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Louvre museum to add 100 external cameras by 2026 after heist exposed security flaws

Laurence Des Cars also told a National Assembly hearing that ties with Paris police would be tightened with the installation of an “advanced police station within the Louvre’s estate”

International News via Reuters:

France’s Louvre Museum will install 100 external cameras by the end of 2026 as part of measures to tighten security after last month’s spectacular heist, its director said on Wednesday.

Laurence Des Cars also told a National Assembly hearing that ties with Paris police would be tightened with the installation of an “advanced police station within the Louvre’s estate”.

The daylight October 19 robbery, in which four robbers made off with jewels worth $102 million, has raised doubts over the credibility of the world’s most-visited museum as a guardian for its myriad works.

While investigators have charged four suspects accused of involvement in the raid, the treasures have yet to be recovered.

Officials have admitted there was inadequate security camera coverage of the outside walls of the museum and no cover of the balcony involved in the break-in.

After the robbery, French officials said the Louvre would introduce extra security, including anti-intrusion devices and anti-vehicle ramming barriers on nearby public roads, by the end of the year.

A report published last month by France’s public audit body, known as the Cour des Comptes, said the museum’s inability to update its infrastructure was exacerbated by excessive spending on artwork.

Des Cars, however, told lawmakers: “I fully take responsibility for these acquisitions, which are the pride of our country and our collections. Work at the Louvre should not be seen as competing with the enrichment of national collections.”

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Alex Richardson

Motorcyclist injured in early-morning collision

Police advise motorists to avoid Brunswick Street as officers process the scene

Image: Bermuda Police Service

Press statement from the Bermuda Police Service:

Shortly after 6:00 a.m. this morning, 19 November 2025, police and other first responders attended a road traffic collision involving a motorcycle and a van in the area of Brunswick Street, City of Hamilton.

The male motorcyclist was transported to King Edward Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the accident. The severity of his injuries is unknown at this time.

Police are currently processing the scene out of an abundance of caution. Motorists traveling through the city in the vicinity of the collision are advised to use alternative routes until the scene has been cleared.

Bubble or breakout? Nvidia earnings put AI boom under the microscope

Three years after ChatGPT’s debut, investors are increasingly uneasy that the AI boom has outrun fundamentals

International News via Reuters:

The fate of Wall Street’s staggering bets on artificial intelligence will rest squarely on Nvidia on Wednesday when the chipmaker reports results, with investors seeking signs that bubble worries are overblown.

Three years after ChatGPT’s debut, investors are increasingly uneasy that the AI boom has outrun fundamentals. Some business leaders have noted that circular deals – where one partner props up another’s revenue – add to the bubble risk.

A few large investors have dumped some of their AI holdings, stoking fears that a market selloff is imminent. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s hedge fund sold its entire stake in Nvidia in the third quarter, as has SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, although he has plowed those returns into a massive bet on OpenAI.

Doubts have pushed Nvidia shares down 7.9% so far in November, after a 1,200% surge in the past three years. The broader market has declined 2.5% this month.

“With every quarter that goes by, Nvidia earnings become more important in terms of clarification on where AI is moving and how much spending is being done,” said Brian Stutland, chief investment officer of Nvidia investor Equity Armor Investments.

Notwithstanding bubble fears, demand for Nvidia’s chips remains strong, with cloud giants including Microsoft investing billions in AI data centers.

CHIP DEMAND IS STRONG, BUT VALUE IS DEPRECIATING

Nvidia is likely to report a more than 56% jump in its fiscal August-October quarter revenue to $54.92 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG, a far cry from the triple-digit growth it witnessed for many quarters as it faces tougher comparisons. The company has surpassed expectations for the past 12 quarters, though the delta has shrunk.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last month the company has $500 billion in bookings for its advanced chips through 2026. 

“The old Wall Street adage ‘one stock does not a market make’ – that would be incorrect here,” said Neil Azous, portfolio manager of the actively managed Monopoly ETF that holds Nvidia shares. “Nvidia has the ability to make a market.” 

