United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the launch event that the platform is essential for power relations to change

International News via Reuters:

A group of officials from developing economies launched on Wednesday the Borrowers’ Platform, an effort backed by the United Nations to give debt-hit nations a stronger collective voice in dealings with creditors.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the launch event that the platform is essential for power relations to change.

“Today, we launch a breakthrough in global financing, a platform in which borrowing countries sit together, learn from each other and speak with a collective voice,” Guterres said.

He said 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt service than on health or education.

The initiative is seen partly as a counter for institutions like the Paris Club, where official creditors meet to discuss negotiation strategies when a common debtor encounters problems with repayment.

This platform aims also to be an experience repository of sorts, where members share their knowledge and new governments, or new countries, avoid arriving at the table with a lack of preparedness.

“What was once a long-standing aspiration of developing countries has now become a concrete and a collective step forward,” said Ahmed Kouchouk, Egypt’s finance minister. “Today stands as a strong statement of intent that the voice of borrowing nations and countries belongs at the very center of the global financial dialogue.”

The event, presided over by Egypt as chair of the working group, is due to formally open an interim phase for the platform, establish interim leadership and adopt a work program running through October 2026, according to the launch agenda.

The working group that developed the draft modalities was made up of Egypt, Colombia, Honduras, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Zambia. Pakistan served as vice chair.

Under the draft framework, full membership would be voluntary and limited to developing countries that are UN member states, net borrowers and not full members of creditor groupings. The proposed structure includes a Governing Council of finance ministers, central bank governors or equivalent officials, and a Steering Committee of senior technical officials.

“The launch of the Borrowers’ Platform is a major milestone in rebalancing power inequalities in global economic governance,” said Iolanda Fresnillo, policy and advocacy manager at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), in a statement.

“This long-overdue initiative is a first step towards breaking creditor domination over decision-making on sovereign debt issues.”

Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrea Ricci

Eight students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were in critical condition

International News via Reuters:

A 14-year-old student shot at least nine people dead including eight of his fellow pupils and wounded 13 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, officials said, in the country’s second school shooting in two days. 

Eight students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were in critical condition.

“This was solely a personal attack carried out by one of our students, it is not a terror incident,” Ciftci said.

Earlier, Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer had said the shooter had shot and killed himself in the commotion.

“An eighth-grade student came with 5 weapons and 7 magazines – which we believe belong to his former police officer father – in his bag, entered two classrooms with fifth grade students, causing deaths and injuries indiscriminately,” Unluer said.

Fifth-grade students are usually aged 10 and 11 in Turkey.

School shootings are very rare in Turkey. Asked by reporters if authorities would take any measures after the shootings this week, Ciftci said: “We will take necessary precautions”, without elaborating.

Broadcaster NTV said the shooter’s father had been detained. 

Gun laws are generally strict in Turkey, with only individuals aged over 21 and in possession of a license allowed to own weapons. However, guns are widespread in Turkey, with many security officers allowed to carry and own arms.

Unverified footage showed several students jumping from a second-storey window at the school as gunshots echoed around the grounds. Unverified CCTV footage from the school showed the attacker shooting two students walking down a hallway.

Turkish media footage from the school grounds on Wednesday showed ambulances arriving at the school where police and crowds had gathered by the gate. 

On Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a school in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, wounding at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before killing himself.

Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Alexandra Hudson

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has blocked flows from the Middle East

International News via Reuters:

Europe was seeing record inflows of jet fuel from the United States, data from Kpler and LSEG showed, as the region attempts to shore up fuel supplies to make up for the disruption of imports from the Middle East.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has blocked flows from the Middle East, on which Europe depends on for nearly 75% of its jet fuel imports, or around 375,000 barrels per day. This has led European airlines to urge the European Union to step in with emergency measures, including widespread ​airspace closures, as per a document ‌seen by Reuters.

Inflows from the U.S. are due to reach between 149,000 to 200,000 barrels per day so far in April, based on vessels discharged and those still due to, which is already at record highs per data going as far back as 2015 on LSEG and 2017 on Kpler.

Despite the requirement in the EU countries to maintain 90 days of emergency oil reserves, this doesn’t stipulate how much of it should be a specific fuel. Per the International Energy Agency, Spain is a net exporter of jet fuel, while Britain, which ​is also the region’s largest consumer, imports 65% of its demand. Stocks of jet fuel held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub stood at their lowest since March 2023 last week. [ARA/]

The U.S. is, however, already exporting at record highs – in the week ending April 3, the country exported an estimated 442,000 barrels of jet fuel in total, double the 219,000 barrels averaged last year per data from the Energy Information Administration.

