The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said food and non-alcoholic drink inflation, previously expected to ease to 3.2% by December 2026, would now climb above 9% by that date
International News via Reuters:
Britain’s food prices will be rising by almost 10% by the end of this year due to the Iran war, the country’s food and drink manufacturers’ lobby warned on Wednesday, around three times faster than its previous forecast.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said food and non-alcoholic drink inflation, previously expected to ease to 3.2% by December 2026, would now climb above 9% by that date.
The FDF, which represents about 12,000 UK food and drink manufacturers, said its forecast assumed Iran’s vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route would reopen to cargo traffic within two to three weeks and that most key facilities, including oil, gas and fertiliser sites, would return to normal within a year.
It suggested that food inflation could rise even further if disruption lasted longer or energy supplies were more severely affected – highlighting the economic risks from the conflict that are prompting central banks to abandon rate cuts and governments to consider ways to help businesses and consumers.
The FDF said the industry was unusually exposed to oil and gas market shocks because of its high energy use and reliance on complex global supply chains.
While many medium-sized and larger companies hedge energy price movements through a mix of contract lengths, the FDF said they were bracing for sharp increases as contracts come up for renewal. Smaller producers, which typically buy energy on spot markets, are already experiencing cost spikes.
“Despite companies’ best efforts not to pass price increases on, it’s clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead,” Liliana Danila, FDF chief economist, said.
The first clear impact of the war on UK household costs has been seen at fuel pumps, where higher energy prices have already pushed up costs for drivers.
Farmers have also warned of higher food prices from next month, starting with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers grown in heated greenhouses.
UK grocery inflation held at 4.3% in the four weeks to March 22, research firm Worldpanel by Numerator reported on Tuesday.
At a press conference aimed at easing public concern over rising costs, Starmer said the impact of the war would “define us for a generation” and could be similar to the increase in energy prices in the 1970s
International News via Reuters:
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that the global instability caused by the Iran warmeans Britain should align more closely with European allies on security and economy, following repeated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.
At a press conference aimed at easing public concern over rising costs, Starmer said the impact of the war would “define us for a generation” and could be similar to the increase in energy prices in the 1970s.
Starmer outlined plans for another summit with the European Union in the coming weeks that he said he hoped would undo some of the “deep damage” done by Brexit.
CLOSER EU PARTNERSHIP
“It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe,” Starmer told reporters in Downing Street.
Trump on Tuesday again criticised European countries that refused to join the war against Iran, calling out Britain and France, as transatlantic relations deteriorate from the conflict that has driven up energy prices.
The president warned Britain and other countries to “start learning how to fight for yourself” because the U.S. “won’t be there to help you anymore”.
After Trump was elected in 2024, Starmer tried to position himself as a conduit between Europe and the United States. But their relationship has publicly deteriorated over Starmer’s refusal to join the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Starmer initially denied a request from the U.S. to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow what he calls defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens.
Asked about Trump’s criticism, Starmer said “the U.S. and UK are close allies and have been for a very, very long time” and he would act in the British national interest “whatever the pressure on me.”
Starmer did not announce any new policies to help households with soaring energy and fuel costs, but he did say that Britain would this week host meetings with allies aimed at opening the Strait of Hormuz, and 35 countries were now involved in efforts.
Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper will host a meeting of the group later this week to assess diplomatic and political measures to reopen the Strait, the prime minister said, but he acknowledged it would not be easy nor immediate following de-escalation in the conflict.
Reporting by Sarah Young, Andrew MacAskill, Sam Tabahriti, editing by Catarina Demony, Michael Holden, Alexandra Hudson
Collision at Overview Hill and North Shore Road; diversions in place
There has been a serious two vehicle road traffic collision involving a motorcycle and a motorcar, near the junction of Overview Hill and North Shore Road, Pembroke.
The motorcycle was traveling west along North Shore Road, when it was in collision with the motorcar.
The male Motorcycle rider is said to have sustained serious head injuries. He was attended to at the scene by Emergency Medical Services personnel and was subsequently transported by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for further treatment.
The motorcar driver sustained minor injuries.
The roadway is now closed to vehicular traffic with diversions in place at Berkeley Road and North Shore Road as well as at Blackwatch Pass and North Shore Road.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and use alternative routes to get to their destinations.
No road closures planned; plan alternate routes and exercise caution
The Ministry of Public Works and Environment advises the public that the Ed Sherlock 8k Run/Walk will take place on Saturday, 4 April 2026 between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m.
The event will affect roads in the South Road, Camp Road, Spice Hill Road, Camp Hill Road and Middle Road areas, with race marshals managing traffic along the route. There will be no road closures for this event.
Motorists are encouraged to plan accordingly, use caution, and follow the directions of race marshals during the event.
FAR drops to 13.784 cents per kWh following fixed-price fuel purchases and regulator approval
Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited (BELCO) today advised that following approval by the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda, the Fuel Adjustment Rate (FAR) will decrease effective April 1, 2026.
