2025-04-19 07:57
LAGOS, April 19 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed when suspected cattle herders attacked communities in central Nigeria's Benue State on Thursday, police said, amid a resurgence of deadly clashes between farmers and herders. Years of clashes have disrupted food supplies from north-central Nigeria, a significant agricultural area. Sign up here. The latest attacks came two days after 11 people were killed in the Otukpo area of Benue and barely a week after gunmen attacked villages and killed more than 50 people in neighbouring Plateau State. Since 2019, the clashes have claimed more than 500 lives in the region and forced 2.2 million to leave their homes, according to research firm SBM Intelligence. A separate group of suspected herdsmen shot and killed five farmers around Gbagir in Benue's Ukum Local Government Area, early on Friday, police said. The attackers opened fire as police were moving in to confront them, police spokesperson Sewuese Anene said in a statement. While officers were engaging the attackers at Ukum, another 12 people were killed in another attack in Logo local council area, about 70 km away, police said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/suspected-herders-kill-least-17-nigeria-2025-04-19/
2025-04-19 04:27
TOKYO, April 19 (Reuters) - Japan is considering increasing its soybean and rice imports as a concession in trade negotiations with the U.S. over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, Japan's Yomiuri daily reported on Saturday. With Trump's trade offensive roiling markets and stoking recession fears, Japan is seeking to walk back his "reciprocal" tariffs and other duties imposed on Japan, along with dozens of countries. Sign up here. In their first round of bilateral talks on Wednesday, U.S. negotiators brought up automobiles and rice as areas where they said Tokyo puts up market barriers, and they demanded that Japan import more meat, fish products and potatoes, the newspaper said, without citing the sources for its information. Japan's Cabinet Office could not immediately be reached for comment. Those trade barriers are cited in an annual report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Japanese media highlighted a White House photo of the 400-page report on the table at the talks in Washington. Trump unexpectedly brought Japan's lead negotiator, Economic Revitalisation Minister Ryosei Akazawa, into the Oval Office and touted "big progress" after the talks, although few specifics have been disclosed. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is expected to resume the bilateral talks with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of global meetings next week in Washington. Japan has been hit with 24% levies on its exports to the U.S. although these rates have, like most of Trump's tariffs, been paused for 90 days. A 10% universal rate remains in place, as does a 25% duty on cars, a mainstay of Japan's export-reliant economy. Akazawa asked the U.S. team to convey their priorities in order of importance, the Yomiuri said. Trump has lambasted Japan for what he said was a 700% tariff on rice - a figure Japan says is based on outdated international rice prices. It remains to be seen whether Trump's Republican administration would focus on rice, as exports to Japan come from California, a Democratic-leaning state. Even before Trump's tariffs, Japan had been increasing its imports of staple rice in the past year as domestic prices have skyrocketed due to a supply shortage. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-considering-soybean-rice-concessions-us-tariff-talks-yomiuri-reports-2025-04-19/
2025-04-18 23:50
April 18 (Reuters) - At least 148 people were found dead in Democratic Republic of Congo after a motorised wooden boat caught fire and capsized, media reports citing local officials said on Friday. The boat was carrying as many as 500 passengers, including women and children, when it overturned in the Congo River located in the country’s northwest region on Tuesday, as per the reports. Sign up here. Boating accidents are common in Congo, where old, wooden vessels are the main form of transport between villages and are often loaded far beyond capacity. Officials estimate hundreds of people to still be missing, the reports added. The number of dead was previously estimated at 50. The boat, called HB Kongolo, caught fire near the town of Mbandaka, having left the port of Matankumu for the Bolomba territory. About 100 survivors were taken to an improvised shelter at the local town hall, while those with burn injuries were taken to local hospitals, Sky News reported. The incident occurred when a fire started as a woman was cooking on board the vessel, Compétent Loyoko, the river commissioner, told the Associated Press. Several passengers, including women and children, died after jumping into the water without being able to swim, the report added. In 2024, at least 78 people drowned when a boat with 278 passengers capsized in Lake Kivu, eastern Congo. In a separate incident, at least 22 people died after a river boat sank in December in western Congo. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/least-148-people-die-after-boat-catches-fire-congo-sky-news-reports-2025-04-18/
2025-04-18 22:27
Hassett remarks show possibility of Powell firing under active consideration Comments follow escalation of Trump's feud with Powell Economists, markets looking on with trepidation WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett on Friday said President Donald Trump and his team were continuing to study if they could fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a sign that such a move, a matter of great consequence for the central bank's independence and for global markets, is still an option. "The president and his team will continue to study that matter," Hassett said at the White House when a reporter asked if "firing Jay Powell is an option in a way that it wasn't before." Sign up here. Hassett's remarks came a day after Trump ramped up a long-simmering feud with the Fed chair, accusing Powell of "playing politics" by not cutting interest rates and asserting he had the power to evict Powell from his job "real fast." Trump doubled down on his criticism of Powell on Friday, telling reporters during an Oval Office event: "If we had a Fed chairman that understood what he was doing, interest rates would be coming down. He should bring them down." Hassett appeared to distance himself from a 2021 book in which he argued that firing Powell during Trump's first term would have harmed the reputation of the Fed as an objective and independent manager of the U.S. money supply, potentially compromising the credibility of the dollar and crashing the stock market. "I think that at that time, the market was a completely different place. And, you know, I was referring to legal analysis that we had back then. And if there's new legal analysis that says something different, then we need to rethink our response," Hassett said. It was not immediately clear what new legal analysis he was referencing, but a case over whether Trump overstepped his authority in firing two Democrats from federal labor boards now pending at the Supreme Court is being closely watched as a potential precedent for whether Trump could remove Powell. Powell has said that the law would not allow his removal, that he would not leave if asked to by Trump, and that he intends to serve through the end of his term as chair in May 2026. Powell, whose term as a member of the Fed's Board of Governors extends through January 2028, also said this week he does not think the current case on appeal at the U.S. high court will apply to the Fed. 