A Dutch couple and a German national who had been on the ship have died, while a British national is in intensive care in South Africa

International News via Reuters:

A luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and marooned for days off the coast of Cape Verde with close to 150 people on board was due to head to Spain, while South Africa confirmed it identified among the victims a strain of the virus that can – in rare cases – spread among humans.

And the Swiss government said a man who returned to Switzerland after being a passenger on the MV Hondius was infected with the hantavirus and was being treated in Zurich. It said there was no danger to the broader population.

A Dutch couple and a German national who had been on the ship have died, while a British national is in intensive care in South Africa. The Netherlands is preparing to evacuate three patients who are on board.

Since the start of the outbreak, the World Health Organization has stressed that the risk to the broader public is low.

HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION IS RARE

People are usually infected by hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their urine, their droppings or their saliva. Human-to-human transmission is rare.

But a limited spread among close contacts has been observed in some previous outbreaks with the Andes strain, which has spread in South America, including Argentina, where the cruise trip started in March.

A presentation seen by Reuters said tests done by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases revealed that the Andes strain was the cause of infection in the Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg as well as in the British man who is still in hospital there.

“This is the only strain that is known to cause human-to-human transmission, but such transmission is very rare and as said earlier, it only happens due to very close contact,” the presentation said.

CONTACT TRACING IS UNDERWAY

South Africa’s health ministry also said that contact tracing was underway, with 62 contacts identified including flight crew and healthcare workers. The contacts will be monitored until an incubation period has passed and none have been diagnosed with the hantavirus so far.

Cape Verde was meant to be the ship’s final destination, but the nation off West Africa has not allowed the vessel to put passengers ashore because of the outbreak.

Late on Tuesday, the Spanish Health Ministry said it had been asked by the World Health Organisation and the European Union to take the MV Hondius and had given its agreement “in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.”

SHIP TO DOCK IN THE CANARY ISLANDS?

The ship will dock at the Canary island of Tenerife, Spanish state broadcaster TVE reported on Wednesday, citing sources from the country’s health ministry.

The Spanish archipelago’s leader Fernando Clavijo said he was opposed to the move and requested an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The decision ultimately belongs to the central government, which supersedes regional authorities.

MEDICAL EVACUATIONS

Meanwhile, the Dutch foreign ministry said it was coordinating the evacuation of three patients, one of them with Dutch nationality, to the Netherlands, where they will be provided with care.

“All efforts are aimed at making this happen as soon as possible,” it said. “Exact details of the timing and logistics of this operation can only be shared once they are definitively established.”

Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Nellie Peyton in Johannesburg, David Latona in Madrid, Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Tim Cocks, Andrew Heavens and Thomas Derpinghaus

Inflation hit 3% in April with further increases expected, and policymakers said they may need to raise interest rates if longer term price expectations rose or wage demands increased sharply

International News via Reuters:

The chance of a European Central Bank rate hike has risen as inflation pressures are high, board member Piero Cipollone said on Wednesday, even as negotiated wage data showed pay demands had yet to increase.

Inflation hit 3% in April with further increases expected, and policymakers said they may need to raise interest rates if longer term price expectations rose or wage demands increased sharply. 

“Overall, the current situation seems to be drifting away from our March baseline projections, which increases the likelihood that we may need to adjust our policy rates,” Cipollone said in a speech in Milan.

While inflation expectations remain firmly around target, memories of the previous energy shock around the time Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 are fresh, and could lead to a faster adjustment in inflation expectations, Cipollone added.

IRAN WAR HAS YET TO DRIVE UP WAGE DEMANDS

So far, wage trends, a worry for policymakers, are broadly unchanged since the start of the Iran war, suggesting that workers have yet to demand compensation for the inflation surge. 

Negotiated wage growth with smoothed and unsmoothed one-off payments are expected to both be 2.6% by the end of 2026, unchanged from the last projection in late March, the ECB said, based on data collected by the middle of April. 

Such a rate would be consistent with levels policymakers deem to be appropriate for inflation to return to the ECB’s 2% target in the medium term.

