World news in brief: Drone strikes pound Port Sudan

Port Sudan rocked by days-long drone attack

Cairo — Explosions and fires rocked Sudan’s main port city and wartime capital Port Sudan on Tuesday, a witness said, part of a days-long drone assault that has torched the country’s biggest fuel depot, damaging the most important gateway for foreign aid.

A huge column of black smoke billowed from the area around the port, a Reuters video showed, and the witness said blasts had been heard from other areas though it was not clear exactly where else had been hit.

Sudan’s electricity company said a substation in the city was also hit, causing a complete power outage, part of a systematic assault on infrastructure. Reuters

US trade deficit hits record high

Washington— The US trade deficit widened to a record high in March as businesses boosted imports of goods before tariffs, which dragged GDP into negative terrain in the first quarter for the first time in three years.

The trade gap jumped 14% to a record $140.5bn from a revised $123.2bn in February, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit rising to $137.0bn from the previously reported $122.7bn in February.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, including raising duties on Chinese imports to a staggering 145%, fuelled a rush by businesses to bring in merchandise to avoid higher costs. Reuters

US, Iran set for next round of nuclear talks

Dubai — A fourth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US is likely to take place at the weekend in the capital of Oman, with Iranian state media pointing to May 11 as a probable date.

Cautioning that the timing was not yet finalised, an Iranian source close to the negotiating team said: “The talks will take place over two days in Muscat, either on Saturday and Sunday or Sunday and Monday.”

Initially scheduled for May 3 in Rome, the fourth round of negotiations was postponed with mediator Oman citing “logistical reasons”. Reuters

Russia and Ukraine swop prisoners of war

Moscow — Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday swapped 205 prisoners of war each, the Russian defence ministry said.

The ministry said that the United Arab Emirates had helped mediate the exchange and that the freed Russian prisoners were in Belarus receiving medical and psychological support. Reuters

EU and UK to hold annual summits

Brussels — The EU and UK will agree to hold annual summits to take stock of their bilateral relationship, according to a draft statement prepared for an upcoming summit in London.

The EU and Britain are set to hold a summit in London on May 19, and the draft is the latest iteration of a joint text that leaders are set to agree at the gathering.

“We agreed that a stable foundation for our relationship is vital, and, in this context, we reaffirmed our commitment to the full, timely and faithful implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Co-operation Agreement,” according to the draft, referring to texts related to Brexit. Reuters

India and UK sign free-trade pact

Delhi/London — India and the UK concluded on Tuesday a long-coveted free-trade pact, in a landmark deal that represents London's most significant post-Brexit agreement that was finalised in the shadow of US President Donald Trump’s tariff increases.

The deal, between the world’s fifth and sixth-largest economies, has been concluded after three years of stop-start negotiations and aims to increase bilateral trade by a further £25.5bn by 2040 with liberal market access and eased trade restrictions.

“These landmark agreements will further deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership, and catalyse trade, investment, growth, job creation, and innovation in both our economies,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

The deal lowers tariffs on goods such as whisky, advanced manufacturing parts and food products such as lamb, salmon, chocolates and biscuits. Reuters

Read the full story: ‘New era’ of trade as Britain and India clinch landmark deal

Gabon’s Nguema picks top banker to handle finances

LIBREVILLE — Gabon’s leader Brice Oligui Nguema has named a new cabinet, after his landslide victory in a presidential election in April, choosing a prominent banker and business-person to tackle the country’s acute liquidity shortage.

President Nguema, inaugurated over the weekend, has said he will boost agriculture, industry and tourism in the oil-dependent economy and fight corruption.

On Monday he named Henri-Claude Oyima, the CEO of Gabon-based BGFI Bank and head of the Gabonese Confederation of Businesses, to be minister of state, economy, finance & debt.

Oyima could not be reached for comment. Reuters

EU lines up retaliatory tariffs in case talks fail

Bengaluru — The EU plans to hit about €100bn ($113.26bn) worth of US goods with additional tariffs if trade talks fail to deliver a satisfactory result for the bloc, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The proposed retaliatory measures will be shared with member states as early as Wednesday and consultations will last for a month before the list is finalised, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters

China imposes five-year anti-dumping duties

Beijing — China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday it will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of cypermethrin originating from India for five years starting May 7, following a final finding of dumping and harm to Chinese producers.

Cypermethrin, an insecticide used in agriculture and sanitation, controls pests on crops such as cotton, vegetables, corn and flowers, according to the ministry. Reuters

Spain rethinks nuclear power after major blackout

Madrid — Nuclear power is needed to stabilise Spain’s electrical system and the country should rethink its planned phase-out following last week’s unprecedented blackout, the head of lobby group Foro Nuclear, Ignacio Araluce, said on Tuesday.

The outage that hit the Iberian Peninsula on April 28 has reignited the debate over the plan to decommission all of Spain’s reactors by 2035. Some reactors were offline the day of the blackout, whose causes are being investigated.

Araluce said the logical response would be to keep the nuclear energy Spain has.

“Spain’s nuclear power plants are essential to provide firmness and stability to the electricity system,” he said. Reuters