2025-07-06 16:42
BERLIN, July 6 (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche wants to make planned measures aimed at lowering companies' electricity costs more widely available than previously suggested, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the plan. Earlier this year, Germany's ruling coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats agreed to cut electricity tax to the European minimum for all consumers. Sign up here. But the Finance Ministry's framework budget for 2026 introduced last month limited the planned relief to industry, agriculture and forestry, excluding many companies and consumers, citing financial difficulties. Reiche said last month Germany would present a concrete concept for an industrial electricity price before the summer break and aimed to implement it by the end of the year. The FT said Reiche wants to expand the number of companies eligible for what it called electricity price subsidies to 2,200 from 350. The paper added that the people it cited estimated the cost at 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) and the measure would fund up to half of firms' electricity costs over three years. Asked for comment by Reuters, the Economy Ministry said in a statement that under newly announced European Union rules up to around 2,200 "energy- and trade-intensive" companies could receive aid to cover up to half their power costs. "The (German) concept is currently being worked on," it added, declining to elaborate. The FT quoted the ministry as saying its scheme would aim to deliver "swift and reliable" aid to the chemical, glass and plastics industries, which have "a far-reaching impact on other sectors through the value chains". ($1 = 0.8490 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/german-minister-wants-more-firms-eligible-electricity-relief-ft-says-2025-07-06/
2025-07-06 16:17
BERLIN, July 6 (Reuters) - A dog was rescued from a locker for valuables at Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany after its owner shut her pet inside over the objections of other tourists so that she could visit the famous attraction, police said on Sunday. Neuschwanstein, a picture-postcard castle with surging turrets nestled in the Alps near the border with Austria, is one of Germany's top tourist attractions. Sign up here. Despite it being a hot summer's day and half the locker already having been filled by a pram, the woman locked the dog inside the small space and left to tour the castle, police in the nearby town of Fuessen said in a statement. Security staff were alerted and freed the dog, they added. "The dog was fortunately unharmed but visibly glad when it was rescued from the already hot locker," the police statement said, adding that officers deployed to the scene took him back to the police station. The police did not specify what breed the dog was but said it was of "medium" size and about 60 cm (two feet) tall at the shoulder. An officer on duty at Fuessen police station contacted by telephone said the dog was a mongrel. Police said they had initiated criminal proceedings against the owner on suspicion of breaking Germany's animal welfare law. https://www.reuters.com/world/hot-dog-survives-locker-ordeal-germanys-neuschwanstein-castle-2025-07-06/
2025-07-06 15:55
ATHENS, July 6 (Reuters) - An external explosive device most likely caused the blast that damaged Greek oil tanker Vilamoura as it was sailing off the Libyan coast last week, the vessel's Greece-based operator TMS Tankers said on Sunday, citing an initial investigation. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Vilamoura had left the Libyan port of Zuetina on June 27 to head to Gibraltar with some 1 million barrels of oil when there was an explosion in the engine room. Sign up here. "Preliminary investigation findings clearly indicate that the explosion, the resulting fracture of the side shell plating, and the flooding of the engine room were caused by an external source —an unidentified explosive device," TMS Tankers said. Maritime security sources told Reuters last week that a limpet mine may have caused the blast on Vilamoura, the fifth such incident to hit commercial shipping in the region in recent months. Following the explosion and the flooding of its engine room the vessel lost manoeuvrability, although it was able to be towed towards Greece. The vessel has now arrived safely at Laconikos Bay in Greece and its crew are in good health, the operator added in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/explosive-device-likely-damaged-greek-tanker-off-libya-last-week-operator-says-2025-07-06/
2025-07-06 15:40
MOSCOW, July 6 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told BRICS leaders on Sunday that the era of liberal globalisation was obsolete and that the future belonged to swiftly growing emerging markets which should enhance the use of their national currencies for trade. Putin spoke via video link to the summit in Rio de Janeiro due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court which alleges he is responsible for war crimes in Ukraine. Moscow says the warrant is unfounded and pointless. Sign up here. BRICS - an idea thought up inside Goldman Sachs two decades ago to describe the growing economic clout of China and other major emerging markets - is now a group that accounts for 45% of the world's population. "Everything indicates that the model of liberal globalisation is becoming obsolete," Putin said in televised remarks. "The centre of business activity is shifting towards the emerging markets." Putin also called on the BRICS countries to step up cooperation in a range of spheres including natural resources, logistics, trade and finance. The five core BRICS members - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - account for more than $28 trillion in nominal Gross Domestic Product in dollar terms while the Group of Seven accounts for more than $51 trillion, according the International Monetary Fund. Much of the economic clout of BRICS, which also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, though, comes from China, which accounts for more than 60% of the combined clout the BRICS members. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/putin-says-that-globalisation-is-obsolete-future-belongs-emerging-markets-2025-07-06/
2025-07-06 11:13
TOKYO, July 6 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor (7201.T) , opens new tab is in discussions with Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) , opens new tab over electric vehicle collaboration that could save its Oppama plant in Japan from closure, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified Nissan source. Nissan's Oppama plant, which employs about 3,900 workers, has been a potential consolidation target in the struggling Japanese carmaker's restructuring plans, but the idea of producing Foxconn-brand EVs at its idle assembly lines could preserve jobs and supplier networks, the Nikkei said. Sign up here. A statement from Nissan said the report was not based on information released by the company itself. A Foxconn spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In May Nissan's junior partner Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) , opens new tab signed a memorandum of understanding with a Foxconn subsidiary to supply Mitsubishi with an EV model. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/nissan-considers-foxconn-ev-output-save-oppama-closure-nikkei-says-2025-07-06/
2025-07-06 09:16
July 6 (Reuters) - Tropical storm Chantal appeared to have made landfall near Litchfield Beach in the eastern state of South Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday. The tropical storm, which formed in the Atlantic, registered maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is located about 15 miles northwest of Conway, South Carolina, and about 80 miles west of the port city of Wilmington in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Sign up here. The NHC in Miami, Florida, forecasts that Chantal will move further inland over South Carolina and then North Carolina on Sunday, with a risk of flash flooding, its latest advisory said. The storm is expected to weaken further as it moves inland, with forecasts indicating that it will dissipate into a trough of low pressure by Monday, the NHC added. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/tropical-storm-chantal-hits-south-carolina-moves-inland-with-flooding-threat-nhc-2025-07-06/
