Ford will shut its engine plant in Wales next year, costing about 1,700 jobs, the US auto giant announced Thursday in a further blow to Britain's embattled car sector struggling with Brexit uncertainty and a global race to meet rising demand for electric vehicles.
The head of Ford's Europe division, Stuart Rowley, said in a company statement that "changing customer demand and cost disadvantages" had contributed to making the Bridgend facility in south Wales "economically unsustainable in the years ahead" and that it would shut in late 2020.
Ford insisted that the US group remained "committed to the UK, where it continues to be the passenger and commercial vehicle sales leader".
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Britain's biggest union Unite, called the announcement "a grotesque act of economic betrayal".
He called upon the British government and devolved Welsh assembly to help fight the closure and "prevent yet another grave injury to UK manufacturing".
The news is a further blow to 

Ford to shut Welsh plant with loss of 1,700 jobs

PTI Automatic

US President Donald Trump said that he would wait until after a G20 meeting in Japan at the end of the month before deciding whether to impose new tariffs on China.
"I will make that decision over the next two weeks, probably right after the G20," Trump told reporters in northern France, adding that he would hold talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the summit on June 28-29.

Trump says will decide on new tariffs on China after G20

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said it was "not a problem" that he was not invited to the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France, attended by other world leaders.
"We also don't invite everyone to every event. Why should I be invited everywhere?" he said of the memorial at which US President Donald Trump spoke along with French leader Emmanuel Macron.
"I have enough business of my own here," he said during an economic forum in Saint Petersburg.
Putin was at the 70th anniversary of the landings but this week Moscow insisted the significance of D-Day in the outcome of World War II should not be overplayed.
Russia regularly accuses the West of failing to properly understand or acknowledge the enormous human losses -- estimated at 27 million deaths -- the Soviet Union suffered in the conflict.
Russians in turn often know little about the Western Front or the aid that the Soviet Union received from the United States to fight the war.

Putin says 'not a problem' not to be invited to D-Day anniversary

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke Thursday by phone with Saudi King Salman after missing a key summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, his office said.
The two exchanged greetings for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival, Erdogan's office said, adding that they also discussed "bilateral and regional issues," without elaborating further.
The phone call comes after Erdogan was notably absent from the Mecca summit of the OIC where the country was represented instead by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Turkey's ties with Saudi Arabia have come under strain after the brutal murder last October of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which tarnished the international reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi prosecutors have absolved the prince and said around two dozen people implicated in the murder are in custody, with death penalties sought against five men.
But attention has remained focused on ...

Erdogan speaks to Saudi king after no-show at Mecca summit

Investors in General Electric, once one of the world's most valuable companies, lost tens of billions of dollars after the Paris climate deal as it failed to adapt to the pace of the green energy transition, new analysis showed Thursday.
A report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said GE had lost a "simply staggering" USD 193 billion (172 billion euros) in just three years to 2018 -- amounting to almost three quarters of its market capitalisation.
The Cleveland-based research group said GE and its principal shareholders misjudged the falling price of renewables as the world transitions to cleaner energy and suffered from a collapse of the gas turbine and thermal power construction markets.
"GE assumed wrongly that demand for natural gas and coal would continue to track global economic growth," they said, accusing GE of "an epic failure of corporate governance."
The 2015 Paris accord enjoins nations to work towards limiting global temperature rises to 

GE lost billions by 'misjudging' renewables: report

Sudanese authorities admitted dozens of people were killed in a crackdown on protesters but denied doctors' claims the death toll has topped 100, as heavily armed paramilitaries guarded the tense capital.
Members of the Rapid Support Forces, who rights groups say have their origins in the Janjaweed militias of Darfur, were on the streets of Khartoum on Thursday in pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns and rocket launchers, witnesses said.
It follows a raid by security forces Monday on a long-running sit-in outside the army headquarters that marked the start of a brutal crackdown on demonstrators demanding civilian rule.
The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said Wednesday that 40 bodies had been pulled from the Nile, sending the death toll soaring to at least 108.
The committee, which is close to protesters and relies on doctors on the ground for its information, warned the figure could rise.
Some life had returned to the streets of the capital on Thursday, with limited public 

