the Kheer Ganga river turn into a monster." Roads to the area have crumbled or been blocked by boulders, making it tough to bring in rescue teams from elsewhere in the state, district administrator Prashant Arya told Reuters. The floods also washed away mobile and electricity towers, disrupting connectivity, and forcing rescue workers to turn to satellite phones. Eleven personnel were missing from an army camp in Harsil, 4 km (2.5 miles) from Dharali, after it was also hit by flash floods, the NDTV news channel said. More troops, accompanied by tracker dogs, drones, and earthmoving equipment are being mobilised for the rescue effort, the army's central command said on X. Uttarakhand is prone to floods and landslides, which some experts blame on climate change. Weather experts and geologists told media the cause of the havoc needed to be investigated in the absence of heavy rain in the area on Tuesday, adding that they suspected the cause could be a glacial lake outburst flood. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/landslides-blocked-roads-hamper-indian-flood-rescue-effort-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:08
KYIV, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Wednesday reopened its Bystre Canal at the mouth of the Danube, which had been closed since a dredger exploded in late July, the Ukrainian state Seaport Authority said. Ukraine had been transporting grain on the Bystre and the Danube as an alternative route for its exports while access to its Black Sea ports was limited in the first year after Russia's invasion in 2022. Sign up here. Since the ports were unblocked in 2023, Ukraine's use of the Danube has declined sharply. "Shipping is permitted for vessels with a draught of up to 4.5 metres, with mandatory pilotage and exclusively during daylight hours," the Authority said on Facebook. It noted that prior to the resumption of traffic, the relevant services, including the Ukrainian Navy, carried out measurements and mine clearance in the area near the emergency dredger. The Authority said last month it had closed the Bystre after a dredger exploded on July 23, without giving an explanation for the blast. Traffic was diverted through the Romanian Sulina channel. Analyst ASAP Agri said on Tuesday that the cost to shipowners of using Sulina was higher and many had raised their freight quotes for Danube shipments to offset losses. https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-reopens-its-danube-canal-after-closure-due-explosion-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:01
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-tariff-live-updates-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 12:00
Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Swiss cheese producers are bracing for a steep drop in U.S. sales after President Donald Trump announced a 39% tariff on Swiss imports due to take effect on Thursday. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Business Minister Guy Parmelin have travelled to Washington for meetings with American officials in a last-ditch effort to negotiate down the tariffs, which took Switzerland by surprise. Sign up here. Switzerland was left reeling by the news, especially after the government thought it had clinched a deal for a lower level of duties, and companies had promised investments in the U.S. The United States is an important market for Swiss cheese, buying 11% of Swiss cheese exports like Gruyere and Emmentaler last year, according to Swiss customs data. Gruyere, Switzerland's largest cheese industry, sees 40% of its production shipped abroad, with a third of that destined for the United States. Anthony Margot, a fifth-generation cheese maturer, said immediately after the tariff was announced on Friday, he started receiving calls from "very concerned" customers in the U.S. hoping a deal could be done. "The taxes are enormous. Gruyere is a niche product that's already very expensive to begin with, and unfortunately, people who can still afford Gruyere in the United States will have to pay more for it," Margot told Reuters. Cheesemakers would also look to expand into other markets to compensate, but this would be difficult, he said. "We can't replace a market like the United States overnight," said Margot in his maturing cellar, where hundreds of wheels of cheese age for several months before being sold. Gruyere producers have already responded by reducing production by 3%, boosting marketing investments, and preparing to increase prices for U.S. consumers. Producers' association 'Interprofession du Gruyere' estimates that annual exports to the U.S., averaging 4,000 tons, may drop by 1,000 tons due to the new tariffs. That would reduce revenue by up to 15 million francs ($18.6 million), manager Olivier Isler said. "The Gruyère sector is the most important cheese sector in Switzerland," said Isler who runs a cheese-making factory in nearby Pringy. "It's a hard blow. "We thought we’d be among the least taxed countries, but in the end, we're in the group of the most heavily taxed countries," said Isler. ($1 = 0.8071 Swiss francs) https://www.reuters.com/business/swiss-cheesemakers-fear-us-sales-if-hit-by-tariffs-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 11:45
SAO PAULO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday he will hold a call next week with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as the country seeks to negotiate trade after President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on several goods from Brazil. "It will be on Wednesday, and depending on how the talks go it could advance to an in-person meeting," Haddad told reporters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-haddad-speak-bessent-after-steep-us-tariffs-2025-08-06/