'NOT HAPPY WITH HIM' Powell, first appointed to the Fed by President Barack Obama, was elevated to Fed chair by Trump during his first term, but the Republican president soon soured on him for raising interest rates. Trump repeatedly berated Powell in public and considered trying to fire him but never did. The issue has arisen again in the last week with Powell and other Fed officials saying they believe Trump's aggressive tariffs could put them in a bind with the potential for them to push up inflation while harming overall economic growth and labor markets. Trump on Thursday chastised Powell again for not cutting rates. "The Fed really owes it to the American people to get interest rates down. That's the only thing he's good for," Trump said. "I am not happy with him. If I want him out of there he'll be out real fast believe me." The Fed, after a series of rate cuts late last year, has left its benchmark policy rate on hold in the range of 4.25% to 4.50% since December. Powell this week signaled that with uncertainty elevated about what effects will arise from the tariffs and other administration policies, he and his colleagues are in no rush to change their wait-and-see posture. Hassett said he was focused on the Fed's policy actions, not the personalities, and took issue with the central bank's decision to raise interest rates during Trump's first term and to characterize tax cuts as inflationary, but to not take issue with "runaway spending" by former President Joe Biden, which Hassett said was "textbook inflationary." "And so if you think that it's unacceptable for President Trump to be frustrated with the policy history of the Fed, then I think that you've got some explaining to do," he said. Hassett said Trump's policies were boosting capital spending and job creation was increasing, while inflation was declining. "And so against that backdrop to have everybody who refused to warn about the runaway spending, you know, out there saying, 'Oh, this is going to be a catastrophe for inflation because of tariffs,' means that people need to, like, improve their models and improve their messaging." Economists and investors have been following the escalation with trepidation. The Fed's credibility as the world's most powerful central bank rests largely on its historic independence to act free from political influence, and an effort to remove Powell could further roil markets already battered for weeks by Trump's erratic approach to imposing his new tariffs, with the rollout beset by a mix of delays, partial rollbacks and escalations, with China in particular. "A sudden crystallization of the threat to Fed independence would both intensify market stress and shift it in more of a stagflationary direction with a sharp increase in tail risk," Evercore ISI Vice Chair Krishna Guha said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-will-study-whether-fire-fed-chair-powell-adviser-says-2025-04-18/
2025-04-18 22:15
April 18 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday said it will fast-track permitting for 10 mining projects across the United States as part of President Donald Trump's push to expand critical minerals production. The projects - which would supply copper, antimony and other minerals - have been granted FAST-41 status, a federal initiative launched in 2015 to streamline approvals of critical infrastructure. Sign up here. The White House said it will add more projects. The initial 10 are listed on a U.S. federal website , opens new tab where their permitting progress can be publicly tracked, part of what the Trump administration calls a push for greater transparency and faster permitting. "This transparency leads to greater accountability, ensuring a more efficient process," the White House said in a statement. The move boosts a proposed Idaho antimony and gold mine from Perpetua Resources (PPTA.O) , opens new tab, a proposed Arizona copper mine from Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab, a proposed Montana copper and silver mine from Hecla Mining (HL.N) , opens new tab, expansion of Albemarle's (ALB.N) , opens new tab Nevada lithium mine, an Arkansas direct lithium extraction project from Standard Lithium (SLI.V) , opens new tab, and an Alabama metallurgical coal project from Warrior Met Coal (HCC.N) , opens new tab, among others. Metallurgical coal is used to make steel. Perpetua said it was "honored by this selection ... which validates the urgency and importance of our project for America's economic and national security." Rio said it believes its Resolution copper project in Arizona "is vital to securing America’s energy future and infrastructure needs with a domestic supply of copper." Albemarle said it looks "forward to further engaging with the administration as it seeks to advance a U.S. lithium supply chain." Standard Lithium and Warrior were not immediately available to comment. South32's (S32.AX) , opens new tab Hermosa zinc-manganese project in Arizona was fast-tracked by former President Joe Biden, the first mine to receive the FAST-41 treatment. Trump earlier this week ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all U.S. critical minerals imports, a major escalation in his dispute with global trade partners and an attempt to pressure industry leader China. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/trump-fast-track-permitting-10-mining-projects-across-us-2025-04-18/
2025-04-18 19:27
April 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Friday said it would begin taking public input for a new five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program that could include new zones in the Arctic and elsewhere to maximize energy development. President Donald Trump has ordered government agencies to identify ways to increase already record high U.S. oil and gas production, arguing past administrations had unnecessarily curtailed drilling to combat climate change. He had also repealed former President Joe Biden’s efforts to block oil drilling in the Arctic and along large areas off the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Sign up here. "Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, we are unlocking the full potential of our offshore resources to benefit the American people for generations to come," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release. Interior said it would open a 45-day public comment period to begin the process of developing the five-year plan. It said it was not proposing any specific timeline or locations for new leasing auctions. "Instead, it invites stakeholders to provide insight and recommendations for leasing opportunities, raise concerns and identify other existing uses that may be affected by offshore leasing," according to the release. It pointed out that Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had recently gained jurisdiction over a new planning area in the High Arctic and that the boundaries of other outer continental shelf planning areas were also being revised – suggesting that new acreage may now be available to drillers. It said that drilling auctions already scheduled for the next several years by the Biden administration in the Gulf of Mexico – which the Trump administration calls the Gulf of America - would remain in place. Offshore leases account for around 14% of U.S. crude oil production, according to Interior. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/trump-administration-kicks-off-plan-expanded-offshore-drilling-2025-04-18/
