World news briefs: Federal Reserve expected to hold rates

China remains mum on growing nuclear arsenal

Beijing — China had no comment on a think tank’s report about nuclear weapons which said China had the fastest-growing nuclear arsenals, a spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry said on Monday.

China has always adhered to the strategy of self defence, maintained its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security, and does not participate in an arms race, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference. Reuters

Washington Post initiates cyberattack probe

Bengaluru — The Washington Post is investigating a cyberattack on email accounts of some of its journalists, according to a source familiar with the matter and an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

The memo sent to Post employees by executive editor Matt Murray said the intrusion was discovered on Thursday and the newspaper immediately initiated an investigation.

All employees had their passwords reset on Friday as a precaution, Murray said in the memo, adding that the intrusion was not thought to have had any effect on any additional Post systems or on customers.

The newspaper also forced a credential reset for all Washington Post employees on Friday night. Reuters

Federal Reserve expected to hold interest rates steady

New York — Bond investors, anticipating the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady again this week, are moving away from longer-dated Treasuries as they temper expectations for an aggressive easing given the lower chance of a US recession.

Their flight away from the long end of the curve also reflects worries about President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, which is being considered by the US Senate.

On Wednesday, the US central bank’s policy-setting federal open market committee is widely expected to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range at the end of a two-day meeting, as it tries to grapple with a mercurial Trump administration trade policy that could still boost inflation in the second half of the year. Reuters

Polish airline LOT set to announce Airbus order

Paris — Polish airline LOT is poised to announce on Monday an order for 40 Airbus A220 plus options for a further 44 aircraft, two people familiar with the matter said.

Finalisation of the deal at the Paris Airshow follows a lengthy battle between Airbus and Brazil’s Embraer, they said.

LOT and Airbus declined comment. Reuters reported on Friday that Airbus was close to a landmark deal with the state-owned airline against the background of closer relations between France and Poland. Reuters

North Korean troop casualties mount in Ukraine

Seoul — North Korean troops have suffered more than 6,000 casualties fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, more than half of the about 11,000 soldiers initially sent to the Kursk region, the British defence ministry said in a post on X on Sunday. Reuters

EU proposes offer to avert higher US duties

Düsseldorf — Brussels negotiators hope that offering to accept US tariffs of 10% across all of the EU’s exports into the US will avert any higher duties on cars, drugs and electronics, newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Monday.

Citing high-ranking EU negotiators, the paper said the offer to US counterparts would come only under certain conditions and would not be billed as permanent.

Handelsblatt also said the EU was, in return, ready to cut its tariffs on US-made vehicles and to possibly change technical or legal hurdles to make it easier for US manufacturers to sell their cars in Europe. Reuters

US agency to stop acting against fossil fuel firms

Bengaluru — The US Environmental Protection Agency has told staff to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies, CNN reported on Monday, citing multiple sources. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.   Reuters

Microsoft agrees to European cloud data laws

Stockholm — Microsoft on Monday said data stored by its European cloud customers would stay in Europe, under European Law, with operations controlled by its local personnel, and under full control of customers.

European companies and governments have been increasingly worrying about their data being moved outside the continent into the hands of other countries such as the US, pushing the American companies such as Microsoft to announce safeguards.

Microsoft in April laid out plans to protect user data as it expands its cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, including respecting European laws seeking to rein in the power of large technology companies. Reuters

UN human rights chief concerned by donor cuts

GENEVA — The UN human rights chief said on Monday that he was deeply worried about donor cuts to his office that would weaken global accountability efforts and be a comfort to dictators and authoritarians.

In an opening speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk warned that early warning systems for abuses as well as advocacy efforts for those wrongly imprisoned would be affected by lower spending.

“Funding cuts to my office, and the broader human rights ecosystem, offer comfort to dictators and authoritarians,” he told the UN Human Rights Council at the start of its four-week session. Reuters

France shuts Israeli company stands at Paris Airshow

Le Bourget/Jerusalem — France has shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for apparently displaying offensive weapons, in a move condemned by Israel that highlights the growing tensions between the traditional allies.

A source familiar with the matter said on Monday that the instruction came from French authorities after Israeli firms failed to comply with a direction from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands.

Israel’s defence ministry said it had categorically rejected the order to remove some weapons systems from displays, and that exhibition organisers responded by erecting a black wall that separated the Israeli industry pavilions from others.

“This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations,” the ministry said in a statement. Reuters

South Korea to unveil second supplementary budget

Seoul — South Korea’s government will introduce a second supplementary budget for the year on Thursday, after passing a 13.8-trillion won ($10.13bn) budget in May, to support an economy weighed down by US tariffs and sluggish consumer demand.

The budget plan will include spending to help the recovery of people’s livelihoods and will be taken up at a cabinet meeting, a spokesperson at the presidential office said on Monday.

President Lee Jae-myung, who took office on June 4, has argued for expansionary fiscal policy and cash-like handout schemes to boost consumer demand, as the country’s central bank last month slashed this year’s economic growth outlook to 0.8%, nearly half the previous 1.5%. Reuters

Air India Boeing encounters midair technical issue

New Delhi — An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi returned to its origin of Hong Kong as a precautionary measure on Monday, after the pilot suspected a technical issue midair, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The incident comes days after an Air India flight to London, using the same type of Boeing aircraft, crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad moments after take-off, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.

The Dreamliner aircraft flying Air India flight AI315 out of Hong Kong on Monday is now undergoing checks, said the source with knowledge of the matter. Reuters

Norway’s royals to visit Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard

Oslo — Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja were due to visit on Monday the main settlement on the strategically located Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard at a time of increased interest in the resource-rich polar region from the US, Russia and China.

Focus on the Arctic’s strategic importance for mining, shipping and security has increased sharply because of repeated statements by US President Donald Trump that he wants to take over Greenland.

The Arctic also holds fossil fuels and minerals beneath the land and the seabed and is an area of military and economic competition.

The royal visit comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in a show of European solidarity. Reuters

Russia’s seaborne grain exports plunge in May

Moscow — Russia’s seaborne grain exports fell to 2.1-million tonnes in May, a fall of 62.9% compared with the same month of 2024, according to shipping data from industry sources released on Monday.

Russia, the world’s leading wheat exporter, shipped grain to global markets at a record pace during the first part of the 2024/25 marketing season, which began on July 1 last year. However, the introduction of export quotas in February resulted in a sharp decline in exports. 

Total seaborne exports have reached 44.6-million tonnes so far this season, down 27.7% year on year, according to the data.

Exports via Black Sea terminals decreased by 63% year on year to 1.9-million tonnes in May. Exports through the Caspian Sea, a route primarily serving Iran, were stopped in April and did not resume in May.Reuters