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Europe
BBC Business

US announces new tariffs over forced labour concerns

The US has announced new tariffs of 10-12.5% on dozens of countries accounting for almost all its imports over concerns they are not doing enough to tackle forced labour. It is the second time President Donald Trump's administration has announced new import taxes since the US Supreme Court struck down many of his previous duties in February. The US Trade Department said these countries will face the tariffs because of their failure to address the importing of goods made with forced labour. The UK said it is tackling forced labour, China denied goods are made with forced labour, and the EU said the tariffs were unjustified. Meanwhile, an India analyst said the move was a pressure tactic as trade negotiations between the countries continue. Human rights groups say forced labour does exist in China and that the UK and other countries need to do more on making sure firms do not have forced labour in their supply chains. However, they questioned the effectiveness of US tariffs as a way of dealing with the problem. The 60 trading partners listed – including the UK, the EU, Canada, India and Japan – account for almost all of the goods sold to the US. The US government's stance is that trading with countries which buy things made with forced labour is unfair on the US. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it "creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field". The tariffs announced have not yet been enforced. The Trump administration will need to go through a process to do so. The proposed tariffs come after an investigation launched in March by Greer into the 60 trading partners, and whether those countries had failed to act on prohibiting forced labour.

US announces new tariffs over forced labour concerns
India
The Hindu BusinessLine

Strong supply chains, engineering talent make India ideal US civil nuclear partner: NEI chief

India with its strong supply chains and engineering talent is the perfect partner for the US in the civil nuclear sector poised for exponential growth, Maria Korsnick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said here. Korsnick was in India a fortnight ago leading a 20-member delegation from the US nuclear industry to explore opportunities as New Delhi opened the tightly-controlled atomic power sector for private players by easing the draconian liability law. “India has a very strong supply chain and very strong engineering talent. You’re not new to nuclear. You understand it and have worked very well with it in a very established sector. And that, to me, just makes the perfect partner to go with the innovation in the US,” Korsnick told PTI in an interview at the NEI office here. India’s nuclear power push: Can India really reach 100 GW by 2047? | Green Shift | M Ramesh She said the US nurtured innovation through its national labs over many, many years which was now being brought to the marketplace. “It just feels like a perfect marriage. I think because we’re approaching that both with really strong skill sets, that’s really what sets the backbone for building this trust,” Korsnick said. She said India and the US have rolled out aggressive plans for the growth of the nuclear sector which presents an opportunity to work together. India plans to increase its nuclear power capacity from the present 8.78 GW to 100 GW by 2047. In a similar timeframe, the US plans to increase its nuclear power capacity from 100 GW to 400 GW. “That’s an opportunity why we’re working together, because we’re both going through a very significant build-out,” Korsnick said, adding that small modular reactors (SMRs) are an area of future growth. The US is investing big in fast-tracking deployment of SMRs with at least three such pilot projects expected to go critical by July 4, when the US celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence. Korsnick said the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act will help regain the lost momentum in the India-US civil nuclear sector over the past two decades due to unresolved liability issues. “It was 20 years ago when we took a trade mission to India after a nuclear pact had been signed. There was a lot of momentum and maybe interest that there could be something. And now, look, 20 years have gone by,” Korsnick said.

Strong supply chains, engineering talent make India ideal US civil nuclear partner: NEI chief
Europe
BBC Business

Universal park officially named as government pledges £1.3bn

Universal's planned UK theme park will be named Universal United Kingdom Resort, it has been revealed, and will be supported by £1.3bn in government funding. Comcast NBCUniversal said it expected the attraction to draw 8.5 million visitors a year when it opens in 2031, with ambitions for it to become Europe's most-visited theme park. The US entertainment giant said it would invest £5bn in building the resort, in Kempston Hardwick, Bedfordshire, with a further £1bn planned over its first 10 years. The government's contribution will go towards upgrading local infrastructure and transport links to help accommodate visitors from across the UK and overseas. Ahead of the announcement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves visited the site where site preparation works had already begun. She said the investment would "unlock nearly £50bn of economic growth" and create thousands of jobs. The Labour politician continued: "Our own investment in transport and infrastructure means that local people will benefit - improving connectivity, backing our creative industries, and bringing millions of visitors to the UK from across the world." Part of the government's investment will fund upgrades to Wixams station to create a four-platform stop, as well as improvements to the A421, which were expected to cost £474m. Wixams is the Thameslink line stop closest to the resort, but there is also a planned East West Rail station at Stewartby, expected to open in the early 2030s. More than 100 people in the UK have already been employed to work on the project, with Universal promising a total of 20,000 jobs during the construction period. Once the attraction opens, it said a further 8,000 jobs would be created and about 80% of those roles would go to people from Bedfordshire and surrounding areas. Mark Woodbury, chairman and CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said: "This new theme park and resort will create so many new opportunities for the people of Bedford and beyond and allow us to share our distinct experiences with guests from around the world."

