Swiss authorities have been searching for explanations for the blaze, which tore through the “Le Constellation” bar in the early hours of January 1

International News via Reuters:

The Swiss bar where 40 people were killed in a fire at the New Year had not been subjected to any annual safety inspections since 2019, the mayor of the ski resort of Crans-Montana said on Tuesday.

Swiss authorities have been searching for explanations for the blaze, which tore through the “Le Constellation” bar in the early hours of January 1. Most of the victims were teenagers.

“We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud told reporters, adding that bars in the town are meant to have such inspections each year.

Prosecutors have said the fire was likely caused by sparkling candles igniting the ceiling of the bar’s basement, which was covered in a foam material used for soundproofing.

SPARKLER CANDLES BANNED

Feraud said the “Le Constellation” had passed its last inspection in 2019. The soundproof foam on its ceiling was considered acceptable at the time, and a fire alarm was not required due to the bar’s size.

“There were never any checks on this soundproofing foam. Our security agents did not consider it necessary,” Feraud said.

He said the law does not oblige authorities to verify such materials, but “the courts will have to determine whether this should have been done regardless”.

Authorities are investigating the two people who ran the bar on suspicion of crimes including homicide by negligence. On Sunday, police said circumstances did not currently merit them being put under arrest, and they did not see a flight risk.

Feraud said authorities had closed another venue run by the pair and that sparkler candles that likely triggered the blaze have now been banned inside the town’s venues.

TWO EXITS

In addition to the 40 dead, at least 116 people were injured. The large number of victims has led to questions about whether the bar was overcrowded.

Feraud said its maximum capacity was 200 people, with emergency exits designed to cater for 100 people on each of its two levels. He said he did not know if the downstairs exit was working that night and that investigators would determine this.

Inspections were also conducted at the bar in 2016 and 2018, authorities said. Before then, the building that houses it sat in a different municipality, Feraud said, pointing to Crans-Montana’s creation in 2017 from a merger of four municipalities.

Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Umit Bektas in Crans-Montana, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike Heine, Dave Graham, Peter Graff

Italy and France last month dashed hopes for a December deal, saying they were not ready to support it until farmer fears of an influx of cheap commodities from Mercosur, such as beef and sugar, were resolved

International News via Reuters:

The European Union has convened EU agriculture ministers for last-minute talks on Wednesday to convince Italy and other wavering member countries to sign up to a contentious free trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur.

Italy and France last month dashed hopes for a December deal, saying they were not ready to support it until farmer fears of an influx of cheap commodities from Mercosur, such as beef and sugar, were resolved.

All 27 EU agriculture ministers have been invited to the meeting at the Commission, the EU presidency holder Cyprus said on Tuesday, although it was not clear yet how many would attend.

European commissioners for agriculture, trade and health are expected to give reassurances over future funding for farmers under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy including a 6.3 billion euro ($7.4 billion) crisis fund in the next EU budget.

The Commission’s move to merge regional cohesion funds and CAP money in the next seven-year budget alarmed farming nations.

They will also review import controls, including permissible maximum levels of pesticide residues, two EU diplomats said.

“It is a critical moment to discuss demands from farmers,” one of the diplomats said, adding that the Commission was expected to send a letter to members setting out income support for farmers.

WOOING EU MEMBERS FOR SUPPORT

The EU executive, supported by EU-Mercosur proponents such as Germany and Spain, is seeking to garner the broad majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population required to authorise the EU signature, possibly as early as January 12.

They say the accord, which has been 25 years in the making and would be the EU’s largest in terms of tariff reductions, is vital to boosting exports hit by U.S. import taxes and to reduce reliance on China by securing access to critical minerals.

With Poland and Hungary opposed to the deal and France critical, the position of Italy will be a key determinant of whether the deal can be signed. A vote is expected on Friday.

The Commission had held discussions with member states over the past two weeks and the bloc was on track to sign the agreement soon, a spokesperson for the executive said.

Italy is not opposed to the deal, two Italian sources told Reuters on Tuesday, but wanted assurances – notably on reciprocity – so that imported farm products meet EU health and environmental standards. These were due to be discussed on Wednesday.

A second EU diplomat said Italy was not yet fully on board.

