Drought expected to deplete Russia’s grain harvest
High temperatures and a lack of rain over the coming months are expected to deplete the harvest in Russia’s largest grain producing region Rostov, the head of the local grain lobby group said, after a farming emergency was declared.
Rostov’s governor Yury Slyusar issued a decree on May 19 introducing the state of emergency for farming due to spring frosts, and ordering the local authorities to evaluate the damage.
The declaration allows farmers to seek compensation.
Rostov became the third Russian grain-producing region — following Voronezh and Belgorod — to declare a farming emergency after frosts in late April and May. Reuters
Clock ticking for EU-US tariffs agreement
Ongoing trade disputes with the US should be resolved as quickly as possible for the benefit of all, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil said on Tuesday. “Tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on our economy and therefore also on job security,” Klingbeil said in Berlin before leaving for a G7 finance ministers meeting in Banff, Canada. The Trump administration has imposed a 25% tariff on US imports of steel, aluminium and cars, as well as a baseline 10% tariff on almost all countries, with additional “reciprocal” tariffs lined up if negotiations during a 90-day pause fail. Germany and the EU want to find an agreement with Washington, but the clock is ticking. Reuters
Egyptian migrant smuggler gets 25 years in UK jail
An Egyptian national who helped smuggle thousands of migrants into Europe from North Africa was on Tuesday jailed for 25 years in a London court.
Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, 42, conspired with others to assist unlawful immigration by supplying vessels for illegally smuggling migrants from Libya to Italy from shortly after his arrival in Britain in October 2022 until June 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service said during that period authorities intercepted seven crossings involving nearly 3,800 migrants and made the criminal network more than £12m. Ebid was said to have played a leading role in the gang, which advertised crossings on Facebook. Reuters
Tanzania deports rights activists at Lissu hearing
Tanzanian authorities arrested and later deported human rights activists from Kenya and Uganda who had travelled to Dar es Salaam to observe a hearing in the treason case against detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu, advocacy groups said.
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire went to Dar es Salaam to attend Lissu’s first court appearance on Monday in a case that has highlighted what government critics say is a growing crackdown on opponents of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The head of Tanzania’s Law Society said on Tuesday that Mwangi and Atuhaire had been deported
Spokespersons for the government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Reuters
National Party splits from Liberal Party
Australia’s National Party has split from the Liberal Party, its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss in a national election this month. “It’s time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power in governments, with the Nationals broadly representing the interests of rural communities and the Liberals contesting city seats. Reuters
MPs back off over haka
The New Zealand government on Tuesday deferred a vote over the rare suspension of three indigenous MPs from parliament for performing a haka, the Maori ceremonial dance, during the reading of a contentious bill last year. A parliamentary committee recommended temporarily suspending three Te Pati Maori MPs for acting in “a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house”. The Te Pati Maori members performed the haka before of a vote on a controversial bill that would have reinterpreted a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori that still guides policy and legislation. Reuters
Orban wants out of ICC
Hungary’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that will start the country’s year-long withdrawal process from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government said has become “political”. Orban’s government announced the move on April 3, shortly after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary for a state visit in a rare trip abroad in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant. Orban said last month the ICC was “no longer an impartial court, a rule-of-law court, but rather a political court”. Reuters
Districts feel the heat
Nearly 60% of Indian districts, home to three-quarters of the population, face a “high to very high” risk from extreme heat, with rising night-time temperatures and humidity compounding the health impact, a study has found. The report, published by the New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water think-tank, analysed climate, health, and infrastructure data to calculate a heat-risk score. About 57% of Indian districts, home to 76% of India’s population, are at high to very high heat risk, the study found, with the heat risk in the capital, New Delhi, among the highest. The study comes as parts of north India grapple with heatwave and severe heatwave conditions. Reuters
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