2025-06-18 12:07
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats demanded on Wednesday Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. make public the reviews on which his department said it based its decision to cancel a contract for developing a bird flu vaccine. President Donald Trump's administration last month canceled a $590-million contract awarded to Moderna (MRNA.O) , opens new tab in January by outgoing President Joe Biden's administration for the late-stage development of its bird flu vaccine for humans, as well as the right to purchase shots. Sign up here. "This is a grievous mistake that threatens to leave the country unprepared for what experts fear might be the next pandemic – and there appears to be no rationale for this decision other than your ill-informed and dangerous war on vaccines," Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth wrote in a letter seen by Reuters. The cancellation endangers American lives and will likely contribute to a 20% rise in the price of eggs this year, they wrote to Kennedy, who has a long history of questioning the safety of vaccines contrary to scientific evidence. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services at the time said the contract was canceled after a comprehensive internal review determined the project did not meet the scientific standards or safety expectations required for continued federal investment. Warren and Duckworth demanded Kennedy make the review public, alongside a similar review the department cited when it cut funding of a $258-million program researching an HIV vaccine. They also asked for a detailed description of how the department decided to end the contracts, and a staff briefing. "You have failed to justify either of these moves to cripple vaccine research," Warren and Duckworth wrote. "Furthermore, these decisions appear to be part of your larger, unfounded vendetta against mRNA technology." Kennedy named eight members last week to serve on a panel of vaccine advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including some who have advocated against vaccines, days after abruptly firing all 17 members who had been serving on the independent committee of experts. Several of his appointees specifically oppose the mRNA vaccine technology used in some of the newest immunizations such as the COVID-19 vaccine, including by Moderna. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-senate-democrats-demand-kennedy-explain-canceling-bird-flu-vaccine-contract-2025-06-18/
2025-06-18 11:37
KYIV, June 18 (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament has until the end of this year temporarily authorised the sale of petrol without the mandatory 5% bioethanol content, cancelling fines and other penalties for companies selling such petrol, lawmakers said on Wednesday. Ukraine introduced the mandatory addition of 5% bioethanol to motor fuel from May 1 to meet EU sustainability regulations. Sign up here. Lawmakers and authors of the law have not explained the reason for the amendment, but market sources say the refusal to impose fines and to allow the sale of petrol without bioethanol has been prompted by fears of possible fuel shortages. Ukraine does not officially disclose the volume of domestic fuel production as most of its facilities have been repeatedly attacked by Russian missiles and drones. Ukraine imported about 1.2 million tons of petrol in 2024. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/ukrainian-mps-allow-sale-petrol-without-mandatory-5-bioethanol-until-january-1-2025-06-18/
2025-06-18 11:24
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange's new warehouses in Hong Kong are seeing strong interest for metal deliveries before they go live next month, partly due to the current tightness in the copper market, the CEO of the exchange said on Wednesday. Last month, the LME approved three more warehouses in Hong Kong, taking the total to seven, as it increases its presence in the city that is the gateway to the world's biggest metals consumer, China. Sign up here. Hong Kong's higher costs have raised questions about the viability of the new storage facilities compared with other sites in Asia like Korea or Malaysia. "They can put metal into the warehouses, but it won't show up on our numbers yet because the location isn't live until the 15th (of July)," LME Chief Executive Matthew Chamberlain told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Derivatives Expo. "My understanding is there is quite a lot of interest in getting some metal in there before then." Getting approval for warehouses in China to store LME-traded metal has been a strategic goal since Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388.HK) , opens new tab bought the LME in 2012. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, would still like to open registered warehouses in mainland China, but that would depend on approval by the Chinese authorities, Chamberlain said. "But ultimately it's for mainland policymakers to decide whether or not they want LME warehouses." However, in Hong Kong there was a good spread of locations to service various types of customers, including several near the northern border with Shenzhen and the mainland, he said. "They'll be able to service Chinese metal owners who, for example, want to put copper into a warehouse, truck it down just over the border into the new territories, put it into a warehouse," Chamberlain said. "That's obviously extremely relevant right now with the copper tightness... It will allow people to deliver into those backwardations more effectively." Falling stocks in LME-registered warehouses have created a backwardation, or premium for nearby contracts against those with longer maturities . Copper stocks in LME registered warehouses at 107,350 tons have dropped 60% since March and are at their lowest since May 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/lmes-new-hong-kong-warehouses-attract-strong-interest-metal-deliveries-lme-ceo-2025-06-18/
2025-06-18 11:21
ISLAMABAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Careem, Uber's ride-hailing arm in the Middle East, will suspend its Pakistan service on July 18, citing economic challenges, rising competition, and capital constraints, ending its core business in a country where it helped pioneer app-based transport nearly a decade ago. The move underscores strain on Pakistan’s digital economy, as tech firms scale back amid high inflation, weak consumer demand, and tighter global capital flows. It ends a nearly decade-long run for Careem, which launched in 2015 and became a dominant player in app-based mobility. Sign up here. "This was an incredibly difficult decision," Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of Careem, said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. "The challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation made it hard to justify the investment levels required to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country." Careem helped normalize digital payments, app-based bookings, and female ridership in Pakistan. Newer entrants such as Russia-backed Yango and Latin America’s inDrive have expanded in major cities, offering low-cost models. The decision follows Uber’s exit from Pakistan in 2022. Pakistan’s startup ecosystem has come under pressure since 2022 as venture funding dried up, inflation surged to a record 38% before falling to 3.5%, and consumption weakened. Startups including Airlift, Swvl, VavaCars and Truck It In have shut down or scaled back. Globally, firms like Uber, Lyft and Grab have exited unprofitable markets, narrowed focus, or expanded into adjacent services such as deliveries and payments. Rising costs, regulation, and thin margins in emerging markets have added to the strain. Uber still operates in parts of the Middle East and North Africa but has pulled back from Pakistan in 2024 after announcing an initial exit in 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/ride-hailer-careem-suspend-decade-old-pakistan-service-2025-06-18/
2025-06-18 11:17
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - The Front Tyne oil tanker was sailing through the Gulf between Iran and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday when just past 9:40 a.m. shiptracking data appeared to show the massive vessel in Russia, in fields better known for barley and sugar beets. By 4:15 p.m., the ship's erratic signals indicated it was in southern Iran near the town of Bidkhun, before later placing it back and forth across the Gulf. Sign up here. Mass interference since the start of the conflict between Israel and Iran has affected nearly 1,000 ships in the Gulf, according to Windward, a shipping analysis firm. A collision involving tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for the world's oil, occurred on Tuesday with both vessels catching fire. One of them, the Front Eagle, a sister ship of the Front Tyne, and like it, more than three football pitches long, appeared to be onshore in Iran on June 15, data from commodity data platform Kpler showed. "There is usually no jamming in the Strait of Hormuz and now there is a lot,” said Ami Daniel, chief executive of Windward. "The culmination of all that is higher risk. It's a hot area... if you don't geolocate, there's a bigger chance you'll have an accident." Ships are required to indicate their location and are fitted with transmitters similar to GPS called an AIS, or Automatic Identification System, that send regular signals on location, speed and other data. Jamming disrupts these signals. "The problem these days is that most ships use digitised systems, so if your GPS is jammed, then you have no real form of navigating other than by the seat of your pants," said Jim Scorer, secretary general of International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations. If a ship's crew intentionally disrupts its signalling, it is called spoofing, and may indicate illegal conduct, such as an effort to conceal a cargo or destination. If a third party disrupts signals, as is happening in the Gulf, it is referred to as jamming, according to Dimitris Ampatzidis, an analyst at Kpler. The practice has become increasingly common in conflict areas, as some militaries seek to obscure the location of navy vessels or other potential targets. Jamming has been observed in the Black Sea during Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports, in the Taiwan Strait and in waters near Syria and Israel, analysts said. Several ships appeared to be on land at Port Sudan last month. "If you don’t know where vessels are, you’re unable to target them," said Ampatzidis. International Maritime Organization, along with other United Nations agencies, issued a statement in March expressing concern over rising cases of interference in global navigation. The oil tanker Xi Wang Mu, which was placed under U.S. sanctions, appeared to be at a Hindu temple in India earlier this year when it spoofed its location, according to analysis by maritime data platform Lloyd’s List Intelligence. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/oil-tankers-near-iran-appear-be-rural-russia-signals-jammed-2025-06-17/
2025-06-18 11:06
June 18 (Reuters) - A 90,000 metric ton cargo of gasoline from Nigeria's Dangote refinery will be sold out of the region for the first time and bound for Asia, a source familiar with the matter. Since the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery started gasoline exports last year, the cargoes have stayed in west Africa. Sign up here. Mercuria is due to load the cargo on June 22, the source close to the deal said, speaking on condition on anonymity. A spokesperson for Mercuria did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. "We sell our products to those who are willing to give us the highest price. It's the buyer's right to take the products to any destination of their choice," a spokesperson for the Dangote refinery said. Some analysts see this new trade route as the company's readiness to supply motor fuel globally. "This development shows the Dangote refinery's growing global importance as a gasoline supplier, and the company's confidence that production is now stable enough to meet Nigeria's domestic needs," said a director at political risk consultancy Horizon Engage Clementine Wallop. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nigeria-export-first-gasoline-cargo-asia-dangote-refinery-source-says-2025-06-18/