($1 = 0.8538 euros)

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Julia Payne in Brussels, Giselda Vagnoni in Rome; editing by Mark Heinrich

The European Steel Using Industries said the measures “go too far in ring-fencing the European market”.

International News via Reuters:

Safeguards proposed by the European Union to protect EU steel mills from the impact of imports would lead to crippling price hikes for European manufacturers, a lobby group representing European steel-using industries said on Tuesday.

The European Steel Using Industries, a group of lobbies representing manufacturers of goods from cars and home appliances to agricultural machinery, said the measures “go too far in ring-fencing the European market”.

“We urge EU policymakers to ensure a more careful and balanced approach in the legislative process to adopt the measure, which must… adequately reflect the significant concerns and challenges faced by European steel users,” it said.

The European Commission has proposed cutting tariff-free steel import quotas by almost half and a 50% duty for excess shipments in a bid to preserve viable steelmaking in the EU.

The European manufacturers using steel said protection for local mills could cost them between 5 billion euros ($5.86 billion) and 9 billion euros in extra tariff costs each year.

The Commission estimates a 3.25% price increase on steel on average, but steel buyers said they estimate prices could rise up to 30%, which they said would hurt their competitiveness in their respective international markets.

Due to rising imports and U.S. tariffs, EU steel producers were operating at only 67% of capacity, and the new measures are designed to push that towards 80%.

The Commission proposed a tariff-free import volume of 18.3 metric tons a year, down 47% from 2024 quotas, and a doubling of the out-of-quota duty to 50%.

The EU Commission and the countries with the largest steel industries fear the tariff-free imports would harm domestic producers.

Car manufacturers and countries selling steel in the EU such as Britain criticized the measure back in October.

($1 = 0.8529 euros)

Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Jan Harvey

The product recall, which began on a smaller scale in December, is another challenge for new Nestle CEO Philipp Navratil, who is trying to kickstart growth with a portfolio review after a period of management turmoil

International News via Reuters:

Nestle said on Tuesday it is recalling some batches of its key infant nutrition products, including SMA, BEBA and NAN infant and follow-on formulas, across Europe due to potential contamination with a toxin that could cause nausea and vomiting.

The product recall, which began on a smaller scale in December, is another challenge for new Nestle CEO Philipp Navratil, who is trying to kickstart growth with a portfolio review after a period of management turmoil.

The company, which makes products ranging from KitKat to Nescafe, said late on Monday that no illnesses or symptoms have been confirmed that were tied to any of the recalled products.

After a quality issue was detected in an ingredient from a leading supplier, “Nestle has undertaken testing of all arachidonic acid oil and corresponding oil mixes used in the production of its potentially impacted infant nutrition products,” a Nestle spokesperson said.

LARGEST RECALL IN NESTLE HISTORY, SAYS AUSTRIAN MINISTRY

Nestle holds almost a quarter of the world’s $92.2 billion infant nutrition market, according to analysis firm SkyQuest Technology Group.

The company does not publish specific sales data, but infant formula is part of the company’s Nutrition and Health Science division, which made up 16.6% of the Swiss company’s total sales of 91.4 billion Swiss francs ($115.35 billion) in 2024. 

Nestle recalled batches of its SMA, BEBA and NAN products in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and Britain, warning of the possible presence of cereulide, a toxin produced by some strains of the Bacillus cereus bacterium.

The toxin “is unlikely to be deactivated or destroyed by cooking, using boiling water or when making the infant milk,” said Britain’s Food Standards Agency. “If consumed it can lead to rapid onset of symptoms,” which include nausea, vomiting or abdominal cramps.

Norway’s food safety agency said there was no acute health risk. 

RECALL AFFECTS OVER 800 NESTLE PRODUCTS, SAYS MINISTRY

Austria’s health ministry said the recall affected more than 800 products from more than 10 Nestle factories and that it was the largest product recall in the company’s history.

A Nestle spokesperson could not verify those figures.

Nestle published batch numbers for products sold in various countries that should not be consumed and said it was working to minimise any potential supply disruption. 

It said it had identified the potential risk at one of its factories in the Netherlands. 

($1 = 0.7924 Swiss francs)

Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Oliver Hirt in Zurich; Editing by Alexander Smith and Bernadette Baum