Netflix, Amazon and Disney are considering a legal challenge amid discussions on ways to stall India's new tobacco warning rules, which are part of India's anti-tobacco drive and requires streaming platforms to insert static health warnings during smoking scenes, and 50 seconds of anti-tobacco disclaimers at the start and in the middle of each programme. Executives from the streaming companies held a closed-door meeting, where Netflix said the rules would hit customer experience and push production houses to block their content in India. Streaming giants operating in India have often face legal cases and police complaints over self-censorship of content that hurts religious sentiment.
India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, confirmed that 50 people have died and 300 have been injured following a train collision in Odisha's Balasore district. The Coromandel Express train derailed and collided with a goods train. Rescue operations and support are currently in operation.
A passenger train has collided with a goods train in the Indian state of Odisha, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds more. The Coromandel Express derailed and fell on to the opposite track. Ambulances have raced to the scene of the incident, which is the latest in a series of railway accidents to have occurred in India. There have been reports of people being trapped in the vehicles. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised that all possible assistance is being provided to those affected.
Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian-Chilean businessman and a mastermind of the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse in 2019, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a federal court in Florida. Jaar pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the US and providing material support resulting in death. He is a convicted drug trafficker and US government informant. He has conspired with a group of Colombian mercenaries to murder Moïse, 53, at his home on 7 July 2021. Since then, Haiti has descended into crisis, with violence from street gangs and vigilantes prevalent.
US West Coast port workers shut some terminals in showdown over pay
Reuters
23-06-02 22:05
More than 22,000 dock workers at US West Coast seaports are staging work actions that have shut down some terminal operations at major gateways. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents terminal operators, said on Twitter that union workers have "effectively shut down" or "severely impacted" some terminals at ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Hueneme in California and Tacoma and Seattle in Washington state. The latest work actions come as labor talks between the PMA and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have entered their 13th month, with wages and benefits remaining a sticking point.
HSBC's largest shareholder, Ping An Insurance Group, and a group of retail investors called for a spin-off of the bank's Asian business. However, the bank's management argued that its core strategy centred around its international network, driven by its strength in growth markets in Asia, and that a spin-off would be too costly and not drive higher returns. HSBC prevailed in a contentious shareholder vote at its annual meeting in Birmingham, England, where no major shareholder except Ping An voted in favour of the split. The US$2 billion share buy-back and promises of a higher dividend payout in the future may not be enough to placate Ping An and other frustrated shareholders, who argued that much of the bank’s improved performance in the past year has stemmed from rising interest rates, rather than underlying improvements in HSBC’s operations.
HSBC’s challenge was integrating several new businesses that could be key to its future growth, including SVB’s UK arm that HSBC acquired and its mainland China fund management joint venture. HSBC also has plans to shift more capital from underperforming markets and businesses in the West to Asia, investing US$6 billion in its wealth management and wholesale banking operations in Asia over a five-year period. The bank is expected to sell its businesses in Canada, Greece and Russia and exit its mass market retail business in the United States and smaller markets, which it could exit. During the pandemic, HSBC found itself caught in the middle of rising geopolitical tensions between China and the West, including its support for the introduction of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong in 2020. However, China’s property sector appears to be stabilising, and its economy to grow by 5.2 per cent this year and boost global growth and trade between the East and West.
Three of the world's top news organizations, Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, have been denied media access to report on oil policy meetings of OPEC this weekend. OPEC staff declined on Friday to give media accreditation to Reuters journalists who planned to cover the event. Reporters from the three outlets did not receive invitations from OPEC ahead of the meeting. Without accreditation, journalists cannot enter the OPEC Secretariat where the ministers’ meeting takes place or attend press conferences during the event.
Quebec officials have evacuated around 10,000 residents after a nearby wildfire advanced. This marks the latest in a string of evacuations as wildfires have caused weeks of devastation across Canada. The country’s Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, stated that the ferocity of this year’s early wildfire season in Canada has been “unprecedented”. As of Friday, more than 1,826 fires were burning 2.7 million hectares of land.
Over 120 people have reportedly been killed and hundreds more injured after multiple trains derailed in eastern India on Friday evening. The accident happened near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore. The press trust of India has reported that the first to derail was the Bengaluru to Howrah train, which is known as the Howrah Superfast Express. The coaches collided with the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai. This then hit a freight train and according to the Hindustan Times, another 600 to 700 people are still trapped. Television images showed rescue teams trying to reach the survivors trapped inside mangled carriages. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tweeted that rescue operations are underway at the site and "all possible assistance" is being given to those affected.