Sudan denies more than 100 killed in protest crackdown

Taiwan on Thursday confirmed it is hoping to buy state-of-the-art tanks and portable missiles from the United States in a proposed deal that drew an angry rebuke from China.
Taipei's defence ministry has formally asked for 108 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, more than 1,500 Javelin and TOW anti-tank missiles, and 250 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, it said in a statement.
The request was proceeding "as normal", the ministry added.
The US government has given Congress informal notification of its plan to sell the equipment in a deal worth USD 2 billion, Bloomberg News reported.
Beijing said it had "serious concerns" about the sale.
"We have repeatedly emphasised to the US to fully understand the extremely sensitive and damaging nature of their decision to sell arms to Taiwan, and abide by the One China principle," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
Taiwan has been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949 but ..

Taiwan's request for US tanks and missiles sparks China anger

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the bond between America and its allies "forged in the heat of battle" of World War II was "unbreakable" as he spoke at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France.
"To all of our friends and partners, our cherished alliance was forged in the heat of battle, tested in the trials of war and proven in the blessings of peace. Our bond is unbreakable," Trump said.
He spoke at a US cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer in front of a beach codenamed Omaha during the landings which saw 150,000 Allied troops rush ashore in the world's biggest naval operation to liberate much of western Europe.
"Those who fought here won a future for our nation, they won the survival of our civilisation and they showed us the way to love, cherish and defend our way of life for many centuries to come," Trump said.
He concluded: "May God bless our great veterans, may God bless our allies, may God bless the heroes of D-Day and may God ...

Trump says bond between war allies 'unbreakable'

US automaker Ford will close its engine plant in south Wales next year, threatening more than 1,500 jobs, in a "grotesque act of economic betrayal", British unions said on Thursday.
The plan to close the plant in September 2020 is to be confirmed at a meeting Thursday between company officials and union leaders, according to reports.  An official announcement from Ford was expected later in the day.
"Ford's decision to shut its Bridgend engine plant in 2020 is a grotesque act of economic betrayal," Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said in a statement.
"We will resist this closure with all our might, and call upon the governments at the Welsh Assembly and Westminster to join us to save this plant, and to prevent yet another grave injury to UK manufacturing."
The news is the latest blow to British car-making amid heightened uncertainty over Brexit and as the industry worldwide faces up to huge challenges, including the switch to electric vehicles.
Honda has announced 

Unions hit out at Ford plan to close Wales plant in 2020

US automaker Ford is preparing to close its engine plant in south Wales in September 2020 in a "hammer blow" to more than 1,500 workers there, Britain's GMB union said on Thursday.
The move was to be confirmed at a meeting Thursday between company officials and union leaders, with a formal announcement from Ford expected later in the day, according to media reports.
"We're hugely shocked by today's announcement, it's a real hammer blow for the Welsh economy and the community in Bridgend," GMB regional organiser Jeff Beck said in a statement.
"Regardless of today's announcement GMB will continue to work with Ford, our sister unions and the Welsh government to find a solution to the issue and mitigate the effects of this devastating news." Workers were being given the news at briefings inside the plant and are then expected to leave for the day.
Ford has operated the plant in Bridgend, just west of the Welsh capital Cardiff, for decades and it remains one of the region's major ...

Ford to close Wales plant in Sept 2020

Egyptian security forces have killed 14 suspected militants during a raid carried out in the restive Sinai Peninsula in response to a deadly checkpoint attack, the authorities said.
Wednesday's attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, left dead eight policemen southwest of El-Arish, capital of North Sinai, and five militants were killed in exchanges of fire that ensued.
Some other suspected militants fled the scene before security forces tracked down and killed 14 of them in the raid, the interior ministry said in a statement.
"Following the route of escaped elements responsible for the attack led to a group of terrorist elements in an abandoned hideout in an empty lot," the ministry said.  The security forces surrounded the suspected militants before engaging "in a heavy shootout" which killed 14 of them, it added.
They also found 14 guns, three explosive devices and two explosive belts in their possession.
Pictures of the slain militants lying in pools of blood were also ...

