The changes to the AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024 with key elements set to be enforced in stages starting this year, are part of the European Commission’s Digital Omnibus

International News via Reuters:

EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers failed to reach a deal on watered-down landmark artificial intelligence rules after 12 hours of negotiations on Tuesday and will resume talks next month. 

The changes to the AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024 with key elements set to be enforced in stages starting this year, are part of the European Commission’s Digital Omnibus, which aims to simplify a slew of regulations in the digital sector to help businesses catch up with U.S. and Asian rivals.

Europe’s AI rules, considered to be the strictest in the world, came amid concerns about the impact of the technology on children, workers, companies and cybersecurity.

“It was not possible to reach an agreement with the European Parliament,” a Cypriot official said. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency.

Dutch lawmaker Kim van Sparrentak criticised the failure to reach a deal.

“Big Tech is probably popping champagne. While European companies that care about safety and did their homework now face regulatory chaos,” she said in a statement.

People with direct knowledge of the negotiations said the next round of discussions will likely be in two weeks’ time.

They said the negotiations which started at 1100 GMT on Tuesday were stymied by some countries and some lawmakers’ insistence that industries already subject to sectoral regulations, such as product safety rules, should be exempted from the AI legislation.

The AI regulation sets out stricter requirements on the use of the technology in “high-risk” areas such as biometric identification, utilities supply, health, creditworthiness and law enforcement.

The Omnibus package also includes the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the e-Privacy Directive and the Data Act, among others. 

Proposed changes to these regulations and the AI Act have drawn criticism from privacy activists and civil rights groups about caving to Big Tech.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Stephen Coates

Before the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, attacks globally on such facilities and staff averaged about 3.7 per day, but that has now increased to 4.3, the WHO said

International News via Reuters:

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that attacks on healthcare facilities and staff are increasing globally, with a notable uptick recorded since the recent conflict in the Middle East began. 

Before the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, attacks globally on such facilities and staff averaged about 3.7 per day, but that has now increased to 4.3, the WHO said. 

“This is clearly showing that healthcare is the target,” Altaf Musani, the Director of Emergency Health Interventions at the WHO, told reporters in Geneva.

The attacks include airstrikes and shelling of hospitals and clinics as well as arrests and intimidation of healthcare workers.

“When healthcare is needed most, it is being attacked… These attacks are having a deep impact on functionality,” Musani said.

Since the recent conflict in the Middle East began, 50 hospitals and private healthcare centres have been closed and 16 hospitals have been damaged across the region, according to the WHO.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has repeatedly denounced the attacks and has called for accountability, highlighted the case of Lebanon where 149 attacks on healthcare have been identified. 

More than 2,500 people have been killed ​in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon since March 2, when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah fired on ​Israeli positions and triggered a retaliatory Israeli air and ground campaign. The United Nations Human Rights office said last month that Israeli strikes on civilians including healthcare workers in Lebanon may amount to war crimes.

Israel has repeatedly denied that it targets healthcare workers and says it is targeting Hezbollah sites.

There have also been 26 reported attacks on healthcare sites in Iran since the end of February, Ghebreyesus added.

Attacks on healthcare sites have also deeply impacted healthcare provision in Gaza, which currently has only one fully functioning hospital, and in Sudan, where only 54% of hospitals are fully operational, the WHO said.

Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Hugh Lawson

U.S. government data showed a bigger weekly draw in crude inventories than expected, which also put upward pressure on U.S. crude

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices rose more than 6% on Wednesday to the highest in nearly a month, as deadlocked U.S.-Iran negotiations made investors more concerned about prolonged disruptions to Middle Eastern supply.

U.S. government data showed a bigger weekly draw in crude inventories than expected, which also put upward pressure on U.S. crude.

Brent crude futures for June rose $7.07, or 6.4%, to $118.33 a barrel by 12:08 a.m. ET, climbing for an eighth day to the highest level since March 31. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for June rose $6.34, or 6.3%, to $105.19 a barrel, the highest since April 13.

A White House official said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had asked U.S. oil companies about ways to mitigate the impact of a potentially months-long U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, adding to concerns that disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supply could be prolonged.

Over $50 billion worth of crude oil supply had been lost since the start of the Iran war, according to Reuters calculations as of mid-April.

“If Trump is prepared to extend the blockade, supply disruptions would worsen further and continue to push oil prices higher,” said Haitong Futures analyst Yang An.

Signs of tightening supply have started to show in the United States. Energy Information Administration data showed U.S. crude stocks fell over 6 million barrels last week, versus analysts’ estimate of just over 200,000 barrels. [EIA/S]

Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has notified some customers they could load two crude grades outside of the Gulf next month because the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and a notice seen by Reuters.

INVESTORS ASSESS UAE LEAVING OPEC

Investors were also assessing ramifications of the United Arab Emirates’ decision to quit OPEC, though analysts did not expect any major near-term impact on the market. 

“Producers in the region will continue to bring whatever they can to market, and production limits are not, in practice, constraining output currently,” said Investec head of commodities Callum Macpherson.

“Looking further ahead, it is well known that there has been tension over the UAE’s production limits, and the possibility of leaving OPEC+ has been there for some time. In that sense, the move is not surprising, but the timing is notable given the wider backdrop in the region.”

Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London, Sam Li in Beijing and Siyi Liu in SingaporeEditing by David Goodman, David Gregorio and Chris Reese