Noida is among the largest planned industrial townships of Asia and houses thousands of industrial units

International News via Reuters:

Police lobbed tear gas shells and used “minimum force” on Monday to quell a factory workers’ protest in the Indian national capital’s suburb of Noida, which turned violent on its fourth day, with vehicles torched and stones pelted in parts of the satellite city.

Noida is among the largest planned industrial townships of Asia and houses thousands of industrial units.

Living costs across the world have risen as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran curbed fuel supplies. Similar protests in the auto-making state of Haryana last week led to the government ordering a 35% hike in minimum wages.

Vinay Mahoti, 30, who hails from the eastern state of Bihar and works at a hosiery company in Noida, said he initially protested inside his manufacturing unit but later joined workers from other companies who took to the streets.

“Duty hours should be fixed, overtime hours should be paid, and companies…should adhere to the guidelines laid by the federal government,” he said, listing his demands.

Visuals from news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake, showed dozens of protesters marching on the street and chanting slogans, while security personnel in anti-riot gear looked on.

Other visuals showed an overturned vehicle with flames rising out of it, and protesters hurling stones and trying to break through barricades.

Local police said “minimum force” was being used to maintain law and order, while Narendra Kashyap, a lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh state, where Noida is located, called on protesters to discuss their demands with the government.

“Senior police and administrative officials are making persistent efforts to counsel the workers and urge them to maintain peace and restraint,” Gautam Budh Nagar police said in a statement.

($1 = 93.3200 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Janane Venkatraman

A war-driven surge in energy prices worsened already weak conditions seen at the start of 2026 in a sector that has struggled for years

International News via Reuters:

European chemical companies are expected to report weaker first-quarter results, shedding light on how deep the impact from the war in the Middle East has been on an industry largely seen as one of the most exposed to it.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted fuel and feedstock markets, driving up prices for the energy‑intensive chemical industry.

“Compared with other industries, the chemical sector is particularly affected by the dramatic increase in energy and raw material costs, as it predominantly relies on oil and gas as feedstocks,” German chemicals association VCI said.

A war-driven surge in energy prices worsened already weak conditions seen at the start of 2026 in a sector that has struggled for years with subdued demand, high energy costs, supply-chain disruptions and a sluggish broader economy.

COMPANIES HIKE PRICES TO SHIELD MARGINS

To offset higher costs, chemical companies including Brenntag, Wacker Chemie, Lanxess, BASF, Evonik, EMS Chemie and Sika have raised their prices, in some cases multiple times across different products.

The finance chief of Germany’s BASF said during a JPMorgan chemicals conference in March that he expected pricing to more than offset cost inflation in the second quarter of the year, according to a note from the brokerage. Brenntag’s CFO meanwhile said that price increases had so far been accepted by customers.

While rising energy costs are a global issue, higher energy bills combined with an already delayed economic recovery have hit demand harder in Germany and other European countries, said Research Director Martin Gornig from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

Asian rivals, meanwhile, retain an advantage thanks to their structurally lower cost bases that help them cushion the effects of weak demand, mwb Research said in a recent note.

“Higher prices further weaken the competitive position of European producers versus Chinese suppliers,” said industry specialist Anna Wolf from Germany’s Ifo Institute for Economic Research.

VCI said feedback from companies so far had been mixed, as concerns over supply shortages were driving demand in some segments, while others saw dampened purchasing activity due to higher prices.

Analysts warned that any gains may prove fragile and they do not expect pricing alone to drive a meaningful earnings recovery in the near term.

Wolf said volatile prices and rising uncertainty risked weakening demand further. “The recent price increases have been, given the generally weak demand and sluggish business confidence, unexpectedly sharp.”

FAILED US-IRAN TALKS THREATEN CEASEFIRE, PROLONG ENERGY SHOCK

Weekend peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to deliver a deal to end the war, putting a fragile two‑week ceasefire at risk.

The absence of an agreement means Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is likely to persist, driving further increases in oil and gas prices and hitting the chemical industry twice over, Wolf told Reuters.

“The underlying structural crisis runs far deeper than the geopolitical shock alone,” she said.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz were to open, the situation would only improve from “very bad” to “bad”, Wolf said, as issues around high energy costs, inadequate energy transition infrastructure and heavy bureaucratic burdens remain unresolved.

JPMorgan analysts said in a note on Monday that even if the ceasefire holds, the degree of damage to crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical production facilities in the Gulf could cause fluctuations in trading terms and volumes.

Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak

The Hungarian forint surged 2.5% to a more than four-year high against the euro on Monday, while the Budapest stock exchange gained almost 3% in anticipation of the EU funds starting to flow

International News via Reuters:

Hungarians were waking up to a political earthquake on Monday, after a landslide victory for the centre-right opposition reverberated everywhere from Washington to Kyiv, sending local markets surging and turning Budapest into a party zone.

The ballot’s implications stretched far beyond the borders of the landlocked country of under 10 million people, as outgoing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban was a key ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and had frustrated European efforts to aid war-torn Ukraine.

Supporters of election winner Peter Magyar’s Tisza party hope he can unblock billions in European Union funds frozen over concerns about democratic standards, bolster the rule of law and hold those they accuse of wrongdoing under the previous government to account thanks to his two-thirds supermajority. 

“It is an immense honour that you have empowered us to form a government with the most votes ever received, and to work for the next four years for a free, European, functioning, and humane Hungary,” Magyar posted on X on Monday.

The Hungarian forint surged 2.5% to a more than four-year high against the euro on Monday, while the Budapest stock exchange gained almost 3% in anticipation of the EU funds starting to flow.

EU leaders, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump’s Democrat opponents in the United States have all warmly welcomed Magyar’s victory. Orban has blocked a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan to war-battered Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that decision-making in the EU, including with regard to Russia, would become easier after Magyar’s win.

The Kremlin said on Monday Russia respected the choice of Hungarian voters and would continue what it called “pragmatic ties” with the new government in Budapest.

‘WE WANT TO STAY WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION’

In Budapest many residents were recovering from wild celebrations that saw the streets of the capital thronged with revellers well into the early hours.

Among those letting themselves go was Zsolt Hegedus, a leading candidate for health minister, whose dance moves on stage following Magyar’s speech went viral online.

Tisza supporters spoke on Monday morning of their optimism about the end of Orban’s adversarial relations with Brussels.

“We are part of the European Union and we want to stay within the European Union,” said network engineer Gyula Ferenc Teleki.

Magyar has pledged a sweeping anti-corruption drive, including stronger judicial independence and tougher public procurement rules to help secure the release of the EU funds.

On Sunday, Magyar called on Hungary’s chief prosecutor, the heads of the top court and the media authority, and other officials to resign, saying the country’s public institutions had been captured by Orban loyalists over the past 16 years.

“I cannot believe…,” said Peter, who declined to give his surname, his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke about the election result.

“We have so many problems because the Hungarian state is not in good condition, but I think we have many funds from the EU, they will be coming, and maybe the new government has a better way to rule this country.”    

Some conservatives, including a former Polish minister granted asylum in Hungary by Orban, lamented the election result.

“Conservative Poland and Europe have lost a very important bastion,” said Marcin Romanowski, who served in Poland’s previous nationalist Law and Justice government. He is wanted by Polish prosecutors on charges of abuse of power.

Reporting by Anita Komuves, Kristina Than, Anna Lubowicka, Marco Trujillo, Writing by Alan Charlish, Editing by Gareth Jones