As of April 1, the FAR will decrease from 13.799 cents per kilowatt-hour for the period January 1 to March 31, 2026, to 13.784 cents per kilowatt-hour for the period April 1 to June 30, 2026. This reduction is driven by BELCO’s fuel procurement strategy, which has allowed the company to offset a portion of the current rise in global oil prices and the elimination of the government tax on fuel in the 2026/27 Budget.
To manage fuel price volatility, BELCO systematically purchases a meaningful portion of its future fuel needs at fixed prices, timed to coincide with expected deliveries. These fixed-price fuel contracts are central to BELCO’s rate stabilisation efforts and provide customers with real protection from market volatility. When oil prices spike sharply, as they have in recent weeks due to the conflict in the Middle East, the impact on customer bills is cushioned and delayed rather than immediate.
BELCO President Wayne Caines said: “Keeping energy costs as affordable as possible for our customers is a priority, and reducing the FAR is one part of that broader commitment. The FAR is a pass-through rate and BELCO recovers what it spends on fuel and nothing more, so our focus is on managing what we can control, which is how and when we purchase that fuel. Our procurement strategy is designed specifically to protect customers from the kind of sharp price movements we are seeing in global oil markets right now, and it is working. We are also pleased that the government’s decision to eliminate the fuel tax has provided further relief. We will continue to do everything we can to keep the FAR as stable as possible for our customers.”
BELCO customers can learn more about the FAR and ways to reduce their bill at www.belco.bm
The two peacekeepers with the UNIFIL force were killed on Monday near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon and two other soldiers were wounded
International News via Reuters:
A roadside explosion appears to have struck the convoy of two Indonesian peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday, citing initial findings of an investigation.
The two peacekeepers with the UNIFIL force were killed on Monday near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon and two other soldiers were wounded. Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group’s positions.
“UNIFIL is conducting investigations to determine the circumstances of these reprehensible developments,” Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Lebanon, where a new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah erupted on March 2.
Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, blamed the deaths of the three peacekeepers on Hezbollah. He charged that the group launches rockets from villages next to U.N. positions, “putting peacekeepers directly in the line of fire.”
Asked about Danon’s statement, UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said: “We invite them to share their evidence with our investigative team.”
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a briefing a “roadside bomb, most likely an IED,” or improvised explosive device, was to blame for the Bani Hayyan incident.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the killing of the peacekeepers, saying that such attacks were “grave violations of international humanitarian law… and may amount to war crimes.”
“There will need to be accountability,” he added in a statement.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms”, adding that they reflected the deteriorating security environment in the region. It said that ongoing Israeli military operations have placed U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon at grave risk.
U.S. envoy to the U.N. Mike Waltz told the Security Council meeting that since 1978, more than 300 UNIFIL peacekeepers had been killed, showing that the council “must think very carefully about the effectiveness of this effort.”
“We can help refocus international efforts on supporting Lebanese state institutions, reducing risk to peacekeepers, and pressing Hezbollah and Iran to cease their destabilizing activities,” he said.
In line with a Security Council decision, UNIFIL will cease operations at the end of 2026 and withdraw in 2027. As of March, UNIFIL had 7,505 peacekeepers from 47 nations.
Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Editing by David Ljunggren, Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman
Ahead of the royal visit, we take a brief look at the life of Bermuda’s de facto head of state
The King is coming to Bermuda.
…but who is the man, and the monarch, that we are going to welcome?
77 year-old Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms, has spent most of his life as heir to the throne.
His 64 years as Prince of Wales, the traditional title given to the male heir-apparent, is the longest any heir has held the title.
Upon the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, he was also the oldest person to accede to the British throne, aged 73.
Throughout his life, King Charles has been an advocate for environmental issues, a critic of modern architecture, and a proponent of inter-faith dialogue.
However, for decades media attention was primarily on his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and its breakdown through the 1990s.
Charles’ public image was severely damaged after his admission of infidelity in 1994, and his divorce from Diana in 1996.
Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who he had courted in the early 1970s before he had met Diana, and they rekindled the relationship in the later part of his first marriage.
In the 21st Century, Charles has been extremely active in representing the Crown, completing nearly 11-thousand engagements between 2002 and 2022.
Since his coronation in 2022, he and Queen Camilla have continued their international engagements, postponed at times following his cancer diagnosis.
Perhaps King Charles’ most notable action over the last year is the stripping of his brother Andrew’s titles, including his princeship, following investigations into the latter’s connection with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
King Charles’ upcoming visit to the United States is not without its critics.
After US President Donald Trump criticised the UK Government for its unwillingness to actively support his war against Iran, Ed Davey, Leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrat party, said a state visit should not be “given to someone who repeatedly insults and damages our country”.
Nevertheless, King Charles and Queen Camilla are scheduled to be in the US late April, after which the King will continue to Bermuda – his first visit to the island since 1970, the first Sovereign visit since Queen Elizabeth in 2009, and the first ever visit to Bermuda by a reigning King.
The report said that a joint statement will be issued by the two leaders, which will express concern over export restrictions on critical minerals
International News via Reuters:
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to agree to create a roadmap for diversifying supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday.
The report said that a joint statement will be issued by the two leaders, which will express concern over export restrictions on critical minerals.
