2025-07-19 12:45

HANOI, July 19 (Reuters) - A tourist boat carrying 53 people, including five crew members, capsized in Vietnam's Halong Bay on Saturday, killing three people, state media reported. The accident occurred at approximately 2 p.m. local time (0700 GMT), shortly after Storm Wipha entered the South China Sea. Strong winds, heavy rainfall, and lightning were recorded in the area. Sign up here. Rescue teams have located 12 survivors and recovered three bodies, the People's Army Newspaper said, citing local border guards. Authorities have yet to disclose details about the tourists or their nationalities, and rescue operations are ongoing. Halong Bay, situated roughly 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Hanoi, attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually, many of whom take overnight boat tours. Storm Wipha, the third typhoon to hit the South China Sea this year, is projected to make landfall along Vietnam's northern coast early next week. Weather disruptions linked to the storm have also impacted air travel. Noi Bai Airport reported that nine arriving flights were diverted to alternate airports, while three departing flights were temporarily grounded due to adverse conditions. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/vietnam-tourist-boat-capsizes-halong-bay-three-dead-2025-07-19/

2025-07-19 11:13

WARSAW, July 19 (Reuters) - Polish services were investigating an air traffic management system outage, the Interior Ministry spokesman said on Saturday. "Officers of the Internal Security Agency are collecting information on this matter, analysing it, and verifying it for potential sabotage," he added. Sign up here. Warsaw's main airport had earlier reported disruptions to aircraft takeoffs, according to state news agency PAP, but later said planes were departing. "Takeoff and landing operations at Chopin Airport have been fully restored and are now proceeding without disruptions," Chopin Airport in Warsaw wrote on X. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-is-investigating-air-traffic-control-system-outage-ministry-says-2025-07-19/

2025-07-19 08:55

SHANGHAI, July 19 (Reuters) - China vowed on Saturday to step up a crackdown and toughen law enforcement against smuggling of strategic minerals seen as vital to national security and critical for development. The remarks by the commerce ministry came a day after the state security ministry accused foreign spy agencies of having tried to "steal" rare earths and pledged to crack down on infiltration and espionage targeting the critical sector. Sign up here. The world's largest supplier of dozens of strategic minerals, China began imposing export curbs in 2023 on supplies vital to sectors ranging from chipmaking and the energy transition to defence. The commerce ministry remarks, describing smuggling and export of strategic minerals as a severe problem to be combated, came at a meeting of officials responsible for export control coordination and other government bodies. "Cases of smuggling by a small number of criminals for their own selfish interests and collusion between domestic and foreign parties are still occurring," it said in a statement. Evasive methods such as false declarations and third-country transshipment were taking on increasingly covert forms, it added, urging government bodies to prevent illegal outflows of strategic minerals and related technologies. China has adopted a "zero-tolerance" approach to smuggling and export of strategic minerals, which it will fight with a heavy hand, through special efforts to toughen law enforcement, the ministry said. In May China said it would strengthen controls on the entire supply chains of strategic mineral exports while tightening its grip on materials deemed crucial to national interest. Earlier, Beijing launched a special campaign to tackle smuggling of strategic minerals such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and some rare earths. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/china-vows-tougher-action-against-smuggling-strategic-minerals-2025-07-19/

2025-07-19 02:33

SEOUL, July 19 (Reuters) - Torrential rains that lashed South Korea for a fourth day on Saturday kept nearly 3,000 people from returning to their homes, while livestock were stranded up to the neck in rising waters as the death toll reached four with two missing, authorities said. Rain will last until Monday in some areas, weather officials said, urging extreme caution against the risk of landslides and flooding, with warnings across most of the nation. Sign up here. By 6 a.m. on Saturday, 2,816 people were still out of their homes, the interior ministry said, from a total of more than 7,000 evacuated during the prior days of heavy rain, in which four have died and two are missing. Rainfall since Wednesday reached a record of more than 500 mm (20 inches) at Seosan, in the South Chungcheong province south of the capital, Seoul, it added. Elsewhere in the province cows were desperately trying to keep their heads above water after sheds and stables flooded. The tally of water-damaged structures stood at more than 641 buildings, 388 roads and 59 farms, the ministry said. Rains were also expected in neighbouring North Korea. From Sunday to Tuesday 150 mm to 200 mm (6 inches to 8 inches) of rain could fall in some northern areas, rising to 300 mm (12 inches) in some remote regions, the weather agency said, according to state newspaper Rodong Sinmun. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/damage-mounts-south-korea-torrential-rains-enter-fourth-day-2025-07-19/