Universal park officially named as government pledges £1.3bn
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Singapore Kitchen Equipment retains CEO after charges linked to CAD probe

Chua Chwee Choo and two others were charged for allegedly conspiring to make false representations to auditors. SINGAPORE – Singapore Kitchen Equipment’s (SKE) chief executive and a senior manager will remain in their roles despite having been charged in connection with a Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) investigation into alleged falsification of accounts and false representations made to auditors. In a June 4 filing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the Catalist-listed company said CEO and executive director Chua Chwee Choo and senior manager Koh Sai Eng were served with the charges under the Penal Code and the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) on June 2. Former chief financial officer Chow Mei Ling was also charged, according to a separate June 3 statement by the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Despite the charges, SKE said in its SGX statement that its nominating committee and board believe it is in the company’s best interests for both Chua and Koh to remain in their positions. It cited additional safeguards and measures which have been implemented as part of its enhancements to the company’s internal controls. “The board expects that the business of the group will continue normally, as the court proceedings are not expected to disrupt the operations of the group,” the statement said. The trio were charged for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy between February and March 2021 to make false representations to SKE’s auditor, BDO, in relation to bonuses paid by SKE’s subsidiary, Q’son Kitchen Equipment (QKE). To lend credence to these false representations, the trio allegedly conspired to falsify more than 100 payment vouchers belonging to QKE to purport that the bonuses were paid in January 2020, when this was not the case, SPF said. Chow also faces other charges for alleged offences in related transactions. These include charges which alleged that between 2018 and 2019, Chow willfully omitted a total of eight payments, which included the payment of the bonuses, from QKE’s accounts for the financial years (FY) 2018 and 2019. Subsequently, Chow allegedly made further false entries to include the eight payments in QKE’s accounts for FY2020. Following Chow’s alleged falsification of QKE’s accounts, SKE purportedly made false statements relating to the company’s profitability in announcements of its financial statements for FY2018 to FY2020. These false statements are the subject matter of offences under the SFA – committed with Chow’s consent, and Chow was thus charged with offences under the SFA.

Singapore Kitchen Equipment retains CEO after charges linked to CAD probe
North America
CNBC

Eli Lilly's top dealmaker says don't be surprised to see more M&A that pushes Lilly into new areas

In addition to running Eli Lilly's oncology business, he's now responsible for finding the drugmaker's next opportunities as head of business development. And Lilly, now the world's largest pharmaceutical company, is hungrier than ever for deals. "The company's financial strength right now, driven mostly by the weight loss business, is so strong," Van Naarden said in an interview at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting. "We have this really like almost generational opportunity to redeploy that capital in all of our disease areas to not only fuel growth for the company in the decades to come, but to help a lot more patients with all different kinds of diseases, and so we're executing against that strategy." Not even halfway into the year, Lilly has already announced it will spend more than $10 billion upfront and potentially up to $25 billion on eight acquisitions. For all of last year, Lilly spent about $4 billion on roughly 40 deals. Lilly's dealmaking spree continued Wednesday with an up to $1.9 billion partnership with RNA-editing company Ascidian Therapeutics to develop medicines for kidney diseases. The spending reflects an intentional shift in how Lilly approaches dealmaking now that the company is larger and more highly valued than ever before. The company's market capitalization now stands at about $1 trillion, up from $190 billion in 2021, according to data from LSEG. Lilly is the first health-care company to join the trillion-dollar club, which is dominated by tech firms. Previously, the drugmaker primarily liked to place bets on early-stage assets that were inexpensive because they were riskier. Now, it's using the windfall from its GLP-1 drugs like Mounjaro and Zepbound to pursue experimental drugs that are more likely to work – and carry larger price tags because of it. "These things are medicines," Van Naarden said in a separate interview at his Stamford, Connecticut office. "How big will they be? What's the development plan? When will they get approved? Like, I don't yet know all that. Obviously we have projections, but you can see enough to say OK, this is real, and we can underwrite paying a bigger price than we pay for some real preclinical thing. So that's been a big part of where we've been focused in addition to running the high-volume, early-stage strategy." Van Naarden said his boss, Lilly CEO Dave Ricks, approached him last fall about leading business development in addition to his main job as head of Lilly's oncology business. The company wanted to sharpen its dealmaking skills and start widening its aperture beyond the early bets where Lilly liked to focus. Lilly's planned acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, announced in March, could reach up to $7.8 billion if the company meets certain milestones for its experimental drugs for sleep disorders like narcolepsy. That would make it Lilly's second-ever largest deal behind the company's $8 billion acquisition of Loxo Oncology in 2019. Van Naarden was the chief operating officer at Loxo at the time. While large for Lilly, deals of roughly $8 billion are still small compared to agreements from other large pharmaceutical companies. It raises the question of how big Lilly could go. Van Naarden doesn't want to set arbitrary size spending limits. He says it's about how compelling the science is and how big the opportunity is for patients and for Lilly. Some of the deals announced this year fall under Lilly's current specialties of oncology, neuroscience, cardiometabolic health and immunology. Others, like Lilly's recently announced acquisitions of three vaccine companies, will take the company into new areas.