India's worst train accident in more than a decade occurred last Friday, when two passenger trains collided in the country's Odisha state, killing 233 people and injuring more than 900. The collision happened when the Howrah Superfast Express and the Coromandel Express collided; it is unclear which train derailed first. An investigation has been initiated by the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways is state-run and carries more than 13 million passengers per day on its ageing infrastructure.
Revised trade agreements between Brazil and most of its trading partners, including China, mean that a nationwide ban on chicken exports is unlikely should the bird flu virus hit commercial flocks. The agreements could limit export restrictions to smaller geographic regions. However, trade protocols with China, Brazil's top chicken buyer in 2021, could lead to some pain for exporters. The protocol requires immediate notification to Beijing of epidemic diseases, and imposes temporary national and local bans depending on the type of illness. It also stipulates that exported meat must come from farms free of any avian disease-related restrictions for 12 months. While Brazil has registered 19 outbreaks of avian flu in wild birds nationwide this year, the agriculture ministry has said that the agreement with China is still in force.
US President Joe Biden has said he will sign a bill to raise the debt ceiling into law on 2 June, telling Americans that the move "was critical to reach an agreement, and it's very good news for the American people". The signing of the bill will end the months-long controversy over raising the limit. Current debt in the US stands at around $31tn. Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling unless Biden and the Democrats agree to federal spending cuts. The deal raises the debt limit until 2025 and offers legislators budget targets for the next two years.
A discussion took place on Friday between US Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh and China's new ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng. The meeting addressed the increased tensions in security-related areas between the two countries, but discussed the importance of maintaining a close communication line on global macroeconomic and financial issues, alongside global challenges. Alongside this, the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has stated her hopes for a visit to China this year to meet with her new counterpart on the constructive and fair economic relationship she wishes to implement with China.
Multiple trains have derailed in India's eastern state of Odisha, killing over 280 people and injuring more than 800. The accident occurred on 16 July near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, with three trains involved. Emergency responders are still working to clear the site, which is at least 200km from the state capital, Bhubaneswar. Although India has made significant efforts in rail safety, accidents still happen regularly in the country, with many attributed to human error or outdated signalling equipment.
The Chinese embassy to Norway has "strongly opposed" comments from Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that labelled the country a threat during his recent visit to the Scandinavian country. The embassy urged Nato to stop "stirring up regional conflicts".
A fatal collision between two passenger trains occurre in Odisha state of India Friday night, resulting in the death of 288 people and injuring more than 850. It has become the country's deadliest rail accident in more than two decades. The accident occurred when the Howrah Superfast Express, traveling from Bangalore to Howrah, West Bengal, collided with the Coromandel Express that runs from Kolkata to Chennai. Authorities have been giving conflicting accounts of which train derailed first to become entangled with the other. An investigation has been initiated into the incident.
At least 233 people have died and hundreds of others sustained injuries following a deadly train collision in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The passenger train that runs between Kolkata and Chennai was reportedly derailed and struck a goods train, injuring at least 900, in what has become one of India's worst rail disasters in recent history. Action is being taken to address the poor maintenance and ageing infrastructure issues associated with India's rail system, which witnessed almost 17,000 fatalities due to railway accidents around the country last year.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has criticised China for showing no interest in better mechanisms for crisis management between their militaries. Austin made the statement in Singapore after Beijing rejected an official invitation for a meeting between Austin and his Chinese counterpart. Disagreements between China and the US include the status of Taiwan, espionage, territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the war in Ukraine. Austin commented: “The United States does not seek a new Cold War. Competition must never spill over into conflict.”
Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, has moved one of Russia's holiest icons, Trinity, from Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, highlighting Putin's growing reliance on the Church as the Ukraine conflict continues. The move is expected to deepen the connection between politics and religion, as academics suggest that Putin needs the support of the Church in this war to show he respects them. The move has raised concerns over the safety of the fragile artefact, which is made of centuries-old wood and requires strict temperature and humidity control.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be inaugurated as Turkish President today after winning a run-off election last weekend in which he narrowly won 52.5% of the vote. His new mandate will allow him to continue with an increasingly authoritarian domestic programme as well as charting an independent regional military path amid global crises like the conflict in Syria and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Erdogan's government will also oversee rebuilding efforts following a series of earthquakes that devastated parts of the country in February, claiming 50,000 lives. His new cabinet is expected to be announced following a lavish ceremony in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
