U.S. cuts tariffs on agricultural equipment The U.S. lowered tariffs on agricultural equipment, including combines and harvesters, from 25% to 15%. The temporary tariff adjustments will remain in place through Dec. 31, 2027, as part of an effort to encourage investment in U.S. agriculture. Tencent Cloud slashes AI prices Tencent Cloud said that it has cut prices for its DeepSeek-V4 series models b...
U.S. cuts tariffs on agricultural equipment The U.S. lowered tariffs on agricultural equipment, including combines and harvesters, from 25% to 15%. The temporary tariff adjustments will remain in place through Dec. 31, 2027, as part of an effort to encourage investment in U.S. agriculture. Tencent Cloud slashes AI prices Tencent Cloud said that it has cut prices for its DeepSeek-V4 series models by up to 97.5%, while maintaining model performance.
Clifton George convicted of fatally stabbing charity worker Annabel Rook after she tried to end relationship A man who fatally stabbed his partner and then set off a gas explosion at their north-east London home last summer has been found guilty of her murder. Clifton George, 45, had denied murdering Annabel Rook, a 46-year-old charity founder, during an argument at their home in Stoke Newington, ...
Clifton George convicted of fatally stabbing charity worker Annabel Rook after she tried to end relationship A man who fatally stabbed his partner and then set off a gas explosion at their north-east London home last summer has been found guilty of her murder. Clifton George, 45, had denied murdering Annabel Rook, a 46-year-old charity founder, during an argument at their home in Stoke Newington, on 17 June 2025. He admitted her manslaughter. Continue reading...
Spain is “confident” it’ll be awarded a massive artificial intelligence data center project by the EU and plans to invest as much as €800 million ($929 million) in it. The government expects to announce details on the Spanish proposal for one of the EU’s five so-called gigafactories in “coming weeks” and it’ll earmark between €600 million and €800 million of public funds for it, Digital Affairs Mi...
Spain is “confident” it’ll be awarded a massive artificial intelligence data center project by the EU and plans to invest as much as €800 million ($929 million) in it. The government expects to announce details on the Spanish proposal for one of the EU’s five so-called gigafactories in “coming weeks” and it’ll earmark between €600 million and €800 million of public funds for it, Digital Affairs Minister Óscar López said in Madrid Wednesday. Spain will announce the names of the companies that will join the gigafactory consortium before the European Union opens the formal process, which is expected to be in July, he said. Telefónica SA and ACS SA are among companies expected to take part n the consortium. The European Union announced a €20 billion plan to back so-called gigafactories last year to accelerate investment in AI infrastructure from private companies. The plan was expected to be launched earlier this year but has been delayed due to a lack of clarity about demand and to when the subsidies will be available, threatening to undermine the initiative, Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday. The five EU projects will be financed in two phases, with funds earmarked in 2028 and 2030. Consortium will be formed by corporations, who will fund part of the projects.
Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan, Canada and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 countries including the UK, EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US t...
Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan, Canada and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 countries including the UK, EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US to respect the tariff deal it entered into last July and arguing stealth tariffs breached the spirit of that agreement. Continue reading...
Boy Wirat Central banks in emerging and frontier markets are taking the lead in raising their benchmark interest rates as the Iran war fuels inflationary pressures. Iran has effectively blocked most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, disrupting global trade in goods ranging from oil to fertilizers. This has in turn hit food and agricultural supply chains, driving pri...
Boy Wirat Central banks in emerging and frontier markets are taking the lead in raising their benchmark interest rates as the Iran war fuels inflationary pressures. Iran has effectively blocked most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, disrupting global trade in goods ranging from oil to fertilizers. This has in turn hit food and agricultural supply chains, driving prices higher worldwide. In response, Indonesia, South Africa, Rwanda and Sri Lanka hiked rates over the past two weeks, while Singapore and the Philippines did so in April. The Philippine central bank is also considering an off-cycle rate hike. India is widely expected to maintain rates on Friday, but some analysts say a surprise hike may be in the cards as the rupee continues to weaken. Japan is seen raising rates later this month, and South Korea may follow in July. Developed markets have largely left rates unchanged, except for Australia and Norway, which lifted rates in May. But Europe may not be far behind in policy tightening. Eurozone inflation growth crossed 3% in May, the highest since 2023 and well above the ECB's 2% target, driven by a 10.9% jump in energy prices. "These hot prints have effectively locked in a 25-basis-point interest rate hike at next week's ECB meeting, with traders pricing an additional 50 bps of tightening by year-end," said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst, OANDA. In the U.S., Fed Funds futures are leaning towards the Federal Reserve maintaining rates at 3.50%-3.75% until at least October, according to CME's FedWatch tool . But recent data supports the narrative that the U.S. economy could be re-accelerating despite stretched consumer finances, ING economists noted, adding that the Fed may have to hike by year-end. "Based on the data, I'm more concerned about the growing risks of persistently elevated inflation than the risks to full employment and that monetary policy may not be sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2%," Clevel...