Eli Lilly's top dealmaker says don't be surprised to see more M&A that pushes Lilly into new areas
China / Asia
South China Morning Post

Booking system considered to protect popular Hong Kong hiking trail from crowds

Wynna WongPublished: 8:00am, 4 Jun 2026Authorities are considering a pilot booking system for one of Hong Kong’s most popular hiking routes and creating a new marine park at Sharp Island in Sai Kung, following bigger-than-expected crowds during mainland Chinese holidays. “Therefore, to more effectively control visitor numbers and flows, the government is studying and considering the introduction of a reservation system,” the paper said. “The aim would be to protect the trail from excessive wear and tear and to improve the visitor experience by dispersing visitors across different times of the day.” The department said Po Pin Chau – a scenic headland featuring massive hexagonal volcanic columns east of High Island Reservoir – would serve as a pilot site for a reservation system in ecological locations, with data collected to assess its effectiveness.

Booking system considered to protect popular Hong Kong hiking trail from crowds
China / Asia
South China Morning Post

Singapore’s Pritam Singh is facing cracks in his party. What does this say about the opposition?

Jean IauPublished: 8:00am, 4 Jun 2026Updated: 8:09am, 4 Jun 2026Just over a year after consolidating its status as Singapore’s main opposition, the Workers’ Party (WP) is grappling with internal fissures as chief Pritam Singh’s role is being questioned by his own members.Singh, who has led the WP since 2018, is facing a special conference later this month called by 25 cadre members pushing for him to step down as secretary general for breaching the party constitution, according to local media. Sources say there is a generational divide in the party, with the old guard in recent years growing sceptical of Singh’s leadership. This faction – who tended to be Chinese-educated with some Malays – comprised about a quarter of the cadre members, as opposed to newer cadres who were typically young professionals. Observers warn that while infighting is common in maturing political parties, the conflict could undo the progress the WP has made in recent elections. “Such divides in parties are normal. Even the WP has had this before with the contest between Low Thia Khiang and Chen Show Mao. However, for Pritam, what he needs is a clear vote in his favour,” said Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, an associate professor of public policy at Nanyang Technological University, referring to the party’s 2016 leadership vote which saw Low edge out fellow MP Chen.

Singapore’s Pritam Singh is facing cracks in his party. What does this say about the opposition?
Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

North Korea's Kim vows 'exponential' boost in nuclear forces

Of the planned increase, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said: "This signifies an amazing, successful change that is beyond rhetorical description, a historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities." This picture taken on Mar 23, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Mar 24, 2026, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering a policy speech at the First Session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly at the Assembly Hall in Pyongyang. (File photo: AFP/KCNA) SEOUL: North Korea's production of weapons-grade nuclear material has more than doubled in the past five years, leader Kim Jong Un said on Wednesday (Jun 3), vowing an "exponential" increase in military nuclear capabilities. During a visit to a new nuclear material production facility, Kim said North Korea has confirmed an "ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state's nuclear forces at an exponential rate", the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. North Korea sees its nuclear arsenal as protection against attack from South Korea and US forces stationed there. Of the planned increase, Kim said: "This signifies an amazing, successful change that is beyond rhetorical description, a historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities." Rejecting pressure from the United States, North Korea insists it will not give up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as "irreversible". Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993 and has since conducted six nuclear tests, subjecting it to multiple United Nations resolutions, and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads. Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

North Korea's Kim vows 'exponential' boost in nuclear forces
Europe
The Guardian

Trump threatens tariffs on 60 trading partners including UK and Canada over ‘forced labour’

A container ship at the Port of Los Angeles in May as fresh tariff disruption looms. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenA container ship at the Port of Los Angeles in May as fresh tariff disruption looms. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesTrump tariffsTrump threatens tariffs on 60 trading partners including UK and Canada over ‘forced labour’ Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners including the UK, the EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US to respect the tariff deal it entered into last July and arguing that stealth tariffs breached the spirit of that agreement. The proposed levies on partners accused of allowing imports of goods produced by workers under coercion come after the US supreme court ruled in February that the president’s “liberation day” tariffs were illegal. Trump responded by imposing 10% across-the-board tariffs, but last month the US trade court found those were also unlawful, although they remain in place during the appeal process. The latest proposal for tariffs on the grounds of forced labour, which would affect major partners including Canada, Japan, Norway, Taiwan and China, would enable Trump to skirt those previous court-imposed limits on his protectionist agenda. They come as the US threatens to impose fresh levies of 25% on Brazil. The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said: “The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.” The threat of fresh tariff disruption will unsettle trading partners, including Keir Starmer, who have fought hard to build trust with Trump and to contain the cost of trading with his unpredictable administration. Experts had predicted that Trump, who has been obsessed with tariffs as a tool of national economic security for decades, would try to find a way around the supreme court ruling in February. At the time he threatened to use tariffs in a “much more powerful and obnoxious way” with at least six other legal routes to punish those countries he judged perilous to the US economy. The latest tariffs are a result of investigations into the labour laws of 60 trading partners using section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. According to a 98-page report on that investigation, “only Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan have not failed to impose a forced labor import prohibition”.

Trump threatens tariffs on 60 trading partners including UK and Canada over ‘forced labour’