Egypt kills 14 suspected militants in raid after Sinai attack

US President Donald Trump landed in France Thursday to join other world leaders on the beaches of Normandy in a tribute to the veterans and dead heroes of the D-Day landings that shaped the outcome of World War II.
Despite being largely blamed for growing international discord, Trump headed to join in the attempted show of transatlantic harmony on the 75th anniversary of the assault.
"Heading over to Normandy to celebrate some of the bravest that ever lived," the US leader tweeted on arrival in France. "We are eternally grateful!" French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier paid tribute to D-Day veterans at the start of Thursday's commemorations for the soldiers who surged onto the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944.
On an occasion mixing high politics with poignant historical remembrance, Macron met first with May at Ver-sur-Mer, where they laid the first stone for a new British memorial to fallen soldiers.
"Standing here as the waves wash quietly ...

World leaders mark 75 years since D-Day on Normandy's beaches

Swiss competition authorities said Thursday they had fined five large banks some USD 90 million for collusion in foreign exchange trading, following steep fines recently imposed by Brussels.
Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Japan's MUFG Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were hit with fines totalling around 90 million Swiss francs (USD 90.5 million, 80.6 million euros) after determining that the banks' traders had colluded to fix exchange rates using chat rooms, the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) said.
The commission said Swiss banking giant UBS was not fined, since it first revealed the collusion to the authorities.
"Traders of several internationally active banks have partially coordinated their conduct in two separate cartels," COMCO said in a statement, adding that they had fixed rates for a range of currencies, including US dollars, euros, British pounds and Swiss francs.
The first cartel was dubbed the "Three-way banana split" -- after the name of the online chat forum ...

Swiss regulators fine banks over forex rigging 'cartels'

Sudan's health ministry has said "no more than 46" people died in a crackdown on Khartoum protesters, far fewer than the 108 dead reported by doctors close to the demonstrators.
"Doctor Suleiman Abdul Jabbar, undersecretary for the health ministry, denied in a press statement what some media had reported about the number of dead in the recent events reaching 100 individuals, confirming that the number was no more than 46," state news agency SUNA reported late Wednesday.
The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors, which is close to the protesters, said Wednesday that at least 108 people had been killed since paramilitaries moved in on a long-running sit-in outside army headquarters on Monday.
The military ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April following months of protests against his authoritarian rule, but thousands of protesters had remained camped out in front of army headquarters calling for the generals to cede power to a civilian government.
The crackdown on their sit-in was ...

Sudan health ministry says 'no more than 46' dead in crackdown

Colombian superstar Shakira went to court near Barcelona on Thursday to be questioned over the alleged evasion of 14.5 million euros (USD 16.3 million) in taxes.
The 42-year-old singer avoided dozens of reporters, photographers and television cameras at the courthouse in Esplugues de Llobregat by entering via the garage.
The hearing of the performer, one of the biggest stars from Latin America who lives in Barcelona with footballer Gerard Pique and their two young sons, was due to start at 10:00 am local time (0800 GMT).
Prosecutors accuse her and one of her advisers of tax fraud after she allegedly failed to pay taxes in Spain despite being a resident between 2011 and 2014.
The case only covers the period from 2012 to 2014, however, as the timeframe to prosecute alleged tax offences in 2011 has expired.
Prosecutors say that while she moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with Pique was made public, her official tax residency remained in the Bahamas Islands until 2015 when she .

Shakira in court in Spain over alleged tax fraud

US President Donald Trump arrived in northern France on Thursday for a second day of ceremonies to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings by Allied troops.
"Heading over to Normandy to celebrate some of the bravest that ever lived. We are eternally grateful!" he tweeted before taking his flight to the airport of Caen in the Normandy region.
Along with his wife Melania, the US leader boarded a helicopter to fly to Colleville-sur-Mer where he and French leader Emmanuel Macron will commemorate fallen US servicemen in the invasion.
Earlier in the morning, Trump had tweeted reported comments from Fox News host Sean Hannity which referred to "glowing reviews from the British media" of his trip to the UK for a three-day state visit.
He contrasted this with "hateful coverage" by TV network MSNBC which is regularly critical of the US leader.
Trump had joined Queen Elizabeth II and other leaders on Wednesday for a first day of commemorations in Portsmouth, southern England.
The ...