But Nvidia’s chips are central to “Big Short” investor Michael Burry’s bet against the company. Burry, who recently shut his hedge fund, argued that large cloud providers were artificially boosting earnings by extending the depreciable life of AI compute gear, such as Nvidia’s chips.

Nvidia now updates chips annually, making older models appear obsolete faster, even as the resale market thrives. 

MORE COMPLEX PROCESSES, MARGIN PRESSURE

For now, Nvidia is struggling to supply enough chips.

While contract chipmaker TSMC is adding advanced-packaging capacity to overcome a key bottleneck and plans to keep expanding through 2026, Nvidia is also rolling out more complex and larger systems that bundle graphics processors, central processing units, networking gear and a range of cooling options.

That, in addition to the ongoing ramp-up of its top-of-the-line Blackwell chips and upcoming Rubin processors, has burdened margins. Nvidia is expected to report that its adjusted gross margin shrunk nearly 2 percentage points from the year-ago period to 73.6% in the third quarter. Net income likely grew 53% to $29.54 billion.

Investors are watching to see how big AI deals including Nvidia’s $100 billion investment in OpenAI and $5 billion stake in chipmaker Intel will affect its balance sheet. Nvidia had cash and cash equivalents of $11.64 billion as of July 27.

China is another overhang. Nvidia cannot ship its most advanced chips there under U.S. export curbs and Huang has said there are “no active discussions” on selling Blackwell in the market despite speculation of a possible deal for a scaled-down version. 

Nvidia stripped China from its forecast for advanced processors last quarter. 

Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Anil D’Silva

China underground church pastors arrested, face up to 3 years in jail, NGO head says

Nearly 30 pastors and staff belonging to Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the government, were detained by police nationwide in mid-October

International News via Reuters:

Eighteen leaders of a major Chinese underground church were formally arrested on Tuesday, a Christian NGO advocate told Reuters, meaning they will eventually face trial and a potential prison sentence of up to three years.

Nearly 30 pastors and staff belonging to Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the government, were detained by police nationwide in mid-October, Reuters earlier reported, in the biggest crackdown on Chinese Christians since 2018.

The group, which includes church founder Pastor Jin Mingri, is being held in detention centres in the southern city of Beihai.

Beihai police could not be reached by telephone for comment. China’s ministry of public security did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Five people were released in October and a further four support staff were released on bail around November 10, Grace Jin, the daughter of Jin Mingri, told Reuters.

The remaining 18 detainees were formally arrested and charged with the crime of “illegally using information networks”, said Bob Fu, the founder of Christian NGO ChinaAid, who is in close contact with relatives of the detained pastors and Zion Church leadership.

The crime carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

After a criminal suspect is detained in China, their formal arrest marks the beginning of a criminal investigation leading to trial, a process which could take over a year in complex cases.

Jin, 56, was able to meet his lawyer on October 14, after the case started receiving foreign media attention, Grace Jin said. She previously told Reuters that her family was worried about the health of her father, who requires medication for diabetes, and the detainees’ access to lawyers.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the detentions and called for the immediate release of the group last month.

The crackdown on Zion Church came a month after new rules from China’s top religion regulator banned unauthorised online preaching or religious training by clergy, as well as “foreign collusion”.

China has more than 44 million Christians registered with state-sanctioned churches, the majority Protestant, official figures show. But tens of millions more are estimated to be part of illegal “house churches” that operate outside the control of the ruling Communist Party, according to thinktanks and NGOs.

Zion Church, with about 5,000 regular worshippers across nearly 50 cities, rapidly added members during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom sermons and small in-person gatherings. The church was founded by Jin, also known as Ezra, in 2007, after he quit as a pastor for the official state-controlled Protestant church.

A graduate of the elite Peking University, Jin converted to Christianity after witnessing the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, a spokesperson for the church has said.

In 2018, police shut down its church building in Beijing, during a crackdown on major house churches. Earlier this year, police temporarily detained 11 Zion Church pastors, a church spokesperson previously told Reuters.

Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

Sterling eases after UK inflation, dollar rises ahead of Nvidia results

In the meantime, the yen hit a 10-month low against the dollar after a meeting between Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and key government ministers on Wednesday

International News via Reuters:

Sterling edged lower on Wednesday after British consumer price inflation fell in October as expected, raising expectations the Bank of England will cut rates next month, while the dollar edged higher ahead of Nvidia’s earnings release and key U.S. data.

In the meantime, the yen hit a 10-month low against the dollar after a meeting between Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and key government ministers on Wednesday, including Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who said government was closely watching the market “with a high sense of urgency”.

Britain’s consumer price inflation fell to 3.6% in October, from September’s joint 18-month high of 3.8%, as expected by the BoE and economists polled by Reuters, official figures showed on Wednesday.

BOE EXPECTED TO CUT RATES IN DECEMBER

The data cemented expectations that the BoE could cut interest rates in December.

“With the (UK) labour market softening more than expected, GDP growth weaker than the BoE projected, and underlying inflation tracking a little lower than BoE expectations, we think Governor (Andrew) Bailey will feel more confident about cutting Bank Rate below 4%,” said Deutsche Bank chief UK economist Sanjay Raja.

Sterling was down 0.17% against the dollar at 1.3121, briefly touching its lowest since Friday, when British markets were whipped around as speculation swirled around the highly-anticipated November 26 budget.

Elsewhere, investors struggled for direction, while U.S. agencies were clearing a backlog of data after a prolonged government shutdown.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, edged 0.15% higher at 99.75. 

The yen eased 0.4% to 156.15, its lowest against the dollar since January.

The dollar had strengthened alongside demand for Treasury bonds even as odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut fell, which likely indicated safe-haven buying, analysts said.

“We’re heading into very important releases in the U.S., so naturally there’s a bit of wait-and-see momentum, although the momentum seems to be in favour of the dollar,” said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING.

“I think this mostly reflects a combination of safe-haven flows, to some extent, and then the markets remain a bit sceptical about the possibility of the Fed pricing in December.”

Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 47% probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the December 10 meeting, compared with a 42.4% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, saying “I’d love to get the guy currently in there out… but people are holding me back”. Powell’s term as Fed chair is up in May.

PIVOTAL MOMENT

FX investors were also keeping eyes on earnings reports as chip giant Nvidia was due to release its third-quarter results later in the day.

Global equity markets have been hit hard this week, with the S&P 500 on a four-day losing streak on concerns about valuations of AI stocks.

“Today we have this Nvidia earnings, so those will be probably the pivotal moment for equities,” ING’s Pesole said.

“It’s not a very common thing to happen, that one earnings release has major impacts on the FX market. If those are extremely good or extremely bad, then obviously it will be a very meaningful impact,” he said.

U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS SURGE

Adding to the sense of market anxiety, initial jobless claims data released on Tuesday showed the number of Americans on jobless benefits surged between mid-September and mid-October.

Another test will come with the delayed release of Thursday’s non-farm payrolls release for September.

Amid the rout in risk assets, the Australian dollar fell 0.4% to $0.6485, while the kiwi slipped 0.5% to $0.56300.

Reporting by Joice Alves and Ozan Ergenay in London; additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter in Singapore; Editing by Alex Richardson

EU court dismisses Amazon’s request to scrap EU tech label

Amazon had contested the lawfulness of the provision in the EU’s Digital Services Act that specifies which online platforms are labeled as “very large”

International News via Reuters:

The European Union’s General Court on Wednesday dismissed a request by Amazon to scrap its designation as a platform subject to stricter requirements under EU online content rules.

Amazon had contested the lawfulness of the provision in the EU’s Digital Services Act that specifies which online platforms are labeled as “very large”. Those companies are required to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms.

The EU’s second-highest court said the EU was right in considering that marketplaces exceeding the threshold of 45 million users could be included in that group, as they too could pose a risk to society.

Amazon said it was disappointed in the ruling and that it intended to launch an appeal.

“The Very Large Online Platform status was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information,” it said in a statement.

