United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday that his office was in “survival mode” due to major funding cuts from global donors, while rights violations and needs in conflict-affected areas surge

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United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday that his office was in “survival mode” due to major funding cuts from global donors, while rights violations and needs in conflict-affected areas surge.

“Our resources have been slashed, along with funding for human rights organisations – including at the grassroots level – around the world. We are in survival mode,” the high commissioner for the U.N. human rights office (OHCHR) told reporters.

OHCHR has $90 million less in funding than it needed this year, which resulted in 300 jobs cuts, directly impacting the office’s work, Turk said.

“Essential work has had to be cut, including on Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Tunisia and other countries at a time when the needs are rising,” Turk said.

He said country visits by UN special rapporteurs, who are independent experts, as well as investigative missions by fact-finding bodies have been reduced, while dialogues with states on their compliance with UN human rights treaties have had to be postponed, with the number of state parties reviews falling to 103 from 145.

“All this has extensive ripple effects on international and national efforts to protect human rights,” Turk said, pointing to grave human rights concerns in Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine.

“I am extremely worried that we might see in Kordofan a repeat of the atrocities that have been committed in al-Fashir,” he said, referring to the conflict in Sudan.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took over Darfur’s city of al-Fashir in late October in one of its biggest gains of the two-and-a-half-year war with Sudan’s army. This month, advances have continued eastward into the Kordofan region, and they seized the country’s biggest oil field.

Russia’s increased use of powerful long-range weapons had driven a sharp rise in civilian casualties in Ukraine – with these rising 24% from the same period last year, he said.

Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin Editing by Madeline Chambers, Miranda Murray

Airbus remains ahead of its U.S. rival in deliveries and the pipeline of outstanding orders

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Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury conceded likely defeat in the annual order race against Boeing on Wednesday, saying it was possible Boeing would win for the first time in six years, helped by settlements over U.S. tariff disputes.

Airbus remains ahead of its U.S. rival in deliveries and the pipeline of outstanding orders, Faury told France Inter.

Buoyed by strong demand for its 787 long-haul jet, Boeing on Wednesday posted 908 net orders after cancellations between January and November, compared with 700 for Airbus.

“The fact that we have been ahead on orders for five years means our order backlog is much higher than that of our main competitor,” Faury told the French radio station.

“But it is true that they have been helped by the American president as part of tariff negotiations with several countries, where plane orders became part of the resolution of trade disputes.”

TRADE TENSIONS WITH US SUPPORT BOEING ORDERS

Analysts say several airlines either placed Boeing orders or timed previously planned order announcements to soothe trade tensions with the United States this year, particularly in Asia.

U.S. industry officials say the long-haul 787 is selling well regardless of trade matters. Airbus is leading on smaller jets, such as the A321.

Airbus orders have lagged for months, but Faury’s comments confirm a probable change in the ranking for new business, while Airbus is expected to retain its title as the world’s largest manufacturer through higher deliveries.

Asked about reports of a large pending order from China, Faury said he did not expect an imminent new order for hundreds of jets but spoke of clearances for previous orders.

On Wednesday, Airbus said it had secured Chinese agreement to go ahead with the delivery of 120 previously ordered jets.

Industry sources have said Airbus was banking on an order for up to 500 jets from China to meet its internal order goals. Beijing is in negotiations with Boeing for a similar package.

With China locked in fraught trade relations with the United States and Europe, Western analysts say it is expected to maintain a broad balance in jet imports to meet its growth after several years in which it was largely absent from the market.

China’s state buying agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Faury said a major software recall affecting 6,000 jets in the A320 family, which includes the A321, had been completed. The final number of jets needing attention was closer to 4,000 and all have now been fixed, he told France Inter.

Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis

The recommendations, the result of a compromise between different European Union countries, would merge the systemic risk buffer (SyRB) and countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB)

International News via Reuters:

The European Central Bank will propose simplifying rules on capital buffers required of banks, pruning some of the complex regulation put in place after the global financial crisis, two sources familiar with the proposals told Reuters.

The list of measures that ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos will present to reporters on Thursday aims for fewer, rather than lower, requirements for the amount of capital lenders must hold to cushion themselves against potential shocks.

That is a more conservative approach than regulators in Britain and the United States have taken recently and may disappoint bankers who had been hoping for more respite.

The recommendations, the result of a compromise between different European Union countries, would merge the systemic risk buffer (SyRB) and countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB), two separate capital requirements set by national supervisors, said the two sources. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still confidential.

A spokesperson for the ECB declined to comment.

STRONG REGULATION SUPPORTS RATINGS

Financial experts said simplification was more than welcome as the current system has become too complex but this should not lead to banks having to hold less capital.

“The strong regulation is a key factor supporting the ratings of European banks,” said Marco Troiano, a director at Scope Ratings.

“The messaging from the ECB has been very consistent so far, that there is room to simplify the framework, but that this should not lead to less capital at a system level. I welcome this approach,” he said.

The ECB recommendations will next go to the executive European Commission, which shares the power to propose changes to EU legislation with the European Parliament and Council, on which member states sit.

Such changes would take years and could reopen long-standing debates over how far Europe should go in loosening regulations designed to shield taxpayers from having to bail out ailing banks.

BANKERS ARGUED THE RULES WERE TOO COMPLEX

The SyRB and CCyB buffers were introduced by the 27-nation EU as part of a post-crisis overhaul aimed at preventing another banking sector meltdown like that seen in 2007-2008.

Bankers complain these rules are too complex and put them at a disadvantage to U.S. peers, particularly at a time when Donald Trump’s U.S. administration is leading a drive to deregulate.

U.S. regulators on Friday scrapped guidance aimed at curbing leveraged lending, which has helped shift business to lightly regulated private-credit funds.

The Bank of England last week cut its estimate of how much capital lenders need to hold – its first reduction since the crisis – in a bid to boost credit and support growth, although it left its countercyclical capital buffer unchanged.

The ECB report, capping months of work by a task force on simplifying regulation, will back the idea of cutting down requirements to just two types – those that can be released at times of stress and those that banks must keep at all times.

The task force will also propose reviewing rules for small lenders and harmonising the data banks report to supervisors, resolution authorities and statistical offices, aiming to lower compliance costs.

NO APPETITE FOR REDUCING OVERALL REQUIREMENTS

The SyRB allows national regulators to demand extra capital where they see risks not covered by other requirements.

Merging it with the CCyB – which is designed to curb credit booms – would cut the number of requirements without necessarily reducing overall demands. How much capital banks will need under the combined buffer will still depend on national supervisors.

A third source familiar with the ECB’s thinking said the simplification effort was focused on removing the duplication of rules but there was very limited appetite for reducing overall capital requirements.

The SyRB currently ranges from just 0.5% in countries like the Czech Republic and Italy to 7% in Denmark, and can be applied across the board or just to some types of loans, such as real estate.

The ECB recommendations reflect a compromise among euro zone authorities but show the lack of consensus in other areas, the sources added.

France had pushed for simplifying requirements governing how much capital Europe’s seven biggest lenders – four of which are French – must have to absorb losses if they fail.

Germany, where regional and smaller lenders still make up nearly half of the total, wanted lighter treatment for those banks and stricter reliance on equity, rather than convertible bonds, for fulfilling some requirements.

Neither idea won enough support and will appear only as options in the report.

Additional reporting by Andres Gonzalez in London; Editing by Mark John, Elisa Martinuzzi and Catherine Evans