2025-06-17 09:53
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will extend a June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of short video app TikTok for 90 days despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown absent significant progress, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump had already twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. Sign up here. That would extend the deadline to mid-September. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure. Trump said in May he would extend the June 19 deadline after the app helped him with young voters in the 2024 election. Earlier on Tuesday, he had told reporters on Air Force One he expected to again extend the deadline. "Probably, yeah," Trump said when asked about extending the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it." The law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce it. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19. In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans. A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S.-based firm and majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Democratic senators argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline, and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-he-will-probably-extend-tiktok-deadline-again-2025-06-17/
2025-06-17 07:51
MUMBAI, June 17 (Reuters) - India's P N Gadgil Jewellers (PNGD.NS) , opens new tab on Tuesday launched Litestyle, a new sub-brand for lightweight and lower-carat jewellery, as record gold prices push consumers towards more budget-friendly options. Gold prices have jumped sharply in the past few months, but consumers' budgets haven't risen in the same proportion, leading them to look for budget-friendly options, Saurabh Gadgil, chairman of the Pune-based company, told Reuters. Sign up here. The lightweight jewellery segment is growing rapidly at around 30% per annum, and the company will launch 12 Litestyle stores this year to tap into this segment, Gadgil said. Local gold prices , which hit a record high of 101,078 rupees per 10 grams on Monday, have risen 29% so far in 2025, after rising 21% in 2024. Consumers are slowly adjusting to higher prices, Gadgil said, forecasting a 30% to 35% year-on-year jump in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2026. Investment demand for gold and silver has been rising as both metals are yielding better returns than other asset classes, he added. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-png-jewellers-launches-lightweight-jewellery-brand-gold-prices-surge-2025-06-17/
2025-06-17 07:51
Novak: there is a need for more volumes Russia: OPEC+ remains ready to be flexible Novak: OPEC+ members in constant contact MOSCOW, June 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's energy point man said on Tuesday that there was a global need for more volumes of oil and that OPEC+ remained ready to be flexible if needed amid the conflict between Israel and Iran and a trade war. Crude prices have jumped in recent days on concern of a major war in Middle East after Israel struck Iran, and U.S. President Donald Trump urged people to leave Tehran. Sign up here. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that volatility had been sown in oil markets by the risk of supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the global economic recovery and the trade wars unleashed by Washington. "Historically, affordable prices have provoked additional demand for oil with continued global fuel competition. And in general, there is a need for additional volumes of raw materials in the world," Novak told the Vedomosti newspaper in an interview. OPEC+ countries, he said, were "in constant contact, monitoring the market situation and are ready to flexibly and promptly respond to any changes in market conditions." "If necessary, the transaction parameters can be adjusted in the future to ensure an optimal supply and demand ratio," Novak was quoted as saying. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-novak-says-oil-prices-not-appropriate-most-producers-2025-06-17/
2025-06-17 07:46
DUBAI, June 17 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates coast guard said on Tuesday it had evacuated 24 people from oil tanker ADALYNN following a collision between two ships in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz. British maritime security firm Ambrey earlier reported an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, and said the cause of the incident was not security-related. Sign up here. Shipping sources told Reuters that a vessel had collided with two other ships. The maritime incident unfolded as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks for a fifth day following Israel's launch of widescale strikes on Friday, which Israel said were aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Naval sources have told Reuters that electronic interference with commercial ship navigation systems has surged in recent days around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf, which is having an impact on vessels sailing through the region. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. The UAE National Guard said in a post on X that the 24 crew members were taken to Khor Fakkan port in the UAE using search and rescue boats. There was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment from the Emirati foreign ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal early on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uk-maritime-firm-says-it-is-aware-incident-east-uaes-khor-fakkan-2025-06-17/
2025-06-17 07:20
LUXEMBOURG, June 17 (Reuters) - The European Union should be open to resuming Russian natural gas imports in the future if a peace deal is reached between Russia and Ukraine, an Austrian official said, as Brussels readies a proposal to ban Russian imports. The European Commission is set to propose legal measures on Tuesday to enact the ban, with the aim of halting the EU’s reliance on Russian energy by the end of 2027. Sign up here. "We will systematically weigh all proposals and then we will decide on our position," Austria’s state secretary for energy, Elisabeth Zehetner, told reporters on Monday, of the upcoming proposals. "But it is clear already, that when the war is finally over, that is something that we should take into account in our evaluation of the situation then," Zehetner said. EU diplomats told Reuters Zehetner had emphasised the need to re-consider the ban if there is a peace deal in Ukraine, in a closed-door meeting of the EU countries’ energy ministers on Monday, but that no other member states had called for the same. Hungary and Slovakia have rejected the plan to ban Russian imports. The Commission proposals, due to be published on Tuesday, are designed so they can pass into law with the approval of a reinforced majority of countries, meaning one or two could not block them. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Monday it would be "a very unwise decision" to resume Russian gas imports in the future, even if there was a peace deal in Ukraine. "I think that would be to repeat the mistakes that we've done in the past," he said. Around 19% of the EU's gas still comes from former top supplier Russia, down from roughly 45% before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Land-locked Austria bought most of its gas supplies from Russia until last year, when Russian state energy giant Gazprom cut supplies to Austria after a contractual dispute, and supplies via Ukrainian pipelines ceased at the end of the year. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-should-consider-return-russian-gas-if-peace-ukraine-austria-says-2025-06-17/
2025-06-17 07:19
JAKARTA, June 17 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Attorney General's Office said on Tuesday it had seized 11.8 trillion rupiah ($725 million) from food company Wilmar Group (WLIL.SI) , opens new tab that it said was related to corruption in obtaining palm-oil export permits. Wilmar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. In April, after the Attorney General's Office arrested an employee of Wilmar Group in relation to the case, the company said it was assisting with investigations. ($1 = 16,283 rupiah) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/indonesia-seizes-725-mln-wilmar-group-palm-oil-graft-case-2025-06-17/