“The Amazon Store, as an online marketplace, does not pose any such systemic risks; it only sells goods, and it doesn’t disseminate or amplify information, views or opinions.”

The court in its ruling, however, said the risks were posed by “disseminating illegal content or infringing fundamental rights, including consumer protection”, and said interference was justified.

“The obligations imposed on those platforms … are intended to prevent those risks, even if they entail significant financial burdens for those platforms,” it added

The court also dismissed all other arguments by the U.S online retail giant.

Reporting by Bart Meijer and Alessandro Parodi, Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee; Editing by Ros Russell and Ed Osmond

Still time to have your say on juries

The Ministry of Justice today reminded the public that the consultation on modernising Bermuda’s jury system remains open and that residents still have time to provide their views on proposed reforms.

The next public meeting on Bermuda’s jury reform consultation will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday November 19,  at the Paget Gospel Chapel, 44 Middle Road, Paget, held jointly with the Paget Parish Council and Warwick Parish Council. 

The Ministry of Justice encourages residents to attend this session, share their views, and take advantage of the opportunities to engage directly on the proposed reforms.

The Ministry will continue hosting additional parish meetings in the weeks ahead and encourages all residents to participate in shaping the future of Bermuda’s jury system.

In addition to the public meetings, the Minister will be a guest on HOTT 107.5 FM at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday November 19, 2025 and on The Daily Hour show on Thursday December 4, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. 

The public is encouraged to tune in to both interviews to hear more about the consultation, have their questions answered and join the conversation on this important national issue.

The consultation, which runs until December 31, 2025, invites the public to review proposals that would update how juries are constituted, selected and compensated. Members of the public are encouraged to visit forum.gov.bm to read the consultation documents and provide online feedback.

Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Sen. the Hon. Kim Wilkerson, JP, described the first meeting as a meaningful step toward the Ministry’s reform goals.

“The insights shared will help shape practical reforms that make jury service more inclusive and reflective of Bermuda’s community. 

“This next meeting with the Paget and Warwick councils is equally important; it provides another opportunity for us to listen, to engage directly with the public and to ensure that any legislative changes truly serve the people they affect.”

BELCO soot fall spikes over summer

More soot events in July & August than previous six months; BELCO cites environmental causes alongside maintenance

BELCO’s North Power Plant (centre, foreground), and photos of fallout on neighbouring properties, taken this summer

BELCO’s neighbours were hit with more soot fallout in July and August than the previous six months combined.

In a letter to neighbours and stakeholders, BELCO President Wayne Caines acknowledged that fallout events “rose significantly, with complaints nearly doubling the number of events.”

He shared a record of soot events in 2025, with 19 such incidents from January to June – an average of just over 3 per month.

However, there were 21 soot events through July and August, an average of 10.5 per month for that period.

Recorded events then fell again for September and October.

Table supplied to BELCO neighbours and stakeholders by Wayne Caines

Mr Caines cited a number of “challenging conditions” that contributed to the summer increase, including unfavourable wind patterns, heightened maintenance activity, and engines being returned to service following ‘trip-outs’.

He added that engine restarts after outages carry an elevated risk of soot fall out that they are working to minimize.

“We have been implementing a number of targeted interventions to reduce emissions”, Mr Caines said. Such efforts include vacuum-cleaning sections of the exhaust flue after maintenance, and increased monitoring during maintenance or strong winds.

Mr Caines adds that “these measures are already delivering improvements, and we will continue to invest in approaches that reduce fall out and provide relief to the neighbourhood.”

“While some environmental factors particularly wind and seasonal patterns are outside our control, we are taking every reasonable step to reduce the impact of our operations on the community.”

Graph supplied to BELCO neighbours and stakeholders by Wayne Caines

These comments from Mr Caines follow criticism from area MP Jason Hayward this summer, who called on BELCO to speed-up the implementation of long-term solutions.

Soot fallout and emissions have been an ongoing issue since the BELCO’s North Power Station came online in April 2020.