While the U.S. is the top consumer of jet fuel globally, exports to regions with a worse fuel crunch like Europe and Asia were fetching better prices. 

The IEA also added in its monthly report that if European markets are unable to secure more than 50% of volumes lost from the Middle East, then stocks would hit the crucial 23-day stockpile level in June – the level at which physical shortages would begin.

Reporting by Seher Dareen in London; Editing by Aurora Ellis

The temporary measures will complement existing state aid rules and “allow member states to address the specific unexpected, sudden, and significant cost increases,” the draft said

International News via Reuters:

The European Commission plans to propose temporary measures such as grants, subsidies, tax breaks and loans to mitigate the impact of the Iran war on agriculture, fisheries and transport, a draft Commission document seen by Reuters showed.

The Commission is currently consulting member states before it adopts a final version by the end of April. Once adopted, these aid measures will be granted until the end of the year and will cover a portion of up to 50% of extra fuel and fertilizer costs arising from the Iran crisis. 

The temporary measures will complement existing state aid rules and “allow member states to address the specific unexpected, sudden, and significant cost increases,” the draft said. This aid is directed specifically toward businesses in the agricultural, fishery, road transport, and intra-EU short-sea shipping sectors. 

Global fertilizer prices have jumped in recent weeks following the near total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route along Iran’s coast. Much of the world’s fertilizer is made in the Middle East, with one-third of global trade in it sailing through Hormuz. The United Nations warned on Wednesday fertilizer shortages would hit food security and therefore stability in developing nations hardest. 

“In March 2026, the price increase for nitrogen fertiliser in the EU, amid ongoing developments in the Gulf, rose sharply and currently stands around 58% above 2024 averages,” the draft said. 

As reported by Reuters on Monday, the European Commission wants to let countries unleash more public money to help businesses with fuel and fertilizer bills as governments race to offset the ‌economic shock from soaring prices triggered by the Iran war.

The Commission is also due to present a Fertiliser Action Plan this quarter, which aims to improve the availability and affordability of fertilizers for food production and avoid “harmful strategic dependencies”.

Antoine Hoxha, director general at Fertilizers Europe, told Reuters European farmers do not face any fertilizer shortages but they do have an affordability problem.

“Farmers need support. And if the European Union is doing that, it is the right thing to do,” Hoxha said.

Reporting by Alexander Chituc, Editing by Julia Payne and Keith Weir

Global energy supplies are reeling from the war’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, usually a transit route for 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG)

International News via Reuters:

The European Union warned member countries on Wednesday that if the Iran conflict continues, energy markets will face a prolonged supply shock that would force cuts to fuel consumption, EU diplomats told Reuters.

Global energy supplies are reeling from the war’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, usually a transit route for 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Europe has not yet faced supply shortages, but is grappling with soaring oil and gas prices and airports have warned the first jet fuel shortages could hit within weeks.

In a closed-door meeting with EU countries’ ambassadors on Wednesday, the European Commission said it was considering two main scenarios, diplomats with knowledge of the talks said.

A Commission spokesperson declined to comment.

In a scenario where the ceasefire agreed between the U.S. and Iran holds, and the U.S. blockade of the strait is lifted, oil and gas flows would recover in a few months and prices should decline, the Commission said.

Diesel and jet fuel prices would ease later, by the end of summer, while the global market for LNG would remain tightened until 2030, due to damage to infrastructure in Qatar, it added.

But if tensions continue, energy markets would face a prolonged supply shock and extreme price spikes, with ripple effects across industries’ supply chains. Continued oil supply disruption would increasingly force “demand destruction” – meaning reduced fuel use, the Commission said.

In this scenario, Europe could struggle to fill its gas storage ahead of winter. Localised shortages of jet fuel are also possible, the Commission said, according to the diplomats.

Europe’s reliance on oil and gas imports has left it exposed to spiralling global prices – even though its top suppliers are the U.S., Norway and other producers outside the Middle East.

The Commission is drafting proposals to attempt to offset the energy fallout. A draft, previously reported by Reuters, shows plans to cut electricity taxes and seek to scale up clean technologies faster, to slash Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels and protect the bloc from future oil and gas shocks.   

Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Alexander Smith