The Japanese and French governments aim to start a public-private project in southwestern France at year-end to refine heavy rare earths used in electric vehicle motors and other technologies, the Nikkei report said.
The countries will also seek cooperation in space, with Japanese and French companies expected to sign memorandums of understanding on 12 joint projects, including space debris removal and rocket launches.
Reporting by Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber
In total, Mercedes-Benz said it plans to invest more than $7 billion in U.S. operations in the coming years
International News via Reuters:
German automaker Mercedes-Benz said on Tuesday it will invest $4 billion at its Alabama plant through 2030 to boost SUV production as it seeks to address significant U.S. auto tariffs.
In total, Mercedes-Benz said it plans to invest more than $7 billion in U.S. operations in the coming years. The company is moving up to 500 jobs from various locations across the country into a new, state-of-the-art research and development hub in Atlanta.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese
The White House has been pushing to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the United States, which has traditionally paid significantly more than other wealthy countries
International News via Reuters:
Drugmakers are delaying launches of some new medicines in Europe as the industry grapples with U.S. pressure and pricing policy shifts from President Donald Trump, according to executives, an industry trade group and data shared with Reuters.
The White House has been pushing to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the United States, which has traditionally paid significantly more than other wealthy countries. Trump says the industry has been unfair to U.S. consumers and has sought to tie the cost for Americans to what is paid elsewhere, including in Europe, known as most-favoured-nation pricing.
That has led drugmakers to press pause on bringing some medicines to European markets, where health spending is lower, to avoid pulling down prices in the $700 billion U.S. market. It has also created a complex balancing act for CEOs and Europe’s healthcare policy makers.
“We’re seeing first signs of delayed introductions into Europe,” said Stefan Oelrich, president of trade body the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations and a senior executive at Bayer.
He said it was “a consequence of uncertainty around what that ultimately does to U.S. pricing.”
New drug launches in Europe have fallen sharply since the U.S. introduced international reference pricing in May, according to market research firm GlobalData, echoing comments from industry executives and officials.
Drug launches in EU markets fell by some 35% in the 10 months since Trump’s executive order, compared with the previous 10 months, a GlobalData analysis found. Delaying launches at lower EU prices could help secure higher U.S. prices for longer.
In Europe, governments negotiate the prices paid by their national health systems, keeping costs down. The U.S. has a complex system in which drugmakers negotiate prices with insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and others, along with offering rebates and discounts from list prices.
TRUMP’S ARRIVAL HITS PHARMA STRATEGIES
Lionel Collet, head of France’s HAS health authority, said drugmakers were increasingly deferring decisions on France’s early-access pathway, which allows patients to receive some medicines before formal approval. Applications for early access before marketing approval have fallen sharply over the last year.
“The arrival of Trump has altered companies’ strategy of how they put products on the market,” he said, adding the number of HAS early-access decisions fell to 10 last year from 25 in 2024.
France is among Europe’s lowest-priced medicines markets, with prices around a third of the United States, he said. Prices in France and Germany tend to in turn affect how other European countries set prices.
“Manufacturers all talk to me about Trump, since the autumn. It’s all about the policy in the U.S. and what it means for Europe,” Collet said.
U.S. drugmaker Insmed said in February it postponed the Germany launch of its anti-inflammatory drug Brinsupri due to uncertainty over U.S. pricing plans.
“We want clarity on the MFN policies,” CEO William Lewis said on an earnings call. “It seems to us that the prudent thing to do is to sort of put things on hold until we know what that’s going to look like.”
The drug won European approval in November but has yet to launch in the region. The company began selling it immediately in the U.S. after receiving FDA approval in August. Over 90% of drugs approved in 2025 first launched in the U.S., with most still not available elsewhere.
The European Commission was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.
NEW LAUNCHES LIKE ‘PLAYING CHESS’ WITH A BLINDFOLD
Executives at Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis and Britain’s AstraZeneca have in the last year criticized European drug pricing and incentives for innovation, calling for more spending.
AstraZeneca executive Ruud Dobber said Europe risked falling behind the U.S. and China because of governments’ approach to valuing medicines.
Europe spends some 1% of GDP on pharmaceuticals, compared with 2% in the United States and 1.8% in China. It has lost ground in research and development investment, clinical trials and launching of innovative therapies, according to lobby group EFPIA.
Some companies have even pulled their drugs from European markets. California-based Amgen withdrew its cholesterol drug Repatha from Denmark, citing prices and a “changed environment”, without directly citing MFN. Indivior pulled anti-addiction drugs Subutex and Suboxone from Sweden and other markets, also without directly citing U.S. pricing.
Boston-based healthcare lawyer Ron Lanton said the uncertainty around U.S. pricing benchmarks and enforcement was complicating things for companies with their investors.
“You have to tell your shareholders exactly how much money you expect to earn from this new launch. And none of that’s clear,” Lanton said. Launching drugs in Europe has stalled, he said, because it’s like “playing a game of chess” wearing a “blindfold”.
“I’m not surprised that things are going to be launched a lot slower,” he said.
Reporting by Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Bill Berkrot
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