Mr Caines previously stated that the new engines were “optimised” for liquid natural gas – a fuel that was prohibited by the Regulatory Authority in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan.

BELCO submitted its proposal for the next IRP last year, including some scenarios with LNG.

During the subsequent public consultation, the RA reports that 24 out or 42 responses explicitly opposed LNG, and that some respondents felt renewable technologies weren’t being considered enough.

The RA reopened public consultation on alternative power generation this summer, closing on September 17th.

The next Integrated Resource Plan is still pending.

Meanwhile, BELCO President Wayne Caines sent a subsequent response to this summer’s soot fallout, affirming their commitment to reducing operational impact on properties that neighbour the power plant.

“We are committed to transparency”, he said, “and maintain regular communication with affected residents.”

“We’re focused on continuous improvement to minimise community impacts while maintaining reliable electricity supply for Bermuda.”


Full response from Wayne Caines, BELCO President:

“BELCO remains committed to reducing our operational impact on properties that neighbour our industrial plant and appreciates the community’s patience as we work through this challenge.

Our mitigation efforts are ongoing and multi-faceted. Since the commissioning of the North Power Station we have consistently been making operational changes that have minimised our impact on the surrounding community.

We are committed to transparency and maintain regular communication with affected residents. We have shared information with our neighbours and listened to their concerns through letters, emails, home visits, and open town halls—most recently last month.

Operating a power station inherently involves managing various environmental factors. We’re focused on continuous improvement to minimise community impacts while maintaining reliable electricity supply for Bermuda.”

Car ramming, stabbing attack in West Bank kills one, injures three

The Israeli military said in a statement two attackers were also killed by soldiers, but did not provide further details

International News via Reuters:

One man was killed and three other people were injured in a car ramming and stabbing attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli military and ambulance service said, in what Israeli authorities described as a terrorist attack.

The Israeli military said in a statement two attackers were also killed by soldiers, but did not provide further details. It said explosive materials were found in the vehicle used by the attackers, which were being neutralised by bomb disposal specialists.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The attack took place between Bethlehem and Hebron at a traffic junction at the entrance to a cluster of Israeli settlements known as the Etzion bloc.

A spokesperson for the Israeli ambulance service said a 71-year-old man died of stab wounds. Earlier he had been described as a 30-year-old. A woman, a boy and another man were wounded.

ATTACKS BY JEWISH SETTLERS

The attack was the latest incident in the West Bank, where Palestinians have faced tightened military restrictions and a surge in violent attacks by Jewish settlers since the start of the Gaza war two years ago. In Gaza, a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas has held since October 10.

Israel has been under mounting international pressure to curb the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene an urgent meeting of ministers and security officials on Thursday to discuss steps to bring Israelis who attack Palestinians to justice, senior officials said.

On Monday, Israelis torched homes and vehicles in Jab’a, a Palestinian village near Bethlehem, after an earlier attack on property and civilians in the village of Sa’ir, the WAFA news agency said, quoting officials.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday the government will take unprecedented steps in coming weeks allocating resources and funding to curbing Israeli violence — a move he expected would have a significant impact.

“The Jewish rioters in Judea and Samaria harm the State of Israel, disgrace Judaism, and cause damage to the settlement project,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posted on X on Monday, using the biblical names for the West Bank.

“The IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police must act decisively and firmly to stop this rampage, which is also directed at our soldiers and police officers.”

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this month that settlers staged at least 264 attacks on Palestinians in October — the highest monthly tally since the U.N. began tracking such incidents in 2006.

Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian state existing alongside Israel. Successive Israeli governments have encouraged Israeli settlements to expand rapidly in the West Bank, fragmenting the land.

Reporting by Steven Scheer, Alex Cornwell and Howard Goller; Editing by Alex Richardson, Ros Russell and Frances Kerry

Exxon joins Chevron in pursuing parts of Lukoil global empire, sources say

Exxon is considering options for Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both the U.S. and the Russian firm have stakes in the Karachaganak and Tengiz fields

International News via Reuters:

U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil has joined rival Chevron Corp in considering options to buy parts of sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil’s international assets, sources familiar with the matter said.