Still, financial markets expect three rate hikes from the ECB, with the first one fully priced in by July, to be followed by moves in the autumn or early 2027.

Cipollone also said that the economic impact of the war in the Middle East could be far larger than experienced so far as supply shortages could curtail industrial production.

“Europe could start running out of jet fuel and kerosene reserves by the end of May, potentially leading to material restrictions on the activity of several industries akin to those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.   

Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Barbara Lewis

The Commission added that it would be beneficial if the main terms of that deal were in place ahead of its one-year anniversary at the end of July

International News via Reuters:

The European Union’s trade chief has urged the United States to swiftly restore the tariffs agreed in last year’s EU-US trade deal, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The Commission added that it would be beneficial if the main terms of that deal were in place ahead of its one-year anniversary at the end of July.

Maros Sefcovic met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris on Tuesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on EU cars and trucks to 25% among the EU’s main concerns.

The Commission said the two men had held a one-and-a-half hour discussion on the most pressing aspects of the trade agreement. Trump says he is hiking car tariffs because the European Union is not complying with the deal’s terms.

The EU executive said Sefcovic had updated Greer on the likely timeline for the EU to implement the removal of EU duties on imported U.S. industrial goods, as the two sides agreed last year. That is unlikely to be before June.

“At the same time, he called for a swift return to the agreed Turnberry terms, i.e. a 15% all-inclusive tariff rate, with the agreed carve-outs for the EU,” the Commission said.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the previous global tariffs in February and Washington replaced them with a blanket 10% surcharge on top of existing duties. In some cases, EU goods therefore face a U.S. tariff above 15%.

“It would be beneficial for the main features of the deal to be in place ahead of its one-year anniversary,” the EU executive continued, adding that Sefcovic and Greer had agreed to step up engagement.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Makini BriceEditing by Gareth Jones

The job cuts will focus on white-collar and warehouse roles, a Nissan Europe spokesperson said, adding that the company’s current European headcount stands at about 9,300

International News via Reuters:

Nissan Motor will cut about 900 jobs in Europe, around 10% of the total, and consolidate production from two lines to one at its Sunderland plant in the UK as part of a global restructuring drive, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday.

The job cuts will focus on white-collar and warehouse roles, a Nissan Europe spokesperson said, adding that the company’s current European headcount stands at about 9,300.

The company’s sweeping turnaround plan, launched last year under Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa, aims to restore profitability after heavy losses, reduce Nissan’s global manufacturing footprint and cut its total workforce by 15%.

“We have been taking decisive actions to enhance performance and create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes,” Nissan said in a statement.

In addition to the layoffs, the Nissan Europe spokesperson said the carmaker, Japan’s fourth largest, was looking at other moves in Europe, including shifting to a distribution model managed by importer partners in Nordic markets.

“The proposals in the consultation include a headcount reduction across Europe of 900 jobs, the partial closure of our warehouse in Barcelona, and in the Nordics market we are going to change the distribution model,” the spokesperson said.

“We are also consolidating production in Sunderland plant from two lines to one line, because we are looking for opportunities with our parties to maximize our plant utilization.”

A Nissan Spain spokesperson said around 500 people in Spain work in the areas targeted by the layoffs, but added that the final figure will be negotiated with unions in the coming weeks and would likely be lower than that.

“This is a new disappointment by Nissan for which again the only solution that it seeks to adapt to a situation is to fire workers,” said Miguel Ruiz, leader of Spanish Nissan union USOC, adding that it was too early to know final job loss numbers.

In 2020, Nissan shut its main factories in Barcelona affecting around 3,000 jobs.

A spokesperson for Nissan Manufacturing UK confirmed that the focus was white-collar roles and said that there would be no production job losses at the Sunderland plant.

The Financial Times first reported the job cut plans.

Nissan is expected to update on the progress of its restructuring plan when it reports full-year financial results later this month, and has said it will announce further elements of its strategic direction later in the year.

Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru, Gilles Gillaume in Paris, Joan Faus in Barcelona and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Bill Berkrot