2025-07-12 09:21
PRAGUE, July 12 (Reuters) - Slovakia aims to reach an agreement with the European Commission and EU partners by Tuesday on guarantees it will not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies and on a new sanctions package against Russia, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday. Slovakia has been blocking the EU's 18th sanctions package over its disagreement with a separate Commission proposal to end all imports of Russian gas from 2028, which Slovakia argues could cause shortages, a rise in prices and transit fees, and lead to damage claims from Russian supplier Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab. Sign up here. "We need to win something in this fight, though it will not be a 100-0 result," Fico said. "We want political commitments, guarantees from partners and the Commission that this problem will not remain only on Slovakia's back." Fico said it was not clear at this point if a deal would be reached as some issues were still outstanding. Fico said one topic under discussion was capping the transit fees that Slovakia would have to pay for alternative routes for non-Russian gas. Slovakia gets the majority of its gas from Gazprom under a long-term deal valid until 2034 for about 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year. Since Ukraine stopped Russian gas from transiting through its pipelines at the end of 2024, Slovakia has taken some gas through the Turkstream pipeline and Hungary. The Commission's proposal to end Russian energy imports from 2028 requires the backing of the majority of EU states, but not unanimity. However, sanctions against Russia need unanimity, therefore Slovakia merged the two issues and has refused to back the sanctions package until its concerns over energy are satisfied. The European Commission on June 10 proposed a new round of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, targeting Moscow's energy revenues, banks and military industry. The sanctions package -- which in itself is not a problem for Slovakia, Fico said -- could be approved by the EU's foreign ministers on Tuesday if Slovakia lifts its opposition. Fico said he discussed Slovakia's concerns with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday, but did not give details. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/slovakia-aims-agreement-by-tuesday-end-russian-gas-supplies-sanctions-2025-07-12/
2025-07-12 07:43
TKSE to cut jobs, capacity, working hours Deal will see around 40% of TKSE's jobs go Cuts to save more than 100 mln eur in savings a year - source FRANKFURT, July 12 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) , opens new tab and trade union IG Metall on Saturday said they had agreed on reduced working hours, lower bonus payments and site closures as part of a push to revamp Germany's largest steelmaker and prepare it for a standalone future. The accord with steel workers marks a major step in Thyssenkrupp's restructuring, under which the former German industrial icon is planning to turn into a holding company, and comes after renewed tension between management and labour representatives. Sign up here. Implementation of the new collective bargaining agreement, which runs until September 30, 2030, must be approved by IG Metall members at Thyssenkrupp's steel unit TKSE and is pending an agreement on the division's future financing, they said. The package, agreed after several days of non-stop negotiations, will result in annual savings of more than 100 million euros ($117 million), a person familiar with the matter said. Dirk Schulte, TKSE's board member in charge of human resources, told journalists on Saturday that the comprehensive deal was "the biggest ever" in the group's history. The agreement follows Thyssenkrupp's announcement that up to 11,000 jobs at TKSE, or around 40%, had to be cut or outsourced and that annual production capacity would be lowered to 8.7-9.0 million tons from 11.5 million tons. "We went to the pain threshold and only made concessions where it was really necessary in order to secure jobs and locations," said Tekin Nasikkol, head of Thyssenkrupp's works council and member of the group's supervisory board. "We have now created the conditions for the company to emerge from the difficult situation out of its own strength," Nasikkol said in a statement. Thyssenkrupp had wanted to reach a deal regarding the restructuring by summer and both sides aim to finalise the current agreement by the end of September. Reaching a wage deal has been seen as a key hurdle to be cleared before Thyssenkrupp can sell an additional 30% stake in TKSE to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, as planned. The investor already owns a 20% stake via a holding company. ($1 = 0.8555 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/thyssenkrupp-steel-workers-agree-site-closures-lower-working-hours-revamp-2025-07-12/
2025-07-12 02:37
SYDNEY, July 12 (Reuters) - Securing World Heritage status for Australia's Murujuga rock art will help protect the ancient Indigenous carvings, located in an industrial hub, the government said on Saturday. The art, thought to be 50,000 years old, lies in a peninsula that has gas and explosives plants, highlighting the sensitive relationship between the nation's Indigenous culture and its economically vital resources industries. Sign up here. UNESCO granted World Heritage status to the site in the Burrup peninsula on Friday after a "tireless nomination process", started in 2023, said Environment Minister Murray Watt. "The Australian Government is strongly committed to World Heritage and the protection of First Nations cultural heritage," Watt said in a statement. "We will ensure this outstanding place is protected now and for future generations." Peter Hicks, chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said the UNESCO listing was a means to protect the "extraordinary landscape". The peninsula in the northwest of mineral-rich Western Australia state is home to two liquefied natural gas plants run by Woodside and fertiliser and explosives plants run by Norway's Yara International. Australia's government in May extended the lifetime of Woodside’s largest gas plant in the region, the North West Shelf, until 2070. The extension will generate up to 4.3 billion metric tons of additional carbon emissions. Scrutiny over the impact of Australia's resources industry on Indigenous heritage sites has been magnified since Rio Tinto, the world's biggest iron ore miner, destroyed the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters as part of a mine expansion in 2020. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/australia-says-world-heritage-listing-protect-indigenous-carvings-2025-07-12/