Exxon is considering options for Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both the U.S. and the Russian firm have stakes in the Karachaganak and Tengiz fields, the sources said. Chevron, another partner in these assets, is also studying options to buy them, Reuters reported on Monday.

Exxon might also study a potential bid for the West Qurna 2 field in Iraq, which is operated by Lukoil and is the Russian firm’s most-prized asset, two of the sources said. The U.S. company had long been the operator of the neighboring West Qurna 1 project before exiting last year.

Exxon declined to comment.

The list of potential bidders for Lukoil’s global assets has been growing since the U.S. Treasury on Friday gave clearance to companies to begin talks with Lukoil. The authorization lasts through December 13.

Bloomberg reported on Exxon and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company interest in Lukoil assets earlier on Tuesday.

U.S. private equity firm Carlyle is among those exploring options to buy Lukoil’s foreign assets, sources told Reuters last week.

Lukoil has three refineries in Europe, stakes in oilfields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Mexico, Ghana, Egypt and Nigeria, and hundreds of retail fuel stations around the world, including in the United States.

The company’s foreign assets extract about 0.5% of global oil, based on 2024 filing.

Reporting by Shariq Khan, Anna Hirtenstein and Jarrett Renshaw; Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Sheila Dang, Shadia Nasralla, Jarrett Renshaw and Maha El Dahan; Editing by Bill Berkrot

EU imposes quotas to curb imports of ferro-alloys

The measures will last for three years and consist of country-specific quotas per type of ferro-alloy, limiting the volume of imports that can enter the EU duty-free

International News via Reuters:

The European Union set import quotas on Tuesday on alloys of steel containing manganese or silicon to protect domestic producers against a surge of cheap imports.

The measures will last for three years and consist of country-specific quotas per type of ferro-alloy, limiting the volume of imports that can enter the EU duty-free.

Imports beyond the quotas, which were set at 75% of 2022-2024 imports, may enter without duties if prices exceed established thresholds. If not, a tariff will apply to bring the final price up to the threshold.

“The EU cannot afford to let a strategic industry collapse under the weight of rising import pressures,” European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said in a statement, adding that the measures were necessary to defend EU industrial resilience.

IMPORTS SURGED, EU MARKET SHARE FELL

The European Commission, which carried out an investigation, said that imports increased by 17% between 2019 and 2024 and the market share of EU producers fell to 24% from 38%. It concluded the surge of imports harmed EU industry.

Sector body Euroalliages said EU companies were struggling to compete with exporters from China, India and Kazakhstan that sold at significantly lower prices.

The EU has designated manganese and silicon metal as critical raw materials. They are used to make steel stronger and more resistant to corrosion for the construction, automotive, aerospace sectors and in military applications, on which many EU countries are boosting spending.

The measures followed a complaint by France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Spain, where the main EU producers are based.

The safeguard measures also apply to Norway and Iceland, the source of about half of imports. The Commission said it would hold consultations with both countries every three months and would review the measures.

The two countries represent 43% of EU imports, an EU official said.

Norway’s Elkem, which exports some 160,000 metric tons of ferro-silicon products to the EU per year from its Norwegian and Icelandic plants, said it aimed to shift some volumes to other markets.

“We also expect the reduction in sales volume to the EU to be compensated by increased EU market prices,” Elkem said in a statement, adding the impact on earnings would depend on the extent of any price rise.

The Norwegian government disagrees with the EU move and considers it should not apply to Norway, Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth said.

Norway will see how to best secure the interests of its industry in the next council of the European Economic Area, which includes the EU, Norway and other European countries, to be held on Thursday in Brussels, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.

Ukraine is excluded from the quotas as its producers represent only 4% of the EU’s total imports.

Manganese and silicon-based alloy elements are also used in aluminum production and a small share goes to the chemical sector, often for use in solar panels.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Terje Solsvik Inti Landauro and Alessandro Parodi. Editing by Joe Bavier and Mark Potter