Tariffs on cars were a big part of the negotiations that led to a trade deal between the United States and the European Union

International News via Reuters:

EU antitrust regulators have delayed fining Alphabet’s Google over its adtech business, while waiting for the United States to cut tariffs on European cars as part of a trade deal, three people with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Tariffs on cars were a big part of the negotiations that led to a trade deal between the United States and the European Union. 

The executive European Commission last week proposed to scrap tariffs on imported U.S. industrial goods and it expects an announcement soon from the United States on its promised cut in U.S. tariffs on European cars to 15% from 27.5%.

At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to retaliate against the EU for any push against Big Tech.

Google was told on Friday that EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera would announce the fine on Monday but the announcement was not made and no explanation was given to the company, another source said.

One of the sources said the delay was not expected to last more than a month and three said it was caused by EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic asking questions about Ribera’s decision without commenting on the delay’s length. 

They asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

Germany’s Monopolies Commission called the delay to the announcement an alarming precedent for the independence of European antitrust enforcement.

“The protection of competition must not become a pawn of the Trump administration,” its chairman Tomaso Duso said in a statement.

European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta told a daily news conference the Google investigation is ongoing and declined to comment further.

Google also declined to comment.  

Google faces a modest fine for allegedly favouring its own advertising services over rivals following a four-year long investigation prompted by a European Publishers Council’s complaint, other people had told Reuters last week.

MLex was the first to report about the delay in the EU decision.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara Lewis

A statement by the U.N.’s resident coordinator put the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports

International News via Reuters:

An armed group that controls part of western Sudan appealed on Tuesday for foreign help in recovering bodies and rescuing residents from torrential rain, after it said at least 1,000 people were killed when a landslide buried a mountain village.

Only one person survived the destruction of the village of Tarseen in the mountainous Jebel Marra area of the Darfur region, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.

SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help collect the bodies of victims, including men, women and children.

“Tarseen, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground,” the group said in a statement. Continuing rains have made travel in the region difficult and could impede any rescue or aid efforts.

“Nearby villagers are overwhelmed with fear that a similar fate might befall them if the … torrential rainfall persists, which underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive evacuation plan and provision of emergency shelter,” the group’s leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, said in a separate appeal.

A statement by the U.N.’s resident coordinator put the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports.

Nine bodies were recovered by volunteers, said Abdelhafiz Ali from the Jebel Marra Emergency Room, who noted that the village had hosted hundreds of people displaced by fighting.

The SLM/A has remained neutral in the battle between the main enemies in Sudan’s civil war, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two foes are fighting over control of al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, which is under siege from the RSF and has suffered famine.

Residents of al-Fashir and nearby areas have sought shelter in Jebel Marra, though food, shelter, and medical supplies are insufficient and hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the rains. Tawila, where most have arrived, is in the throes of a cholera outbreak, as are other parts of Darfur.

The two-year civil war has left more than half of Sudan’s population facing crisis levels of hunger and driven millions from their homes, leaving them especially exposed to the country’s damaging annual floods.

Sudan’s army-controlled government expressed its condolences and willingness to assist.

The prime minister of a newly-installed RSF-controlled rival government, Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, said he would be coordinating with the SLM/A on the delivery of aid supplies to the area.

Pope Leo sent his condolences and said he was praying for those affected, according to a Vatican statement.

Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; writing by Enas Alashray and Nafisa Eltahir; editing by Andrea Ricci, Stephen Coates, Peter Graff and Mark Heinrich

The idea was initially proposed as a sweetener for Catalonia as part of negotiations to form a government in late 2023

International News via Reuters:

The Spanish government announced plans on Tuesday to absorb as much as 83 billion euros ($97 billion) in debt held by regional administrations in a move aimed at freeing up more resources at a local level, Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero said.

The idea was initially proposed as a sweetener for Catalonia as part of negotiations to form a government in late 2023 when Madrid offered concessions to the wealthy northeastern region that had unsuccessfully tried to secede in 2017.

“Less debt means more welfare state, this implies the regions will be able to dedicate more resources to these policies that are so important for equality,” she said.

The measure, however, faces challenges in parliament, where the leftist coalition government lacks a majority.

The move does not affect Spain’s overall public debt, which stood at 103.4% of gross domestic product as of June, as regions’ liabilities are already included in the calculation, Montero told a news briefing.

When the plan to absorb between 18% and 50% of individual regions’ liabilities was first announced in early 2025, Fitch Ratings said the move would be credit positive and could lead to some positive rating actions on regional debt.

The conservative opposition People’s Party, which runs several regions, has said it would oppose the bill as it rewards the more profligate regions.

Montero also said the government would soon submit to parliament the so-called stability path proposal that is the first step towards coming up with a budget bill for 2026, and that ministries had been told to submit their spending plans.

Spain has rolled over its 2023 budget twice without even presenting a bill in the fragmented lower house, where the government faces a balancing act in every vote as it weighs concessions to several parties from across the spectrum.

($1 = 0.8542 euros)

Reporting by Inti Landauro and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Ros Russell