Raiders snatch 45 people from five Nigerian villages
Abuja — Gunmen abducted at least 45 women and children in an overnight raid on five villages in northwest Nigeria, witnesses said, in the second mass kidnapping in the area within days.
The attackers returned to Sabongarin Damri on Monday and raided nearby villages including Sade, Tungar Tsalle, Tungar Sodangi and Tungar Musa Dogo, in an assault that lasted until dawn, Shehu Musa, the traditional head of Damri, told Reuters by phone late on Tuesday.
The incident followed a separate mass abduction in Sabongarin Damri, in Zamfara state, on Saturday in which 70 people were taken.
“The attackers invaded the communities and kidnapped no fewer than 45 people from the five neighbouring villages, which are less than half a kilometre apart,” Musa said.
Armed groups, often referred to locally as “bandits”, have killed hundreds and abducted thousands across Nigeria’s northwest in recent years. They typically hold captives for extended periods, demanding ransoms for their release. Reuters
Five US soldiers shot at Georgia base
Bengaluru — Five US soldiers were shot at the Fort Stewart base in the state of Georgia on Wednesday, and the suspected shooter is in custody, army officials said.
The soldiers were treated on site and then transported to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment, Fort Stewart said in a Facebook post.
Governor Brian Kemp wrote on X that he and his family were “saddened by today’s tragedy” at the base. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and is monitoring the situation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X. Reuters
Zambia’s dollar bonds drop to one-month low
Nairobi — Zambia’s dollar bonds fell on Wednesday, Tradeweb data showed, a day after the International Monetary Fund published updated economic and debt forecasts for the Southern African nation.
The 2053 maturity lost more than 4 c to bid at 68.95 c on the dollar, hitting a one-month low and falling below the 70 c threshold that asset managers usually use to gauge if a country’s debt is distressed, the Tradeweb data showed.
The executive board of the IMF approved the fifth review of Zambia’s current lending programme on Tuesday, and published its latest economic and debt forecasts, which showed Zambia is still weighed down by weak debt carrying capacity. Reuters
Insured losses from natural disasters reach $80bn
Bengaluru — Global insured losses from natural catastrophes reached $80bn in the first half of 2025, preliminary estimates from Swiss Re Institute showed on Wednesday, driven by wildfires in California and severe thunderstorms in the US.
The estimate nearly doubles the 10-year average and underscores how the insurance industry has faced a steady rise in weather-related losses in recent years, prompting tighter underwriting, higher premiums and renewed scrutiny of risk models.
Swiss Re Institute said total insured losses for the year could exceed the $150bn projection, with natural catastrophe activity typically higher in the second half due to the hurricane season.
In 2024, Hurricanes Helene, Milton and Beryl struck the US, devastating communities and triggering tens of billions of dollars in insured losses. Reuters
Reuters full-year guidance holds amid higher revenue
New York — Thomson Reuters reported higher second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, during a period when it launched new AI features in its tax and accounting and legal divisions.
The Toronto-based content and technology company reaffirmed its full-year 2025 guidance of a 7% rise in organic revenue, which tracks income from existing businesses on a constant currency basis.
“We saw good momentum continue in the second quarter, with revenue in-line and margins modestly ahead of our expectations,” Steve Hasker, CEO of Thomson Reuters, said in a prepared statement. The company continues to expect 2026 organic revenue to rise by 7% to 7.5%, executives said in an interview after the release of the financial report.
Thomson Reuters reported quarterly revenue up 3% to $1.78bn for the period ending June 30, against $1.74bn a year ago and analyst expectations of $1.79bn according to LSEG data. Reuters
India’s Modi warms to China as US tensions rise
New Delhi — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for the first time in over seven years, a government source said on Wednesday, in a further sign of a diplomatic thaw with Beijing as tensions with the US rise.
Modi will go to China for a summit of the multilateral Shanghai Co-operation Organisation that begins on August 31, the government source, with direct knowledge of the matter, told Reuters.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His trip will come at a time when India’s relationship with the US faces its most serious crisis in years after President Donald Trump imposed the highest tariffs among Asian peers on goods imported from India, and has threatened an unspecified further penalty for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.
Modi’s visit to the Chinese city of Tianjin for the summit of the SCO, a Eurasian political and security grouping that includes Russia, will be his first since June 2018. Subsequently, Sino-Indian ties deteriorated sharply after a military clash along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of a Brics summit in Russia in October that led to a thaw. Reuters
‘Tariffs harmful on both side of the Atlantic’
Berlin — German economy minister Katherina Reiche said on Wednesday that the EU’s agreement on tariffs with the US still requires some fine-tuning, but she emphasised the need for stability and reliability as it takes effect tomorrow.
“I am certain that as American companies analyse the results of this current agreement, they will conclude that tariff increases and uncertainty are harmful to the economy on both sides of the Atlantic,” Reiche said at a news conference in Berlin. Reuters
Brazil goes to WTO over Trump tariffs
Brasilia — Brazil’s government has filed a request for consultations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the tariffs imposed by the US on goods from that country, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Local newspaper Folha de S Paulo was first to report the news. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on US imports from Brazil, with many exemptions, in response to what he has called a “witch hunt” against his Brazilian ally former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup following his election loss in 2022.
Brazil had previously voiced plans to file the formal complaint at the WTO, even though that dispute settlement system has been stalled since the first Trump administration. Reuters
Swiss president holds ‘very good’ meeting with Rubio
Zurich — Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said she had a “very good meeting” with US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday as Switzerland strives for a deal to avert a crippling 39% tariff on its exports to the US.
Washington is potentially seeking more energy and defence exports to Switzerland, according to a Swiss source familiar with the discussions.
In return, the Swiss are looking for lower import duties on goods sold into the US, their biggest export market and a leading buyer of Swiss watches, machinery and chocolate.
“We had a very good meeting today. We had a very friendly and open exchange,” Keller-Sutter told reporters after the meeting at the state department in Washington.
Keller-Sutter did not answer a question about what further offers Switzerland would make to avert the planned 39% tariff on its products. Reuters
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