2025-07-19 01:23

MARTIGUES, France, July 18 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,000 firefighters and helicopters battled a wildfire about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of France's second-largest city Marseille on Friday, but officials said lower temperatures and increased humidity had improved the situation The 240-hectare (593 acres) wildfire flared up a week after a separate conflagration reached the northwestern outskirts of Marseille, forcing people to evacuate or into lockdown and temporarily shuttering the area's airport. Sign up here. Pierre Bepoix, the colonel of rescue operations and deputy director for the area's firefighters, said 150 people had been evacuated, but firefighters had managed to save 150 homes and portions of the area's forests. "It was a fire that swept through relatively dense vegetation ... which made our work particularly complicated," Bepoix told Reuters. "Obviously, priority was given to the preservation and protection of these homes and the lives that could be in these buildings." Local officials said in a statement that 120 homes had been threatened by the fire, adding that it was not possible yet to identify any possible damage to them, and that two firefighters had been injured. Meanwhile in Spain, a wildfire that broke out on Thursday evening in the central Toledo province and could be seen from downtown Madrid, ravaged 3,200 hectares of woodland. Regional emergency services said early on Friday firefighters had secured the perimeter, though there were concerns over strong winds and high temperatures forecast throughout the day. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/hundreds-firefighters-battling-wildfire-southern-france-amid-improved-weather-2025-07-18/

2025-07-19 01:13

Indexes on Friday: Dow down 0.32%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq flat For the week: Dow down 0.07%, S&P 500 up 0.6%, Nasdaq up 1.5% Netflix raises 2025 revenue guidance but shares fall Crypto stocks up as House passes stablecoin legislation Exxon drops after losing Hess legal battle July 18 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended little changed on Friday, overcoming a brief dip triggered by a Financial Times report indicating U.S. President Donald Trump was pushing for steep new tariffs on European Union products. The FT report, which said the Trump administration was eyeing a minimum tariff of between 15% and 20% in any deal with the European bloc, sent markets lower before they partly recovered. Sign up here. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 6,296.79, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 10.01 points, or 0.05%, to 20,895.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 142.30 points, or 0.32%, to 44,342.19. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been pushed to repeated record highs in recent weeks, as investors showed increased ambivalence to Trump's tariff threats, and confidence these policies may not damage the U.S. economy as severely as once feared. Still, this week was seen as a proving ground for how Trump's economic policies are filtering into the wider economy. "People are a little tired of trying to trade tariff headlines or deadlines, and people are more concerned with seeing the proof of this come to fruition through numbers," said Greg Boutle, head of U.S. equity and derivative strategy at BNP Paribas. A raft of economic data offered mixed signals, including robust retail sales, a rise in consumer inflation, and flat producer prices for June. The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index increased this month, although consumers were still worried about future price pressures. Earnings season kicked off this week, giving an opportunity to U.S. corporations to showcase how tariffs were, or were not, affecting their businesses. Industrial giant 3M (MMM.N) , opens new tab fell 3.7% after the company said the impact of tariffs will mostly be felt in the second half of the year. Of the 59 S&P 500 companies to first report second-quarter earnings this season, 81.4% have topped Wall Street's earnings expectations, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data. Charles Schwab (SCHW.N) , opens new tab was among the latest on Friday, advancing 2.9% after posting higher profits. Regions Financial (RF.N) , opens new tab jumped 6.1% after raising its forecasts for 2025 interest income. The week has shown, though, that beating estimates is not a recipe for trading higher. American Express (AXP.N) , opens new tab outpaced second-quarter profit estimates, but its shares dropped 2.3%. Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab fell 5.1% despite the success of "Squid Game" helping the company surpass earnings forecasts. The streaming company also lifted its annual revenue outlook. BNP's Boutle said while not all individual stocks popped from earnings, the broader market has continued to grind higher. More meaningful market gains could come, he added, should some major companies deliver blowout numbers. Cryptocurrency stocks rose after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Robinhood Markets (HOOD.O) , opens new tab and Coinbase Global (COIN.O) , opens new tab were up 4.1% and 2.2%, respectively. Of the S&P sectors in positive territory, utilities (.SPLRCU) , opens new tab was the biggest gainer. Its 1.7% advance pushed the index to a record close. Energy (.SPNY) , opens new tab led those in the red, falling 1%. It was weighed down by SLB (SLB.N) , opens new tab, which dropped 3.9% after reporting lower quarterly profit and a downbeat outlook, and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, which slumped 3.5% after losing a landmark legal battle over Chevron's (CVX.N) , opens new tab acquisition of Hess. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.59%, the Nasdaq rose 1.5%, and the Dow slipped 0.07%. https://www.reuters.com/business/sp-nasdaq-end-subdued-note-after-brief-dip-latest-trump-tariff-rumbling-2025-07-18/