The U.N. has warned it was nearing effective bankruptcy, driven largely by delayed or withheld contributions from major donors, with the United States — its largest funder — frequently in arrears

International News via Reuters:

The United Nations is facing a critical moment with its financial sustainability under threat and it should do “less with less”, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan said on Wednesday, as she campaigns to become the next U.N. secretary‑general.

The U.N. has warned it was nearing effective bankruptcy, driven largely by delayed or withheld contributions from major donors, with the United States — its largest funder — frequently in arrears. 

“I think that we are in a very difficult moment,” Grynspan, a former Costa Rican Vice President, told Reuters and Bloomberg in an interview in Paris, as she campaigns in countries sitting on the U.N. Security Council.

She warned that uncertainty over member state payments was crippling the organisation’s ability to plan: “I think that the financial sustainability of the budget of the U.N. is at stake.” 

“I don’t think we should do more with less. I think that we have to do less with less – and focus more,” she said.

Four candidates are vying to succeed Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres from the start of next year, with the winner inheriting an organisation whose stature has diminished amid great‑power rivalry and U.S. criticism of multilateralism.

An economist born to parents who fled Europe after World War Two and the current head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Grynspan, 70, said the U.N. had been absent from too many conflicts and should be willing to take more risks by proposing mediation more often, even if it is initially rejected.

She also said the organisation should partner more with non‑governmental groups and the private sector and act more as an “enabler.”

“Not everything has to happen within the U.N.,” she said. 

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump, a fierce critic of the U.N., she said the organisation should be “less defensive” in the face of criticism. 

“I will take from what Donald Trump said in the General Assembly the phrase that he said: The U.N. has potential, but it’s not living up to the potential,” she said.

On whether the organisation faces an existential crisis, Grynspan struck a note of guarded optimism.

“If it’s a life or death moment for the U.N., I have my doubts,” she said. “Most of it comes from the conviction that the world is better with the U.N. than without it. I am running because I believe in the charter, I believe in the principles of the U.N.”

Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Hugh Lawson

The jump in oil and fertiliser prices following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, has disrupted businesses worldwide

International News via Reuters:

The European Union will let governments spend more on subsidising companies affected by soaring fuel and fertiliser prices triggered by the Iran war, EU competition regulators said on Wednesday.

The jump in oil and fertiliser prices following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, has disrupted businesses worldwide.

In response, the EU will temporarily loosen its state aid rules, to let governments compensate companies in agriculture, fisheries, rail and road transport and shipping inside Europe for up to 70% of the fuel and fertiliser price increases they have paid since the Iran war began two months ago.

These companies can receive up to 50,000 euros ($59,000)  under the temporary rules, which will apply until the end of the year, the Commission said.

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the changes targeted “those sectors that are directly and most heavily affected by fuel price spikes, and that are particularly exposed to fuel price volatility”.

Governments will also be able to compensate heavy industries for up to 70% of their electricity costs, rather than the 50% currently permitted under EU rules.

By selecting certain sectors, the rules aim to avoid massive, untargeted subsidies straining public budgets – which happened in 2022, when energy prices surged after Russia cut gas deliveries in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Still, most EU governments have already moved ahead with subsidies in response to the Middle East crisis – spending more than 13 billion euros on fuel tax cuts and other measures, most of them not targeted to hardest-hit companies or communities, according to the Jacques Delors Institute think tank.

The EU plans have also raised concerns among some governments that they could deepen divisions between wealthy and poorer countries, by mostly benefiting bigger countries like Germany.($1 = 0.8547 euros)

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Bart Meijer and Keith Weir

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani discussed bilateral ties and investment opportunities in Greek infrastructure, energy and data centres, Mitsotakis’ office said

International News via Reuters:

Greece said on Wednesday it had agreed with Qatar to bolster cooperation in areas including trade, energy and defence, extending a deal first struck in 2024.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani discussed bilateral ties and investment opportunities in Greek infrastructure, energy and data centres, Mitsotakis’ office said.