Trump arrives in northern France for D-Day ceremonies

Pope Francis will receive Russian President Vladimir Putin for an audience next month, the Vatican said on Thursday.
"The Holy Father will receive the president of the Russian Federation... this upcoming July 4," interim spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said in a statement.
The meeting will be the third between the two men, with Francis having received Putin most recently in 2015, when the pope urged all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to make a "sincere effort" for peace.
The meeting lasted an unusual 50 minutes. Only audiences with former US President Barack Obama and French President Emmanuel Macron have been longer.
But the pope did not go further than calling for "an important and sincere effort to achieve peace" in Ukraine, where Russia is accused of carrying out a proxy war, after annexing Crimea in 2014.
Francis first met Putin in 2013, as the Roman Catholic Church sought to improve ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.  Only in 2009 did the Vatican and Moscow re-establish ...

Pope to receive Putin at Vatican on July 4

The United Arab Emirates, which has been a key supporter of Sudan's ruling generals, called Thursday for resumed talks on its political future following a deadly crackdown on protesters.
The military council, which ousted longtime president Omar al-Bashir on April 11, had offered on Wednesday to reopen negotiations.
But the offer was rejected by protest leaders who demanded justice for the 108 people doctors say have been killed since Monday in the crackdown by the feared paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces.
"The UAE hopes that wisdom, reason and constructive dialogue will prevail between all Sudanese parties, in a way that guarantees security and stability," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.
"The UAE emphasises the importance of resuming talks among various Sudanese forces to realise the aspirations of the brotherly people of Sudan," it added.
The Emirati statement echoed a call for resumed negotiations issued by its ally Saudi ..

UAE echoes Saudi call for resumed Sudan talks

The fate of jailed Australian Cardinal George Pell was in the balance Thursday as judges adjourned to deliberate over an appeal against his conviction on historical child sex abuse charges.
The three judges in Victoria state's Supreme Court heard two days of arguments by Pell's lawyers demanding his December conviction be quashed, while prosecutors insisted the jury verdict against the one-time top Vatican official was "unimpeachable".
The judges can decide to reject the appeal, order a retrial or acquit Pell, the Catholic Church's most senior convicted child molester. There was no indication of when their ruling would be handed down.
Lawyers for Pell, who turns 78 on Saturday, raised 13 objections to his conviction on five counts of sexual abuse for the assault of two 13-year-old choirboys following Sunday Mass in the 1990s.
Their appeal maintains that the case against Pell was unreasonably dependent on the testimony of a single victim -- the second choirboy died in 2014 -- and fell .

Judgement reserved in Pell appeal against child sex conviction

Smiling broadly, Tanwarin triumphantly cast her vote for prime minister as the first transgender MPs enter parliament in Thailand, where tolerance for the LGBT community is not matched by understanding or opportunity in public life.
In a sign of that enduring gap, the elderly speaker called for "Mr Tanwarin" to come forward in a vote late Wednesday that saw former junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha elected as premier with the help of a bank of 250 appointed senators.
Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, a lawmaker for the progressive anti-junta Future Forward Party (FFP), is one of four transgender MPs in the house -- pioneers in a society where discrimination in education, employment and at home persists.
"I am not here for decoration," she told AFP. "I want to write a new political history for Thailand." Thailand's transgender community enjoys a high profile, but still faces major hurdles in the conservative Buddhist-majority kingdom.
Transgender people in Thailand appear in commercials, movies, on the 

'Not here for decoration': Thai transgender MPs make history in parliament

British insurer Aviva on Thursday said it plans to cut about 1,800 jobs over the next three years as new chief executive Maurice Tulloch looks to slash costs.
Aviva said in a statement that it planned "approximately 1,800 role reductions across the group over the next three years, out of a total workforce of around 30,000".
Aviva is seeking to cut costs by 300 million pounds (USD 380 million, 339 million euros) per year by 2022.
"Cost savings will be achieved through lower central costs, savings in contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project expenditure and other efficiencies," it added.
Coinciding with Tulloch's start as chief executive, Aviva had in March warned that the company's outlook would be weakened by economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
In Thursday's statement, Tulloch said the jobs reduction announcement was a first step "to make Aviva simpler, more competitive and more commercial".
He added: "Reducing Aviva's costs is essential to remain competitive and this 

AFP

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