2025-07-11 23:26
July 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's promised 50% copper tariffs are said to include all refined metal, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/trumps-50-copper-import-tariff-said-include-refined-metal-bloomberg-reports-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 22:10
NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - A British man pleaded not guilty on Friday in New York to charges he helped mastermind a nearly $100 million fraud whose victims invested in loans meant for wealthy wine collectors -- except that neither the collectors nor their wine existed. James Wellesley, 58, entered his plea to wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn. Sign up here. Wellesley, also known as Andrew Fuller, was ordered detained without bail at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, after unsuccessfully fighting extradition from Britain. A lawyer for Wellesley did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Stephen Burton, 60, another Briton charged with running the fraud, is being held at the same Brooklyn jail. He was extradited from Morocco to face the same charges, and pleaded not guilty in December 2023. Both defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said that from June 2017 to February 2019, Wellesley and Burton convinced victims to invest $99.4 million of loans brokered by their company Bordeaux Cellars, with interest payments coming from the wine collectors. The men allegedly told victims the loans were backed by an inventory of more than 25,000 bottles of wine, including from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti in Burgundy and Chateau Lafleur in Bordeaux. But prosecutors said Bordeaux Cellars actually controlled thousands fewer bottles than the loan documents showed, including just 217 bottles in March 2018. Prosecutors said the defendants used loan proceeds to pay interest to some investors, or for personal expenses. The scheme collapsed when victims stopped receiving interest payments, prosecutors said. The case is US v Burton et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 22-cr-00079. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/uk-man-pleads-not-guilty-new-york-99-million-wine-fraud-2025-07-11/
2025-07-11 21:53
Trump threatens to impose 30% tariffs on imports from EU and Mexico Analysts say market complacency over trade will be tested Citi strategist warns positive trade developments needed by August 1 to sustain market gains S&P 500 ends week down 0.3%, near record highs, European stocks fall NEW YORK/LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - Global investors got a harsh reminder of the risks around trade tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump's deal-making on Saturday after he threatened fresh tariffs on his biggest trading partners in Europe and Mexico. Trump said in social media posts on Saturday he would impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1. Sign up here. The announcement comes after weeks of talks with key U.S. trading allies that failed to reach a more comprehensive trade deal, and a week marked by heightened trade tensions after Trump issued new tariff announcements for a number of other countries, including Japan, South Korea, Canada and Brazil, as well as a 50% tariff on copper. The European Union is the United States' largest trade and investment partner and had hoped to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with the U.S. for the 27-country bloc. Three EU officials told Reuters on Saturday that Trump's 30% tariff threat is a negotiating tactic. Michael Brown, a senior market strategist at Pepperstone in London, said it seemed to be a "escalate to de-escalate" strategy by Trump aimed at getting trading partners to negotiate and extract concessions. The EU had been facing the threat of 50% U.S. tariffs on its steel and aluminium exports, 25% on cars and car parts and 10% on most other products. The U.S. had also been looking into further tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Brown said the risk was the European Union takes the new tariffs poorly and announces countermeasures that escalate trade tensions to levels in early April, when markets were whipsawed by Trump's initial Liberation Day tariffs. "Depending on what happens in the next 24 hours or so, I imagine that the knee-jerk move is euro-negative, eurozone asset-negative. And then, as calmer heads prevail, it comes back to the fact that, is it just a negotiating gambit?," he said. Despite some modest rockiness this week, the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab ended down just 0.3% on the week and not far from record-high levels. European stocks took a slight hit on Friday as markets waited for the promised letter on tariffs. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) , opens new tab lost 1% and snapped a four-day winning streak, clocking its biggest single-day decline in over three months. Mexico has more to lose, given the United States is its largest export market and the economy is already feeling the impact of the uncertainty over trade. U.S. stocks have rebounded after plunging in April following Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement of sweeping global tariffs. Trump had paused many of those steep tariffs but issued new levies this week with an August 1 date for them to go into effect. The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) , opens new tab, Wall Street's "fear gauge," closed on Thursday at 15.78, its lowest closing level in nearly five months, although it moved back above 16 on Friday. Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist with payments company Corpay in Toronto, said the stream of tariff announcements could reignite market concerns. “At some point soon, it will become clear that Trump’s protectionist agenda has not been appropriately discounted in currencies, in asset prices, or in measures of volatility." "A moment of capitulation is coming, in financial markets, or in the White House itself,” Schamotta said. While markets are less sensitive to headlines than a few months ago, "we will need some positive trade developments by the White House's August 1 deadline to hold recent equity market gains," Citi strategist Scott Chronert said in a note on Friday. The current weighted average tariff in the U.S. is about 16%, up from 2.5% at the start of the year, UBS economists said on Friday. The rate would rise to about 18%, including the country tariffs announced in this week's letters, UBS said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/business/investors-anxiously-await-next-steps-trade-between-us-eu-2025-07-11/