“There are also other areas of cooperation we have been discussing lately such as defence cooperation,” Al Thani said in translated remarks after meeting Mitsotakis in Athens. “Taking into consideration the events taking place around the world, I believe it is very important to strengthen these ties as well.”

Greece has been seeking to attract investment from Qatar, a leading global gas supplier, since the two countries agreed in 2024 to strengthen ties.

Reporting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by Ros Russell

The man opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, wounding an employee in the leg before travelling by taxi to a court building where he fired several more shots

International News via Reuters:

An 89-year-old gunman arrested for wounding five people in two shootings in Athens on Tuesday acted in “protest and despair” against Greek public services, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

The man opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, wounding an employee in the leg before travelling by taxi to a court building where he fired several more shots, lightly wounding four female court clerks.

He was later arrested in a hotel in the city of Patras, some 200 km (124 miles) from Athens.

“It was an act of protest and despair,” his lawyer, Vassilis Noulezas, told Reuters. 

Noulezas said the man worked for 40 years as an engineer in Chicago and was previously hospitalised at a psychiatric clinic in Athens. He had applied for a supplementary pension in Greece but his request was rejected, he said.

A public prosecutor on Wednesday charged the man with attempted murder and illegal possession of a gun. 

Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis late on Tuesday admitted that there were security gaps at some court buildings but that Greece was a safe country overall.

EFKA workers walked out on Wednesday to protest over security after the shooting incident, which they said they viewed as another act of “people’s frustration” over understaffed public services.

Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Hugh Lawson

The euro zone economy has been hit hard from the fallout of the war and a raft of surveys this week are offering some early glimpses into just how bad the 21-nation currency bloc may be hit

International News via Reuters:

Euro zone economic sentiment plunged to a three-and-a-half-year low this month as the Iran war hit the services sector hard and inflation continued to rise, even as lending figures showed modest signs of resilience, a raft of data showed on Wednesday.

The euro zone economy has been hit hard from the fallout of the war and a raft of surveys this week are offering some early glimpses into just how bad the 21-nation currency bloc may be hit.

The figures point to surging prices and plunging economic growth, a dilemma for the European Central Bank as it is keen to arrest inflation but any policy tightening is bound to hurt already fragile growth.

The European Commission Economic Sentiment Indicator fell to 93.0 this month from 96.6 a month earlier, coming well below expectations as the services component plunged to a five-year low.

“The decline of the Economic Sentiment Indicator was driven by plummeting confidence among consumers, as well as managers in services and retail trade,” the European Commission said. “Services confidence declined by a lot, reflecting managers’ more negative assessments across all … components.”

INFLATION SOARS BUT ECB ON HOLD FOR NOW

Selling price expectations meanwhile soared, after an already steep increase in the previous month, indicating that firms anticipate continued acceleration in overall inflation given high energy costs and possible supply shortages.

“April’s EC survey suggests the Iran war may hit euro zone activity a bit harder than we are forecasting,” Franziska Palmas at Capital Economics said. “Services firms’ selling price expectations rose further but not enough for the ECB to take action at its meeting tomorrow.”

The drop in consumer confidence was driven by a deterioration in consumers’ views on their households’ past and future financial situation, their intentions to make major purchases, and their expectations about the general economic outlook, the Commission said.

Euro zone inflation data, due on Thursday, is expected to show an increase to 2.9% this month from 2.6% in March and regional data from Spain and several key German states on Wednesday appear consistent with this projection.

This figure is not high enough for the ECB to raise interest rates on Thursday but will put the bank on high alert and policymakers are likely to keep a June rate hike squarely on the table.

In a modestly hopeful sign for economic growth, separate data showed that credit growth to businesses accelerated to 3.2% in March month from 3.0% a month earlier, despite banks warning that credit growth is likely to fall off a cliff given the war.

Still, lending volumes are likely to fall in subsequent months and credit standards will tighten, given increased funding costs and uncertainty.

Lending is also seen taking a hit as inflation is accelerating on higher energy costs, quickly hitting corporate margins and households’ disposable incomes.

Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Ros Russell and Toby Chopra